The initial script idea primarily used stock footage to show famous concerts, gigs and highlights through the course of Sir Elton John's career. The director took the decision to recreate each scene instead, which enabled more control over the film, and placed the viewer intimately alongside Elton, rather than as a typical observer. Sets were recreated with painstaking accuracy, each with a partial build of the next scene to allow for a continuous flowing camera move; costumes were replicated to the tiniest detail; each artists face was enhanced in post to show a likeness in which the viewer could easily think the film was indeed, genuine footage from each era.