Dune page 4

DUNE: The A Team

There is no question Dino De Laurentiis set out to make the best science fiction movie possible. The criticism leveled against the Dune film, following its initial theatrical release, sorely belies this fact. The production team Rafaella, Dino, and David Lynch assembled to work on Dune were among Hollywood’s most gifted and honored artisans:

Director of Photography: Freddie Francis- Francis worked with Lynch on The Elephant Man. Francis won an Oscar in 1960 for his work on Sons and Lovers.

Editor: Tony Gibbs- Gibbs won Best British Editing Guild Awards for Jesus Christ, Superstar
and Rollerball.

Production Designer: Tony Masters- Masters had been nominated for an Oscar for his work on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Masters had also worked with David Lean as Art Director on the sprawling desert epic, Lawrence of Arabia.

Mechanical Effects Modeler: Carlo Rambaldi- Rambaldi has won three Oscars for his work in the films: King Kong, Ridley Scott’s Alien and Spielberg’s E.T..

Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock- Whitlock had won Oscars for his Special Visual Effects in the movies, Earthquake and The Hindenburg.

Mechanical Effects: Kit West- West won an Oscar for his Visual Effects work on Raiders of the Lost Ark. West had also done work on Lucas’ Return of the Jedi.

Costume Design: Bob Ringwood- Ringwood won a Best Costume Award for his work on the movie, Excalibur.

       So with David Lynch’s sixth draft of a 135 page Dune shooting script, one of the best production crews money could buy, and a stellar cast of international actors, Universal Pictures began principal photography on Frank Herbert’s Dune in Mexico on March 30, 1983.
       As could be expected with any film project of that magnitude, chronic problems frequently plagued the production. Telephones, installed on the set, went out routinely- making it virtually impossible to keep an open line of communications with parent studio interest in the United States. “What was the biggest challenge working on Dune?” Special Effects Supervisor, Barry Nolan once asked. “Trying to make a successful phone call to Los Angeles.”1.

Working with substandard facilities in Mexico, power outages on the set were numerous and frequent. Badly needed production items and equipment was often snared in the net of bureaucracy at Mexico’s customs department and could not be shipped to the set to meet shooting deadlines. This resulted in numerous costly delays to the film’s tight shooting schedule.
Location shoots proved equally difficult. In the Samalayuca desert, outside of Juarez, where many of the film’s battle scenes had to be filmed, temperatures soared to 120 degrees during the day. “The heat was relentless,” recalled one crew member. “It was a slow bake.” To compound matters, the Fremen still-suits, were made of rubber and did not ventilate in the sweltering desert heat. Actor Everett McGill, who portrayed Stilgar said, “Wearing the still-suits in the desert was the next best thing to dying.” Crewmen, working on the production, succumbed to the soaring desert temperatures and passed out. Many were treated for heat exhaustion.

David Lynch and actor, Jurgen Prochnow

On September 9, 1983, after a grueling 6 month shoot, Dune wrapped principal photography in Mexico. Producer, Raffaella De Laurentiis said, “This doesn’t mark the end of Dune. The hard work is just beginning.” Raffaella had made her comments, gazing into the crystal ball of Dune’s post-production schedule. However, no Truthsayer on Earth or from the far flung reaches of space, for that matter, could see the cruel fate waiting for Dune at the box office in December of 1984.