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Download Production Notes in original PDF format (right click "save as") If unavailable this link will not work Production notes, photos and promotional video © 2006 Touchstone Pictures.
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ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS:

1. PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Everyone has experienced the unsettling mystery of déjà vu – that flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you’ve known all your life or recognize a place even though you’ve never been there before. But what if these strange, spooky feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to an unfolding future?...

2. DÉJÀ VU : THE STORY BEGINS
The spine-tingling sensation of déjà vu has mystified humankind for centuries. The feeling
hits at the strangest moments – when we fall instantly and madly in love with a total stranger, when
we arrive at a brand new place we know like the back of our hand....

3. THE CAST OF DEJA VU
From the beginning, Jerry Bruckheimer knew exactly who he wanted to cast in DÉJÀ VU’s lead role of ATF agent Doug Carlin – the tough-minded investigator who is forced to look in wildly unexpected directions for the answers to a heartbreaking crime....

4. AN EXPLOSIVE CAREER: DENZEL WASHINGTON TRAINS AS AN ATF AGENT
To keep the emphasis on realistic action at the core of DEJA VU, Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott brought in a number of consultants from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the agency that in real-life is charged with the investigation of all federal bombings – including such infamous events as the tragic explosion of the Alfred E. Murrah building in Oklahoma City and the 1993 car bombing of the World Trade Center....

5. THE MYSTERY OF DÉJÀ VU: WHAT DO WE KNOW?
While the action elements of DÉJÀ VU are all about realism, the unconventional underpinning of the thriller is an inquiry into just what the feeling of déjà vu really is – and what it might reveal about the workings of the universe...

6. THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE NEW ORLEANS: THE PRODUCTION OF DEJA VU
Production of DÉJÀ VU was set to begin in Fall of 2005 amidst the watery beauty and inimitably soulful atmosphere of New Orleans. But in August of 2005, the unprecedented power of Hurricane Katrina struck, devastating the city and rocking the nation. While recovery efforts began, the film was put on indefinite hold....

7. CHASES THROUGH TIME: CREATING DÉJÀ VU’S INVENTIVE ACTION SEQUENCES
Beginning with the ferry explosion, the tension in DÉJÀ VU builds on both a psychological level and a physical level. As the story crescendos, so too does the action, with innovative chase scenes that not only travel the roads – but also travel through time....

8. SECRETS OF SURVEILLANCE : CREATING THE TIME WINDOW LAB
Doug Carlin’s search to understand what happened at the moment the ferry bomb exploded and what it has to do with his past and future ultimately takes him to one of DÉJÀ VU’s most intriguing locations: the secret time window lab in which Doug can view surveillance footage of past events....

9. HIGH SPEED AND HIGH DEFINITION: THE VISUAL DESIGN OF DEJA VU
The look of DÉJÀ VU is as innovative as its storyline. Says Jerry Bruckheimer, “Tony Scott’s films have a signature look with fast cuts and unusual camera angles. In DÉJÀ VU, he uses many unique visual techniques to enhance the storytelling.”....

SECRETS OF SURVEILLANCE : CREATING THE TIME WINDOW LAB

deja-vu-004.jpg (7 K)Doug Carlin’s search to understand what happened at the moment the ferry bomb exploded and what it has to do with his past and future ultimately takes him to one of DÉJÀ VU’s most intriguing locations: the secret time window lab in which Doug can view surveillance footage of past events.

The lab was built on a stage in Los Angeles under the aegis of production designer Chris Seagers, who was given a distinct mission from Tony Scott: to give the lab a raw-edged, high-tech feel in which everything was digital and state-of-the art and yet cables, wires and ducts were exposed. Says Seagers, “Tony wanted it to feel like the lab was a work in progress, that everyday the scientists and Secret Service would come in and hack away at trial and error to improve it. Plus, he wanted the feeling that these people spend their entire day working intensely in the Lab, so there is also a chaos to this very tight, claustrophobic space.”

deja-vu-019.jpg (110 K)The whole concept of the time window lab reflects a new world in which visual surveillance is increasingly used to watch over human traffic at airports, gas stations, ATM’s, stores, offices and on freeways, as well as to reconstruct criminal activity. Indeed, prior to Katrina, New Orleans already had in place a surveillance system with six satellite cameras at various locations, though these were destroyed during the storm. Surveillance also came to fore in the story of the recent London Underground bombings, as the culprits were apprehended using clues provided by the cameras set up in the underground system.

deja-vu-006.jpg (227 K)Thus, at the center of the lab’s design is the main surveillance screen, made up of 72 tiles, so that an image at any given time can be blown up from one foot to 20 larger-than-life feet. A special video unit crew was assigned the task of capturing every visual that appears on the tiles. Ultimately, over 500 hours of footage were shot that would be edited and projected in this time window lab set.


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