The Finale: Getting the drone shot

➽ During the closing moments of this massive introduction, the camera, having arrived at the Athena projects (which Gavras considers another character in the movie), follows the resolute Karim and then pulls away from the overpass where he and his young comrades have gathered. For this, Gavras and his team added extensions to make the overpass look like the crenellated parapets of a medieval castle (and to enhance the ageless quality of the film). One of these ramparts had to be able to swivel during the shot to make room for the camera to move past it. Here, a stitch was necessary because the camera itself had to change—from Imax to something lighter that could fit on a drone. That proved especially challenging. In order to seamlessly cut the two shots together, Boucard notes, they needed to make sure the light around them remained the same, which required a virtually instant changeover.

The result is glorious: This shot that started in swirling tumult and close chaos now gives us a tensely still panorama of an army standing atop a fortress, waiting for the war to come to it.

And then the movie cuts.

Two people had to carry the drone camera to keep it stable prior to liftoff.