I watched two behind the scenes videos of Gary Ross's The Hunger Games. One about the more general behind the scenes challenges and other about the training that the actors had to go through to be a part of this movie. One of the biggest takeaways from the first video was that the actors on this set really became a family which is very uncommon. They didn't have a lot of drama between them which made shooting a lot easier.

 

Another thing that I learned about was the benefits and challenges of shooting on set. They shot in North Carolina during the summer months which means that is was very hot during this time. The shooting was very weather dependent and there could be very long hours on set. They ran into a problem a few times with turkeys entering into the set when they were trying to convey that there wasn't a lot of food left over. This happened a few days in a row and ruined a few shots. Also, it was sometimes hard to get the exact shot they wanted because of the set. In general, the actors liked shooting on site instead of in front of a green screen because it made it easier to get into character and there didn't need to be as much improve with props and such. However, they had to spend months away from family and friends during this shooting. There was little outside communication because there was no cell service here. But, they liked to be on set and they felt like it was very rewarding in the end.

 

Because The Hunger Games has so many fighting scenes, the actors had to be very physically fit and trained to "fight." Most of the actors did their own stunts which were a safety hazard to some degree but they felt it would make the movie better. Josh Hutcherson, who played Peta Mellark, had to put on 15 lbs. of muscle in four weeks before shooting started. Then, the actors needed to go through more interval training and weapon training. Many of the weapons that they used were more or less real and could actually seriously injure someone. There were three versions of each weapon: a real one, a rubbery one, and a very floppy rubbery one. People had to be very carefully trained with the weapons so that no one got injured. 

 

Many of the extras had to have very elaborate makeup which took a long time for the makeup artists to complete. All the people that were in the introduction for the all of the tributes each had to have their own make up each time they filmed. They also had to make sure that the makeup was exactly the same each day they shot that scene. The elaborate costumes that were used could be very heavy. For example, one of the dresses that Effie Trinket wore was twenty-five pounds. Plus she had to wear heels and very elaborate makeup.