how did they make this? 

I agree with your assessment of most First ADs, but i must tell you that the guy in the blue shirt is the Gaffer, Peter Clarson. He is standing exactly where he should be, next to his boss, the Director of Photography. As you point out, the sun is setting and they don't have a lot of time to get the shot. He appears to be looking towards the sunset to estimate how much usable daylight they have left so the production can get the setup done- a big part of a Gaffer's job when you are trying to get a magic hour shot. Back when we shot on film, magic hour was really more like magic 15 minutes. Peter passed last year. "Gone to work God's great arc light in the sky" as we say of our departed friends in the lighting department. Although not known for his fashion sense (obviosly), he was one of the best film technicians that I had the honor to work with in my career in the industry. Working with Peter was like attending a daily master class in motion picture lighting. He had a great sense of humor and would have loved your comments about his wardrobe. If he were still with us, I would have definitely sent him a link to this video. Thank you for your compliments to the lighting & camera crew. For the scenes shot in the Carolinas and Georgia, most of the lighting crew came from Peter's adopted home of Texas. Unlike today, there wasn't much of a production crew base in that area back then. A few of the original lighting crew from those days are still working in the business. I will pass this video on to the ones that I can get in touch with. Originally from Australia, Peter Clarson was part of the first generation of Australian film technicians to become successful in the US film market. Dean Semler and Russell Boyd are two from that group as well. For those of you who would like to get into motion picture lighting and have a career in the industry, I highly recommend (if you can find it) Peter's book, "Film Crew 101: Tips, Tricks & Secrets for Success from Motion Picture Professionals" -Peter Clarson- along with the most recent edition of "The Set Lighting Technicians Handbook" -Harry C Box-

Texas Switch - because it was mainly used in old westerns by Texas stunt performers. A stunty would get shot. Do a high fall and land behind an obstruction. The main actor would be hidden behind the same obstruction and get up after the fall and come towards camera for their CU of them dying ;)

I like the fact that even the behind the scenes footage looks like it could be a genuine movie😂😂

Lewis this video was a lot of fun to watch. More comfy bonus features commentaries please!

Really nice breakdown. The 35mm film stock of the era also contributed to the look of the film too. The diffusion technique on the park bench is really nice. It gives it a timeless look. It's a pity movies don't have that look much anymore, instead of hyper-realistic, darkly lit shots etc. As other have pointed out here, the behind-the-scenes footage looks beautiful in 16mm. Great work!

I only click this fast for Lewis Potts videos

This is so interesting! Would love to see more of these

lol. when Lewis is tired of the comments (including mine) saying "where did you get this BTS footage?" "how do you find this stuff?" That's what this video is and it's great. thank you, sir

Imagine making a masterpiece like this with cameras, sound and lights with half the potential we have today and yet it is a timeless classic. It just shows, a fancy camera or lights don't matter. All that matters is the vision and sync between the director and his crew, which includes the actors.

The editing on this one was hilarious I love it

i just cant get over how good this channel is

I love this! Thank you

I still love this movie every time that I think about it.

Incredible 1st AD drip

The comment about the urgency in his voice to go again immediately. Classic. Especially when the director is breathing down your neck and for some reason only when you are losing the sun do some people want to start having a conversation between takes, thinking it's down time.

The way movies are made fills me with equal parts awe and dread at the same time. Breaks my brain 🤯

Man all the work they do for a 2 second scene 🥲 Now that's how masterpieces are made!

Lewis! your content is pure gold mate! please keep it up! Cheers from Aus

I love how the behind the scenes footage looks like a vintage style art film or something lol

Love this!

Really enjoy these dude!

Great stuff! Always great respect for the way things used to be done on film.

Monitors in the 90's we're for exposure- they were for framing and playback. The exposure was really only known to the DP until the dailies came out

Lewis, your video's are like a box of chocolates. And this one is another great analysis of a great movie by one of my favourite directors. Well done.

Love it!

Its crazy to think that while filming this the studio wanted to stop the filming because it was already soo over budget and some problems… but they all wanted to finish it and convinced them to continue, even with lying. But it was all worth it.

One Of My favourite movies, I watch this over the years, I never get tired, and it's strange that the more years goles bye, the more respect I have for these people, for their hard work!

Did not have much to comment except thanks for the videos! Its been a joy again.

Love this series. This was rad. Please keep it up!

Man I love this. I learned and I laughed - thank you

This is fantastic thank you!!

It's interesting that the texas switch in this instance wasn't necessarily used for a complex stunt (I'm assuming Tom Hanks is able to swim) but because it works better for pacing. The stunt performer only makes it to the ladder when he's already basically at the top so without it there would have been about 10 extra seconds of nothing really happening and Forrest not even being in frame.

Thanks for the breakdown brother !

Amazing how this great movie at times used four cameras for medium/close scenes, while the Cohen brothers adhere to the one camera philosophy for most of their shoots. Advantages and disadvantages for each, but in the end all that matters is what the viewer sees in the final cut on screen. I know the Cohens often times like to use wide angle lenses for tight shots, dialogue/over shoulder, so using a second camera would be problematic since the wide angle has to be much closer relatively to the actors, and you don't want the other camera to be seen of course.

Dude you gotta do more videos like this

"This guys a definitely a 1st AD if I ever seen one" I'M DEAD 🤣

The comment about the monitors made me ROFL 😂🤣 Happy I found this video 👌

Great video. Really interesting to see the parts that went into this film we all love.

I also highly recommend you watch the "Forrest Gump" episode of the Netflix series, "The Movies That Made Us" which goes a lot into the difficulties they went through to even get this made in the first place. The series as a whole is excellent. By the same people that did "The Toys That Made Us" and Disney+ series, "Behind the Attraction", both excellent.

5:51 is my fav bit.

Cool commentary, would love to see more of that, maybe even longer videos ??

Best stuff on youtube

You have the blacks and whites in your room with out a bounce and black setup automatically sitting beside the window

I like that there isn't much contrast. Its unforunate to hear that they wouldn't do it this way anymore. Where is the link to the full 25minute video?

Love that film. Great commentary

Love your content Lewis. Everything you post is entertaining and useful. I'd love to see more 16mm things as well. Would you ever consider doing a live stream where you watch a behind the scene video like this and give your first impressions as you go? Taking questions that come along the way?

Applying your advise and experimenting further has seriously been helping me find my groove - thankyou

I love your videos they are so funny and relaxing, also very interesting

Magnificent Australian sarcasm

One of the top 3 films of all time, in my book.

that rain shot kind of showed me how much effort it takes to make a movie ah

youre the only good honest film reviwer on youtube. everyone else is cringe

Nice and very interesting stuff!! One of my all time favourite movie - must have watched it...about a million and a half times... Thanks for the video

One of best movies ever made

Amazing as always Lewis!

The comments about the guy’s outfit made my day 😂

Bro - I friggin LOVE your channel

great video as always man!!!

Yo do more of this videos!!

7:06 best moment! such an encapulation of what it's like to be a director

I was cried with many scenes for this movie.

Bro yo videos are top tier 🔥🔥🔥 thanks for making content like this 👌

Good video. Thanks for the content. ❤

This is so usefull

Vietnam Rain = Ocean Creek Golf Course on Fripp Island near Beaufort, SC ....close to Savannah, GA. I saw them filming the bus stop scene on Bull Street in Savannah. It's a completely inappropriate place for a bus stop, it's almost the centre of town in a way.......if I was to place an X where the town center was before the movie, it would be around there. Later a monument was placed there.....it's near the Savannah College of Art and Design "Preston Building". Savannah is picturesque, with a large tourism industry and one of the largest, varied and most prestigious art colleges in the US.

I like this! Hey Lewis this is a interesting analysis it's informative but also funny to watch. Thanks man.

Your assessment of the lighting is mostly accurate but consider this. On modern film sets sometimes they still do use a lot of positive fill especially on light hearted movies. Negative fill frames are absolutely used for contrast and one big reason is because digital cameras don't have grain like film cameras. They don't even produce a lot of digital noise.

FIRE !!

The AD comment sent me hahahah looks like one of those 90's water cups you would get.

Hey! You should do one of these with a narrative film that didn’t have any lighting or grip department. For example a film like ‘Let Them All Talk’ starring Meryl Streep. It was shot on a Komodo, with available light. It would be cool to see a breakdown of what’s being done in camera on a film like that.

A multi-million dollar budget to create a 120+ minute psychological experience... that people will pay for.

The RU-vid channel Cinematographers on cinematography has a ton of stuff like the Forrest Gump BTS, if anybody wants to see more like this.

love this videos :) please keep going

met Gary Sinese on set once, and first thing i said was, "You got new legs".

Great video

6:20 - it's just a CRT that flickers due to the difference between its own refresh rate and the framerate of the camera filming.

Another great video Lewis! Really cool but what happened to New Zealand video & the color grading super 16mm one! Those are great! Would love to see more 16mm stuff

I've worked as an extra a few times and it's fascinating to see the filming process... I always wonder what happens to all of the raw footage, behind the scenes footage, still photos, etc. would love to be able to look through em

Love your content man!

cool breakdown thanks man :)

thats it? I WANT MORE!

4:40 thats how I dress everyday

really cool analysis and bts... would love to see more!! ..... but it does confirm to me why I choose photography! 😂 much smaller crews and sets.... unless your Annie Leibovitz

I just shot a short film last week and 5:04 gave me so much stress. xD How are they so chill?

4:50 The assistant DP is the dude I'd ask to get me some coke for sure

the outfit part🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

met gary sinese on set once, and first thing i said was, "You got new legs".

Nice jazz

Regarding the monitor looking all flickery. The video split on cameras like that is only getting light when the cameras shutter is closed. (same as the optical view finder) So when you roll they always flicker. Also this would be made worse by what im assuming is prob Betacam SP filming the BTS. And so not in sync with the CRT monitor on set.

what lens and focal length do you use for your videos ?

great video and all you know, but this 1st AD mention was just too good

Hahahah the monitor

You said "check out the 25 minute video" Which video are you referring to? Thanks

If I recall correctly the shot at 6:08 with the house in the background was CGI green screened...house added in later.

Hi Lewis could you consider doing a video about Solange’s music videos? Specifically for Almeda? The cinematography is amazing and i really wonder how and what they were shot with.

movies should connect with the audience.... does that mean it should look like what the audience has seen and will see in reality or does that mean it should look like the audience expects/wants/thinks it looks like? I love the way Zemeckis did the bench. I like that it's bright. It's like... Tom hanks' visage is the beaming sun from behind. He looks like the epic creation that he is. I think this was Zemeckis. I'm not checking right now. Cast Away and Contact were Zemeckis and Jodie Foster was in both. Zemeckis had to have done this movie.... this movie goes into contact and contact goes into cast away. It's just the story of the righteous path and the hero, the oldest story there was, but I love these three movies so much. They made me who I am. Apollo 13 was also part of the franchise but as a spinoff, not a sequel. (Like the animatrix to the rest of neo's quadrilogy.... or the fourth one to the rest of the trilogy)

Greta explanation.

so what decides how much light is needed for making that shot?

should breakdown show...Atlanta, Euphoria, ETC

I wanna see how they made the scene where Forrest runs out of his braces. I slowed the video down and I can see a small pack on Forrest's side whilest he's running..