'This Freaking Tower!': Tech Saves Potty-mouthed Stars in Vertigo Thriller 'Fall'

"Fall" follows two young women who decide to scale an impossibly tall metal telecommunications tower FABRICE COFFRINI AFP/File
"Fall" follows two young women who decide to scale an impossibly tall metal telecommunications tower FABRICE COFFRINI AFP/File
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'This Freaking Tower!': Tech Saves Potty-mouthed Stars in Vertigo Thriller 'Fall'

"Fall" follows two young women who decide to scale an impossibly tall metal telecommunications tower FABRICE COFFRINI AFP/File
"Fall" follows two young women who decide to scale an impossibly tall metal telecommunications tower FABRICE COFFRINI AFP/File

When you're dangling from a tower 2,000 feet above the desert floor by your fingertips, it may be difficult not to drop a couple of F-bombs -- even if you're a Hollywood actor shooting a PG-13 rated movie.

Fortunately, a new editing technology came to the rescue of the "potty-mouthed" stars of "Fall," out in US theaters Friday, which follows two young women who decide to scale an impossibly tall metal tower in the remote California desert.

This being a movie, the adventure doesn't go to plan, leaving Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner) stranded on a tiny platform where vertigo is just one of the terrifying challenges they must overcome.

"I'm talking about the most intense winds I've ever experienced," Currey told AFP, of the grueling shoot.

"Gini (Gardner) and I are just holding on to that pole, sitting there, swaying, looking at each other, and it's making sounds.

"We had a moment going, 'what did we get ourselves into? Also, are these our final hours? Are we gonna make it down?'"

"There was definitely some swearing in the environment and in the air."

Though the movie was not shot at the real B67 TV Tower, which is twice the height of the Eiffel Tower, the actors still had to perform on a terrifying set: a 60-foot tower perched atop a sheer cliff in the Mojave desert.

Using judicious angles to avoid showing the mountain, British director Scott Mann was able to retain a realistic feel for the Indy thriller at the tiny budget of $3 million.

But when major Hollywood studio Lionsgate agreed to distribute the film, there was one problem.

The actors were cursing throughout, using language likely to trigger a restricted "R" rating that could dampen box office receipts.

"Potty mouths Virginia and Grace, is what I'd say!" joked Mann, in an interview with AFP via Zoom.

"I do not blame Gini and Grace -- because let's be honest, off the top of this ridiculous structure, thousands of feet up, asking to improvise out scenes, it is entirely justified they would be saying that."

"Definitely my fault!" he admitted.

- 'Potty-mouth language' -
While a giant summer superhero movie might typically reshoot certain scenes, the budget on "Fall" did not allow for that, and filmmakers were reluctant to edit out dialog.

Instead they found a creative solution: a nascent technology, primarily invented for foreign-language dubbing, enabling them to seamlessly swap in more family-friendly audio.

It maps the actors' faces, learning their specific mouth movements, before manipulating these motions with 3D computer effects to sync with new dialog.

"What the technology allowed was, rather than having to rebuild the tower and go up the mountain again, just to go to a sound studio," said Mann, who co-founded a start-up working on the technology.

"We rewrote those little moments, just to work around some of that potty-mouth language, and then basically inject it back into the movie."

While the tool has been referred to as "deepfake," Mann said that label suggests more nefarious uses such as pornography, while in reality it is more "hands-off."

"It's an interesting use, and I think it was a good solution," he said.

- 'Wild' -
Despite being released in mid-August -- typically a period with low audiences, where many weaker films are unceremoniously dumped by studios -- "Fall" has received very positive reviews.

The Guardian said the micro-budget movie should embarrass other giant studios who throw "a hundred times more at blockbusters with a hundred times less of a thrill factor," while Vanity Fair dubbed it "an engrossing dog-days surprise."

For Currey, who did many of her own stunts including clinging onto a plummeting ladder, making the movie was "pretty wild, not like anything I've ever done before."

"And we didn't know if we were going to be R or PG-13," she added.

"As far as Gini and I knew, we could say whatever we wanted!"



Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
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Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Fans roared in excitement and organizers sighed with relief as the Tomorrowland music festival kicked off Friday — just two days after a massive fire engulfed the main stage and threw one of Europe's biggest summer concert events into doubt.

Workers labored around the clock to clear out the debris from the elaborate backdrop that was consumed in Wednesday's fire.

Shouting ‘’We made it!'', the festival's opening performers, Australian electronic music group Nervo, were able to take to the main stage Friday after a last-minute scramble and slight delay. Some charred frames were still visible behind them.

No one was hurt in the fire, organizers said. The causes are being investigated.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world attend Tomorrowland's annual multi-day festival outside the Belgian town of Boom.

Some 38,000 people were camping at the festival site Friday, Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said.

’’Maybe there are some few people that say, OK, we would like to have a refund, but it’s only like a very small percentage because most of them are still coming to the festival,” she told AP.

“It is all about unity, and I think with a good vibe and a positive energy that our festival-goers give to each other and the music we offer, I think they will still have a good time,″ she said. ’’We really tried our best.″

Australian fans Zak Hiscock and Brooke Antoniou — who traveled half the world to see the famed festival as part of a summer holiday in Europe — described hearing about the fire.

“We were sitting having dinner when we actually heard the news of the stage burning down. We were very devastated and shattered, quite upset because we travelled a long way,'' Hiscock said.

Ukrainian visitor Oleksandr Beshkynskyi shared their joy that the festival went ahead as planned.

‘’It’s not just about the one DJ or two DJs you’re looking to see, but about all the mood and about the dream being alive," Beshkynskyi said.