Nell Minow: October 2009 Archives

One of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year will have a record-breaking extended trailer debut this Sunday November 1, when it debuts on the world's largest video display -- Cowboy Stadium's Diamond Vision Screen - while millions of fans watch it at home. This is one of the biggest sports days of the year, with key NFL match-ups and Game 4 of the World Series). And in the middle of all of that, the three minute and thirty second trailer will play live from the enormous Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision screen. The crowd attending the Cowboys-Seattle Seahawks game will experience the AVATAR trailer live just minutes prior to the noon (Central) kickoff between the Cowboys and Seahawks, on the enormous, four-sided, high-definition screen that hangs above the Cowboys Stadium playing field. At the same time, millions of others watching FOX NFL SUNDAY will see the trailer on-air - making it the largest live motion picture trailer viewing in history. Enjoy!

Part of the charm of "An Education," a bittersweet coming of age story based on a brief memoir by Lynn Barber, is how much we know what its main character does not. Jenny (an incandescent Carey Mulligan) is a teenager in 1961 London, over-protected by her overly-cautious and conventional parents and eager to be independent and to have adventures. She is used to being the smartest one in the class and so even more than most teenagers, she is convinced that she understands many important things her parents cannot possibly comprehend. She is eager to grow up, to seem sophisticated, to be sophisticated. She is innocent, filled with potential, willing to be taught -- and she has no idea how powerfully attractive those qualities are to a predatory older man.

But we know that, and when David (Peter Sarsgaard) rescues Jenny and her cello from a rainstorm by giving her a ride home, we know she will confuse urbanity with wisdom, that she will think that because he lies on her behalf he will not lie to her. But the most important thing we know is that like Jenny, London is also on the brink of enormous changes. We know that a world of opportunities she could never imagine will open up to her. Unlike Jenny, we know she is going to be fine. After all, we know she went on to tell her story, in itself a triumph over whatever went wrong and whatever she lost.

Danish director Lone Scherfig perfectly captures London just as it is about to move from the drab, stiff-upper-lip, world of post-WWII deprivation to the brash and explosive era of mods and rockers, Carnaby Street and the Beatles, Twiggy, "The Avengers," and Joe Orton. Part of what makes David so exciting is that Jenny believes that the only options available to her are teacher and housewife and the only examples of both she has seen appear dull and unrewarding. David gives her a glimpse of a life that is never dull. It is always shopping and parties and travel, pretty clothes and lovely restaurants. If in order to have all of that she must lie to her parents and defy her teachers, that makes it all the more exciting. It binds her to him even more, creating a set of rules that is just for them.

That is how it seems, anyway. The education referred to in the movie title tells us that she will learn some difficult lessons. But its conclusion reminds Jenny and us that it is only the end of her beginning. She thought meeting David was the beginning of her future; she learns that the real beginning only came afterward.

The screenplay by Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity," "About a Boy") is sympathetic but insightful, skillful in sketching in each of the characters. Sarsgaard also makes David more than a predator. Jenny is not just smarter than he is; she is stronger, too. As Jenny goes from school girl to dressed-up doll to the beginning of adulthood, from the make-it-do, wear-it-out modesty of her home to Paris hot spots, Production designer Andrew McAlpine and costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux show exquisite sensitivity in giving Jenny a look that tells the story. Every performance is a gem: Alfred Molina, proud but fearful as Jenny's father, Emma Thompson, starchy as the headmistress, and Olivia Williams, a teacher who wants more for Jenny than she wants for herself (it must have been quite a challenge for hair and make-up to turn Williams into such a dowdy character). Rosamund Pike is utterly charming as a dim but kind-hearted party girl. And Carey Mulligan, in a star-making turn, makes this into one of the best films of the year.

Danish director Lone Scherfig ("Italian for Beginners") has garnered a lot of attention for her first English language film, "An Education." It is the story of a young woman impatient to be independent and sophisticated, and what happens when she meets an older man. It is set in 1961 London, on the brink of a shift from post-war deprivation to the wild and audacious era of Carnaby Street and the Beatles.

NM: I related to the film as a former young girl and as a parent -- I identified with everyone.

LS: That's good!

NM: The period detail is so exact. That era, on the brink of so much change, and you get that in the production design.

LS: It is a period that hasn't been depicted much. The period itself is bursting with appetite for the future but doesn't know what it will be.

NM: Like the main character!

LS: A lot of her frustration is because she is heading for a future that is better than she can imagine. She wonders why she should get an education just to have a life she did not want, the few options that were available to her. She does not know what she wants. She says she does not want to feel anything and the first thing she does is jump straight into the arms of this man. She is bright but still completely innocent.

My main task as a director was to trust the script, not to be over-inventive, just to tell the story. We don't have soldiers getting killed; we have a girl who loses her trust in other people.

NM: The book was written by a woman based on her own life, but the screenplay was written by Nick Hornby, better known for writing about men and boys.

LS: This is the first time I've had a female main character. You are just interested in that other species. But now I am so far from being 17 -- of course I can remember and I have a daughter who is 15, but I could not have done it 10 years ago. I have a warmth for a girl at that age now that I don't identify with her any more.

Tell me about working with the lovely and elegant Rosamund Pike, who plays the not very bright girlfriend of a slightly shady character.

LS: She's never done comedy before. I love casting against type. To have her inventing herself as a comedian as you go was very exciting. She combines some comedy and something melancholic. You can have very stylistically different characters but not stick out. We did a lot of variations. And it is wonderful to see her realize, "I can do this." She does research and she does eight different takes trying out the mechanics of comedy. And she was the only person in the cast who had been to Oxford, so she helped us understand that environment.

NM: Is there a theme that you keep coming back to in the stories you like to tell?

LS: Insecurity, people who can't speak for themselves, people who are slightly invisible, odd couples, men in their late 30's. The more I do, the more I identify my own footprint as a director. Now I can look back and see where I've been. When the world has been in a bad way, I've felt "I must do comedy." But now, I think I can do something darker.

NM: Will you make more films in English?

LS: Yes! There are so many wonderful English-speaking actors, a great acting tradition. And it's a very rich language, more expressive and precise than my own language.

NM: There has been a lot of focus on your young star, Carey Mulligan, who is luminous in this movie. What was it about her that sang to you?

LS: Singing is a good word. She hit the right emotional notes. You feel for her. She was believable as someone who was a virgin. She has a good sense of taste in her acting, very versatile. I started working with her, even acted with her. The costume and hairstyle department were very important in helping her develop the character. That dress she wears the first night she goes out, much too warm, carrying her mom's handbag, was perfect. The costume designer got a lot of personal photo albums instead of relying on magazines and reference books, we trusted in reality.

Part 2 -- from an online press briefing with "Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure" director Klay Hall and producer Sean Lurie." And don't forget to enter the contest for the Tinker Bell DVD and wings!

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the look of this film and what inspired it?

Klay Hall: Certainly the inspiration comes from the original 1953 Peter Pan movie. The colors and the richness of the backgrounds from the original film were embraced. What was great about this time is we were able to give it a fresh look and able to incorporate CG. We were able to enhance the textures and the hues to really give it the richness we felt it deserved.

Q: What is the benefit of Blu-ray for a film such as this?

Sean Lurie: We produced the film in High Definition. Watching it on Blu-ray is, by far, the best way to see this. It's visually stunning and we don't want you to miss the incredible visual details.

Q: Mr. Hall, do you coordinate the performances of the voice talents with the visual artists? Or does one come first and the other have to try to match up? Do the voice talents have a good idea of what the look of the scene will be?

Klay Hall: Yes, I do coordinate all the voice talents with the visual artists; however, we do record the voices first, so the animators have an acting track to work from. If I don't have an actor recorded at the time I am handing out a scene, we do what is called a "scratch track," where myself or an animator will speak the words and we will record them, so we have something to work from. When I go into final record with acting talent, I bring character design, color art and sometimes a pencil test scene that will help inform the actor of what I'll be looking for.

Q: Which is the secret to Tinker Bell's success?

Sean Lurie: I think it's her charm, curiosity, and that she is not perfect. These things make her relatable. And she can FLY!

Q: Can you tell me about the production of the score? How did you work with Joel McNeely? Can you tell me about the chorus and the choice of Gaelic for the lyrics, as a kind a secret fairy language?

Klay Hall: I worked very closely with Joel McNeely from early on. We talked about how we wanted to capture authenticity of the Celtic world and have it sound organic. Joel is a very accomplished musician on several instruments and he had creative ideas on how to create this new sound. As part of our production process, we were able to travel to Ireland and meet with David Downes, several musicians and singers, including some of the Celtic Women. When we first heard the Celtic choir, it was in the Abbey's residence, a 400 year old building next to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Talk about inspiring and moving. It was truly amazing, an incredible experience and we felt like we were really on to something.

Q: How long did the production for the movie overall take?

Sean Lurie: It took about two and a half years.

Q: Is it all computer generated?.

Sean Lurie: Yes. We start with "flat" designs and storyboards drawn with a stylist in the computer (they resemble pencil drawings). We then construct those characters, environments and props as models in a 3d digital environment. Even though the shots are computer generated there are many talented animators animating each shot and character.

Q: What are the differences you can see comparing the new Tinker Bell and the older one, being a co-star of Peter Pan?

Sean Lurie: The biggest difference has to be that she can talk in these movies. Even though she couldn't talk in the Peter Pan movie she was very expressive. You always new what she was trying to communicate. We tried to keep her very expressive, and maintain her key personality traits. Translating her from 2D drawings to a fully 3 dimensional character is also a visual difference. We tried to be as accurate in her appearance as possible. It was important that people recognize and accept her as the Tink they know and love.

Q: Can you describe Tinker Bell's new costume and how you arrived at its design?

Klay Hall: Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure is set in the Autumn. So it seemed proper to update Tinker Bell's outfit. In the earlier films, she wears her iconic little green dress. However, it being fall and there being crispness in the air, in addition to this being an adventure movie, her dress just wouldn't work. So myself, John Lasseter, Ellen Jin, the Art Director, and the costume designers from the parks all weighed in on an approach to a new design. We landed on her wearing leggings, a long-sleeve shirt, a shawl, a hat and high boots with her iconic pom-poms still attached. The costume also had to feel as if a fairy made it, so all the materials, textures and elements are organic and easily found in nature.

Q: What was it like working with John Lasseter?

It was awesome! Working with John was a dream come true. He is so invested in this TInker Bell films and very hands on. John is very much a collaborator and helpful at every level. He was involved practically at all levels....From the original story pitch, costume design and character design to sequence approvals, animation, music and the final sounds effects mix.

Q: To Mr. Hall: Please, would you share some memories of Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl as persons and the way they inspired you in your work?

Klay Hall: It was an honor to meet Ward Kimball, which I had the pleasure on several occasions. I spoke with him while a student at Cal Arts and then was able to correspond with him in the later years about animation and technique. He was a warm, friendly guy who had me out to his house and even invited me to his last steam-up at Grizzly Flats Railroad. Unfortunately, I never met Milt personally, but was also able to correspond with him through the mail. He was very friendly and encouraging in his advice about acting for animation and being sure to do your research before you begin to draw. I still look back and read the letters from these guys, watch the scenes they worked on and I'm truly inspired to this day.

Q: Do you anticipate any of the other Peter Pan characters making appearances in Tinkerbell films?

Klay Hall: You never know! It would be great.

Q: What are the advantages of treating the fairies' world in CG? And what are the difficulties that implies, too?

Sean Lurie: We felt that CG was a great medium for these films because it allows us to create a truly magical world. The richness, color and depth is fantastic. We also felt that CG would help create an environment that we could easly return to in subsequent films. Our biggest challenge with CG was to create a faithful rendition of Tinker Bell. We spent a lot of time on this because we know that this is a beloved character.

Q: I love the stylized look of the opening sequence. What inspired it?

Klay Hall: I happen to love Autumn. The way the light hits the trees, the colors of fall and the crispness in the air. I wanted to capture the textures and feel of the season.

Q: What is the most important lesson children can learn from Tinkerbell?

Klay Hall: We all can learn so much from Tinker Bell and her adventures. TInk herself learns a valuable lesson in the film -friendship is one of the greatest treasures of all; she learns that it's okay to make mistakes and to forgive.

Q: What is your favorite scene from the Tinker Bell movie?

Sean Lurie: I love the scene where Terence is helping Tink build the scepter, and over a period of time gets on her nerves. It's a very relatable scene with lot's of humor. The acting in this scene is very good and funny. We are also both very fond of the Trolls scene. It's a great thing when you can take very unappealing (looking) characters and make them some of the most charming characters in the film.

Q: Both of you have two sons like me. With the emphasis on the Terence character, is part of the priority for you to make Tinker Bell more interesting to boys?

Sean Lurie: Our objective was to create a film that had a broad family appeal. We wanted to create a movie that the whole family would enjoy, including our sons.