How were they able to recreate an ice storm so perfectly? Any ideas?
share I've no idea where it was filmed but cold temps and lots of water spray would do it. There was just a major ice storm north of me that knocked out power for a week so these things happen.
It was filmed in the spring with mostly warm weather. The ice was created with a lot of hair goo (no kidding, it's on the DVD commentary), and the sound of the creaking ice was added to the soundtrack afterwards. The railroad car at the beginning is a model covered in that hair goo. An effort had to be made to avoid showing the spring flowers in some exterior shots.
"Oh so we know French in Balham but not Latin?"
That's interesting, thanks for the info!
We got no FOOD! We got no JOBS! Our pets' HEADS ARE FALLIN' OFF!
Hair goo? Seriously? Wow, that's interesting. I thought the idea of a hose and cold weather made far more sense. Maybe it was combination. Either way, thank you for the response.
shareI guess a hose wouldn't have been enough if the weather was above freezing, since it was Spring.
"Oh so we know French in Balham but not Latin?"
What is hair goo? Are we talking styling gel?
shareOkay, I am checking the commentary track now. Early on, Ang Lee says "hair gel." Apparently this requires cleaning afterwards with hot steam, which would have ruined the railroad car, hence the use of a model instead.
I will check the commentary later on as well.
"Oh so we know French in Balham but not Latin?"
Okay, more info from the commentary track...
Ang Lee and James Schamus describe going up to Connecticut before principal photography began in order to create the ice storm during freezing weather with hoses. However, a real ice storm happened and they were unable to get the trucks with the cameras to the location. They do not say whether they were able to get any footage and whether any such footage ever made it into the film.
Lee says that the ice was made of hair gel. "Biodegradable hair gel," he says at one point. Schamus refers to the ice effects as "various noxious substances" and "toxic snot." This was supplemented with plastic icicles hung individually. Both Schamus and Lee make much of the sound effects that were added in post-production. Schamus says, "Ice in movies is not ice in the real world."
Ang and Schamus agree that the temperature during the scene of the family meeting Tobey Maguire at the station was in the upper 80s.
"Oh so we know French in Balham but not Latin?"
Wow, thank you for all the research, I appreciate it. I was facinated by the filming of an ice storm that looked so authentic.
share KY might have had the worst Ice storm in US history last week, and it wasn't hair gel.http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1876304,00.html
Worst Ice Storm in U.S. history struck in 1998, and affected parts of Upstate New York, Canada and Maine ( to a very large extent I might add ). Some affected by that storm were without power for the better part of a month.
Sort of Ironic that such an event happened about a year after this particular film.
Irony? Where?
I have opinions of my own, but I don't always agree with them - George Bush
Sigourney Weaver said in an interview that they needed to use hair gel to make the trees look like they had ice on them since they were filming at the beginning of spring.
shareHair gel was used and actual Metro North trains were used as well.
I worked as the Locomotive Engineer in the scene where the train arrives in New Canaan, CT.