With Chappie out soon, let’s take a look at 8 things you probably didn’t know about
director Neill Blomkamp’s latest sci-fi movie starring Hugh Jackman and Sharlto Copley.
During filming, actor Sharlto Copley, who plays former police droid Chappie, wore a
skin-tight, grey suit with tracking markers on it.
The visual effects team painted the robot over Copley’s performance, using the actor’s
movements to bring Chappie to life.
Over his grey suit, Copley wore two other pieces of costume to help his performance.
First, he wore a chest plate, which kept his back and chest proportions the same as Chappie’s,
and helped him know what spaces Chappie could fit in and how he should sit or stand in certain
positions.
And, when, for example, an actor grabbed Chappie’s shoulder, the chest plate made sure the actor’s
hands were in the right place when Copley was later digitally replaced by Chappie.
Secondly, over his grey lycra suit, Copley wore a pair of shorts and a belt, which he
loosened and dropped half way down his backside to create the right kind of moves to bring
gangster Chappie to life!
The movie Chappie is based on a short film about robot police that writer-director Neill
Blomkamp made back in 2003.
That short film was called Tetra Vaal.
The design of the robot Chappie was influenced by director Neill Blomkamp’s love of manga
and anime.
Specifically, he was inspired by Japanese manga artist Masamune Shirow and his rabbit-eared
robot called Briareos, which features in the 1980s manga series Appleseed.
Speaking of ears, Chappie’s ears play a very important part in the movie.
First of all, Chappie’s orange ear allows us to easily recognise him and distinguish
him from the other robots in the movie.
And secondly, Chappie’s ears also gave the movie’s animators the ability to show us
what Chappie was feeling by placing his ears in different positions to reveal different
expressions.
In addition to visual effects, physical robots were ALSO used during filming.
Prop company WETA Workshop built 11 practical dummies of the movie’s robotic police force,
and individualised them by swapping out different number plates and replacing panels with varying
signs of aging.
As for the movie’s star robot, there were three Chappie skeletons in total, and there
were eight sets of panels which could be swapped out to show each stage of wear and tear that
Chappie goes through during the film.
Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser, from the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord, star
in Chappie as former musicians who’ve had to turn to crime to survive.
Director Neill Blomkamp encouraged Ninja and Yo-Landi to bring a lot of their own personalities
to their roles.
But he also asked Yo-Landi to show a softer, more maternal side towards Chappie.
So, Ninja suggested that Yo-Landi speak to Chappie in the same cute, high-pitched voice
she uses talking to her dog.
Because Chappie features a lot of action, the stunt team asked the movie’s art department
to build mini-sets to scale which they used to help plan complicated action sequences.
For example, the movie’s opening scene was a particular challenge as it involved several
helicopters, gunfire, jumping through windows, vans getting flipped over and much more!
Where possible, stunts were done for real, rather than using visual effects.
For example, there’s a bike flip where a droid knocks the rider off a bike which carries
on spinning.
To do this, the stunt team put cables on both the performer and the bike, so the stuntman
came off the bike while it carried on spinning.
Although the movie’s set in the South African city of Johannesburg, a number of the costumes
have a more American look.
For instance, Yankie, who’s part of the gangster trio with Ninja and Yo-Landi, dresses
in a sort of LA gangster style.
In contrast to this, gangster boss Hippo’s look is very South African, very Johannesburg.
Gabby De Gersigny, who styled all of Ninja and Yo-Landi’s music videos, also styled
the rap duo for Chappie.
And according to the movie’s costume designer, the look of Dev Patel’s character was influenced
by the old-fashioned conservative styling of Kempton Park, near Johannesburg, where
many people work in the defence industry.
Well there you have it, 8 things you probably didn't know about Chappie!
Now, tell me, what’s your favourite robot movie?
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!