In the future, Chicago residents are divided into five factions based on their core values: “Abnegation” (values selflessness), “Dauntless” (courage), “Amity” (peacefulness), “Candor” (honesty) and “Erudite” (intelligence). Together, they keep society afloat in a crumbling, dystopian version of the familiar city.
The world of Divergent may boil down to the five factions, but the narrative is loaded with striking story and location details that are vital to the experience, and if the team of filmmakers behind the production were going to bring this world to life at all, they were going to do it right. On our visit to the film’s Chicago-based sets last May, we learned more about the elements that are bound to make Divergent, coming out next March, stand out.
Welcome to the new dystopia: Production designer Andy Nicholson said, “We wanted to do something different that wasn’t dystopian dystopia,” explaining, “mainly it’s a lot of use of color.” Director Neil Burger added, “I wanted to do it very real, not raw in a gritty way, but raw in an immediate and intimate way.”
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