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Chris Weitz Answers Fan Questions: Part III

December 6, 2007 17:12 by Erica Fetterman

Tagged with The Golden Compass 7 comments

MTV goes its third round of interview questions with Chris Weitz as they talk about casting, special effects, and Chris's own favorite scene. Next week will finish up the rounds of questions with the director.

See round one
See round two

QUESTION #1 (from Mary):

I’d like to ask about the casting of Eva Green. I think she’s perfect for the role of Serafina. So whose idea was to cast her? Who were other girls that you considered for the role?

ANSWER:

Eva was the first and only person I thought of to play Serafina. Although she is actually a very warm person when you get to know her, there’s something about her bearing that is quite poised and aloof – which makes her perfect for the role of a woman who appears to be in her twenties whereas she is in fact hundreds of years old! Like many of the actors, she was drawn to the film by reading the books, and I think that her commitment to the character both as a warrior and as a surrogate mother figure was quite believable. As well, there is her beautiful and very difficult to place voice and accent, which has the sort of exotic feel that the clan queen of the witches of Lake Enara should have.

QUESTION #2 (from Nikki):

We’ve all heard about the jaw-dropping special effects used for the daemons, the polar bears and the North. Some of us are worried that this is all going to be what the movie is about, so we are very glad when you told bridgetothestars.net about how “one musn’t forget that the magic of the piece is as much in the relationships as in the potential for spectacle.” But then again, this interview was dated 2004 so I’d like to ask if this still holds true now that the movie is wrapped up.

ANSWER:

I think that he special effects in the movie are quite beautiful, and amount to a pretty extraordinary accomplishment on the part of the three lead effects houses (Rhythm and Hues, Framestore/CFC, and Cinesite). They deserve credit not just for the quality of the work but for their understanding, under the leadership of our Visual Effects Supervisor Mike Fink, that the effects needed to blend seamlessly with the human actors and that it was their job to aid in the telling of the story of Lyra, rather than to compensate for any lack of story. Above all, Pullman’s story is about people – whether human or otherwise – their souls and their destinies and their fears. My biggest job regarding the visual effects in this film was not learning about how to direct them – which is difficult in its own right – but making sure that they did not intrude upon the human elements of the story. I think we’ve managed to manufacture a world that is beautiful and fantastic in its own right, but that is nonetheless simply “earth” the way the characters know it in their lives.

QUESTION #3 (from Lenora):

Thank you for all of your involvement with the fan base of “His Dark Materials”! What scene of “The Golden Compass” were you most excited to see brought to life?

ANSWER:

Ironically, I think the scene I was most happy with was the scene in Mrs. Coulter’s bedroom at Bolvangar before she escapes. It’s a very intimate, very intense two-hander between one of the biggest actresses in the world and a complete newcomer and it works very well in terms of Lyra finally getting to the bottom of some of the secrets that explain the way the adults around her have been acting all this time; and it doesn’t depend at all upon cgi. Otherwise, the bear-fight was of course an exciting scene to see visualized and lives up, I think, to everything it is in the book.

QUESTION #4 (from Seb):

Provided “The Subtle Knife” is adapted into film, will open auditions be held for the character Will Parry, as they were for Lyra? Or would you cast Will by other means?

ANSWER:

I don’t know exactly how we’ll go about finding Will. It’s rare for lightning to strike twice, but open calls may just be the way to do it. At the same time, I wouldn’t want to rule out any known young actor just on principle. The thing is not to get caught up in the idea of what Will “looks” like; it’s far more important that he “feels” like the character, and furthermore that he is able to convey, in a subtle way, the very difficult and challenging experiences that Will has gone through before we catch up with him in “The Subtle Knife” – experiences that make him both Lyra’s opposite and her match.

QUESTION #5 (from Justin):

Obviously the North has a lot to do with this production. But since the north in our own world is fading away, do you plan to take advantage of the opportunity to help prevent Global Warming through, perhaps, a “Pansberjorne struggle” when the story comes to Will’s world?

ANSWER:

It makes it all the more poignant that the strange effects that Asriel’s opening the bridge to the stars has upon Svalbard have been reflected in the results that have been coming out of various ecological surveys in the last few years. When I first read “His Dark Materials,” the possibility of something so grand as the Arctic coming to an end seemed fantastical indeed. To be honest, Pullman’s depiction of Iorek’s struggle to find a new home for his people is enough of a compelling storyline without having to add anything to it; it simply proves him prophetic.

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