by Jeff Kinney
164
The actors quickly get
used to their unusual
surroundings.
Not every soundstage
set is meant to
look like an indoor
environment. Sometimes
the filmmakers can’t
get a shot they wanted
on location, so they’ll re-create the scene on a
soundstage and pick up filming again later on.
This was the case with an outdoor pool at the
motel where the Heffleys stay on their first night.
Here’s what the original outdoor set looked like:
The pool wasn’t actually real — it was built
from scratch just for the movie. Even the
cinder-block walls are fake. They were made out
of lightweight foam and painted to look like
they’d seen better days.
Weeks after the outdoor shoot, the fake pool scene
was brought onto the soundstage and reassembled
indoors. In the movie, there are moments that
were filmed outdoors on location, and moments that
were filmed inside. When you’re watching the film,
see if you can tell the difference.
One of the best things about a soundstage is how
much room there is inside.
There’s a scene early in the movie where Greg goes
down a big slide at Corny’s. The scene is filmed
from inside the slide, and
the camera follows Greg as
he twists and turns his way
down into the ball pit.
At Corny’s restaurant,
there wasn’t room for a
giant slide. So a slide was assembled on the
soundstage, where
space isn’t an issue.
Almost all the sets on
the soundstage were
re-creations of real-life
settings. But one of
the sets didn’t have a
real-life version at all.
Greg’s bedroom only existed on the soundstage.
In the first three films, Greg had the same
room. But since the new movie had a different
actor playing Greg, giving him a new bedroom felt
like the right thing to do.
WHAM!
THE IMITATION GAME
Moviemaking’s been around a long time — over 125
years. There have been lots of famous directors
throughout filmmaking history, and one of the
most famous of
them all was Alfred
Hitchcock.
Hitchcock was
nicknamed the
“Master of Suspense,”
and for good reason.
He made films that
kept moviegoers on
the edge of their
seats. In fact, some of his movies were downright
terrifying.
Hitchcock’s work has had a huge influence on
thousands of directors who came after him. And
one of those directors was David Bowers, who
grew up watching Hitchcock’s films.
“PSYCHO”
9401
DIR.
MR.
HITCHCOCK
CAM.
J. RUSSELL
1-2960
DAY
TR86
169
In filmmaking, when one director pays tribute to
another director’s style, it’s called an “homage.”
It’s the ultimate sign of respect from one artist
to another.
In “The Long Haul,” there are two scenes
where David mimics Hitchcock’s style. One of the
scenes is where seagulls attack the Heffleys’ van.
Hitchcock directed a movie called “The Birds,” in
which people in a California town are terrorized
by flocks of — you guessed it — birds. Hitchcock’s
most famous movie
was called “Psycho,”
and it’s definitely not
for kids — or for the
faint of heart.
The most memorable
scene in the movie
takes place in a
motel bathroom.
Specifically, in a
shower.
ALFRED
HITCHCOCK’S
“The
Birds”
TECHNICOLOR
ROD
TAYLOR · JESSICA
TANDY
SUZANNE
PLESHETTE
‘TIPPI’
HEDREN
170
David created a comical version of the film’s
“shower scene” to give adults who are familiar with
Hitchcock’s terrifying masterpiece a good chuckle —
and to give kids a good scare.
GOING GREEN
When it comes to special effects, one of the most
commonly used tricks is shooting in front of a
green screen. Actors perform in front of a large
piece of green cloth, which is swapped out for a
different background in postproduction.
In the beginning of all four Wimpy Kid movies,
Greg talks directly to the audience
while holding his diar— uh, make
that journal.
The actor delivers his lines in front
of a green screen, which is replaced
by a drawing of Greg’s bedroom
later on.
172
There were other parts of the movie where a
green screen was needed. Most of these images
require no explanation, but you’ll have to see the
film to make sense of that last one.
173
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
In “The Long Haul,” there are lots of scenes
that take place inside the minivan. But shooting a
scene inside a moving car with five actors and a pig
is no easy task, so the filmmakers had to figure
out a different way to make it work.
They came up with an interesting solution. First,
a team traveled around Atlanta with a truck
that had nine cameras pointed in all different
directions. The cameras captured everything
surrounding the truck — even the sky above.
Next, a special set was built on the soundstage
with large monitors surrounding the buck car. The
footage captured weeks before was then played
back on the big screens.
174
This gives the illusion that the van is moving, and
the effect is really convincing.
175
Even when the van isn’t moving — such as the
scene where the Heffleys get lost in the woods — it’s
very hard to tell that the shots behind the van
aren’t real.
It took about a week to shoot all the scenes
inside the van. The actors had to re-create their
whole experience of filming, wearing the same
clothes they wore
throughout the
movie — and got
gooped up all over
again.
But it wasn’t mud
and cinnamon rolls all the time. If it looks like
the actors were having a blast singing along to a
Spice Girls song, it’s because they really were.
By the time things wrapped up, the cast and
crew had been through a lot together. “The Long
Haul” is about how the fictional Heffley family
comes together by taking a road trip. But in
making the movie, the actors and everyone who
helped had bonded as well.
With filming finished, everyone went their
separate ways. The actors went home, and
the director and producers went back to the
film studio to finish the last big stage of the
moviemaking process — postproduction.
178
CUT!
The postproduction phase is when all the editing,
special effects, animation, and music get done.
It’s also when the director and editor start
making tough decisions about what moments from
the film to keep and what to leave out.
There are lots of reasons for cutting footage from
a movie. Sometimes a scene is too long and needs to
be trimmed. Sometimes a moment is cut because it’s
getting in the way of the story. And sometimes
something that seemed like a good idea at the time
just doesn’t work on-screen.
It’s always hard to let go of footage, because it
took so much work to create it in the first place.
179
Here are a few moments that got filmed, but for
one reason or another didn’t make the cut.
The Corny’s scene used to be a lot longer than it
is in the final version of the film. In one part,
Greg’s dad gets his tie snipped off and put up on
the Wall of Shame, just like it happens in Book 7,
“The Third Wheel.”
SNIP
180
Another Corny’s moment that was cut from the
film is when Greg awkwardly makes eye contact
with a guy at the urinal.
Lots of other moments
were trimmed from the
movie during editing, too.
But just like the stiff
piece of underwear Greg
finds along the side of the
road, there are some things that just need to be
tossed out. Each cut
is done in the hopes
of making the movie
better.
COWGIRLS
PAGE TO SCREEN
Even though some moments from the book got
cut from the film, there were plenty of others
that made the movie. Here are some Wimpy Kid
illustrations and their real-life equivalents.
FIRST AID
182
LODED
DIPER
GOBBLE
CHEW
CHOMP
SUCK
SUCK
SUCK
183
SNUFFLE
GRUNT
Dregory
MOMMY
MEAL
NUTRITIOUS
FOOD!
FUN
ACTIVITIES!
ALL MIXED UP
TOO PUNNY
Unscramble
the words
to
find
the wacky
phrase!
Q.
Why
did
the
rabbit
like
Watership
Down?
A.
It was a
“hareraising
hareraising”
tale!
MESUMR ELRIANGN
SI NFU!
NAME THAT
NOBEL
PRIZE
WINNER!
ZZZZZZ
184
WOO-HOO !!!
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
185
SCREAM!
LICK
GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS
While the editing team was piecing the film together,
a separate group was working on animating Greg’s
journal illustrations. Each drawing starts off as a
pencil sketch on paper, like this one:
The drawings are scanned into a computer, and
the artists trace over them in clean, smooth
lines. For each character,
the animators create a
“skeleton,” which helps guide
how the character moves.
The skeleton isn’t visible to
the audience, but it’s an
essential tool for the artists
to create motion.
HERE LIES
GREG
“DIAPER
HANDS”
HEFFLEY
RIP
188
The animators bring the drawings to life by
creating frame-by-frame sequences of the action.
A technique called “onion skinning” helps the
artists keep track of what the animation looks
like before and after the current frame.
In the images below, the red areas show what
happened before, and the green areas show
what will happen next.
FACING THE MUSIC
After the final changes have been made to the
film, it’s time to add the “score.” The score is the
music that sets the mood for the movie and helps
the audience know how to feel during a scene. The
music can be upbeat for a happy scene and tense
for a scary one.
To record the score, a full orchestra, complete
with drums and electric guitars, performs in front
of the screen while the movie plays. The conductor
helps the orchestra match the music with what’s
happening in the film.
Music is a very important part of a movie, but
unless you’re really paying close attention, you
won’t always notice it. But sometimes, the score is
front and center.
For the motel shower scene, the iconic violin
screeching from the movie “Psycho” was used to
add tension to the scene.
Getting the score finished is the last major step
in the moviemaking process. And once it’s finished,
it’s time to bring it out into the world.
SCREE!!!
SCREE!!!
SCREE!!!
SCREE!!!
NOT
GOOD!
191
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Before a film is completely finished, the marketing
department starts telling people that the movie
is coming. This step is a huge part of the success
of a motion picture, because if the public doesn’t
know that a film is in theaters, even if it’s
great, it won’t do well.
One of the most important tools the marketing
department has is the “trailer.” A trailer is a
short clip that gives the public a sense of what to
expect in a film. Creating a good trailer is an art
form. You want to show enough of the good parts
of the movie to get people excited — but not TOO
much, or they won’t need to see the film.
OH, COME
ON!
SPLASH!
But the trailer is just one tool the marketing
department has to reach filmgoers. The average
person has to hear about a movie multiple times for
it to really sink in that the movie is coming out.
That makes marketing very expensive. Sometimes
a movie studio will spend just as much money
marketing a movie as it does MAKING the film.
And the bigger the movie, the more money that
goes into marketing.
NIGHT
CRAWLERS
Night
of the
NIGHT
CRAWLERS
193
The marketing department creates giant billboards,
commercials on television, ads on buses and in
magazines, social media posts, and displays in movie
theaters to make sure people know about the film.
Here are a handful of the concepts that the
marketing team put together to spread the word
about “The Long Haul.”
A
Wimp
WILLRISE
DIARY
of a
Wimpy Kid
THE
LONG
HAUL
MAY 19
FAMILY
ROAD
TRIPS
STINK.
DIARY
of a
Wimpy Kid
THE
LONG
HAUL
MAY 19
194
DIARY
of a
Wimpy Kid
THE
LONG
HAUL
MAY 19
195
A
HERO
WILL RIDE
DIARY
of a
Wimpy
Kid
THE
LONG
HAUL
MAY 19
196
END OF THE ROAD?
Making “The Long Haul” was an epic experience
for everyone involved. It was hard work, but by
the end the actors, the filmmakers, and everyone
else who participated grew from the journey.
For the Kinney family, the movie created a chance
to reconnect. These days, they live in different
parts of the country, but filming brought them
together in Atlanta.
Who knows what’s next for the Heffley family?
Will they be in more films, or have they reached
the end of the road? That’s up to audiences
to decide. But whatever the case, it’s been an
amazing trip so far.
197
198
CREDITS
FOX 2000 PICTURES Presents
A COLOR FORCE Production