Dune: how were the ornithopter scenes shot?

The special effects supervisor of Dunes, Paul Lambertexplained how the scenes with the ornithoptera. Within the Dune saga, ornithoptera are the flying means used to move around the planet of Arrakis, characterized by a system of movable wings reminiscent of those of insects. In the new transposition of the famous Frank Herbert saga, Denis Villeneuve wanted to faithfully recreate these means, contrary to what David Lynch did in 1984.

This is how the ornithopter scenes in Dune were shot

In Dunes of Villeneuve we were able to appreciate a particular care in the realization of the typical means of the saga, including the Reapers for the collection of the spice, but it is the realization of these flying vehicles that has caught the favor of the public. Now, Paul Lambert, explained how the scenes with the ornithopterans were made, speaking during an event linked to the Oscars, where the special effects artist explained how CGI was to support the use of more concrete visual effects. looking for a realism that could best involve the spectators:

It was essential to have a realistic look for the ornithopter sequences. Denis had explained to me from the beginning how he wanted everything to look like a photo of the real world, he absolutely did not want the audience to lose interest at any point in the story. Obviously we were creating spaceships and flying ships, so our approach was to do remote shooting, not getting too close to the ornithopters, we shot the scenes from helicopter to helicopter, also shooting take-offs and landings with real helicopters to which we then have then replaced the ornithopterans. We also built two real twelve-ton ornithopters, which we made a point of using as much as possible for the shoot, and then adding CGI wings. While there are times when it’s all done in CGI, they’re still made based on real footage. The idea was to try to keep everything as realistic as possible “

The effect was certainly exciting, a goal that we hope will be reached again with the second part of Dune, on which Denis Villeneuve is now working and which should be released in cinemas at the end of 2023.