The one person survival thriller has become a favorite of many directors with such recent films as "Gravity," "127 Hours" and "Buried." All these films have told stories about people overcoming obstacles. In his latest film, "The Shallows," Jaume Collet-Serra places his protagonist, surfer Nancy (Blake Lively), on a rock throughout the whole film, as she has to survive the vicious attack of a great white shark.

Shot over the course of eight weeks, director Collet-Serra spoke to Latin Post about the challenges of shooting a film in a remote island in Australia and working with actress Blake Lively.

Latin Post: How did you come across the script?

Jaume Collet-Serra: I've known Lynn Harris, the producer, for a long time and she and her husband were part of a bidding war with Sony to get the script. It was a blacklisted script and they won the bidding war and they brought me the project. I read it, I loved it but I was not available at the time because I was finishing "Run all Night." A few months later they came back to me and I was available so I decided to do it. They were keen on doing this movie right away and releasing it this weekend. They told me a year ago, June 24 is the release date. That was music to my ears, to have a script greenlit and a release date.

LP: When you got the script, did you get a chance to collaborate with the writer?

JCS: Yeah we did a lot of work on it. As good as the script is, you have to turn them into a movie. That is a different process because you have to find a location, the actors, see what you can actually do within the budget and the box that they give you. Obviously when you bring someone like Blake and being that this is a movie with only one actor you have to adjust the character. The original character was so immature and we felt that Blake had this strong presence and maturity to her. So we tried to make her more complex and more capable and so we brought that into the script. For example her being almost a doctor, being able to stitch herself with her earrings, that was not in the original. But if we had some sort of younger inexperienced actress we would not do it.

LP: So was Blake Lively your first choice?

JCS: Yes. You're looking for a very specific type. Someone who is a surfer and a doctor. Someone who can carry a film, she has experience and she has done that before in films like "The Age of Adaline." And you needed an actress who was game to be tortured in a bikini for eight weeks in the water and is physical enough and was not afraid to be exposed to the elements. So she was game and it was great.

LP: When you were location scouting, how did you come across this location in Australia and were there any locations you had in mind?

JCS: When I imagined the movie I wanted an iconic place. There are many movies that are location based like "The Beach." That movie is set in a location that you can remember. It had to be a unique place and because the movie happens off shore, I wanted it to have a certain geography to differentiate between left and right and front and back. And if I could I wanted to have rock formations that would not always have her in like a very boring horizon. So when I found that location, I was amazingly excited but it was very difficult because it's in an island four hundred miles off the coast. There are no cars, there are only three hundred people allowed at a time, no reception, it was just in the middle of nowhere. It's a natural nature reserve with a bird sanctuary. So the island was very worried about the impact for the crew to come and build a rock in the middle of the ocean. So eventually we got all the permission, we spent a little more but the studio agreed it was right. I obviously had to look for backups just in case but it was a character. You have to cast it right.

LP: What were the biggest challenges of shooting on this location other than the fact that there was limited communication?

JCS: Well we shot in the beach only two weeks. Then we went to the stage and everything was blue screen. So we created everything, the rock, the pool in a tank with waves and things we could shoot and then we had to put the backgrounds. No matter what, with the weather it was really tough. There is no consistency. Nature doesn't give you that. One moment it's raining, then it's sunny, then it's cloudy. When the movie is happening in one day you need some consistency at least. So it was incredibly difficult.

LP: When you collaborated with your cinematographer, how did you guys come up with your visual style?

JCS: We just make a certain evolution. We wanted to open the film bright and joyful and happy. You don't have to make this film dark because the mystery is underwater. She cannot see underwater so it's already scary. So I don't need to make it extra scary by making it darker. When you make a horror movie or a thriller, shadows are your friends. But here we did not need to this because we were underwater. So we went to vibrant colors.

LP: This movie recalls "Jaws." Was that ever in your mind when you were making this film?

JCS: I don't think about it because it's a survival movie with a shark. Its closer to "127 Hours" obviously that is a real story. It's like "Gravity," one character one environment and very modestly done. It's the smallest movie I ever made but it has elements of that. It has to do with keeping the audience interested in the character than with a shark.

LP: Since it was a one person film, what was challenging about it, since it is very different from every film you have made?

JCS: It's not difficult, it's exciting. It's just about finding the arch. Every piece of information has a big impact because there is so little information. In a big complex movie, if you screw up somewhere you can fix it up through some ADR. But let's say something is confusing, something is not landing and you watch the movie while you're editing, there are many opportunities for you to fix things. Here there is very little room. If things are not clear or if you don't like her character or don't understand her character, it's very hard to put the information back in. She doesn't talk to anybody and if you don't agree with her actions, then you'll dismiss the movie.

LP: Can you talk to me about the CG and creating the shark?

JCS: It's scary to shoot a movie and not know what it looks like. People may have an illusion that you do a test and that you have the shark. No, you shoot the movie and it's like a month in and "I'm like where is the shark." It eventually shows up because it's a process. We tried to give the best possible elements and plates for the VFX team. We shot a lot of water interaction. We shot the scenes with Blake so that if you see the fin and her, there was something disturbing in the water. But something so you could know where the fin would go. Other than that there was no shark. It was all CG.

LP: In the editing process, how long did take?

JCS: It was quick. I started editing in January, I had my director's cut at the end of the month and then locked picture two months later. The rest was visual effects. I just finished the movie last week. Like a week ago there was no movie.

LP: What are some of the most memorable moments from this film?

JCS: There are always good moments when you send the underwater crew to get some shots and they come back and what they get is gorgeous. Then there is some moments when you're really sad because you have everything prepared and it starts to rain and you know you'll never get it like that again because it's not like you can come back to it. There was a lot that broke down and there was a lot of frustration. But I try to remember the good ones. When something works it works.

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