Random Bohemian Rhapsody Recreated Queen's Legendary Live Aid Performanc (11 items)

• (#8) The Sequence Was Intentionally Chosen To End The Movie On A Positive Note

  Queen's Live Aid performance was placed at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody to send viewers out into the world on a positive note. Producer Graham King stated that the sequence was "so important to the story, because their performance grabbed people’s attention around the world." Queen's performance cemented the success of Live Aid as the band "really galvanized a global audience in a way no one else had."

  Giving audiences the Live Aid experience, according to King, was meant to "uplift audiences, rather than have them leave feeling depressed or emotional about Freddie [Mercury] and what he went through in his personal life... it's a real celebration."
• (#5) Filmmakers Blocked Out The Sun To Heighten The Realism

  Dealing with rainy weather in England was a common difficulty for the Bohemian Rhapsody filmmakers, but Queen performed around 6 PM on July 13, 1985 - a prime spot in the Live Aid lineup and late enough in the day for the sunlight to be fading. In order to recreate the shadows, the light, and other environmental aspects of the performance, the film's cinematographer worked to create and block natural light.

  Director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel said, "We had to try and match shots done in full sun, then shade, and at different times of the day, so that we could give it some continuity. And we had to try and match our material with the original Live Aid footage as much as possible, and not take too much dramatic license, even though it’s a film and not a documentary."

  An additional challenge was lighting the show itself. Everyone at Live Aid had the same lighting, possibly left over from a Bruce Springsteen concert days before. In Brian May's opinion, the fact that all of the acts used the same stage, lights, and backdrop did a great service to the music.
• (#10) Rami Malek's Vocals Were Combined With Freddie Mercury's Throughout The Movie 

  Rami Malek couldn't sing like Freddie Mercury, whose vocal range exceeded opera and rock stars alike. But during Bohemian Rhapsody, he sang for the sake of realism. As a result, Malek's own voice was merged with Mercury's as well as with vocals provided by Canadian singer Marc Martel. Brian May chose Martel, who has been compared to Mercury since the beginning of his career, to be part of the Queen Extravaganza tour in 2011. Martel toured with the show for years and started his own Queen tribute band in 2016.

  For the Live Aid performance, however, Bohemian Rhapsody used the audio from the show itself. It was released for the first time as part of the movie's soundtrack.
• (#2) Filmmakers Built A Stage That Looked Exactly Like Wembley Stadium Circa 1985

  When the makers of Bohemian Rhapsody considered their options for representing Wembley Stadium, they knew the actual stadium wasn't an option. In 1985, Wembley Stadium included two large towers that were destroyed during the venue's redesign in 2003. Filmmakers also needed access to the site for multiple weeks, which Wembley's schedule wouldn't allow.

  With these restrictions in mind, location scouts looked around and settled on Bovingdon Airfield northwest of London for the site of their own Wembley Stadium. They wanted a location near London but large enough to accommodate their needs.

  When they started building the Wembley Stadium set used in Bohemian Rhapsody, they consulted pictures from the day of the Live Aid. Meticulous detail went into building the stage to scale. Cameras on mounts flew through the air as spectators watched the cast perform. CGI was later used to make it look like there were more than 70,000 screaming fans enjoying the show, just as they had in July 1985.
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  (#11) A Version Of The Entire Live Aid Set Will Appear In The Home Release Extras

  The cast of Bohemian Rhapsody recreated the entire Queen performance from Live Aid, but that's not what viewers see in the theatrical cut of the film. The full Live Aid performance included "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga," "Hammer to Fall," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Will Rock You," and "We Are the Champions." The abbreviated version of Live Aid in Bohemian Rhapsody only keeps "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in its entirety.

  The full performance will appear on the DVD, Blu-ray, and digital versions of the film upon its release to home audiences. 
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  (#7) Rami Malek And Other Cast Members Worked With A Movement Coach

  Before filming the Live Aid scene, Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazzello rehearsed for six weeks. They worked with movement coach Polly Bennett and studied YouTube videos of the concert to master the mannerisms of their musical counterparts. 

  Malek and Bennett dove deeper into Mercury's life and mannerisms, studying his childhood, his physicality, and even his major influences like Aretha Franklin and Liza Minelli. Bennett explained, "[Freddie] was a long-distance runner at school and a boxer... this gives us a reason why Freddie ran across the stage and punched the air, and [allows me to explain to] Rami: ‘This is why that character moves the way that he does.’"

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