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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST www.postmagazine.com 15 POST MARCH 2017 beloved fairy tale with a familiar theme — true beauty comes from within — dates back to 18 th Century France with the first published version of Beauty and the Beast (or La Belle et la Bête), by author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Countless iterations and interpretations eventually led to one of the most memorable and best-loved versions, Disney's 1991 animated classic, Beauty and the Beast, with its inspiring message and memorable songs. The film, which was released around the same time as Disney blockbusters The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Aladdin, was not only critically acclaimed, but was the first animated feature to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and won two Oscars, for Best Original Score and Best Song. Fast-forward to the 21 st Century when Disney is looking for a live-action, big-screen adaptation of the fairytale. When the studio approached Oscar- winning director/writer Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I and 2, Mr. Holmes and Kinsey), he initially "did not want to go near it." Condon explains, "I consider the 1991 film to be a perfect movie. When the film was released it was groundbreaking, in the way the story was told and with that incredible score from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman." But then Condon gave it more thought. "It is 25 years later and technology has caught up to the ideas that were introduced in the animated movie. Now, it is possible, for the first time, to create a photo-real version of a talking teacup on a practi- cal set in a completely realistic live action format." Condon began with script development and working with the art department on initial ideas for the look of the film in 2014, with active prep starting on the first day of 2015, such as storyboards, previs, set illustrations, etc. He also brought on his creative team, including editor Virginia "Ginny" Katz and DP Tobias A. Schliessler, both of whom worked with Condon on Dream Girls, The Fifth Estate and Mr. Holmes, and Katz on the Twilight sagas. Principal photography on the new film took place at Shepperton Studios outside London and on several exterior locations in the UK from May to August, 2015 where multiple, large-scale prac- tical sets were built — 27 in total. And while the story itself was to be told in a live-action format, there was still a good amount of CG and anima- tion required to create many of the film's char- acters, including a believable Beast, as well as talking teapots, candlesticks and more. Four-time Oscar-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood (Hanna, Atonement) was brought on for the sets and Steve Gaub (Unbroken, Oblivion, Tron: Legacy) as visual effects producer. The Third Floor completed the previs. Two and a half years later, there is a finished, live-action film and an all-star ensemble cast, including Emma Watson (Belle), Dan Stevens (Beast), Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellan, Audra McDonald and Stanely Tucci. Director Bill Condon, DP Tobias Schliessler and Editor Ginny Katz all spoke with Post magazine just prior to the film's release, about each of their roles and taking on such a beloved Disney classic. TAKE ONE: DIRECTOR BILL CONDON What type of film did you set out to make? "I set out to make what I hope is a very emotional, live-action musical film. To make a film that not only lived up to the animated film, but also the beauty of the score and the kind of richness of the story. I didn't think of it for any one audience, but to make it so it could go as deep as it could." What were some of the biggest challenges for you? "That's a big question. I think making sure it all to- tally fit. That everything fit within everything else. If you look at the animated film, you have Le Fou [Gad], who was like a human punching bag. So here, making sure that the broadness of Le Fou lived in the same movie as the delicacy of what Kevin Kline was doing as Bell's father. Making sure that it was all part of the same movie." How many VFX shots are there? "Around 1,800." I know you worked on other movies with visual effects, what is your comfort level with them? "I think once you go through a big movie and do them, you realize just how intensive the post pro- duction period is. I've done movies with post that went longer than a year. This actually had fewer visual effects than my last movie, although very A The film was shot on-location throughout London and at Shepperton Studios. Cogsworth (left) and Mrs. Potts (right) were CG challenges.