Second Unit photography is usually the preserve of up and comers getting experience shooting small bits of movies the main director doesn’t need to handle, or specialists in action or special effects filmmaker. However The Hunger Games has got somebody a little bit more unusual to work on its Second Unit – Steven Soderbergh.
Yep, the director of Erin Brockovich, The Limey and Ocean’s Eleven is handling some of the Second Unit work on the adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ young adult novel. It’s not known if there are certain scenes main director Gary Ross felt needed Soderbergh’s touch (the movie is shooting extremely fast, something Soderbergh is known to be a master at), but the two have been friends for a long time, and Steven is also close to the movie’s production designer.
It does mean you have the slightly odd situation of an Oscar and Palm d’Or winning director playing second fiddle to a helmer whose highest profile award was a Razzie for the uncredited work he did on the screenplay for The Flintstones. But to be fair, Ross was Oscar nominated for Seabiscuit, Dave and Big, so he’s not exactly a low rent figure.
And maybe this will be Soderbergh’s future. He keeps threatening to retire after he finishes the movies he’s working on at the moment (including Magic Mike, Liberace and The Man From UNCLE), so perhaps he sees his future in the world of Second Unit photography. Popping in to direct a few scenes and pick up a paycheque, before disappearing off again. (Source: The Playlist)