The production of a film tells two different stories - the one that is being directed in front of the camera, and the one taking place on set behind the camera.
Many weird and wonderful things have happened on the sets of films over the decades. From technical glitches to behind the scenes anecdotes, BBC Bitesize explores a handful of memorable off-screen moments.
Malfunction-saurus rex
The American filmmaker Steven Spielberg is no stranger to The making and operating of life-like robotics and electronics, to make them seem alive., with both Jaws (1975) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) making use of life-like puppets. So when it came to directing Jurassic Park (1993) he wanted to use as many practical effects as possible.
One of the film’s most notable figures is Rexy, the animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex, which measured 20ft (6m) tall and 40ft (12m) long and weighed between 9,000 to 12,000 pounds (4082 kg to 5443 kg).
According to crew the realistic dinosaur took on a life of its own when it would occasionally malfunction during filming.
“The T. Rex went into the heebie-jeebies sometimes,” Kathleen Kennedy, the film’s producer, later recalled. “We’d be eating lunch, and all of a sudden a T. Rex would come alive.”
The team eventually realised that the pouring rain during filming would soak into the animatronics' latex skin and into the electronics, causing the dinosaur to shake uncontrollably.
This meant that T-Rex had to be hand-dried with towels and blow dryers in between takes.
But luckily, they were able to get it to work long enough to perfect each of the dinosaur’s nine minutes worth of scenes.
Sean Bean’s fear of flying
Filming the first instalment of the Lord of the Rings franchise, The Fellowship of the Ring, required a lot of on-location shooting instead of using a studio.
This meant getting to and from filming locations in New Zealand’s mountainous terrain, but this was not the case for actor Sean Bean who had a fear of flying.
Instead, Bean, who played the character Boromir, decided he would get up early and walk to the set on foot while in character.
Describing the experience, director Peter Jackson explained, “Our day would begin with everybody flying in on helicopters. As we flew over at 7.30am in the morning, we’d look down and there’d be this tiny black speck climbing the cliff. […] It was Sean dressed up as Boromir, clambering up this mountainside all by himself to get to the location.”
Ironically, four years later, Bean would play the role of airplane pilot Captain Marcus Rich in the psychological thriller Flightplan.
Mythical mishaps in Star Wars
During the filming of Star Wars Return of the Jedi (1982), measures were put in place to protect British actor Peter Mayhew, the 7ft 3in (2.21m) tall actor who played Chewbacca.
Dressed in his signature Wookiee suit, questions about Mayhew’s furry appearance arose while shooting on location in Del Norte County in California, when some of the crew became concerned that Mayhew might be mistaken for The name given to a large hairy ape-like creature which is said to have been seen in forests in North America. .
“It was known as ‘Bigfoot County’. So I got strict instructions not to wander off in costume.” Mayhew later said.
Not only that, but when he had to walk around in the forest, he was always accompanied by crew who wore colourful vests to make sure that the Wookiee actor wasn’t confused for the mythical creature.
Mayhew starred in five films in the Star Wars series and was credited as a ‘Chewbacca consultant’ for another.
Not so delicious chocolate river
Released in 1971, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has inspired a number of remakes, musicals and even memes over the years.
In an interview with Polygon for the film’s 50th anniversary, the cast took a trip down memory lane. Michael Bollner, who played Augustus Gloop, recalled how the iconic chocolate river wasn’t the stuff of dreams, in a scene where he had to fall into it.
“It was actually not chocolate. It was terribly cold. It was stinky water.”
The river, which was just ten centimetres deep, had been set up for nearly three weeks before the shoot.
Peter Gardner Ostrum, who starred in his one and only film role as Charlie Bucket told interviewers, “When I saw Michael do take after take after take of falling in the cold, dirty river, I just thought, “I’m glad that’s him and not me!”
In the 2005 film, director Tim Burton wanted to use liquid instead of computer-generated imagery. He decided to bring the chocolate river to life by using 1.25 million litres of artificial chocolate.
This article was published in February 2025
Six hit movie and TV shows that were actually spin-offs
Grab your popcorn and BBC Bitesize as we take a look at some of the hit movies and TV shows that were actually spin-offs.
From cute robots to dangerous machines – Six movies that explore AI
Think AI is something new? Films have been considering the impacts and potential of AI for nearly 100 years. BBC Bitesize takes a look at some of those films.
Seven everyday words and phrases that were popularised by movies or TV
From ''the dark side' to 'my bad', BBC Bitesize takes a look at the films and TV shows that helped to popularise words and sayings
