Random Bohemian Rhapsody Recreated Queen's Legendary Live Aid Performanc (11 items)

• 

  (#7) Rami Malek And Other Cast Members Worked With A Movement Coach

  Before filming the Live Aid scene, Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazzello rehearsed for six weeks. They worked with movement coach Polly Bennett and studied YouTube videos of the concert to master the mannerisms of their musical counterparts. 

  Malek and Bennett dove deeper into Mercury's life and mannerisms, studying his childhood, his physicality, and even his major influences like Aretha Franklin and Liza Minelli. Bennett explained, "[Freddie] was a long-distance runner at school and a boxer... this gives us a reason why Freddie ran across the stage and punched the air, and [allows me to explain to] Rami: ‘This is why that character moves the way that he does.’"
• 

  (#2) Filmmakers Built A Stage That Looked Exactly Like Wembley Stadium Circa 1985

  When the makers of Bohemian Rhapsody considered their options for representing Wembley Stadium, they knew the actual stadium wasn't an option. In 1985, Wembley Stadium included two large towers that were destroyed during the venue's redesign in 2003. Filmmakers also needed access to the site for multiple weeks, which Wembley's schedule wouldn't allow.

  With these restrictions in mind, location scouts looked around and settled on Bovingdon Airfield northwest of London for the site of their own Wembley Stadium. They wanted a location near London but large enough to accommodate their needs.

  When they started building the Wembley Stadium set used in Bohemian Rhapsody, they consulted pictures from the day of the Live Aid. Meticulous detail went into building the stage to scale. Cameras on mounts flew through the air as spectators watched the cast perform. CGI was later used to make it look like there were more than 70,000 screaming fans enjoying the show, just as they had in July 1985.
• 

  (#11) A Version Of The Entire Live Aid Set Will Appear In The Home Release Extras

  The cast of Bohemian Rhapsody recreated the entire Queen performance from Live Aid, but that's not what viewers see in the theatrical cut of the film. The full Live Aid performance included "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga," "Hammer to Fall," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Will Rock You," and "We Are the Champions." The abbreviated version of Live Aid in Bohemian Rhapsody only keeps "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in its entirety.

  The full performance will appear on the DVD, Blu-ray, and digital versions of the film upon its release to home audiences. 
• 

  (#8) The Sequence Was Intentionally Chosen To End The Movie On A Positive Note

  Queen's Live Aid performance was placed at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody to send viewers out into the world on a positive note. Producer Graham King stated that the sequence was "so important to the story, because their performance grabbed people’s attention around the world." Queen's performance cemented the success of Live Aid as the band "really galvanized a global audience in a way no one else had."

  Giving audiences the Live Aid experience, according to King, was meant to "uplift audiences, rather than have them leave feeling depressed or emotional about Freddie [Mercury] and what he went through in his personal life... it's a real celebration."
• 

  (#4) Rami Malek Practiced Singing With A Prosthetic Mouthpiece

  To accurately represent Freddie Mercury, Rami Malek had to adopt his physical characteristics. Malek donned fake teeth, which he carried around with him in a plastic container during shooting. He also practiced singing with them every night.

  For Malek, it was important not only to closely resemble Mercury singing, but also to embrace the vulnerabilities of Mercury's unique appearance. For the Live Aid scene, Malek "watched the way his lips moved while he was singing... and everything that’s happening in his throat and his vocal cords.” By combining practice and observation, Malek mastered Mercury's mannerisms.
• 

  (#6) Step-By-Step Choreography Couldn't Do Queen's Performance Justice

  As he transformed into Freddie Mercury, Rami Malek threw himself into the life, style, and eccentricities of the famed singer. Malek soon realized that trying to choreograph his movements on stage didn't work. As Malek put it:

  I needed... to capture his spontaneity. The man's not choreographed. Every time he steps out onto a stage, no one knows what he's going to do, and that's what I knew I needed to tether myself to. In order to do that, I realized, I can't work with a choreographer, I need someone to help me with movement, someone to help me discover the impetus for why he does what he does. Why every flick of the wrist occurs with him in such an elegant, sometimes dainty and sometimes aggressive way, depending on his mood. I just had to find his humanity - what his conflicts were - and discover all the sides of him, because I knew there was more to Freddie Mercury than a man who holds an audience in the palm of his hand. But I had to get that down as well.

  Mercury's Live Aid performance exemplified his ability to captivate an audience. As a result, the makers of Bohemian Rhapsody focused on studying Mercury's movements and embodying his spirit as much as simply recreating the event.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking