Get an in-the-depth look at the making of Disney’s newest summer blockbuster with “The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”

Jim Hill

13 years ago

A year ago today, Johnny Depp was in a helicopter flying
along Kauai's Na Pali coast. This copter eventually touched down along the
shoreline. Depp then hopped out and – in full pirate regalia – carefully made
his way across the sand to that beautiful natural arch which graces Honopu Beach.

Photo by Peter Mountain.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Once in position in front of the cameras, Johnny then shot
the scene from "On Stranger Tides" where Captain Jack Sparrow discovers Ponce de Leon's ship, the Santiago, teetering at the edge of a cliff.

Dean Tschetter's conceptual
painting of Jack Sparrow's discovery of the Santiago.
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

And that – my friends – is how the first day of principal
photography on "Pirates 4" actually got underway. "And how do I know this?,"
you ask. Because I've just finished reading Michael Singer's fine new making-of
book, "The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (Disney
Editions, May 2011).

As you leaf through this 160-page hardcover, you'll notice
that – while this making-of book is loaded with beautiful concept paintings,
preliminary costume & character sketches as well as of some stunning
on-set photography – "The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
is curiously light on text. Which was a deliberate choice on Singer's part.

"I wasn't looking to fill up the pages of this making-of
book with my own personal impressions of the production. What I really wanted
to do was capture the voices of the actual filmmakers. People like 'Pirates'
costume designer Penny Rose and set designer John Myhre. Have them talk about
why they did what they did on 'On Stranger Tides,' " Michael explained.

Blackbeard concept drawing by
Miles Teves. Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Take – for example – why Penny decided to dress Blackbeard
in a weathered leather coat:

"Once I'd seen that Ian McShane was cast," notes Rose. "it
struck me that we needed to find an identity for this new pirate character
suited to Ian's uniquely badass screen persona. So we did him as kind of a
Hells Angels biker pirate. We have him in lots of beaten-up weather and stud
work, and Ian looks just great in them."

Aaron McBride's developmental
illustration for Syrena
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Likewise Singer takes you behind-the-scenes as "Pirates"
producer Jerry Bruckheimer and "On Stranger Tides" director Rob Marshall
struggled to get a handle on what the mermaids in this motion picture should
look like.

Though ILM's Aaron McBride came up with a truly killer
concept for these "Pirates 4" characters (i.e. that — because mermaids were
genuinely creatures of the deep – their hair should have long, flowing locks that
are made out of kelp), Bruckheimer and Marshall opted to make the sirens that
we see in this movie " … more human and less creature-like & monstrous in
their underwater form."

Wil Madoc Rees' illustration of Jack
Sparrow's arrival at a snow-covered
Captain's Daughter tavern. Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

That's half the fun of reading "The Art of Pirates of the
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." The way that Singer shows you some of the roads
not taken on this summer blockbuster. Like the visually daring way that
"Pirates 4" screenwriters Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio initially wanted to
distinguish this movie from the first three films in the "POTC" series. Which
was by ditching the heat & sand of the Caribbean entirely. And – instead – at
least for the initial portion of this motion picture, cutting Jack loose in
London during the depths of winter.

Admit it. Seeing the already-unsteady-on-his-feet Captain
slip & slide over ice-covered cobblestone streets would have been great fun.
But from a film maker's point of view (i.e. always having to make sure that the
snow matched up from shot to shot), this creative conceit would have taken an
already-hugely-complex production and made it nightmarish. Which is why – sadly
– a snowy England of the 1700s got dropped in favor of a gray, overcast and sooty
version of the UK.

One of Dean Tschetter's many
attempts to find just the right look for the Fountain of Youth
Copyright
Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

But my favorite part of "The Art of Pirates of the
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" deals with the artistic development of the
Fountain of Youth. It took Bruckheimer, Marshall and Myhre months to come up
with a version of this legendary location which properly served "Pirates 4" 's
story. Which – since this set was going to be built on the Albert R. Broccoli
007 stage at Pinewood Studios – was going to be massive. Filling up nearly all
59,000 square feet of this famed soundstage.

Though they always had a sense of the size & scale of
the thing, Jerry, Rob and John went through dozens of ideas (among them a
vine-covered grotto that was guarded by two-headed snakes) before finally settling
on a somewhat timeless setting. "A mixture of architecture," according to
Myhre,"With Egyptain, Babylonian, Greek, even Japanese elements."

With this particular making-of book, Michael made an effort to
touch on virtually every aspect of the development & production of "Pirates
of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." From Michael Jackson's storyboard
drawings (which helped this movie's cinematographer set up his shots) …

… to this beautiful ship-in-a-bottle version of the Black
Pearl (which – according to Singer — was " … built under the supervision of U.S.
property master Kirk Corwin and was later animated by Charles Gibson's visual
effects department for maximum effect").

Singer then handed his somewhat spare text off to Disney
Editions' designers. Who took that material plus all of these terrific concept
paintings & Peter Mountain's amazing on-set photography (much of which is
pretty enough to frame) …

… with the end result being what is arguably one of the
better making-of books of the past five years.

So if you're looking for a way to expand your knowledge of
"Pirates 4" (which – FYI – just this past weekend sailed past the $200-million-in-domestic-ticket-sales
mark. Which means that "On Stranger Tides" is now officially a summer
blockbuster. More to the point, given that "Pirates 4" has – to date – grossed
$887 million … it's quite possible that – before the summer is over – "On
Stranger Tides" will join "Dead Man's Chest" in the
billion-dollar box office club), picking up a copy of "The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" would be a sure-fire way to get an
in-the-depths look at this Jerry Bruckheimer production.

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