Why 'Dune 2's Giedi Prime Fight Scene Was Filmed in Infrared

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The Big Picture

Denis Villeneuve’s
Dune: Part Two
showcases the film crew’s creativity with infrared lighting, creating a distinct setting from the first film.
The scene on Giedi Prime, featuring Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha, is a standout moment in the sequel because of it’s unique visuals.
Fans of
Dune: Part Two
will appreciate the innovative approach taken by cinematographer Greg Fraser in filming this scene.

Creativity and innovation have become hallmarks in Denis Villeneuve‘s films, and his latest, Dune: Part Two, is no exception. In a film packed to the brim with tremendous characters and sequences, one of its best scenes was filmed with infrared lighting, the same kind of lighting used in security technology. Per Variety, this was at the recommendation of cinematographer Greg Fraser.

The scene in question sees Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), the nephew to Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), in a celebratory gladiatorial fight on his birthday. The planet is a new location in the sequel, named Giedi Prime. Fraser and Villeneuve wanted the setting to be distinct from Arrakis, the desert landscape seen in the first film and the majority of the sequel’s first act. Villeneuve already intended to make the planet distinct by filming in black and white, but it was Fraser who took it the extra mile using infrared lighting, a technique he had implemented in films like Zero Dark Thirty and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Here’s how Fraser presented the vision to Villeneuve:

“I said, ‘I have a brilliant thing that I want to test and show you.’ So, I tested the technique with Roger Yuan who plays Lieutenant Lanville. He has no hair and he was the perfect candidate to test it on. And Denis saw it, and said, ‘Bingo.'”

Fans who have seen Dune: Part Two will no doubt recognize this scene immediately. The brilliant action and menace of Butler as Feyd-Rautha aside, just the sheer scope and look of the planet is enough to draw your eyes all over the screen. It’s no surprise that such creativity was implemented to pull off this sequence. Even the brief glimpses of the planet and scenes from the trailers immediately became a standout.

Who Is Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha in ‘Dune: Part Two?’

One of the most memorable elements of the Giedi Prime scene would be the insane look and terror of Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha. Feyd is the nephew of Skarsgård’s Baron Harkonnen and a new character to the Dune sequel. As the film progresses, the Baron clearly sees more promise with Feyd in comparison to Rabban (Dave Bautista), who is floundering in overseeing spice production and holding off the attacks by the Fremen, led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem), Chani (Zendaya), and Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). In a sense, he’s almost like the evil counterpart to Paul on the Harkonnen side.

Dune: Part Two is currently in theaters. If you need to catch up on Dune prior to the sequel, it’s available to stream on Hulu and Max.