The production designer of The Matrix Resurrections reveals why San Francisco served as the primary location for the world of the Matrix in the film. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss once again reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity, respectively. Lana Wachowski returns to the director's chair with Jada Pinkett Smith also returning to the cast from previous Matrix films as Niobe. New additions to the cast include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, to name a few.
The Matrix Resurrections is the fourth film in the Matrix franchise and serves as a sequel to the original trilogy which concluded with 2003's The Matrix Revolutions. The story of the film is set in San Francisco 60 years after the events of the third film and follows Neo living a seemingly ordinary life as Thomas Anderson when a new iteration of Morpheus reaches out to him to reopen his mind to the Matrix and its possibilities by offering him the red pill. After multiple delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the film was finally released theatrically on December 22, 2021.
While speaking to SlashFilm about his work on The Matrix Resurrections, production designer Peter Walpole revealed why San Francisco was used as the main location for the new-look world of the Matrix. He said that the goal for the crew was to make the setting of the film look "contemporary." He mentioned that director Lana Wachowski wanted the film to be "based into the heart" of where the story takes place, bringing certain elements of San Francisco into play, like its "architecture," "light," and the remarkable movement of the "San Francisco fog," to create the colorful atmosphere of the Matrix in the latest film. Check out what Walpole had to say below:
"I think that could go hand in hand with my feeling of contemporary. We started the conceptual design in San Francisco, right in the middle of The Financial District, collaborating as a team. And Lana wanted for us all to be based in to the heart of where the story's going to start and take place. Taking that inspiration from San Francisco, and the architecture, and the light, and the extraordinary movement of the San Francisco fog, that became the Matrix."
Walpole also revealed that Wachowski took inspiration from the visual style of her own globetrotting Netflix series Sense8 and "transformed" it to create the "advanced" look for The Matrix Resurrections. Filming Matrix 4 in a new location marked a major change for the series as the original trilogy was primarily shot in Australia and other parts of California. With the latest installment taking place 60 years after The Matrix Revolutions, it makes sense as to why a new city was chosen as the base of a revamped Matrix for Resurrections, with modern-day San Francisco proving to be a perfect choice.
Peter Walpole is no stranger to working with Lana Wachowski, having collaborated with her and Lily Wachowski as a set decorator on numerous projects over the last 15 years that include 2005's V for Vendetta, 2008's Speed Racer, 2012's Cloud Atlas, 2015's Jupiter Ascending, and the two-hour series finale of the above-mentioned Sense8. His contributions ultimately earned him a role as the chief production designer in The Matrix Resurrections, which many would argue was the right decision as he makes full use of the Golden City's natural landscape to help create a visually distinct look.
Source: SlashFilm
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