Tagline: Never underestimate a living spirit’s will to survive, especially when they’re surrounded by family.
Eight Below movie storyline. From the coldest, windiest, most untouched wilderness on earth – and inspired by an astonishing true story – comes this thrilling tale of action and adventure, of dogs and men, of friendship and loyalty and of the stirring spirit of tenacity and hope that sparked one of the most incredible survival stories of all time.
Set against the backdrop of icy, stormy Antarctica, Eight Below follows eight surprising heroes stranded at the bottom of the world and the one man who would stop at nothing to bring his true friends home.
The fierce Antarctic winter is just setting in when an intrepid team of explorers and scientists on a research mission – survival guide Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker), his best friend and cartographer Cooper (Jason Biggs) and the rugged geologist Davis (Bruce Greenwood) – just narrowly escape a fatal accident thanks to their steadfast team of eight skilled sled dogs.
Forced to evacuate, the men must leave the beloved dogs behind in the frozen wilds – with a promise they will return. But when the storm of the century approaches, cutting off all means of travel, the dogs are stranded. Now, as the intelligent, courageous dogs – including noble pack leader Maya, rambunctious rebel Shorty and rising young alpha-in-training Max – fight to make it through the most unforgiving winter on the planet, the heartbroken Jerry is driven to mount a seemingly impossible rescue mission, aided by a beautiful and adventurous bush pilot Katie (Moon Bloodgood). Held together only by unwavering bonds of friendship, the humans and the dogs alike make a remarkable journey of grit, endurance and belief to find one another again in this spectacular but perilous land.
The Antarctic Adventure Begins
When producer David Hoberman encountered the 1983 Japanese blockbuster “Nanykoku Monogatari (“Antarctica”) many years ago, the story of the marooned dogs and the human companions who refused to forget them took his breath away.
The film’s epic storytelling and gripping evocation of the unsinking will to survive became the highest grossing Japanese film of its time, continuing to hold box-office records for more than a decade. In the grand tradition of classic adventure sagas, he saw it as being “at once exciting, suspenseful and emotionally powerful.”
Hoberman felt that that the underlying themes of the story deserved to be seen by a much wider audience – and he envisioned a less harrowing, more family-oriented adventure that would bring the inspirational, sustaining links between friendship and survival even more to the fore.
“I loved the story because it was so action-packed but it was also about all these epic themes of friendship, responsibility and triumph of the spirit,” says Hoberman. “It stayed with me for years and years, and I kept trying to get the project going, until at last a Disney executive who had seen the Japanese film and felt the same way about it as I did agree to option it.”
David DiGilio, a young writer in Disney’s New Writers program, and himself an avid outdoorsman, received the assignment to write a first draft of the script. DiGilio couldn’t believe his tremendous luck at being handed such a thrilling, real-life adventure story on which to cut his screenwriting teeth.
“I fell in love with the story right away,” he says. “I’ve always been attracted to the outdoors and I’m a huge dog person, and I just thought this could be the perfect cinematic marriage of the two. I also liked the idea of exploring themes about friendship. Of course it’s obviously about man’s best friend, but the movie also demonstrates how people from different backgrounds can be thrown together and find common ground when faced with adversity. When you place complex characters in a riveting outdoor adventure, you see how friendship truly is the key to our survival.
Immersing himself in the turbulent, century-long history of Antarctic exploration, DiGilio moved the story to 1993, the very last year that sled dog teams were allowed to work in Antarctica (despite their long-standing status as essential members of numerous important expeditions, they were ultimately banned to protect the continent’s seals from exposure to the disease known as distemper).
He forged a scientific mission for the men, based on the real-life search for million year-old meteorites on Antarctica, and developed a quartet of quirky, adventuresome characters at the heart of the story: the fiercely independent Jerry, whose family is his dog team; the gruff, goal-oriented Davis, who just wants to put the tragedy of the expedition behind him; the lighthearted Cooper, who brings flashes of humor to the dark and icy Antarctic life; and the remarkably strong bush pilot Katie, who helps to drive Jerry towards his bold rescue.
He also took on an unusual and daring feat of imagination: forging eight compelling canine characters who demonstrate the same friendship, loyalty and courage as their human companions – and whose actions must carry a large portion of the story. A dog owner himself, this was a rare chance for DiGilio to explore the language, social structure and spiritual world of dogs from a truly inside perspective. Though he was already intimately familiar with the joys and wonders of befriending canines, DiGilio had a lot of fun further researching dog behavior and the unique history of how humans and dogs evolved together – all in the hopes of creating an exciting view into the inner minds of the dogs as they struggle to survive and reunite with their human friends.
“A lot of people don’t know that the human-canine relationship goes back 14,000 years. But if you’re a dog-lover, you’ve seen it first hand. There’s a connection that exists to our animals that is almost primal in its purity and strength. It’s a true understanding and an unconditional love,” the screenwriter says.
“Writing about the dogs of Eight Below was my favorite part of the whole project. I think every dog-owner likes to think of their dogs as more of a person than a pet. And this was a chance to really explore the wonders of the canine personality and the pack dynamic. These are domesticated dogs who are forced to explore their wild roots when left on their own. We see stories of `man vs. nature’ all the time, and we have that element in this movie, but we also explore a new idea of `nature vs. nature.’ It’s captivating and emotional to see how the dogs adjust to their new environment.”
As the dogs battle to stay alive in the middle of the most harsh conditions imaginable, the dog team relies on close pack cooperation and the emergence of a new and surprising leader: Max, once the most timid and submissive of the team who finds his strength in adversity. “In a way Max’s story parallels Jerry’s emotional journey,” notes DiGilio. “Max starts out at the bottom of the pack and develops into a real alpha, learning to take responsibility along the way. Jerry is a great guide, but he’s forced to grow up and confront that he can’t do things alone. They are both coming of age stories about discovering your true potential.”
DiGilio’s ambitious screenplay for Eight Below might have wound up tagged as a great idea that was way too challenging to create on screen – except that the script found its way into the hands of one of Hollywood’s most adventurous filmmakers, Frank Marshall. Marshall had an instant and visceral reaction to the story. Without even realizing it was inspired by a true incident, Marshall found the story a stirring example of how stories of adventure can reveal the courage, friendship and sacrifices that keep us going in the toughest of times.
“I loved all the different threads that were going on in Eight Below,” Marshall says. “I love adventure, I love dogs, I love the outdoors, I love stories about survival and hope – and I also especially love to take on stories that are a true challenge to bring to the screen.”
Marshall continues: “One of the things I think that most drew me to Eight Below is that I am always drawn to stories about the vastness of the human spirit, about the will to keep going and keep trying under the most extreme conditions. This is a story about what happens when ordinary people and ordinary animals face extraordinary events that demand the best of them. You have the unique story of the dogs’ struggle, as a kind of family working together to overcome impossible odds. But it’s also about the journey the humans have to make – Jerry Shepard’s journey of growing up and moving on with his life, Davis’ journey to figuring out there’s more to life than just research – and all these journeys come together in a very moving way.”
Once Marshall learned of the original 1958 Japanese expedition and the acclaimed film about it, he became even more intrigued. He met with producer Masaru Kakatani, who originally produced the Japanese film “Antarctica,” and listened to his gripping and emotional stories of interviewing the original expedition members.
He also contacted his good friend, Susan Butcher, a four-time winner of the world’s pre-eminent dog sledding race, the Iditarod, to learn as much as he could about the lives, minds and amazing abilities of huskies performing their natural jobs. “Susan gave me a lot of insight into how dogs will work together as a pack to survive,” Marshall notes. “I learned a lot from her about bringing the sled dogs’ world to life.”
But even as Marshall conducted his initial research, he was anticipating the biggest challenge of all – the extraordinary task of somehow re-creating the remote majesty, icy splendor and extreme-weather perils of Antarctica in such difficult shooting locations as the high Northern town of Smithers, British Columbia and the cold, dark, sparsely populated island of Greenland.
“The production of Eight Below ranks right up there with the most challenging I’ve ever experienced,” sums up the director. “We were in the middle of the Sahara for `Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and we were trapped on a glacier at ten thousand feet in `Alive,’ but this ranks right up there in the top three. What was so rewarding on Eight Below is that most elements of the film came together despite the tough environmental challenges. We had a wonderful cast, exceptional dogs, a fantastic locations and, throughout every minute of production, we were inspired by this unforgettable story of humans and animals triumphing over the odds.”
The Sled Dogs
While the human cast was key to the emotions and humor of Eight Below, there would be no story to tell at all unless the filmmakers could come up with eight canine actors capable of revealing the courageous, emotional and action-packed journey of the dogs trapped on Antarctica. The dogs would have to bring this literally hairy adventure to life – so to pull together one of the most talented animal casts ever required for a feature film, director Frank Marshall commandeered the services of Birds & Animals, one of Hollywood’s foremost animal training enterprises.
Says Marshall: “We knew that one of the most important elements was going to be the casting of the dogs. It was so important to us that each dog have its own individual character and unique look – and really their own distinct stories – that we needed to find eight dogs who were completely different from one another. We started the process of casting them early because it was so vital.”
Ultimately, Birds & Animals and the filmmakers of Eight Below came up with an eclectic canine cast that included previous film stars and pound puppies alike, each chosen for their special look and behavior. The canine stars include: seven year old Koda Bear, who plays pack alpha dog Maya; six year old D.J. who plays the emerging leader Max; three year old Noble, who plays the grey-colored Shadow; two year old Conan, who plays the red-tinged Buck; four year old Floyd and three year-old Sitka, who play the twin dogs Dewey and Truman, three year old Jasper, who plays the rambunctious rebel Shorty and four year old Apache, who plays the veteran of the pack, Old Jack.
“We met a lot of dogs but my two favorites were Koda Bear who plays Maya and DJ who plays Max, the dog who takes over the leadership of the group during the trek,” says Frank Marshall. “Koda Bear has a very noble stature which was perfect for the motherly Maya, the Grand Dame of all these dogs with her silvery beauty; and DJ was clearly very strong but also playful and had a look like no other dog I’ve ever seen, with these deep blue eyes that are just fantastically expressive.”
Marshall even developed a soft spot for the hard-to-handle Shorty. “Jasper, who played Shorty, was just a rebel through and through. He’d just go bounding along and just run right out of the shot sometimes. He was a real handful but he was also perfect for the part.”
There were dozens of dogs on the set at all times – the “actor dogs” (several of the roles were played by multiple dogs) and their “sled-dog doubles” who remained at the ready for the more complicated mushing sequences. Each of the dogs received special training for the skills they demonstrate in the film – from slipping their collars to carrying live birds in their mouths to fighting with an animatronic leopard seal. This work fell to head animal trainer Mike Alexander, who had one of the most demanding jobs on the film. Says Alexander: “When I first read the script, I thought, how in the world are we going to do all this stuff? There were a lot of challenges and a lot of them we couldn’t even foresee when we started out.”
The dogs began their training in California and then, three months before filming, the dogs and a team of 20 trainers moved to a farm in the snow-covered countryside near Smithers to acclimatize to the cold and ice. The dog’s initial basic training was all about conveying emotions. “Frank wanted as many small, expressive movements that we could come up with so we taught them a lot of different head movements along with snarls and grins,” says Alexander. “We also spent a lot of time working with the dogs playing Max and Maya to get them to interact intimately with each other, kissing each other and nuzzling each other all the time.”
As the dogs continued their training, they started to develop a whole new array of skills, from chasing birds through the air (accomplished by towing stuffed toys on a wire to entice them) to crawling over thin ice. The dogs even had to endure being buried under piles of snow. “We had to teach that very slowly. First we worked on getting them to curl up and lie down on command,” explains Alexander. “Then we started by putting just a little bit of snow on them and giving them a reward for letting that happen. Each time we did it, we piled a little bit more snow on the dogs until they became comfortable being completely buried!”
Some of the simplest behaviours were the most difficult to train. “We had to teach the dogs to watch Paul, which in the movie seems very natural, but it’s actually very hard,” Alexander notes. “The dogs have spent a lot of time with their trainers and are in tune with them so that’s who they naturally want to look at. Paul worked with us prepping and feeding the dogs and petting and talking to them so he could develop a real bond with them. At the same time we worked with the dogs so that they would watch Paul when in fact there’s a trainer off-screen telling the dog things like “put your paw out.’”
Each dog had two trainers working with them whenever the cameras were rolling – another huge challenge because in the wide-open spaces of Northern Canada, it was very hard to hide these extraneous humans from the camera. Even pulling the sled could be challenging for the dogs – because instead of rushing over the snow for miles as they are bred instinctually to do, these sled dog actors often had to pull the sled for five feet and then come to a dead halt for a dramatic scene.
Along the way, the dogs developed their own unique animal bonds. “They are very social beings these dogs, but the interesting thing is that they worked out their own social hierarchy in a way that basically matched the characters in the film! It just worked out to match the script, which I thought was incredible,” says Alexander.
For Marshall, working with the canine cast had both its tribulations and its rewards. “In some ways, they are just like actors. They have to be prepared and ready for their scenes – but they also have to be fed and walked and trained! And there is a whole different mode of working because you have to not only figure out what your actors and the dogs are doing in the scene, but also where the trainer will be, because the trainer has to be close enough to give commands and keep the dogs’ attention. It requires a lot of extra attention to detail.”
He continues: “At times it became absolutely hilarious on the set with eight trainers each yelling separate commands to their dogs while the camera was running – but the trainers did a great job. Overall, there was an amazing amount of dedication, discipline and passion that allowed us to tell the story of the dogs in a very fun and emotional way.”
The Antarctic Survival Guide
When the dog heroes of Eight Below are left behind in a roaring Antarctic winter storm to fend for themselves, it is Antarctic guide and musher Jerry Shepard who, driven by his love and loyalty to the dogs, undertakes a precarious mission to bring them back home. To play Shepard, a rough-hewn, life-long adventurer and sled dog expert, the filmmakers knew they would need to find a most unusual leading actor – someone with the dramatic chops to play a man facing up to his own stubborn independence but also an actor who could be equally at home with serious outdoor skills, physical hardship and close relationships with dogs.
They found that perfect combination in Paul Walker, who came to fore in the blockbusters “The Fast and the Furious” and the sequel “2 Fast 2 Furious.” Walker is not only a dog owner and dog lover, but an avid climber, surfer, snowboarder and even race-car driver who was thrilled to take on the Eight Below’s considerable physical challenges. Says producer Pat Crowley: “Paul is just completely credible as someone living this kind of life in nature. It was essential that you really believe in Jerry’s lifestyle and his kinship with the dogs and Paul brings you right into that world.”
“I guess you could say that this story spoke to me personally with its emphasis on dogs, outdoor action and surviving the toughest of conditions,” says Walker. “I took it as a great compliment when Frank Marshall came to me and said I seemed like the right person for the role. He told me it was going to be really intense and incredibly difficult, but it didn’t turn out that that bad. I thought we’d have to endure days at 50 below but we only got to 30 below!”
Walker found himself easily relating to Jerry Shepard and the internal struggles that emerge when he is forced to maroon his loyal dogs without much hope of surviving the Antarctic winter. “Jerry and I have a lot of things in common,” notes Walker. “He has the kind of mentality where he wants to experience as much in life as he can. But he also doesn’t really want to grow up. He kind of shuns responsibility and he’s got this fear of commitment even though he’s totally crazy about Moon Bloodgood’s character, Katie. I think the only real connection he’s comfortable showing is with his dogs and when they get into trouble it forces him to rethink everything else.”
After accepting the role, Walker dove into intensive training for it, working with a real-life dog musher to learn more about the lifestyle and the tricks of the trade. Walker especially loved working so closely with his furry co-stars. “I’m a big dog person,” he admits. “I grew up with dogs and have a Chesapeake Bay Retriever who was with me for most of the shoot. Working with the sled dogs was really cool, especially getting to know all their personalities, which were each so unique. And any time I had the chance to jump on that sled and run with them, I loved it. It’s a thrilling experience.”
Not every aspect of the filmmaking was quite so ecstatic. At times the conditions were downright grueling, but Walker found that this only helped him to probe more deeply into the experience of Jerry Shepard. “One thing that I learned in making Eight Below is that when things get really miserable, when it’s cold and conditions are trying, you really see what people’s true colors are,” says Walker. “And you also see how teamwork is so necessary to get through it all, which to me is one of the most important themes of the film – this idea that we can only make it through the tough times through love and friendship.”
The Lighter Side of Antarctic Exploration
Every expedition to remote places relies on the brighter things in life – friendship, laughs and enthusiasm- to help survive the harsh conditions. Providing comic relief to Jerry Shepard’s Antarctic trek is his good friend, the wily cartographer Cooper, played by Jason Biggs who breaks out into adventure after achieving widespread popularity with his purely comic starring role in the runaway hits “American Pie,” “American Pie 2” and “American Wedding.”
From the beginning, director Frank Marshall felt the character of Cooper would help to add not only flashes of high-spirited humor but some Antarctic-style realism to the story. “When we were researching life in Antarctica, we found out that there are a lot of very colorful, quirky, unusual people who are drawn to working there, and Cooper is representative of that. You have to have a real sense of humor to live in those kinds of conditions and he really brings the fun factor to the story,” Marshall observes. “When Jason Biggs said he was interested in the role, I was surprised and thrilled. He adds yet another layer to the film, making for a very, very rich ensemble cast.”
Biggs couldn’t put down the screenplay. “Man, did I want those dogs to be saved,” he recalls. “I immediately thought it was a cool story. It was compelling and sweet and also heroic, and it felt especially moving since it’s based on something that really happened.“
He was also quickly taken with Cooper’s wit and gusto. “Cooper’s an energetic, high-on-life type of person who truly loves being in a place like Antarctica. To quote Cooper, it’s the only place on earth where you can have 20 hours of sunshine and all the snow cones you can eat. He equates that with sheer bliss,” says Biggs. “But there’s more to Cooper because he is also a loyal friend to Jerry. They’re the kind of friends who give each other a hard time but underneath, they’re always there for each other.” Another draw for Biggs was the chance to bring his larger-than-life personality to his very first action film. “I’d been looking to do something different and this is a whole new genre for me – family adventure – something I’ve always wanted to do,” he says.
Like Paul Walker, Biggs found himself both challenged and awed by the film’s mountainous locations. “This was the real outdoors, with all its high and lows,” he comments. “Here we were, shooting on top of this glacier, basically in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes I couldn’t believe where I was. But I was constantly moved by the beauty that surrounded us and I learned that an actor in the wild gets to really let loose!”
Biggs didn’t start Eight Below as a dog person, but he was soon irretrievably charmed by the devotion and skill of his canine cast-mates. “The dogs turned out to be awesome characters in their own right and great to work with,” he says. “And I have to say, they’re pretty good actors. In fact, I was quite envious of their performances!”
The Bush Pilot: Moon Bloodgood as the Intrepid Kate
The fate of the dogs left behind in Eight Below ultimately rests in the hands of one of the film’s most daring characters, Katie, Jerry’s ex-girlfriend and the skillful bush pilot who is able to fly in the most treacherous icy and windy conditions. A steely, savvy and committed adventurer, Katie is the catalyst who pushes Jerry to face up to his conscience and rescue his dog friends. She was also one of the most difficult characters in Eight Below to cast.
Explains producer Pat Crowley: “It isn’t easy to find an actress you can really believe would be able to fly planes and helicopters in antarctic conditions, someone who projects that natural sense of confidence in themselves, as well as the smarts and strength needed to live in this kind of world. We were so excited when we saw Moon Bloodgood. She might be just starting out in her career, but we were all unanimous about her star quality.”
Beginning her career as a hip-hop dancer, Laker Girl and athletic model, Moon Bloodgood has been quickly rising into a new screen star, recently making her debut in “Win a Date With Tad Hamilton” and starring with Ashton Kutcher in “A Lot Like Love.” Frank Marshall was especially impressed with her performance in Eight Below. “She brought so much to the character because she has this way about her that is just totally believable,” he says. “She not only carries off Katie’s intelligence and strength, she is someone you can see inspiring Jerry to move forward with his life.”
Marshall continues: “I also thought it was important that Moon is a newcomer because she brings something very fresh and unexpected to the character that helps to make Katie totally unique.”
Bloodgood was thrilled to have the opportunity, rare even for seasoned actresses, to play such a strong and powerful woman thriving in such an extreme environment. “Katie is a great character,” Moon enthuses. “She’s the kind of incredibly strong woman who can hang out with the boys, take all the jokes and be just as competent and tough as they are – and yet she can be quite vulnerable at the same time. She hasn’t given up anything at all to be who she is and she lives life to the fullest.”
When it comes to Jerry, Katie is one of the few people who has a deep understanding of his largely hidden emotions. “She knows that Jerry is a real loner and has problems with intimacy,” explains Moon. “But she also probably knows him better than anyone and that’s why she’s able to play such a pivotal role in helping him to reunite with the dogs who mean so much to him.”
Paul Walker found that working with Bloodgood helped to bring his own character even more into focus. “She’s just so natural as someone who is athletic and capable and feminine all at the same time. I think Jerry realizes deep down inside that Katie is the one person who could ever have a chance at tying him down and I think that scares him. With Moon, it felt very real and true,” he says.
Moon felt similarly about Walker. “He’s a lot more like a true outdoorsman and adventurer than an LA actor,” she observes. “I felt like he was just perfect to play Jerry and we developed this great banter with each other. He gave me a lot in every scene together.”
The actress loved working not only with Walker but also with Jason Biggs (“He’s so funny but I don’t think people know how sweet and down-to-earth he can be also,” she says) and Bruce Greenwood (“Bruce is so sophisticated and smooth and sexy,” she comments). But in the end, some of her favorite co-workers turned out to be of the fur-bearing variety. “I felt really lucky because I got to know quite a few of the dogs really well,” she explains. “They’re so cute and cuddly and having the chance to play with them made life on the set so much fun.”
As for the physical hardships of production, the enthusiastic Bloodgood didn’t mind them at all. “Sure, there were days when we had to face snow and wind and freezing cold, but how could I complain? It might have been a little tough at times but it was also gorgeous and awe-inspiring every day. I felt really blessed to be a part of this story.”
The Scientist: Bruce Greenwood as David McLaren
It is scientist Davis “Doc” McLaren’s relentless search for a mysterious meteorite in the vast, iced-over landscape of Antarctica that leads to the adventures of Eight Below. Playing Davis in a rare family film turn is acclaimed Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood, who has appeared in two of this year’s most critically admired films – “Capote” and “The World’s Fastest Indian” – and is known for taking on a broad range of both independent roles, such as in Atom Egoyan’s “The Sweet Hereafter” and Istvan Szabo’s “Being Julia,” as well as Hollywood films such as “Thirteen Days,” in which he played John F. Kennedy, Jr., and “I Robot” with Will Smith.
Greenwood was another well-suited match with the tough-to-cast role of a laser-focused scientist at work in the most remote part of the world. He grew up skiing and climbing in Vancouver, has trekked in such far-flung spots as the Himalaya and even worked on an oil rig for two years in chilly Northern Canada. As for playing a scientist, Greenwood didn’t have to look too far for inspiration – his father is a geologist.
Clinching the deal for Greenwood was the fact that he has always been a huge fan of polar exploration. “I love true stories of adventure. I’d read all about Ernest Shackleton’s voyage to Antarctica and Roald Amundsen’s expeditions to the South Pole when I was a kid,” he says. “So polar exploration has always been in the back of my consciousness and this was a chance to really get to experience it in a way, or at least thoroughly pretend to experience it…” Eight Below is an incredible journey in this antarctic environment and the story of two men struggling with their own consciences as they try to get back to save the dogs who saved their lives. Ultimately, I thought it was not only an exciting story, but a really uplifting one.”
Greenwood was also intrigued by Davis’s personal transformation during the course of the story. “The thrill of discovery is what it’s all about for Davis. He comes to Antarctica with a very specific agenda of finding this magical meteorite – and at times his drive overwhelms his judgment,” the actor observes. “It takes him awhile to realize that but when he does he changes as a person.”
Davis also undergoes a major turn-around in his thinking about the sled dogs. “At first, I think Davis really sees the dogs as just workers doing a job, towing him out to his research and towing him back. But as the movie goes on, he begins to realize the profound dedication and love that drives them. As he watches Jerry agonizing over leaving the dogs behind, it begins to eat away at him and his conscience begins to keep him awake nights. Ultimately, he sees that he has to at least honor the sacrifice the dogs have made and try find them.
Unlike Davis, Greenwood was instantly impressed by his sled dog co-stars. “They’re riveting creatures,” he says. “It’s so clear that these sled dogs really love what they do with a passion. When they’re in the sledding harnesses, they’re jumping around, barking, shivering with enthusiasm and as soon as they’re given the word, they take off and it’s just magic,” he says. Riding on the sled behind the dogs was another exhilarating experience. “Suddenly, after all the frenzy and commotion it’s smooth, fast and quiet, white and soft, it’s a bit surreal.”
Greenwood also enjoyed the company of the human cast, especially given the film’s remote locations“Being up in the mountains for a long time can be challenging but with this gang it was a great experience,” he says. “Jason Biggs is hysterically funny, Moon Bloodgood has such a positive vibe and Paul Walker was clearly the perfect person to play Jerry – he’s so alive and real.”
Frank Marshall was equally pleased with Greenwood. “When it came to casting Jerry and Davis, I wanted two opposite actors who, even before they say anything, seem to come from two completely different worlds. Bruce was great because he’s played so many sophisticated roles – I mean he’s best known for playing President Kennedy so he’s got a very strong, intelligent, cerebral feeling to him that really comes across when he and Jerry are together on screen. The way he plays Davis you really sense that he’s someone who is all about accomplishing his goals – until he realizes in the aftermath of this expedition that that isn’t enough, that there’s more to life and friendship.”
Recreating Antarctica: The Design of Eight Below
It is one of the least visited, least explored and least known parts of our world, the kind of place legends are made of – so how do you set a movie on the barely inhabitable continent of Antarctica? This was the question that faced the filmmakers of Eight Below head on. The one thing they knew they couldn’t do was send a large cast and crew to Antarctica itself – where 200 mile-per-hour winds and temperatures so cold they can actually shatter steel are the norm.
“We had to find a way to get the authentic look of Antarctica without actually going there, but we knew we would still have to go somewhere very cold and remote,” says Marshall. To solve the puzzle of finding high, dry, frozen environment within reasonable reach of an entire production crew, Marshall brought in his previous collaborator on “Alive,” Robin Mounsay, a renowned location scout and technical adviser for mountain, glacier, snow, water and remote locations. “Robin is king of the mountains,” Marshall explains. “He’s an expert at finding these kinds of spots all around the world and is also a very valuable expert in mountain safety.”
Mounsay had his work cut out for him on Eight Below, trying to emulate the truly unique conditions on Antarctica. The coldest, driest and windiest place on earth, Antarctica lies literally at “the bottom of the earth,” at the planet’s southern-most pole. It is a stark, other-worldly realm in which 98% of the land is covered with a thick and permanent sheet of ice, while the other 2% is simply barren rock. So harsh it was never historically inhabited by humans, Antarctica has remained one of the last true wildernesses on earth, where few souls other than seals, penguins and the occasional explorer dares to dwell.
Only a few thousand humans live in Antarctica each year, most of them scientists conducting expeditions in what serves as a kind of perfect natural laboratory for the study of such intriguing fields as extreme weather, polar ice caps, astrophysics, uniquely adapted plant and animal life, global warming, glaciers, marine science and meteorological phenomena. Since humankind first landed on its shores in the 19th century, the continent has drawn some of the boldest, bravest and most determined explorers and scientific researchers from around the world,
Robin Mounsay scoured the earth for a place that could stand in for this amazing realm and eventually found it in Smithers, Canada – a small, high-altitude ski town about 750 miles above Vancouver, British Columbia. Smithers sits on a dramatic, table-top plateau with 360 degree views of tree-less wilderness, the perfect place to replicate the wild icescapes of Antarctica. Mounsay also scouted areas in far-away Greenland, the magical Northern country replete with glaciers and coastal ice fields, where some of the film’s most spectacular shots of nature were achieved. Additional scenes featuring awe-inspiring vistas were shot in Stewart, British Columbia, just across the border from Hyder, Alaska. Finally, icebreakers in Spitzbergen, Norway were commandeered for the exhilarating scenes in which the rescuers break through the Antarctic ice.
Arriving in Smithers, production designer John Willett found his crew working in minus 25 degree temperatures and such strong winds they could only work in short bursts or their hands would instantly be frost-bitten. Nevertheless, they persevered to build the main physical sets, including the camp for the United States Research Base, the Italian base, Mount Melbourne and Dewey’s Drop.
Willett did extensive research on some of the actual bases that exist on Antarctica – in particular McMurdo Base, the famous American base where up to 1,000 personnel live in the summer months and some 250 remain encamped during the long, dark winter. Made up of dormitories, labs and canteens, McMurdo is a kind of village unto itself with its own unique culture created by its rugged, individualistic citizenry made up of explorers and adventurous scientists. “We wanted to create as much realism in the base as possible to make it more interesting and exciting for the audience,” says Willett. “It’s such a brutal climate that one thing we wanted to show in our sets is just how hard it is to live there and survive, even in buildings. It’s an extraordinary environment, also like being on the moon. I think everyone has some part of them that is fascinated by Antarctica.”
Shooting in Smithers wasn’t quite as unforgiving and harsh as shooting in Antarctica would have been – but it wasn’t exactly easy either. “We had constant challenges, especially due to the weather,” says Frank Marshall. “Because the weather could shift dramatically in just ten minutes, we had three different scenes prepared for each day, so that we could do any one of them, depending on conditions. And even then, we were often working in the middle of cold, snow and wet. Just keeping the snowflakes off the camera lenses was a big deal – and we constantly worried about being able to see, to do playback, even to lay the cables in near white-out conditions.”
With cast and crew wrapped in as many as 5 thick layers of thermal clothing topped off with down parkas and mountaineering goggles, at times the individual members of the cast and crew became downright unrecognizable! However, director of photography, Don Burgess, was happy braving the weather. Having cut his teeth shooting extreme documentaries, as well as climbing mountains, photographing world cup skiing events in Europe, and working on the winter movie “Runaway Train” in Alaska, he says he would rather shoot on the side of a mountain any day than on a Hollywood sound stage. An Academy Award®- nominee for “Forrest Gump,” Burgess recently shot a more fantastical look at a wintry environment with the acclaimed animated feature “Polar Express.”
Much as he loves adventures, Burgess had to make careful preparations for shooting Eight Below. “Before you set out for a film like this, the cameras have to be treated for cold weather and the lenses too,” Burgess explains. “They have to be taken apart and relubricated, so that they can deal with extremely cold temperatures. You have to double the size of your batteries and you have to house the batteries, so that they’re more protected from the cold. To get out in a snowstorm and get the equipment to perform properly and actually be able to get the shot is really challenging, especially when the wind’s blowing hard and the bitter cold goes right through you.”
Just bringing people up and down the mountain in Smithers was a major obstacle – one solved by a quirky Swedish military vehicle known as a Haggland, which looks like a squat tank and a few of which could pull the 120 members of the cast and crew up the mountain in a matter of minutes. When Marshall first saw a Hagglund in Greenland, he immediately wrote the vehicle into the film’s script. “I’d never seen anything like them before and I thought they were really cool,” he says. “I wrote them into the story but they also came in very handy for moving people up the mountain in Smithers.”
While most of the film was shot on location, a few scenes were too dangerous to shoot in the great outdoors. For the pivotal scenes in which both humans and dogs face danger in the freezing water beneath the ice, John Willett created what became known as “The Ice Set” on a big stage. “The Ice Set was a tremendous challenge but it was absolutely essential to the action of the story,” Willett notes. “We had to create it to match actual ice fjords that exist in Greenland – I had been in Greenland four times by the time we designed it, so I knew what it had to look like – but it also had to be a place where we could operate the animatronic seals and where the dogs could perform. Creating the ice itself in an authentic way was very daunting and involved a 13-part process to mold several different kinds of ice, including clear ice, frozen river ice, frozen snow and iceberg ice.”
Sums up Willett: “Any time you’re given a chance to emulate nature it involves a fantastic creative effort. Nature is not something you can easily fool people with – so trying to create rocks or trees or ice or rivers is actually one of the biggest challenges in filmmaking.”
Later, Oscar-winning special effects artist Stan Winston’s digital team was brought in to create the tenacious animatronic leopard seal for the epic battle with the dogs. Having worked with Winston on “Jurassic Park,” Frank Marshall knew he was the only man for the job. “There is only one guy who can create this kind of exciting realism and that’s Stan Winston,” says Marshall. Once built, Winston’s seal was covered in a thin layer of peanut butter to encourage the dogs to attack it!
Though the challenges were constant in recreating Antarctica on screen, in the end the filmmakers felt it was all worth it. “I hope people will be really knocked out by the world we’ve created,” says Pat Crowley. “We wanted to take audiences on an amazing ride through a place most people will never go, while telling an epic story with a lot of emotional power.”
Eight Below (2006)
Directed by: Frank Marshall
Starring: Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Jason Biggs, Moon Bloodgood, Wendy Crewson, Gerard Plunkett, August Schellenberg
Screenplay by: David DiGilio, Mike Rich
Production Design by: John Willett
Cinematography by: Don Burgess
Film Editing by: Christopher Rouse
Costume Design by: Jori Woodman
Set Decoration by: Peter Lando
Art Direction by: Jeremy Stanbridge
Music by: Mark Isham
MPAA Rating: PG for some peril and brief mild language.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: February 17, 2006
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