Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain a Conversation with SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD

Written by ed flynn

Thursday, 16 September 2004

Reported by Joseph B. Mauceri No sets! No Locations! SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is an eclectic mix of film noir, pulp fiction, comic books, and classic animation that have been feed into the neurons of first time director/writer Kerry Conran and shaped cinematically harmonized by the latest digital technology. This is the inexhaustible imagination of childhood play visualized for an audience. Itís a love letter to the child in all of use who once dreamed we could fight monsters, fly, and that the world was full of wonders to be discovered. Kerry Conran grew up in Flint, MI, but left home to study film at the California Institute of the Arts. In 1994, Kerry setup a blue screen in his apartment and spent the next four years creating a six minute film titled ìThe World of Tomorrow.î In November of 1999 he showed the short film to an old college friend who showed it to Marsha Oglesby, Jon Avnetís producing partner. Little did Kerry know realize that those six minutes were just the beginning of a nine year odyssey and some 2000 special effects shots. No one knew because no one has ever made a film like this before! FEARS: Jon Avnet said, ìThe good news is that Kerry and I are still talking and the bad news is that Kerry and I are still talking.î I assume your relationship has survived? Kerry Conran: Thatís actually true, and it has! It wasÖ potentially trying. Especially when youíre trying to do something that is a bit experimental in nature. Things donít always go the way theyíre planned. Itís at that time that you try to keep your head about you. Thatís the one thing that Jon was really great about; he really never panicked where a lot of people would have. We only had to fight each other, which was not so bad. FEARS: It kind of makes him sound like your mentor, your protector, etc. Is that and accurate description? Kerry Conran: What John did that was amazing is that when I first met him and showed him this little short film Iíd made he was able to extrapolate it to where we are now. He did that not knowing how I would go about it and what was going to be involved. He just had the belief in the film, and presumably in me, and that somehow it would turn out. Jon really fought the entire way to just keep people away and to give me the chance to make my movie, when every rational thought would lead you to say ìget rid of him,î me. He was a great shield and the single biggest supporter of the whole project. FEARS: So what was the initial, core inspiration for the film? How old where you then? Kerry Conran: It started it ten years ago, but it probably started about ten to 20 years before then. In terms of the aesthetics and the story, Iíd just grown up, just like most kids, loving comics and that sort of thing. Iíd watched a lot of old films. There was a station out of Chicago; I think it was called WGN, which would broadcast these old films and serials every Sunday. I sat there and watched them. And it was at that time, as I got a bit older, that I investigated where they came from. Then the world sort of opened up to me. So in terms of just having those influences very early on and combining them with the pulp comics of that era, I think thatís what germinated what ultimately this film became. How this film was made was my accepting the fact that studios arenít going to hand me $100,000,000 and I had to find another way to make my movie. When I got out of school, the computers were just trickling down in terms of them being accessible and available to people like me. So I set about trying to bring some of those images to life within the means that I had at my disposal. FEARS: In your head are there other Sky Captain stories? Kerry Conran: There are. I actually had to whittle it down when I had made this movie. Given the serial nature of these films, you literally can go to the center of the earth and into space, or wherever you want. So it was settling on just this one aspect because the movie itself is almost like the continuing adventures of, Polly and Joe. FEARS: So like Bryan Singer or Joss Whedon, would you be interested in writing any other adventures of your characters for a comic book, just for the fun of it? Kerry Conran: Possibly! I think itís taking so long up till now that I just need a nap. And then Iíll kind of figure out what to do next. But I think in terms of the opportunity that exists there I canít fathom where it might go. FEARS: Based on what youíve said in the press already it sounds like youíd prefer a prequel? Kerry Conran: I think it would probably be fun to know, like, the origin and Angelinaís character in relation to Jude. Even if itís like a 10-minute opener to something else, you know. But I donít really have any predisposition right now as far as where to go or what to do with it in that regard. FEARS: Besides Kerry Conran, and his brother Kevin, who is this movie for? Kerry Conran: Thatís about it so! (Laughs) Strangely, when I did approach this film I hoped there would be kindred spirits out there that like the same things that I do. But, to some extent, I donít think this was solely made for people that are only interested in science fiction. I think that are a lot of the films I drew from, films like ìThe Third Man.î That film was a heavy influence for me and probably the biggest in that regard. But I think I made this film for anybody that wants to lose themselves for an hour and a half and just have fun. You almost feel that those days have gone away a little bit. Itís just sort of naÔve fun. FEARS: Did you and Jude talked about the film did you ever discuss in terms of some of the comics you were trying to pay homage to? Kerry Conran: We did. Jude is a huge comic book fanatic. My interests are probably a little bit earlier. I think heís a little bit more contemporary than I am, although I certainly love contemporary comics. But, the ones that most influenced me are certainly the E.C. Comics of the 30s and 40s. I think we had a frame of reference going forward on this that was quite nice actually. FEARS: Both Gwyneth and Jude have theatrical backgrounds; do you think that it helped them in terms of their performances? Kerry Conran: Hugely! You look at the finished film now and you just take for granted what they did. You can judge their performances and the film as it stands. But, when you consider that there was literally nothing there for them to work with its pretty remarkable what they managed to achieve. Jude, early on, had compared the experience, and I think just philosophically going into this thing, to theater. They didnít try to make this a film in the conventional sense. I think if they had, theyíd been expecting certain things, and when those things werenít there I think they would have felt lost. In this regard they knew that they had to bring everything with them. Just like if it was a single one-act play, or something comparable to that. I think that made a gigantic difference. Iíd recommend that for anybody who has to venture in front of a blue screen to just think about it differently. FEARS: Was ìKing Kongî a big movie for you. Or what was the big serial for you? Kerry Conran: ìKing Kongî was. Thatís one of those films that are a seminal moment in the genre. It certainly was both visually and in terms of just how goofy it was - a giant monkey being taken from an island into New York City. We tried to bring that same sensibility of insanity and goofiness to this film. But, itís fun! It works because you have an utter conviction when approach it and you donít become self-conscious about it. You just sort of embrace it and take it seriously, and I think you can then get away with anything. FEARS: In addition to ìKing Kongî there are many references to other films and themes and iconic images. I saw ìIsland of Dr. Moreau,î ìIron Giant,î the Max Fleischer serials, or the sound effects from ìThe War of the Worlds.î How much fun did you guys have putting in those elements? Like the creatures on the island are ìMoreau,î or Skull Island?î Kerry Conran: Itís just idiotic fun. When I wrote the script that wasnít the approach. I was thinking that I would take this scene or that. It was just a story. Than we started to create the images, bring it to life little by little. There were certain things that I think were in the script, like the venture at the bottom of the ocean. I did loosely model the island after Skull Island. Thatís not entirely Steelís Skull Island. To have these little subtle nods and references that five people would get are just fun. We put the Excalibur sword inside the gallery and the end of the movie, and Medusa. I think we have the larval form of Mothra in one scene. So, it was never intended to be something you would bring to the forefront, and it was never intended to be something distracting. There were things we had to fill-in, flesh-in details because there was nothing there. So we just allowed ourselves, indulged ourselves, and we like putting in things that were just of that world. FEARS: Looking back on some of the early trailers for the film, it appears that you rendered some of the sequences in black-&-white. In some ways the film looks like what Ted Turner would when he colorized an original black-&-white serial or movie. The colors look like theyíve been added into a black-&-white. Is that what you had in your mind? Kerry Conran: That is exactly what they were! The film was originally supposed to be black-&-white. Thatís the way I watch it! No. (Laughs) It started out that way more from a technical prospective. It was easier for me to blend black-&-white images together as opposed to color. Later on, when I was told they actually wanted to make money off the movie we moved into color. Instead of pouting I tried to embrace it. We tried to stay true to the way it was being made initially, a black-&-white movie all the way through. We put together a separate team, a color department, and we attempted to mimic the two and three-strip Technicolor processes. We looked at films, like ìWhite Narcissus,î that were sort of the pinnacles of that era, and develop the method of laying color over the top of the black-&-white. Thatís why you think it looks the way it looks because thatís exactly what it is. In that regard, I tried to do something unique with it, a little bit different then the way you would normally see films. FEARS: You did produce an animatic version of this. What would that be like to watch? How different would it e from what weíre seeing today? Kerry Conran: Itís different in the sense of the final mixed quality, but itís remarkably the same thing that you see right now. And that to me is the most tremendous boom as far as this film is concerned. The pre-visualization aspect of it is, I think, something youíll see used more and more of in films. Itís an amazing process and experience. Essentially, you make an animated version of the film. We were able to edit it like you would a conventional movie. Before I ever shot a frame of film, I knew what the movie was. FEARS: You even had everyoneís voices that you recorded during your table readings. Kerry Conran: Thatís right. So in that regard, we treated it almost like how animated films are made, where you would record the voices first and animate to them. We had the voices and were actually able even regard pacing and different issues like that informed by the voices. FEARS: Do you have any special plans for the DVD? Kerry Conran: The DVD is actually happening right now and there are a lot of supplemental things that will happen. FEARS: Like the animatic? Kerry Conran: Youíll see the animatic. We have assembled everything. So if you ever wanted to watch the feature length version on the animatic we have it. I donít know if that will be out initially. Itís fascinating! Actually, to this day, I enjoy watching it. Itís just a marvel of this lunacy. FEARS: Will the six minute original short be included? Kerry Conran: The six minutes, sadly, will be on the DVD. It will be the most disappointing thing anyone has ever seen, but it was made 10 years ago. FEARS: And as far as a comic book? Kerry Conran: A comic is possible, and there has been a lot of talk about it. The focus up till now has been to, obviously, finishing the movie. However, I know that to some extent Paramount has been talking to Dark Horse, but again I would hesitate to say anything. FEARS: Has the studio talked with anyone about doing toys? Kerry Conran: Yes! I think that just because the nature of the way the film was made, our independent roots, it didnít sort of work out in the timing for where we are right now. I think that, yeah! Thatís the only thing I would want from the movie, is a toy robot. FEARS: So there have been a lot of rumors in the press about you and ìPrincess of Mars.î Are you directing that film? Kerry Conran: It would appear Iím doing ìPrincess of Mars.î FEARS: Youíve signed? Kerry Conran: Ah, itís wellÖ signed! Weíre kind of mounting the forces to go about it. So in probably the next couple of weeks thatís where my energy will be. FEARS: Will that be another ìgrand experimentî or will you approach it more traditionally? Kerry Conran: I think it will be unavoidably a ìgrand experiment!î It will borrow some of the techniques we used for this film, but with an entirely different purpose. It obviously is something that needs to be a little bit more, if not a lot more, realistic in nature. A little bit grittier. There are already lots and lots of different technologies and techniques that I think would be quite advantageous for it. FEARS: So you see some sets as opposed to it being totally digital? Kerry Conran: Without a doubt! Even in the way that a lot of the characters would have to be wholly animated, the way you can use real actors to actually drive the animation process. If you capture their expressions you might now bring a depth and a quality to some of the acting that hasnít been possible up till now. So things like that are certainly exciting, and also to play with and experiment LINK THIS ARTICLE

 

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