While watching a big production film like any in The Hunger Games franchise, we often suspend disbelief and let ourselves get lost in the movie. It's necessary for fantastical stories such as this one, and when done right, makes for an incredible viewing experience. The entire franchise grossed almost $3 million worldwide, and with everything that went into the making, it was well deserved.
It's easy to forget just how much goes into the making of big scale movies. Thankfully we have plenty of behind the scenes looks into what exactly happened when the cameras weren't rolling - and sometimes even when they were. These pictures show us just what a production every single scene was. The extravagant set designs, the hours upon hours of hair, makeup, and costuming, and all the hard physical work of both the actors and crew members.
Besides that, we also get to see the real side of our favorite characters. Like Katniss ditching her signature confused and frightened look for Jennifer Lawrence's silliness, or Gale and Peeta actually getting along. If you were ever afraid of President Snow, all it takes is one behind the scenes look at Donald Sutherland standing on a podium surrounded by unimpressed crew members to quell that fear forever.
Here are 25 Behind-The Scenes-Photos That Change Everything!
"ALONE" IN THE FOREST
It’s easy to forget how much goes into the making of a movie. From the multiple camera angles to all of the technical support in the background, it’s a lot to handle. On a set of a film as big as The Hunger Games, there are countless people in and out of the set all the time.
This picture gives us a look into what Jennifer Lawrence sees during those dramatic game scenes in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. On screen it may look to us like she’s alone in the woods just trying to survive, but that’s far from the case.
We already know that Lawrence is a great actor, but seeing her get into character with all of these people around staring at her is that much more impressive.
If the slightest thing goes wrong on set it can sometimes take hours to restage and get everything just right for the cameras again. The Hunger Games franchise is a huge production that took a lot of time, effort, and money to complete. It was clearly worth it. When all was said and done, the franchise raked in $2.9 million worldwide. This makes The Hunger Games the third-highest grossing franchise based on young-adult books, after Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga.
CRESSIDA'S SHAVED HEAD
With all the advanced CGI and make-up work that goes into movies now a days, it can be difficult to tell what’s real and what’s fake. In the case of Natalie Dormer’s shaved head, that was all real. It’s not the most shocking transformation – many women have shaved their heads for a role – but Dormer is still a trooper for going all in for her character Cressida.
In fact, Dormer said she wanted the role so much that she would have shaved her entire head if they wanted her to! At the Mockingjay Part 1 premiere in London, Dormer said, “I didn’t have to in the end, I only needed to [shave] half but I would have done the whole thing [because] I wanted to be part of The Hunger Games so badly.”
Dormer admitted to being hesitant about the shave. Surprisingly, though, she ended up enjoying the challenge, saying, “When the razor came out – it was a little bit of a moment… it’s quite liberating, I would recommend it to women.”
While that may be her experience, we’re not sure everyone could pull off the half shaved head as beautifully as Dormer does. Cressida was an awesome character in the books, and fans were happy Dormer brought that same energy to the screen.
EFFIE'S HEAVY DRESS
Both Elizabeth Banks and Effie Trinket are total powerhouse women who can do it all, but everyone needs to take a breather now and then. Imagine sitting in hair and makeup for hours, squeezing into tight heels and insane dresses, and then still having to shoot a movie! The energy it must have taken Banks to pull off Effie Trinket is no small feat. Banks pulled it off with such class, even in massive outfits like this.
Here, we see Banks taking a break and letting some weight off of her feet while talking to director Francis Lawrence.
Maybe they're discussing the next scene, or maybe Banks is just saying "must be nice to wear jeans and a jacket all day, Francis!" But knowing what a hard worker Banks is, we doubt she complained much if at all about being dressed up as Effie.
In fact, Banks wanted the role so badly she emailed then director Gary Ross about the part. She told ABC, "I just sent [Ross] a little email like, 'Just so you know, I'll totally play Effie, ha ha ha!'" We're glad she did because at this point we can't picture anyone else playing our favorite Capitol fashionista.
HIJACKED PEETA AND KATNISS GETTING ALONG
One of the more disturbing moments in The Hunger Games films is in Mockingjay when Peeta is brainwashed or “hijacked” by the Capitol. After he is kidnapped, Peeta is made to believe that Katniss is the enemy. Ultimately the Capitol tries to use Peeta as a weapon against her to end the revolution. He is trained to destroy Katniss as soon as he sees her, and unfortunately Katniss learns this the hard way.
In one particularly dramatic scene, Peeta attacks Katniss while he is in a hospital room. It’s an incredibly scary and sad moment, because until this point Katniss and Peeta had always been there for each other, helping one another survive.
This is yet another example of what incredible actors The Hunger Games was blessed with. Just look at Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson laughing it up like best friends right in the midst of one of the most difficult scenes in the film. Most fans know perfectly well that Lawrence and Hutcherson are great friends, and this picture proves that is clearly the case.
In a movie filled with a lot of heavy material, it’s good to see the cast keeping the mood light and still having fun when the cameras aren’t rolling.
"F" IS FOR FRIENDS WHO HUNT PEOPLE TOGETHER
Tributes can have fun too! In a movie that is mostly about “everyone for themselves,” we rarely see the tributes interacting in a positive way. In fact, they are usually trying to out-do one another in order to survive the games. As we see in this picture, though, the tributes are the best of friends.
In this picture we have Jack Quaid as Marvel (District 1 Tribute), Alexander Ludwig as Cato (District 2 Tribute), and Dayo Okeniyi as Thresh (District 11 Tribute), along with two other unnamed Tributes.
They all got to know each other well before shooting, especially since training for the roles was in order.
Ludwig, who played Cato, admitted that he did a lot of work to prepare. "I read the book and immediately fell in love with it. I just dedicated my summer to just physically and mentally getting into the role," he said. "It’s definitely tough, but it’s at least what I thought the character demanded, so I thought it was important."
What makes the Hunger Games franchise so great is that every character really put their all into the roles. All of the tributes had to train, even the ones we lost almost immediately in the movies.
FINNICK'S NOT-SO-EPIC DIVE
Sam Claflin is definitely one of the best additions to The Hunger Games franchise when he appears in Catching Fire. Finnick a total hunk who is incredibly skilled and athletic, making him a great asset in the games. His relationship with Mags is also incredibly touching. That being said, even the most coolest among us need the help of movie magic to make everything look that much cooler.
Here we see a moment that, while probably looked great in the movies, kind of just looks like a mess. There's six people squeezed onto this half rock half platform formation, all just trying to get the perfect shot. While everything may not look as it does on screen, one thing is for sure - Claflin and the cast really did jump into that water.
A good part of Catching Fire was filmed in Hawaii - where this photo was taken - and even with Hawaii's tropical temperatures, the cast admitted to being miserable at times going in and out of the water so much. There's only so much time you can spend in the ocean in a wet suit before it becomes a pain. This is yet another example of what crazy lengths this dedicated cast and crew went to in order to do Suzanne Collin's books justice.
PEETA AND GALE ARE BESTIES
There's a lot going on in The Hunger Games movies, mostly revolving around Katniss leading a revolution against the oppressive rule of the Capitol. It's pretty dark material, but of course it wouldn't be a YA novel franchise without a love triangle. As if Katniss doesn't have enough on her plate, she also has to choose between her best friend and her partner, fellow District 12 members Gale and Peeta. Ultimately Gale (played by Liam Hemsworth) makes the decision easy for Katniss by having a part in Prim's untimely demise.
Here we see Gale and Peeta (played by Josh Huterson) actually talking and getting along! In the movie, they're not exactly enemies, but being in love with the same girl never helps a relationship. Both Peeta and Gale know that Katniss has love for both of them, and it makes for some serious tension on screen.
Sometimes on screen personas can carry over into the real world, but thankfully both Hemsworth and Hutcherson know how to separate work from play.
Just look at Hemsworth lovingly touch Hutcherson's shoulder. All is right in the world knowing that our two favorite Hunger Games men are actually the best of friends. They even shared a bottle of Scotch after the films wrapped!
DISTRICT 11 - RUE'S FAMILY
Is that Rue's Aunt along with other District 11 kids? And are they smiling? That's definitely not something we're used to seeing!
Kimberly Drummond, who played Rue's Aunt, shared this photo, along with others that she took behind the scenes. It's easy to forget that even the most minor characters end up spending days even weeks filming what looks to the audience like simple scenes.
While Drummond has a relatively minor role, it was definitely an important one. Rue is a huge part of the revolution and is one of the main reasons Katniss is motivated to stop the Capitol once and for all. While Drummond didn't have much screen time, when she did it was always incredibly dramatic and sad. She lost her 12 year old niece to the Capitol's entertainment, and her along with the rest of District 11 are mourning Rue's loss.
When Katniss and Peeta visit District 11 on their victory tour, we see yet another moment of solidarity from the citizens that makes Katniss realize what she has to do. It's good to see Drummond and the kids smiling and having fun on set - they really did a great job casting a family that looks just like Rue!
THE ARENA GOES ON FOREVER
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire had probably one of the coolest filming locations of the franchise - Hawaii. Though the water may have been cold and made for some long shooting days, the scenery is clearly worth it. To get the perfect shots, they filmed in not one, but five different locations. Filming took place in Waiehee & Heeia State Parks, Kawela Bay, Paradise Park, and Kawela Bay in Hawaii.
In a lot of interviews Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson talked about the fun they had while filming in Hawaii. From playing in the water to even peeing in it. Lawrence told Yahoo! Movies, "Anytime you have to pee you can just run right in the water. It was amazing, because the water was really warm, and Hawaii is great. I love working in the water."
It looks like the time in the water wasn't all bad!
Apparently, when Lawrence and Hutcherson weren't frolicking in the water, they were standing still, getting amazing shots like this. With all the action and suspense going on in the movies, it can be easy to miss the incredible scenery where it all takes place. Even with the natural beauty of Hawaii, it takes a lot of technical work to light and shoot a scene like this!
CAPITOL EXTRAS MAKEUP
A huge part of The Hunger Games looking as impressive as it does can be attributed to the film's incredible hair and makeup artists - in particular: the ones in charge of putting together all of the Capitol extras. As this picture shows, it was no small feat to get everyone camera ready. This isn't your average hair and makeup, this is Capitol level stuff!
Every extra in the Capitol looked flawless and unique.
Ve Neill is a three-time Academy Award-winning make-up artist, and she was the makeup head and designer for all four Hunger Games films. Of preparing the Capitol extras she said, "When we were creating the Capitol scenes, we had four hundred extras to get into makeup. It took my team of thirty people nine and a half hours to get the job done."
Imagine that: an entire day of makeup all to get the extras ready, and then there is still hours of filming to be done! The dedication of the actors and everyone behind the scenes of The Hunger Games really is incredible. All of the attention to detail paid off in the end, giving us a real feel for the outlandish fashion of the Capitol citizens.
THE WRAP PARTY
This picture is definitely a bittersweet moment for the cast and crew of The Hunger Games. This photo was taken of Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence, and Liam Hemsworth at the Mockingjay wrap party. The emotions of wrapping after spending years working on these films together is very clear here. All four of these main cast members have admitted to becoming best friends while filming.
Lawrence opened up to Diane Sawyer about the movies ending after five years of working with the same people. She said, “These movies had been my life for so long and they had to come first in everything, I was also in a relationship with somebody for five years and that was my life. So my life was this person and these movies and we broke up around the same time that I wrapped those movies.”
Lawrence wasn't the only one having trouble with it all coming to an end. Hutcherson admitted that they all really freaked out when the movies ended. It was difficult to see it all come to an end, but Hutcherson says when they hung out again after the movies were done they laughed at how dramatic they had been about it.
PARTY AT THE CAPITOL
The production design for the Capitol has always been a hot topic. In this photo we see shots of the set before the Capitol party that Katniss and Peeta attend together with Effie. Any Capitol events are always lavish, colorful, and vibrant - a stark contrast to the rest of the districts and even the surrounding Capitol cities.
Production designer Phillip Messina explained how the Capitol events differ from the actual Capitol itself. The entire idea of the Capitol is that the members are rich, ignorant, and delusional when it comes to the world they live in. Messina thought it was important to incorporate the design of Soviet-era buildings. He admitted that the "architecture was evocative of dictatorial regimes,” and “It felt strong and monolithic, but also had a decorative element to it.”
There is an interesting balance between the decorative elements and the more stoic elements of the capital, but Messina and the other set designers hit all the different tones perfectly. In fact, with each movie you can see a drastic change in the color schemes and themes used to reflect the mood of the film. Set design was a huge part of the Hunger Games being a successful franchise.
BLUE SCREEN STRUGGLES
There's a lot to be said about movie magic, and this behind the scenes photo proves just that. While everything looks incredibly real in the Hunger Games movies, a good chunk of the movie is thanks to green screen and CGI technology. Hawaii is an incredible location, but some things just need some technical touching up to be believable.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire involves a lot of outlandish obstacles during the games. While most of the scenes were filmed on location, for some of the more complicated scenes Lawrence had to use her imagination and work on sets like this. She should be used to it now, considering her role as Mystique. The X-Men films rely heavily on CGI and the actors must act on sets full of green and blue screens.
Lawrence, of course, is a great actress.
She makes us believe she is holding on for dear life even when she's clearly not.
If anything, these behind the scenes photos show us just how much physical work went into The Hunger Games not only on the part of Lawrence, but of the crew as well. Luckily for them, they get to be nice and warm in their winter jackets. Poor Jennifer!
HAPPY JOHANNA
Is that Johanna Mason being carefree and laughing? We never thought we would see the day!
Johanna Mason, played perfectly by Jena Malone, is one of the victors who is reaped again for the games during Catching Fire. Johanna is one of those characters that you never know what to expect from, and Mason hits it all spot on.
For the most part, Johanna is either angry off or suffering throughout the Hunger Games. She often gives Katniss the cold shoulder, at least at first, and we never really know what Johanna is thinking. Ultimately she redeems herself in the end, but she goes through a lot to get there.
Clearly Malone is not a method actor, because this picture shows us an entirely different side than what we see on screen.
Unlike Natalie Dormer, who played Cressida, Malone did not shave her head for her role. She was willing to do it, but the filmmakers told her it wasn't necessary, and also would be difficult since the movie wasn't being filmed chronologically.
Of how they shot the bald head, Malone told Jimmy Kimmel, "It was way more than a bald cap. It was like a CGI experiment. We had little dots and trackers [on the bald cap]. And I think there was a woman who also had a bald head that was brought in to kind of also film some of my sequences."
JENNIFER'S NEPHEW
One incredibly cute detail about the final Hunger Games film is that Jennifer Lawrence actually got her family involved in the final scene. At the end of the film we see Katniss and Peeta years after the rebellion. They are sitting peacefully in a field with their two children, one a young boy and the other a newborn.
Both of Katniss' sons were, in fact, Lawrence 's real nephews. The youngest, the one in Lawrence's arms, is her then 9-moth-old nephew Theo, while the older one playing with Josh Hutcherson is her nephew Bear. It's a small detail, but it really adds to the movies that Katniss and Peeta's children actually look like Katniss.
Director Francis Lawrence admitted that they did have back up babies at the ready. Getting the perfect shot with a 9-month-old is not an easy feat, so they covered all of their bases just in case. The director said, "what we really wanted to do is have a baby asleep, then we wanted the baby to startle awake as if it was having a nightmare, and be able to get shushed. So we timed the shooting with her and the baby to his naptime.”
Thankfully everything worked out and both of Lawrence's nephews made it into the film after all!
TRIBUTES IN TRAINING
Even the tributes who were only on screen for a short time had to put in a lot of training hours to prepare for their roles. The tributes from the first few Districts who pride themselves in the Games had to work especially hard, since their characters had supposedly been training for years.
It's nice to see all the tributes here getting along, since it is exactly the opposite of what we're used to seeing.
Marvel, Glimmer, Clove, and Cato look nothing like the mean and intimidating tributes were so used to seeing in the film.
Alexander Ludwig, who plays Cato, spoke about how they all put a lot of effort into preparing for their roles. He specifically did a lot of strength training to make Cato as close to the books as he could. He said, " I wanted Cato to have as big of a physical presence as he did a mental one, in the movie. There was lots of fight training that we had to go through. I worked with an ex-Navy SEAL to bulk up. I did tons of hand-to-hand combat.”
Ludwig isn't the only one who trained hard. Isabelle Fuhrman who plays Clove did a lot of training along side Ludwig. "He used a sword and I used a knife, so when we were doing the training, it was kind of the same except for the different sizes,” Fuhrman recalls.
PRIM AND RUE TOGETHER AT LAST
The stars have aligned and all is right in the world! Our two favorite little leading ladies together at last. Willow Shields who plays Primrose Everdeen - Katniss's little sister - and Amandla Stenberg who plays Rue - District 11 Tribute - may look all smiles here, but they are also two of the most ill-fated characters in the series.
Both characters are lost far too soon and too young, and both are incredibly important to Katniss. In fact, without either of them she never would have been in the Hunger Games or started a revolution. That being said, seeing them happy and, well, alive is a blessing.
Interestingly enough, the Hunger Games books describe Prim and Rue as looking similar. It's part of the reason Katniss takes Rue under her wing and gets so attached to her. And to be honest - we see the resemblance! Both have smiles that can melt your heart, and there is a soft innocence about both of their performances that sets them apart.
While their characters got the short end of the stick, we're glad to see Willow and Amandla spending quality time behind the scenes, and not getting reaped in the Hunger Games.
THE POISON FOG
In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the tributes have to deal with their share of obstacles. One of those is the poison fog that immediately boils the skin on contact. Yes, it sounds as painful as it looks, but thankfully Jennifer Lawrence herself will never actually have to experience that sensation.
Thanks to some crafty makeup artists and special prosthetic makeup, the poison fog effect came to life.
Here Lawrence doesn't exactly look comfortable. It's definitely a long process when it comes to any sort of special makeup, and it looks like here she's getting some touch ups. For Lawrence, this is nothing compared to getting painted blue for her role as Mystique in X-Men, but patience is still a virtue in this case.
Director Francis Lawrence explained how keeping up on makeup wasn't even the hardest part of shooting the fog scenes. He told Vulture, "The fog sequence involved multiple locations and people racing through the forest. We had to figure out the timing and the geography of the fog itself: the speed of the fog, where the fog is coming from, how it catches up with them, and the timing of the scene where Mags stops and sacrifices herself by walking into the fog."
CAESAR AND FINNICK GET PERSONAL
There can be a lot of down time on sets as big as these, and here we get a rare moment of normalcy between Caesar Flickerman (played by Stanley Tucci) and Finnick Odair (played by Sam Claflin). While Caesar is usually the one grilling the tributes about the games and how they feel, Claflin seems to be the one asking the questions here.
While audiences see what appears to be a huge auditorium full of lights and people, the reality is quite different. During Caesar's interviews almost the entire room, save the stage, was covered in blue screen. Neither character looks quite so intimidating when they're not turning on the charm for the cameras. As you can see, even Caeser's seemingly perfect hair falls out of place now and then.
The movie magic of The Hunger Games is very obvious here. Everything is far less vibrant than the final cut, including Caesar's infamous purple hair.
After being on so many movie sets for so long, they must get used to it - but how are these camera guys not star struck? And that women is just touching Stanley Tucci's hair like it's nothing! Being crew on such a great movie series must a dream gig.
THE MAKING OF EFFIE TRINKET
One of the most important parts of getting the feel of the Capitol right is getting the fashion right. Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket is a huge focal point for this, being one of the most fashionable and outlandishly dressed of them all.
With help of costume designer Trish Summerville, director Francis Lawrence's extravagant vision came true.
Summerville did not take her duties lightly, and made sure to plan and prepare long before the costumes were made. She made idea boards that incorporated colors and themes of the Capitol, all to make sure it was perfect. She admits that Banks was one of her favorite cast members and characters to work with.
Of designing costumes for Banks, Summerville told EW, ”I put [Banks] in these costumes, and she wouldn’t have hair or makeup or anything, but her body posture instantly changed. Her hands went up and her neck tilted to the side, and she was instantly Effie. For me, that lets me know when things are working, when a costume helps an actor transform to where they need to be for a character. I love my job.”
Since fashion is a defining feature of the Capitol versus the other districts, Francis Lawrence was lucky to get a designer that knew how to handle such high demands.