Film-making lessons from the second instalment of the sci-fi epic.
It’s interesting that director Denis Villeneuve, with his production and release cycle of his Dune films as instalments, finds himself in a situation not unlike author Frank Herbert…
Frank Herbert, author of DUNE, on the nature of power.
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) November 8, 2024
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… whom Villeneuve describes as being “disappointed” with the misinterpretation of his first book, which informed his writing of the second (via Screen Rant):
Some of the conversation surrounding Dune: Part One (2021) critiques it as yet another white saviour story, and how deeply out-of-touch a thing that is for a film in the 21st Century to be. While I haven’t read the books, I gather that Dune is very much not that kind of story (an impression I managed to glean from some of the same online spaces where those misreadings were being thrown around, so… how others missed that, I don’t know). In any case, as Villeneuve continues to explain, that discourse informed the director’s choice to make the implicit explicit in Dune: Part Two – particularly via the character of Chani (Zendaya):
Through Chani’s eyes, we understand the devastating consequences of Paul’s choices. Watch Director Denis Villeneuve break down how he leveraged her perspective to build the emotion and stakes in the third act of #DuneMovie. pic.twitter.com/f9JbLshZ2Q
— DUNE (@dunemovie) January 2, 2025
Pre-Production
Storyboarding Dune: Part Two with Denis Villeneuve (via Shot, Drawn & Cut):
The Sandworm Scene
Villeneuve breaks down the sandworm scene (via Vanity Fair):
A detailed editing master class in 25 minutes. Dune: Part Two editor Joe Walker discusses how creating contrast in pacing, cutting without sound, designing sound before editing has even begun, and using storyboards to pre-edit, all figured into his editing of the sandworm sequence (via The Editing Podcast):
Thomas Flight elaborates on the visual references and sound design which make the sandworm scene “feel so insane”:
Cinematography
Greig Fraser and the Cinematography of Dune: Part Two (via Dolby):
How Dune: Part Two was filmed in IMAX, for release in a range of formats (via KDCloudy):
Try It Yourself
Kolari demonstrates how they recreated infrared shots from Dune: Part Two, at home:
Further Viewing
Reading the text through her lens of architecture and design, Dami Lee provides some interesting storytelling, if not sources of inspiration and legitimate context, supplemental to the world-building in Dune (clip below, full videos here and here):
Lancelloti‘s detailed analysis of how colour is used to characterise worlds, turning points, and motifs might just enrich repeat viewings of Dune: Part Two:
daane‘s beautifully motion-designed analysis reveals the depth and types of planning (as well as the serendipitous real-life eclipse during filming!) which went into Dune: Part Two‘s opening “eclipse sequence“:
A collection of breakdowns of ways that form and function work together in Dune: Part One (2021):