The stellar cast of the Hunger Games reunites for the final time as Katniss makes a last
stand against President Snow in the Mockingjay Part 2.
I'm Jan and this is 20 things you probably didn't know about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
movies.
For production designer Philip Messina, the most complicated set to create was the Capitol's
tunnels, which were about five-foot high, making it a tough location for both cast and
crew, who also had real fire and water, cold, complex fight sequences, and 20-lbs of waterlogged
gear to deal with during those scenes.
In fact, the action in those scenes was so intricate that, before filming began, the
entire thing was storyboarded and choreographed. And filming took place over the course of
three weeks on a soundstage in Atlanta.
Oh, and those mutts Katniss and co do battle with were actually brought to life thanks
to a mix of stuntmen on set and CGI.
The assault by lizard mutts wasn't just a terrifying moment for the movie's characters;
it also got pretty scary for actor Wes Chatham, who plays cameraman Castor who films District
13's propos with his brother Pollux and director Cressida. While filming a scene where one
of the mutts attacked his character, Chatham nearly drowned as a stunt performer accidentally
held him under water.
A number of other actors also sustained injuries during the tunnel sequence. Liam Hemsworth,
who plays Gale, hurt his back after being thrown against a wall and badly bruised his
hips after rolling over steel grates for multiple takes. While those same grates led to Josh
Hutcherson, who plays Peeta, fracturing his knee.
Actor Sam Claflin loved having the chance to wield Finnick's trident against those monstrous
mutts, and before filming Part 2, he spent time practising with broomsticks to keep up
his skills!
And although Claflin found Mockingjay Part 2 the most physically demanding of The Hunger
Games movies, he says his biggest challenge was actually the dance scene at Finnick's
wedding to Annie Cresta as he absolutely hates dancing!
The map projected by the holo Katniss and her team use to avoid traps in the Capitol
is based in part on the layout of France's capital city, Paris, where filming for some
scenes in the Mockingjay movies took place.
For example, the scene where a pod releases a deluge of black oil on Katniss and her team
was filmed in Les Espaces D'Abraxas, a post-modern apartment complex in the Parisian suburbs.
And for many of the scenes set in President Snow's mansion in the Capitol, including his
office, the filmmakers used a mansion not far from Paris called the Château de Voisins.
Speaking of Snow's office, the rug in that room was woven in China especially for the
production and measured 45 feet.
Remember the podium we saw President Snow standing at in The Hunger Games movies? Well,
the filmmakers actually destroyed that prop after each film, only to rebuild it for the
next one! Oh, and by the way, it may look pretty sturdy on screen, but in reality it's
made from cheap, lightweight materials like plywood and Styrofoam!
For the look of Katniss's Mockingjay outfit, costume designers Kurt and Bart drew on Japanese
archery gear, specifically their asymmetrical breastplates, and the mockingjay bird itself
provided inspiration for the outfit's colour.
Because Jennifer Lawrence wears the outfit in a number of different scenes, its function
and flexibility were as important as how it looked. So, at the first costume fitting,
she ran around with her bow and arrow so Kurt & Bart could work out where and how the outfit
needed altering.
For example, they built an arm guard into the costume on Lawrence's shooting arm when
they realised that the bow string was hitting her forearm whenever she shot an arrow.
When creating costumes for District 13's inhabitants, designers Kurt and Bart looked to World War
Two London for ideas. They especially kept in mind the wartime restrictions placed on
the garment industry to save fabric, for example, the number of buttons on clothes and the amount
of pleats in dresses.
For Effie Trinket's distinct take on District 13's clothing, costume designers Kurt and
Bart were inspired by their experience of New York's club scene in the late 1980s and
the often eccentric fashion of American socialite Edith Bouvier Beale, who was known as Little
Edie and featured in the 1975 documentary film Grey Gardens.
By the way, the Mockingjay movies are not the first time costume designers Kurt & Bart
have worked with director Francis Lawrence. They also worked with him in 2001 on the music
video for Brittany Spears's song "I'm A Slave 4 U".
After taking care of Elizabeth Banks' make-up for the first two films in the franchise,
Make-up Designer Ve Neill decided to place Effie Trinket's appearance in the hands of
her colleague Nikoletta Skarlatos to ensure a fresh perspective and a suitably different
look for the ever-changing Effie in the final two movies.
Transforming actress Jena Malone into Johanna took 3 hours in the make-up chair each day,
which included putting on a bald cap, doing flesh toning and prosthetic work around her
neck, and adding cuts and bruises.
Jennifer Lawrence's young nephews, Bear and Theodore Lawrence, play Katniss and Peeta's
children in the epilogue scene in Mockingjay Part 2. Bear is the child with Josh Hutcherson,
while Theodore, who was just nine months old when the movie was shot, is in Jennifer Lawrence's
arms.
Now, which do YOU think was the best film in the quadrilogy and why?
And would you like to the Hunger Games franchise continue in some way? If so, what would you
like to see? Tell me in the comments below!
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My next videos will be Things You (Probably) Didn't know About Ant-Man and Things You (Probably)
Didn't know About Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!