Question: In the last shot of the knight waving goodbye to the Joneses, is it just me or has the actor been swapped out with a dummy?
Phaneron
9th Aug 2020
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
9th Aug 2020
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Question: Is the Canyon of the Crescent Moon a real place, or was the shot of the canyon as seen from Donovan's binoculars just a place created for the film?
Chosen answer: The Canyon of the Crescent Moon is fictional, but based on the real entrance to the Treasury (Al Khazna). The Bab as-Sīq is the wide valley leading to the Sīq, the narrow gorge entry.
19th Aug 2019
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Question: Regarding the flipped shot early in the film when Indy has a bloody face, is there any practical reason for this (or for any movie that flips shots for that matter)? This isn't like some ordinary continuity error that the director, script supervisor and editors overlook. This is something that has to be done deliberately in the editing process.
Answer: Usually it is an issue of continuity. If two people are talking to each other, one should be on left side of the screen looking screen right and the other person on the right side looking screen left. Otherwise the cuts will be confusing. Sometimes a mistake is made when setting up a shot. Sometimes something was cut from the scene and there is no acceptable shot to cover it, so they have to modify a shot that is close.
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Answer: It is the real actor and not a robotic dummy. He moves a bit slowly and deliberately, apparently for effect, but it's a real person.
raywest ★
Just to be clear, I'm not referring to when we see the knight raise his hand to wave goodbye to them, but rather right after Indy says "Please Dad," and he and Henry begin to flee the collapsing temple, you can see the knight in the background with his arm raised and he looks rather stiff. You can see it at around 2:22 of this clip: https://youtu.be/PAfZ7V2VyD8.
Phaneron ★
I took a closer look. There is the shot where the knight raises his hand and you can see him moving. It then cuts to Indy and Henry, then a cut back to the knight where it briefly looks like it could be a mannequin, then there is another cut and back to the knight again and this time it's definitely the live actor. So yes, for that brief long shot, I think it could be a dummy. This may have been for the purpose of efficiency in the filming, it being easier to use a stationary prop for doing multiple takes, rather than the live actor just standing there. Sometimes they do what is called "pick up" shots, where, post-production, a part of a scene or close-ups are re-shot or added weeks or months later, and it would just be easier to use mannequin rather than recall the actor.
raywest ★
But he does move, so most likely a real person.
lionhead