The music of Dr. Horrible got everyone in the mood as we awaited the
arrival of the "Visionaries" of the hour, Joss Whedon and J.J.
Abrams. There were high hopes the two would hit on a number of talking
points, namely Star Trek, LOST, Super 8, The Avengers and the
biggest fanboy wet dream of all, a collaboration.
No collaboration coming and aside from Joss' confirmation that he is indeed,
directing The Avengers, (while getting in a joke about Marvel's
inability to draft a proper press release) we didn't get too much intel on the
immediate future for these two. But what we did get was some insight into
the pairs' take on the future of serialized television, 3-D filmmaking, the
necessity of or lack thereof, of film school and plenty of jokes from Whedon.
They Were Once Like Us
What better way to begin the hour of worship at the alter of Whedon and
Abrams than with stories from their early days as mere fans, themselves.
As a kid, J.J revealed that he was a bigger fan of the guys the who did the
make-up and effects on his favorite films rather than big name directors.
Abrams explained that he sent a fan letter to the make-up artist on The
Exorcist, which yielded him a prop tongue, sent to him with a letter from
the artist suggesting he spread some peanut butter on the grotesque prop.
Joss, sadly could not top the tongue story. However, he did joke that
he's got an egg from Alien but he had to bury the franchise in order to
get it. And thus an hour of classic Whedon wisecracks ensued.
Asked when they decided to become storytellers, Joss explained that it was
something he always wanted to do because "making an honest living sounded
really hard." It was those early days of writing TV specs in order
to get by that made him realize writing was where he would find himself.
Abrams, it turns out "was the idiot who loved to do magic tricks for
his relatives." It was "that feeling of creating an illusion
and making people believe it" that appealed to him. With that, came
mention of a debate between Brian K. Vaughn and Drew Goddard about who is more
pathetic, comic nerds or magic nerds. According to J.J. neither are
pathetic. Well maybe magic nerds.
The Avengers
And then Jeff "Doc" Jensen asked the elephant sized-question that had
been taking up space in the room thus far. Yes, Joss Whedon is officially
directing The Avengers, something that's clearly a personal dream for a
guy who claims the "seminal superhero stories of (his) youth were The
Avengers and Thing annuals."
On the comics end of the spectrum, J.J. sited his time spent working in a
comic shop as influential but claims it was TV series like The Twilight Zone that provided that early inspiration and draw towards Hollywood.
Next, Jensen asked Joss about his "take" on The Avengers.
"I have to have a take?" was Joss' response. He's still writing
an outline and in the stage of reworking it, said Whedon. But as far as
his "take," Joss said the thing he loves about The Avengers is
"just how completely counter-intuitive it is. It makes no sense these
people should be in the same room or on the same team - and that is the very definition
of family." Funny guy, that Joss Whedon
Super 8
Next up was talk of J.J.'s mysterious Super 8. Abrams explained
that his inspiration came from working on the restoration of Steven Spielberg's
early works, which ultimately led him to call Spielberg with a pitch. The
film will start shooting in September. Said Abrams, "the movie is in
the spirit of the films (Spielberg) made years ago. It's personal and
hyper-real." And no, it won't be in 3-D.
Which of course, led to a discussion on that very trendy form of
filmmaking. Joss joked that he likes the format but said that some movies
should not be in 3-D like Cabin in the Woods. For Abrams, 3-D
"feels a little grey and muted. You get into it but it always seems
less than the experience...I'm not totally onboard (with 3-D)."
So are the two specifically writing for 3-D at all? Not especially it
seems. Joss, again cracking jokes left and right, told a story about
watching a bizarre horror movie on TV only to realize it was a Friday the
13th flick but with no violence no sex and of course, no 3-D - and it was
better.
Dr. Horrible Sequel?
Jensen next asked Joss about Dr. Horrible and long-standing rumors of a
sequel. Whedon said it's something that he, brother Jed and Mo Tanchareon
have talked about over the years but nothing's come of it yet, although some
songs have been written. All three really want to do it said Whedon, but
it needs to be on their "terms which seem to be interminable."
Regarding creating content for the Internet, Whedon said he felt like he
"missed the boat on that" perhaps, but did reveal that he started to
work on an Internet piece with Warren Ellis called Wastleanders that he
was going to direct. But then The Avengers came along...
Elaborating on the accessibility of filmmaking for the Internet, Abrams said
the means are certainly there, explaining how he shot a recent Star Trek DVD trailer on a camera he uses for shooting his kids' soccer games.
Of course, the topic of Whedon's equally shaky and successful relationship
with television came up. The situation with FOX and Dollhouse?
Whedon said he "didn't think it through." The networks want
"sexy" but then they don't, seemed to be the crux of Whedon's dilemma
with FOX.
Abrams added that he doesn't think the networks are as interested in
serialized stories as we'd like them to be. Added Whedon, "the
networks will never admit that people want serialized shows. They see an
easy cash cow in something like The Mentalist. When LOST was
huge the networks still spoke against serialized story telling. They are
thinking about their bottom line.... With TV it's about appealing to the
audience and the first audience is the networks."
Whedon suspects he may be a better fit for cable. I like the sound of
that. But Whedon's happy to be working with Marvel, where he can do what
he wants. Asked how he'll reconcile his very unique approach to
storytelling and dialogue with The Avengers, Whedon said, "I think
it's very easy to fall into the aesthetic of something you love. My wish
is to create something that comes from within but (The Avengers) has an
established tone and I am going to respect that."
What about his thoughts on J.J'.s end of the blockbuster movie making
business. "I had moments of sheer f*cking panic because I love Star
Trek so much. It's the gold standard for a teen movie, a summer movie or
any movie that has come out in the last couple of years and it makes me throw
up with fear."
On LOST
On the topic of the end of LOST, said Abrams:
"What Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse did was an amazing thing. When we
first started and Damon and I wrote this bible of what it would be, we were
optimistic. A lot of things ended up in the series but most of them did
not. Carlton Cuse came onboard and they all started making it what
it became. There were ideas we thought were cool but we knew we had to be
flexible. You could not anticipate Michael Emerson coming on board, which
was supposed to be for a couple of episodes. They had to be entirely flexible
and listen to the show. I personally believe that Damon and Carlton
kicked ass and wrote an amazingly emotional episode for the finale."
Finally, the pair was asked if either of them kept any paraphernalia from their
various projects. Said J.J., "I've got some phasers and cool gear
from Trek but I don't want to be one of those scary people on that
show, Hoarders. Holy sh*t! Have you guys seen that show?"
Yes, we have J.J. but we'll still take any phasers or DHARMA jumpsuits
you've got lying around off your hands.
