Development and writing In 2006, screenwriter-producer
Rick Jaffa was searching for a script idea. As Jaffa searched a newspaper articles
clipping, one about
pet primates that become troublesome to their owners and not adapted well to the human environment intrigued him. As Jaffa eventually realized it fit the
Planet of the Apes series, he called his wife and screenwriting partner
Amanda Silver to express his ideas of such a chimpanzee eventually starting the ape revolution, and then the couple started developing the character of
Caesar. Jaffa indicated that "it's a reinvention" and if he had to pick between calling it a prequel or a
reboot, he would say it is a reboot. He went on to say that "we tried really hard to create a story that would stand on its own and yet also pay homage and honor the movies that came before us." Jaffa and Silver then wrote a script and sold it to
20th Century Fox, distributors of the
Apes film series. The script added other elements which the couple had researched, such as genetic engineering. Several tributes to specific scenes, characters, and cast and crew from the previous
Apes film series were added in the script. In particular, Caesar's treatment at the primate sanctuary parallels
Taylor's treatment as a captive in the original film.
Kathryn Bigelow,
Robert Rodriguez, and
Tomas Alfredson were all offered to direct the film, but all of them rejected it. Director
Rupert Wyatt commented on the originality of the plot, saying, "This is part of the mythology and it should be seen as that. It's not a continuation of the other films; it's an original story. It does satisfy the people who enjoy those films. The point of this film is to achieve that and to bring that fan base into this film exactly like
Batman Begins."
Mark Bomback and
Scott Frank did uncredited rewrites of the script.
Filming Filming began on July 27, 2010, in
Vancouver, British Columbia. Filming also happened in San Francisco, California (the primary setting of the film),
Visual effects As the apes in
Rise were meant to be real, the producers decided not to use actors in suits. After considering real apes, instead
Weta Digital created the apes digitally in almost every case through
motion capture. Almost 1,500 visual effects shots were previsualized. Advances in the technology allowed the use of performance capture in an exterior environment, affording the film-makers the freedom to shoot much of the film on location with other actors, as opposed to the confines of a soundstage. The main breakthrough was a camera that enabled viewing the motion capture dots in daylight, employed mostly for the Golden Gate Bridge battle. A maximum of six actors could have their movements captured, with larger ape crowds using fully digital animals animated using Weta's move library. The
Golden Gate Bridge set used both a physical set which was extended digitally, and a fully computer-generated model of the bridge that also included the ocean and nearby hills. After shooting the actors playing humans interacting with others wearing the motion capture suits, a clean plate was shot with actors for extra reference. Actor-stuntman
Terry Notary guided the actors on realistic ape movement, while Weta studied the chimps in the
Wellington Zoo for reference. The digital apes also received detailed models with skeletons, muscles and nerve tissue layers for accurate animation. Cast models of apes' heads and limbs helped the texture department replicate skin details such as wrinkles and pores. Given the difference between human and chimpanzee facial muscles, the animators tweaked the performance through a new facial muscle system adding dynamics, ballistics, and
secondary motion. As the silent performance required expressive eyes, a new eye model was made to depict both greater accuracy in muscle movement in and around the eyes, and also tears,
pupil dilation, and light refraction. While
Andy Serkis was the primary performer for Caesar, as the effects team considered that at times "Andy overcame the character," other motion capture team actors were also used, especially
Devyn Dalton, whose height matched that of a chimpanzee. Along with that, they used Notary to play Caesar in stunt-filled scenes such as the Golden Gate Bridge scene.
Music The score for the film was composed by
Patrick Doyle, performed by the
Hollywood Studio Symphony and conducted by
James Shearman. The main concern was to have the music help progress the plot in the scenes without dialogue, for instance, conveying the emotions of Caesar's relationships with Will and Charles. To turn the score into a "driving force that keeps audiences paying attention," Doyle employed an African-American chorus and focused on percussion and "low and deep" orchestra sounds. Doyle collaborated closely with the sound department to make the music complement the sound effects, including writing a recurring theme based on their recording of a chimpanzee. ==Reception==