Fansite Friday: New Moon Director Chris Weitz (part 2)

Posted on 11. Sep, 2009 by AmyO in News

Today’s installment of Fansite Fridays is the conclusion of Chris Weitz’s interview.  If you missed part one you can find it here.   

Kara: This is sadly the last installment of Fansite Fridays- but we have saved the best for last- the second half of our interview with Chris Weitz. Here we discuss the wolves, the soundtrack and the yellow Porsche!! 

I want to take a moment to thank Summit for letting us have this great opportunity to spend time on the set. Vancouver is a gorgeous city I highly recommend it even when there are no vampires in town…. 

I also want to thank the other websites that were in Vancouver with me: Pel & Alphie from the Lexicon, Kallie & Cassie from Twilight Series Theories Matt from Twilight Source, Kara (the only other Kara with a K I’ve met!!) from Twilighters Anonymous, and Kimmy from His Golden Eyes! These interviews, transcripts, and sound bites were all a group effort- we had a great time in Vancouver and hopefully we will do it again someday soon.

 Chris Weitz Part 2

Interview by HGE,TA,TL,TM,TS,TST

Transcript by KOG TM

Q: A lot of fans are wondering about- since you are so good at CG- it’s your forte- how is the design for the werewolves looking?

 

Chris: I think it’s looking good- we are taking Stephenie’s lead- that they are wolves the size of horses. We’ve avoided any temptation to kind of go Lon Chaney with it- or to make it humanoid type of werewolves- their very much creatures of nature. Phil Tippet is doing the wolves- It’s not me- I’m not the one who is good at CGI. I just happened to have lucked into working with people who are very good at it- I just know a good thing when I see it and Phil Tippet who has many Oscars- worked on Star Wars and this kind of stuff is doing the wolves and they are just going to be great- they are going to be fantastic- and at the same time they have to fit into the world that is already there- you can’t suddenly pop out of reality. Somehow what Stephenie manages to do is mix the emotions that everybody feels at some point in their lives with- supernatural things- with werewolves and vampires- and all that kind of stuff- it would be wrong if when you see a werewolf you were suddenly in a totally different movie.  So they have to be very carefully integrated- One thing I am good at with CG is that I don’t like it to jump too much to the foreground- I like it to settle in to other aspects of the film

Q: How does this compare to Golden Compass? Just in the development process in bringing two separate books to life?

Chris: It’s been an easier process… I found a lot less interference from Summit and a lot more understanding of the books than New Line had of the Golden Compass- I think that this studio understands the importance of the books- members of which who have read the books and appreciate them- not just see them as engines of possible profit.  So that makes a tremendous difference- it really does. 

Q: There were a lot of quirks in Twilight- incorporating the book cover- and having Stephenie do the cameo- any plans to put your own spin on that to include it in this movie at all??

Chris: Well I know that Stephenie didn’t particularly like the tulip on the cover of the book- so we won’t be seeing that.  Well I don’t think there are any trick cameos per se but every time I make a movie I definitely want 20 or 30 moments where if you had a DVD and stopped it- you can see things whether it be strange bits of foreshadowing- as though you can see into the future in certain scenes or whether it be little moments that pass by un noticed or details of the architecture of things- I love doing that sort of stuff-

Q: It sounds like it’s going to be so multilayered I like the fact that there will be some subliminal type of things in there….

Chris: Yea- but not subliminal in a bad way- not like advertising- part of my job in preproduction assembling the team to make the movie is to try to find the right people and everyone cares about the details intensely- It is going to be incredibly layered and textured in terms of the details of everything and when for instance:

All the kids who were First Nations- they call them First Nations in Canada what we call Native American in America- went and saw Jacob’s house- which you only see for about 10 seconds in the movie- just walking them through that house for the first time was a great experience because they were like “wow this feels just like the house that I grew up in”- and it wasn’t the reservation that one thinks of in a cliché kind of way- its just the fact in La Push people have lots and lots of pictures of their family up on the wall or that there are bits of carvings- or this or that – all these details were very carefully researched. Our production team went down to La Push and met people there.  There are like fun little details there was a girl at La Push who gave a member of our production team her first drum- you are supposed to give away your first drum- which was really great- so we put it in the movie- she’ll see it- little things like that- reference from us to one person but these things ecru and mean something.

Q: What was your biggest challenge in making the movie?

Chris: I think it’s a challenge to make a movie anyway- especially one that is coming out in November- I think the biggest challenge will be getting it out on time and making sure that every little detail at least in my mind is right I’m rather obsessive and I tend to be a worry wart about things so…. you know going into this that there is going to be a lot of interest and that people are going to go and see it but to me that’s kind of not enough… I really want to deliver on everything that I promised- so that’s the really tough thing is making sure that you don’t just go and do your job and go home- that every second is an opportunity exploited or wasted to get something right.

Q: Do you have a composer in store for the score? 

Chris: Yea Alexandre Desplat is going to be doing the score- he is extraordinary- he did the score for Benjamin Button, Golden Compass- I worked with him before, he did the score for Syriana. He is extraordinarily talented in general- but for something that has a romantic sweep to it he has a comprehensive familiarity with romantic music but can also work in multiple sizes of orchestra- multiple genres- he can work with synthesizers he can work with ethnic percussion ensembles- he can work with symphonies… and I know that he is going to do something beautiful- and I also know sometimes when I’m shooting something that I’m leaving room for his music-and that’s going to be this other layer that will bring so much to it. 

Q: Have you made any progress on the soundtrack? Are there any bands/songs/tone that you are going for? 

Chris: Well a lot of the tone of the movie is melancholy so it gives you the opportunity to do the ultimate breakup album of all time-and yet there is room for songs that correspond more to Jacob his sunny quality-his goodness.  To be honest I haven’t figured out exactly who’s going to the soundtrack yet- Alex Patsavas who was the music supervisor on the first movie is coming back- we are in a really great position of that album having done so well that bands are really interested in being a part of it.

Q: Are you going for more underground bands or mainstream- do you have a preference?

Chris: I don’t really have any preference- I would like it to be a mix… basically. Its’ whatever is right for the tone- I don’t particularly care that the bands are big names necessarily as long as it fits. 

Q: Have you seen any costume designs for the Volturi? 

Chris: It fits with the books- the black cloaks are all there and the degrees of blackness are rationed out- The set for the Volturi lair is going to be really interesting for the fans its going to be really fun- First of all its one of the biggest, grandest sets I’ve ever seen- what is what they deserve- they are a big deal- they don’t go small.  First of all shooting Volterra itself we will have to get that right- and the race through the square and all that- but when we get inside it’s going to be fairly extraordinary. 

Q: Are you filming the interiors here in Vancouver?

Chris: Filming the interiors here- we are building the interiors here so we get to make up that interior and control it ourselves the exteriors belong in Italy.

Q: How is the car chase scene? 

Chris: I think we are going to try to deliver down to the yellow Porsche!

After this Chris was needed back on set to start filming the scene where Charlie and the search party is looking for Bella.  Chris was amazing to talk with and so gracious to give us a half hour of his time on a very busy night. He truly cares about the book and getting it right instead of just finished Rest easy TwilightMOMs New Moon is in good hands- now that you have seen the trailers you know what I mean!

TwilightMOMS wants to also thank Summit Entertainment for the opportunity, our fellow fansites for the good time and information sharing and our Ms. Kara!  Isn’t she amazing?!?!

Tags: Chris Weitz, Fansite Friday, New Moon Movie