How Margot Robbie, Christina Hodson and Cathy Yan set Harley Quinn free in 'Birds of Prey'
LOS ANGELES - The producer wore roller skates and carried a large mallet. Sporting a bright mustard-gold jumpsuit, candy-dipped pigtails and a demented grin on her face, she mowed her way through acrobatic enemies, leading a charge of fierce women into battle.
It was Day 50 of filming on the "Suicide Squad" spinoff "Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)," and the cast and crew was working ferociously on a darkened soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot to nail a complex stretch of fight choreography in one long take - a melee involving dozens of actors and stunt performers on a rotating carousel ringed with large prop hands.
Huddled around a monitor, director Cathy Yan scrutinized every beat of the swirling camera as it captured her "Birds of Prey" heroines fighting in fluid synchronicity. She called out adjustments to cinematographer Matthew Libatique. The carousel had to be painstakingly reset each time. The clock was ticking.
In the back of her mind, Margot Robbie calculated the day's schedule between every call of "Action!" and "Cut!" but the producer-star was still having a blast. Before long, they got the shot, and she zoomed over to take a quick water break
