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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Riku on September 14, 2006, 05:08:04 AM
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QUINT: Of the movies you\'re producing that are not your own, you seem to be bringing in first time feature directors. Both with HALO and DAMBUSTERS. Is that just coincidence?
PETER JACKSON: It\'s not deliberate and certainly for HALO it wasn\'t deliberate. I don\'t think even for a show like HALO, which is a big budget production, I don\'t think there\'s any problem whatsoever with a so-called first time director directing it. At the end of the day, Neill (Blomkamp) is not a first time director. He\'s a first time feature film director, but he understands film and grammar as good as anybody. He\'s done some wonderful short films and commercials. His visual eye is fantastic and his storytelling is great. The fact that it\'s a feature film just means that he gets to shoot for longer than he did in the short film. There really isn\'t anything else that\'s different.
We certainly didn\'t set out with HALO to find a first time filmmaker to do HALO. We wanted somebody on HALO that would have 3 qualities. One, a very important one, is that they wanted to do it really badly. They had to be absolute HALO fans. That was important because there are a lot of people who would be happy to do HALO for the paycheck, there\'s a lot of people who would be happy to do it for the publicity they\'re going to get from it and the kick it\'ll give to their career and all that and all of that sort of stuff. There\'s lots of reasons to do HALO that would be attractive if you\'re not a HALO fan, but we didn\'t want any of those people, we wanted somebody who was a real HALO fan.
Secondly, and this is sort of just as important, we wanted somebody who was going to bring a unique vision to it. It\'s so easy to shut your eyes and imagine a really bad version of HALO. That comes to you in a frightenly simple, quick way. You think, "Oh, my God! This could be so terrible!" I guess it\'s because so many other video game movies have been terrible and so much other sci-fi in that type of genre has been terrible.
It\'s like Fantasy was before LORD OF THE RINGS. Everybody was saying, "These films aren\'t any good." In a sense, everybody\'s saying "You can\'t make a good film out of a game." Well, that\'s all crap. Good films just need good characters, good storyline and a great director to bring it to life and make a film that you\'ve never seen before. That\'s what it needs. It doesn\'t matter a damn whether it\'s based on a game, a book or a piece of chewing gum, you know? That\'s irrelevant. It\'s what actually ends up on the screen that\'s important.
So, we wanted a director who we would get excited about their version of HALO. We wanted somebody that would make us say, "God, I\'d love to see what this person would do with this story, with this material." We considered a lot of directors. A lot of directors came to us. I mean, believe me... we waited for months and months and months. We eschewed a couple of people which didn\'t work out. We\'ve had lots and lots of people approaching us, obviously agents and people saying "So and so client would love to do it."
At all times they were people that we thought, "Well... their version of HALO doesn\'t really excite me all that much. I could imagine what it\'d be like and it doesn\'t really (excite me)." But then when Neill came along and we saw what he\'d done and we\'d spoken to him... believe me, he\'s doing something that is very, very different from what people are imagining, from what people have seen before. Some of the visuals... He\'s been working with Weta pretty much full time for, I guess it\'d be about 2 months now, turning out lots and lots of art every day. And maquettes, production design, color art has been coming out of there. I\'ve got folders and folders of it at home here. It\'s fantastic stuff. I mean, I look through it and I get excited about the film.
We\'re still developing a script and we\'ve still got work to go on the script and that\'s underway, but while that\'s happening Neill is just producing his vision of this world. It is original and new and has not been seen before on the screen. It\'s not Ridley Scott, it\'s not James Cameron, it\'s not what we\'ve seen before, but it\'s something new and fresh and it\'s cool. That was important to us. Someone who was going to not go the cliched way, but go in the direction that they had an original vision for and Neill has got that in spades. We\'re feeling really, really good.
QUINT: Let\'s talk a little bit about the script for HALO. Alex Garland\'s Microsoft draft wasn\'t very strong and I know after I read it I was worried, as a fan of HALO.
PETER JACKSON: Since Alex\'s draft, there have been another two that have been written. Pretty much page one revisions to get to where we are today. It\'s getting much better along now and there are certainly a lot of things in it now that are working well. There are things that aren\'t working well in it yet, but Fran, Philippa and I are not writing the script, but, in a sense, one of the things we\'re contributing with our involvement in the project is being the police, the script cops! So, nothing is going to end up on the screen that doesn\'t get our stamp of approval. We\'re going to be pretty tough with the script. We\'re not going to spare people\'s feelings.
We\'re not writing it and we\'re trying to be as constructive as we can and we\'re trying to give criticism and suggest ways in which we think things should be improved. That process is going along okay and we\'re getting there. The movie, as far as I\'m concerned, as far as my involvement is concerned, is not going to go in front of the cameras until we have a really great script.
In the meantime Neill\'s fully occupied designing everything that needs to be designed. The whole world has to be designed and the whole world has to be built. There\'s nothing that\'s going to be hired out of a prop store, you know? And like LORD OF THE RINGS and KONG, it\'s one of those great (positions). We have time to work on the script because all the work that has to happen... we know what\'s going to be in the movie. We know that there\'s going to be the Covenant, we know that there\'s going to be Warthogs and there\'s going to be Ghosts (QUINT NOTE: Covenant ships, not spooks for you HALO virgins) and Scorpion (Tanks)\'s and there\'s going to be the Pillar of Autumn. We know a huge amount.
We obviously know a lot of the world of HALO that the story\'s going to take part in. So, there\'s a lot of very productive work that\'s underway at the moment while the script takes whatever (amount of time). As far as I\'m concerned it should take as long as it needs to take until it\'s a good script. We are slowly tugging away at it, getting it there.
QUINT: Now, there\'s no reason on Earth shouldn\'t easily and faithfully be adapted into a PG-13 movie. However, do you anticipate there being a harder cut considering how gruesome the Flood aspect of the story is?
PETER JACKSON: That\'s interesting... It\'s something, I must admit, that\'s not a conversation I\'ve had with anybody yet. It\'s a conversation that I\'m sure will happen. Look, the reality of the budget is that I would imagine the studio are going to be pretty insistent on a PG-13, which, as you say, is certainly not an impossible thing pull off. The concept of a hard R rating for DVD is kind of fun because that does ultimately deliver a film that the hardcore fans would enjoy and that\'s certainly something we should discuss. But honestly it\'s a conversation that hasn\'t actually happened yet.
But the designs for The Flood that I\'ve been seeing are incredibly hardcore, I have to say. The wonderful thing of using the world of CG now and that real, Lovecraftian kind of twisted... That stuff lends itself to computer generated effects so well, the organic, pulsating, throbbing, oozing kind of effect looks great. I had a bit of fun with that on KONG with those sort of bug things and those insects and wormy things that kill Andy Serkis. I can see that tying all that CG technology to some Lovecraftian horror is going to be awesome.
But yeah. Look, I think it\'s a great idea. I think it\'s something we should definitely talk about. I mean, those conversations haven\'t happened yet since we haven\'t really got a script that we think is the script we\'re going to make yet, so I guess once we have a script the question of rating will come up. I think as long as the studio gets a PG-13 to release theatrically, I\'d imagine they\'d actually be supportive and certainly we can talk to them about supporting the idea of (a harder cut for DVD). I think Neill would be into it.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30050
I like how much care is being taken with the movie. Just knowing Peter Jackson was at the helm of this project was enough to know it would be great, but after reading what he said I know it\'s going to damn great. 2008 can\'t come soon enough.
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lol at pg-13
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lol at pg-13
Kong and Lord of the Rings were PG-13...two of the best films I\'ve ever seen. Not exactly kids stuff either.
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best films? good grief, man. those are movies, not films.
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holy shit. whatever.
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it\'s a shame, really.
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eh, movies and films are the same thing. Whatever your outlook on it is doesn\'t matter.
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Those who differentiate between "movies" and "films" are snobs. I love to see snobs try to classify a picture that falls in between. For example, is Pulp Fiction a movie or a film? It was a successful moneymaker, and embraced by the mass market, so it must be a movie, right? However it won the Palm d\'Or at Cannes in 1994, so it must be a film right??? Smoke rises from ears....
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It\'s a Flovie or Movilm.
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soulgrind is right that movies and films are pretty much the same thing. The majority of moviemakers use the popular 35mm film to shoot movies, and pretty much all movies that were film in film format were film at 24 frames per second...
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film fiction is a film, solely because of character development to advance the storyline(s).
where can you find that in lotr? king kong?
1. i am a snob
2. there is no "in between"
paul2, the difference is culture
you don\'t "watch" a film. it involves you without forcing the story down your throat.
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LOTR had it. Samwise, Frodo and Strider weren\'t exactly the same persons at the beginning of the stories. I think you try too hard to be a movie snob.
It\'s funny.
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watching the hobbits walk around is not character development
:rolleyes:
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watching the hobbits walk around is not character development
:rolleyes:
Like I said, you\'re trying too hard. There was more to it and you know it. I think you just hate the fact that it\'s popular.
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i hate the fact that you don\'t know the difference between a film and a movie.
i liked all 3 lotr\'s, but to put them among the best films is stupid
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i hate the fact that you don\'t know the difference between a film and a movie.
i liked all 3 lotr\'s, but to put them among the best films is stupid
Fact: Your opinion is wrong. Always.
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you don\'t "watch" a film. it involves you without forcing the story down your throat.
How does a movie force the story down your throat and not a film? :confused:
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It\'s not the fact that you identify a difference in quality or significance between the LOTR movies and other works like "Taxi Driver" or "The Grand Illusion." I agree with you on that. LOTR doesn\'t quite meet that standard.
HOWEVER, it\'s the fact that that you identify that difference by labeling one a "movie" and the other a "film" that makes you a snob. It is foolish to imagine a firm boundary between those two categories. There are numerous pictures that fall into a grey area between the two extremes.
How would you classify the recent film by David Cronenberg, "A History of Violence" ? Cronenberg is famous for various exploitative horror films like "Videodrome" and "The Fly," yet "A History of Violence" is one of his occasional projects that might rise above that standard. To me it definitely falls into the middle ground between mass market horror thriller and contemplative character drama. That doesn\'t bother me because I don\'t feel a need to label it either "film" or "movie."
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It is foolish to imagine a firm boundary between those two categories.
because i don\'t want mongoloids such as gmanjoe appreciating the kind of films i do?
it degrades them.
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The fact that you even care about who likes the shit you like makes your argument biased.
So whatever your favorite movie is... If you found out Gman liked it, would you like it less?
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i pray to god gman doesn\'t truly enjoy a film i do.
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Some people are just impossible to please......
Let mm have his opinion, the majority of movie goers and critics would be on the side of those that loved the LOTR series, three of the best movies or films (or fail to see the difference, never knew they had different definition) I\'ve seen. I hope Jackson does as good as a job with this as he did with those.
To say that LOTR didnt have character development is just being ignorant, just so you can try and make yourself seem above everyone else.
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when war of the worlds came out a few summers ago, someone on this forum was mocking it for ripping off half life 2\'s pod walkers. i wanted to vomit
describe the character development in lotr please, cloud.
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Read the books?
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which of the above posters are you referring that question to?
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I just watched The World\'s Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins.
Was it a film or a flovie?
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movie (although an excellent one because of hopkins)
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which of the above posters are you referring that question to?
You. I just liked the books more, that\'s all.
Book > Movie
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book > movie 99% of the time
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That\'s still a pretty good percentage. :thumb:
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movie (although an excellent one because of hopkins)
So what exactly is the difference?:confused:
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Kong and Lord of the Rings were PG-13...two of the best films I\'ve ever seen. Not exactly kids stuff either.
Kong?!?!?! Shoot me in the head
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i pray to god gman doesn\'t truly enjoy a film i do.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Seven Samurais
City of God
Just to name a few before I hit the loo this early morning. :p
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oh, a few of the popular ones....
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Yep! Coz we all know that popular = trash. Those are defintely one of the worst movies I could name. Kurosawa should be dug up and hanged.
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Yeah. It\'s only good if two people have seen it. One of them being mm. ;)
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Im watching City of God for the millionth time right now.
mm is 1337
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Three words...
VIDEO GAME MOVIE
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One word...
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.impawards.com%2F1998%2Fposters%2Fbaseketball.jpg&hash=051517f331022f2949b80b559077efd9839c6220)
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Three words...
VIDEO GAME MOVIE
I wonder how the Metal Gear Solid movie will turn out? Viggo Mortensen as Snake seems odd.