Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/891583
A few contrasts were built in, culturally and cinematically, reflecting both New York and America in 1927 and 1977. The idea was that these two disparate resonances would combine to form some kind of a dynamic harmony, and that's the moment when those two stories link up. However, at that moment, when Ben finally figures out why so many strange coincidences have led him to this bookstore, when he finally realizes this person, the adult Rose, has to tell him the story of his life and how he came to be—that's really what his search is about: Where's my dad, how do I find him, where do I come from? The film had to tell that story too, that's the third story, stretching over four decades. As written, there were scenes, voice-overs or reenactments of the life Rose had led, the life that Danny led, and his marriage, which brings Ben into the world. Those four decades had to be depicted. That takes screen time, that takes shooting time and that takes money. Wonderstruck is a cinematic movie. Rose doesn't have an AK-47 and Ben doesn't blow up a building, so it didn't have epic-movie money! These kinds of films don't get big budgets, and we had to figure out how to afford the ending. As often happens, something cool occurred while searching for a different way to tell this last story. An early approach was to animate the last ten minutes. It could be done for a reasonable cost. It wouldn't require two more weeks of shooting, it would literally be jobbed out to somebody to animate. That was the plan and Todd said, "Hey Mark, what do you think?" I was excited to make the movie. I recognized that animation could speak to the original intent of Brian's novel, which was half graphic. I knew that together, we would come up with a good idea, but was very worried about cel animation or even Claymation. It seemed weird to me at that point. The movie already had two styles, so to add a whole other story, and a whole other way to depict these characters, felt wrong to me. It felt like we might go outside the movie. And…I wanted to do it myself. Not for selfish reasons, but because I wanted the sequence to have feedback from the rest of the film, and vice versa. By the end, the audience understands how Ben sees, and that needs to inform his impression of Rose's story. When Rose B C D E