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Rocky IV was shot at practical locations in Canada, Wyoming and
Nevada, and in areas around Los Angeles. Production was also done at MGM
studios. The Creed fight was filmed in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Hotel.
The battle between Rocky and the Russian is set in the U.S.S.R. and was
filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. Cinematographer Bill Butler covered
the fight with eight cameras. Three were handheld at ringside and passed
off as news cameras in the film. The other five cameras were approximately
30 to 40 feet back from the action with 250 mm lenses, which provided a
capability for zeroing-in from just about any point of view. "Most of the
light came from overhead fixtures, and it was hot and glaring, just the way
the audience knows that it looks in a real fight," Butler explains. "No one
complains about heat in this kind of a sequence. They want to sweat, and
the hot lights help to keep them warm." At first, literally thousands of
people jammed the arenas in Las Vegas and Vancouver, filling every seat
during the first days of filming. "The crowds were marvelously responsive
at both fights," says Butler. "There were no cues. They just acted as
though they were at a real fight." But as filming continued, and the
novelty wore thin, the crowds also thinned. This presented no problem since
the illusion was created during the filming of the first rounds, and the
full crowd is never seen later. Strategy for shooting the Las Vegas fight,
which was staged at the MGM Grand Hotel, was pretty much the same except
that the fight was considerably shorter, and only five cameras were used.
Both fights were painstakingly choreographed, just like a ballet. Every
punch and reaction was carefully planned and rehearsed. "We filmed the
fights sequentially," says Butler, "though, of course, we had to work in
comparatively short takes." As he did throughout the film, Stallone had
videotapes on three of the cameras during the fight scenes, and there were
separate feeds to tape recorders. He didn't wait for dailies to see if he
was satisfied with each day's shooting. He generally looked at the video on
the spot, and if he didn't see what he wanted, they shot more. This
approach has its detractors, since it can be time-consuming and affect the
pace of production. Butler believed that the fight scenes would stand up
with any, and as he pointed out, Rocky IV finished shooting ahead of
time and under budget. Most of the rest of Rocky IV was shot with
two cameras, and Stallone always had a videotape on both. Multiple cameras
improved coverage, gave the editor more to work with and saved time. The
two big fights were probably the biggest photographic challenge, but there
was also the problem of snow. "We were shooting in Jackson Hole and
Vancouver because of the snow," says Butler. "Obviously, our job was to
come away with beautiful snow sequences. We wanted the audience to feel
cold." Nature cooperated by providing a major storm for the crew to shoot
in. "You can never duplicate a real snowstorm on a back lot," said Butler.
Other notes from the production:
Since all eight cameras (five at Las Vegas) were rolling from slate to
cut, Stallone and editor Don Zimmerman, who also worked on Rocky
III, had a tremendous amount of footage to work with during post
production.
When Rocky tells the Russian crowd,"That's better than 20 million
people killing each other," the ring announcer translates it into Russian
as "That's better than 20 million dollars."
The big fight between Rocky and Drago was filmed at an arena in
Vancouver for a number of reasons, among the biggest being that this is
genuinely cold country. People who came to see the filming were dressed
appropriately, which aided the illusion of being in Russia.
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