Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/394837
www.postmagazine.com 21 POST SEPTEMBER 2014 of photo-realism we couldn't do before. I also wanted to honor the warm-hearted core of the franchise." How important are the VFX in the film? "They're a key element as they give the film its depth and spectacle, and I love working with VFX. Real Steel was my graduate school in VFX. Before that, I had so much to learn, and that film gave me the education I was missing in VFX. And in Night 3 we explore the idea — what if this magic and the tablet and the creatures all leave the museum? So this film goes out into the streets of London, which is very exciting to create." How many visual effects shots are there and how far did you push them? "Our show has about 820 shots and most of them were done by Moving Picture Company and Digital Domain 3.0, with the rest of the work done by Method Studios, Zoic Studios and Lola Visual Effects, and these shots give the film its spectacular backdrop, as we really pushed everything we could. But what's really amazing in a way is that This Is, which is this little movie about family relationships, has over 100 VFX shots which no one will ever notice. Every time I didn't like a background or a sky texture or a background movement, I could just use VFX to perfect the shot. And I always finish production under bud- get and rarely shoot overtime. So in all 11 of my films I've gone into post with savings, and that allows us some breathing room in the VFX and music." I assume that all your producing experience is also a big factor? "Right. As I'm producing more and more, it's taught me so much about managing your budget and assets. Some directors just seem to want what they want, what- ever the cost, but I feel that if you can be judicious when you're shooting, then frankly I don't have to go to anyone to get permission to get a certain VFX shot or song I feel is vital to the film. I do it with my own savings from the shoot." How important are sound and music to you? "It's such a huge part of each film's character and different movies call for different soundscapes, both in music and effects. In Real Steel I used Danny Elfman, as he seemed the right tonality. For This Is, my dream choice was composer Mi- chael Giacchino, who won the Oscar for Up, but he was unavailable. So I started to consider other names, but then I thought, I've waited ten films to make this one, so I cannot give up on anything. So I emailed him, offered to screen it for him, he saw it and said, 'I'm in.' So for any young kids wanting to join this crazy business, my advice is, never surrender. You just have to go after what you truly believe in. We did the mix in New York and even though it seems like a straightforward, people- talking-in-rooms movie, there's a lot of nuance and dimension to it. Then for Night 3 we'll score and do all the effects and mix here on the Fox lot with Craig Henighan, who did my first Night film. He created unique sounds for every robot in Real Steel by going to all these junk yards and recording different pieces of metal, to get it right. So on this, we have a new di- nosaur skeleton and a new quality to the magical tablet, and again he's creating all these custom sound effects, never heard before. He really cares about his craft, which is why he's the go-to sound guy for Ben Stiller and Darren Aronofsky." Did you do a DI on This Is? "Absolutely — we always do one. I'm a huge DI fan and there's no question it's rev- olutionized the post process and has be- come a must-have for pretty much every director I know. In my early films we didn't do DIs, and I got so frustrated by the lack of reliable control in timing sessions. So the idea that you can really tweak the details of your image and rely on them to lock in and carry on through the whole process is indispensable to me at this point. I can't ever see doing a film without a DI now. We did the This Is DI at Technicolor with color- ists Skip Kimball and Nick Hassen." Tell us about making Alexander? "It's a children's book that my company and I developed with Lisa Henson from the ground up, and even before we got the deal with Disney to do it, I'd gone to Steve Carell. We'd stayed friends since Date Night, and I told him I wanted to make a family film in the tradition of Parenthood and Cheaper By The Dozen. So he and Jennifer Garner signed on, and then I went to Miguel Arteta, who's made some lovely smaller films but never a big mainstream studio comedy, and he gave it all his enthusiasm along with great attention to detail. As a director who also produces, I try to be how Spielberg was for me on Real Steel — I won't get in your way but I'm here for any council and ad- vice you need. And I watch all the dailies, I'm there at the edit and mix, and share my notes." This is Where I Leave You was shot in New York and posted at PostWorks. DIRECTOR'S CHAIR