Erster Ausschnitt: Zemeckis “A Christmas Carol” mit Jim Carrey

Gestern veranstaltete die Macher der neuesten Verfilmung von Charles Dickens Dauerbrenner “A Christmas Carol” in Cannes ein Virtual Junket, d.h. ausgewählte Journalisten bekamen das Passwort zu einer Seite, den untenstehenden Clip zu sehen und durften die Produzenten des Films Steve Starkey und Jack Rapke zu dem Projekt befragen.

Hier gibts den (sehr kurzen) Clip:

YouTubeDirectScrooge

Ich liebe die Dickens-Story und “Scrooged” sowie “The Muppets Christmas Carol” zählen für mich bislang zu den besten Adaptionen der Geschichte. Jim Carrey als Ebenezer Scrooge is durchaus auch eine ganz spannende Besetzung, wenn ich an seine Performance als Count Olaf in “Lemony Snicket” zurückdenke. So richtig überzeugt bin allerdings vom Look & Feel dieses neusten 3D-Projekts noch nicht, was auch daran liegen mag, dass ich sowohl “Beowulf” als auch “The Polar Express” nicht wirklich gelungen fand. Die Figuren wirkten alle wie Mickey Rourke nach zwei Eimern Botox was mit dem angestrebten realistischen Look der Filme nicht ganz in Einklang zu bringen war. Viel besser gefiel mir da schon der von Zemeckis nur produzierte “Monster House”, in dem die Figuren bewusst karikierter designt wurden, was im Zusammenspiel mit den MoCap-Performances einen interessanten und sehr lebendigen Effekt erzielt. Der oben gezeigte Clip ist noch recht unspektakulär und lässt bis auf den “3D-Kisten fliegen dir ins Gesicht” Effekt wenig Rückschlüsse auf den Tonfall und die Machart des Films zu.

Das Virtual Junket zu dem ich eingeladen war, lieferte leider auch wenig originelle Erkenntnisse, da die Moderatoren sich schwer taten kritischere Fragen freizuschalten und die beiden Produzenten daher nur die üblichen PR-tauglichen Antworten gaben, die so auch dem Presseheft zu entnehmen waren. Ja man habe die Performance-Capture-Technik noch verbessert, damit mehr Schauspieler im Zusammenspiel gecaptured werden können. Ja, Jim Carrey habe hart gearbeitet die insgesamt vier Rollen die er im Film verkörpert zu erschaffen. Ja das ganze sei respektvoll gegenüber Dickens und würde nur moderate Zugeständnisse an das heutige Publikum machen und ja, der Film würde trotz Disney-Einfluß auch die dunklen Seiten der Story nicht verleugnen.

Ich bin mal gespannt, denn im Grunde bietet “A Christmas Carol” – auch nach all den Jahren und unzähligen Zitaten in fast allen TV-Serien, Filmen und Comics die es gibt – immer noch das Potential für einen wirklich großartigen Film.

Also Bob, enttäusch mich nicht.

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Hier für die jenigen die es interessiert die kompletten Fragen und Antworten aus dem Junket:

Produzent: Steve Starkey:

How true did you stay to the original story of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, and what can we expect to see in a Robert Zemeckis version of “A Christmas Carol”?

Bob Zemeckis, who wrote the screenplay, remained very true to the original.
We have a great respect for Dickens, in addition to which, we received a lot of inspiration from the cinematic imagery that Dickens wrote in the original tale. So we found very little need to invent things that were not in the original. However, you can expect to find more 3D elements in this movie than you’ve seen in our past films.

What has changed and what is new in this 3D version of Christmas Carol, compared to other Zemeckis’ works?

Since we started our new company, which is dedicated to the new digital art form, we have a simultaneous 3-D pipeline creating images while we’re finishing the movie. So this is the first time we’re able to see 3D images while we’re in the process of making the movie. So if we want to make adjustments to enhance the 3D value of a shot or scene, we’re able to immediately go back and perfect the scene.

Which one is your favourite character in the film and why?

Like with children, you can never have a favourite child. So if I may say so, I enjoyed many characters for different reasons. I was particularly fond of the way Jim physically contorted himself to perform the character of Scrooge. In addition to which, it was fun to see Jim assume completely different characters as the ghost. He came up with a completely different accent and body language for every different character he took on. So I found it fun to watch him change from character to character. I must say, I also enjoyed watching Bob Hoskins and Gary Oldman take on different characters that were very distinctive from each other. So as you can see, I really don’t have a favourite character in this film: I love them all.

How did you create the look of Ebenezer Scrooge?

The creation of all of our characters involved many artists, and ultimately it is the performer who takes on the role of the character. It starts with Bob Zemeckis, working carefully with our character artists, supervised by Doug Chiang, to come up with the first look of the character. We then receive additional inspiration when we cast an actor in that role. So in the case of Scrooge, we tried a number of different designs, and then were finally and ultimately inspired by Jim Carrey and what he brought to the role.

What has given you the biggest challenge so far in creating this film?

The biggest challenge was getting to the first day of performance capture. We once again pushed the envelope with regards to how many performers we could have working together in the virtual space.
We were also limited by how long the scenes could be. So in this film, with these greater demands for having all of our actors working together for an unlimited amount of time; it was a very difficult task for our digital artists. We were also attempting to get much finer data from the performance of our actors, and designed a new system to attempt to do this, which just barely made it in time to do the movie.

Was the decision to use Jim Carey in multiple roles made at the beginning, or did that happen through experimenting with the performance capture technology?

The decision to use Jim Carey to perform all the characters he does in the film was a decision we made at the start. This was very demanding on Jim, because he had to come up with distinctive voices and character traits for each character that he performed, to make them distinctive from one another. He also had to play Scrooge as his younger self, both as a boy, and a young man. And these two required a lot of thought about what it was that made Scrooge who he is.

Was it difficult to come up with so many different voices?

Yes – we hired a dialect coach for Jim to work with to come up with the voice of Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas Present. So the difficulty was for Jim Carrey!

How did the writers approach the original script by Charles Dickens? Will there be any more modern elements?

If you mean the original story by Charles Dickens (although I know what you mean, Dickens seems to write as a screenwriter), we stayed very close to the original story that Dickens told. In a few cases, where Bob Zemeckis, who wrote the screenplay, found it necessary for today’s audiences – he added small scenes to enhance the intent of Dickens.

It appears that the actor’s performance with motion capture technology is not the same as in the average film. What is the most demanding thing in working with actors on the picture like this?

Since the performance of the characters comes directly from the actors’ performances, I see very little difference between the performances in live action films than what I see in our performance capture films. I think the most demanding thing for actors, is working without their wardrobe. Actors are used to using bits of their wardrobe to enhance their performance. For example, if they’re wearing a hat, or have a pocket watch, they may use that as part of their performance. So now we have a wardrobe fitting, prior to starting the performance capture, where we ask the actors what we can provide to help them with their performance. So I find that the gap is closing between what you think of as a live action performance, and the performance in our films.

Prodzent Jack Rapke

How will this film differ to other “A Christmas Carol” films?

It will be different because of course we have a completely different cast to the predecessors, and additionally we believe that this particular version of “A Christmas Carol” will be closer to what Dickens originally envisioned in his novel.

What attracted you to Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”?

We consider ourselves above everything else, to be storytellers. And Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is one of the classic stories in literature with a memorable and iconic lead character. In addition it provides opportunities for tremendous spectacle which translates extremely well to our art form and 3D

The Dickens story is pretty dark at times, how scary will the new movie be?

Yes, the story has dark elements, which are of course necessary in doing a film about a man’s journey, with regard to the redemption of his soul. The movie of course is Disney’s “A Christmas Carol”, so we are maintaining the integrity of the brand, without sacrificing the dark moments that are necessary to tell this particular story.

What’s your own favourite Christmas movie of all time?
“It’s a Wonderful Life”.

Having Jim Carrey as the lead, a man who is mostly known for his talents as a comedic actor – did this influence the style of the movie towards a more comedic approach, or is the movie mostly a drama?

The screenplay written by Bob Zemeckis is true to the Dickens tale. Scrooge is a man of many dimensions, mostly dramatic, but who also has comedic elements. We felt Jim Carrey had the depth as a dramatic actor to deliver the performance that’s necessary, and it goes without saying that his comedic genius also comes into play at time to time in the story

Can you talk about your take on Jacob Marley’s character?

In death, Marley clearly realises that he did not live his life in a proper way with regard to charity, social welfare and compassion for others. Unfortunately for him, he has come to this awareness too late and now must suffer the karmic consequences of the actions that he was responsible for, here on earth

How did you go about recreating Victorian England?

Through intensive research of the period. This included studying the wardrobe, the Victoria & Albert Museum, looking at old paintings and researching what is left of Dickensian London in person. This task was primarily accomplished by our genius production designer/art director Doug Chiang.

Can you tell me how you came up with the style of the three ghosts?

They are inspired by the text in the Dickens novel. He actually describes them in some detail in the book, which we tried to interpret with accuracy. Of course, we had to take some artistic license.

When did you first hear about “A Christmas Carol”?

When I was a young boy and saw the Alistair Sim movie

Which is your favourite part of the film?

I don’t have a particular favourite part of the movie. I look at the movie in its totality, to see if we have done justice to the material. I believe that the character development, the storytelling and the spectacle are equally fabulous, and therefore I couldn’t pick a favorite element

Do you shoot entirely on a blue / green screen or do you shoot with some sets and props, which you later digitally recreate?

We do not shoot blue/green screen. We capture our performances on a 60 x 30 x 18 volume, which is on our sound stage. We provide the actors with anything that they interact with, e.g. props and environments. Later in the process we digitally create the look of the movie.

How do you like being in Cannes and presenting “A Christmas Carol”?

It’s a dream! Cannes is fabulous, and to see it snow, in May, on the Croisette, is beyond amazing!

What to you is the one biggest advantage that performance capture brings to a project like this?

This particular art form allows Bob Zemeckis to achieve his vision of the story better than other techniques that would have been available to us.

Where do you see performance capture going in the future? Could you imagine using an actor’s image without them being on set?

It’s extremely difficult to predict where the future of performance capture is going. Our hope is that the art form is at its infancy, and will continue to be refined and be more accessible to many filmmakers. I do not foresee making these movies without the actor on the set. We believe in a fully immersive performance by the actor and always look forward to the actors themselves bringing their very very special talent to the character. Also the spontaneity of the performance allows for those magical accidents that sometimes take place!

What where your inspirations for the look of the film?

The artwork of the period. There is an artist, Thomas Kincaid, who Bob felt captured the style perfectly for the lighting in the movie. Also Doug Chiang in his intensive researching of the period evolved the visual style of the movie with Bob.

What would you say to an audience that has a certain resistance to motion-capture technology?

I personally went to film school and was trained as a classic ‘film’ maker. I don’t quite understand the resistance to the art form. The history of cinema is one of ongoing and continuing technological innovations that allow one to tell stories in different and better ways. The first time someone moved the traditional movie camera was thought impossible. The first time a movie was cross cut, was thought impossible. The advent of sound was initially rejected. The advent of colour was initially rejected. So, it seems to me, that any type of modernisation of the technique has had at its origination a natural reticence. Our art form is just another way of telling stories, which is what the cinematic arts are ultimately all about.

Why did you think that the story of “A Christmas Carol” would lend itself to this style of animation?

“A Christmas Carol” can be made in many different ways, and each of those versions would be acceptable to tell the story. For us, in our art form, it allows us to create a spectacle, characters and environments that lend themselves to a 3D presentation.

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