WEBVTT - Ep46 - Taika Waititi / "Thor: Ragnarok" 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.919 You're listening to playback a Variety podcast. I'm your host, 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:23.880 Varriety Awards Editor Chris Tapley. I had to count to 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:25.400 be sure. I think I didn't miss any. But we're 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:28.800 up to about seventeen Marvel movies right now. My guest 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.160 today is responsible for my favorite of them so far, 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:35.120 though Thor Ragnarok is director Taiko W. T T unbridled 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:38.840 playing in the massive sandbox of a cinematic universe after 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:41.200 honing his voice and his craft with films like Eagle 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.160 Versus Shark, What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:46.680 for the Wilder People. So let's talk to him about it. 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:48.440 Thak is right here, and we're very happy he's on 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:50.280 the show. Thanks for coming on, man, thank you for 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:51.680 having me. Were mad as well talk about it to 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:53.880 see him here. Yeah, I mean that's we should talk 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:59.720 about some other stuff. Actually, I mean, um, you got 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:04.640 me here. Let's talk about that shirtless scene. We'll get 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.600 I want to start. People may not be aware you're 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:12.520 an Academy Award nominee, your Short film award loser. Y 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:14.920 put it like that. Okay, it's cool, it is. Let's 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.560 cut it. Cut the on it. If you don't win 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:23.680 your Lisa An Academy Award losing director from New Zealand. Well, look, 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:25.960 you dozed off during the ceremony anyway, so it wasn't 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:30.400 no big You're a short film Two Cars, One Night, 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.920 which I watched last night, was nominated in two thousand four. 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.840 So that experience of getting an OSCAR nomination earlier in 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.080 your career, what was that like for you? Um? I 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.479 mean I was very flattered, but also I wasn't really 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.040 planning on being a filmmaker, so once that happened, Um, 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.400 I was. I was encouraged by a lot of people 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.680 and pressure was on to really become a filmmaker. So 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:57.960 it was more like an arranged marriage. Really. Um I 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.800 sort of felt forced into it, and luckily I haven't 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:06.160 regretted it, but yeah, it was. It was. It was 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.440 just something that I just made that short film just 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:10.960 to experience making a film, and then the next thing 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.280 I knew, you know, everyone was calling me a filmmaker. 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:15.919 I don't know the first thing about making films, so 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.360 I did learned pretty quick. Yeah. That leads me to 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:22.160 my next question. You went to drama school, I think, Yeah, 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:26.000 I actually went to university and did a theater studies. 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.800 Theater studies. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't study film. Um, 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:40.120 and that was that that. That degree has probably been 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:44.960 of no use whatsoever in my life, but my mom 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:46.880 was proud, I've got I've got a film degree in 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:48.600 a journalism degree. I think those might be the two 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:50.440 most use I think most people going to go to 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.040 university just to make the parents happy. Absolutely, And you 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.239 know that's a big part of the equation. Yeah, his 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.640 I'm gonna make my parents happy by racking up thousands 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.760 and thons dollars of debt. It's gonna take me fifteen 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.840 years to pay off. Well, they know, you'll, you'll, you'll, 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:07.600 you know, learn on the streets how you're going to 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:09.720 figure out how to pay off that debt. Well, you 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.520 also learn about tax and stuff, you know, once he 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:14.880 into the real world. Why don't they teach tax at 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.640 school when they just before you leave high school they say, 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.960 by the way, you need to learn about tax because 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:23.440 it's going to come back to buy you and you're 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.799 going to get ordered one day. They don't teach you that, No, 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.640 they don't. You're right, they should. They should teach that 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:33.560 in art school because there's anyone's oblivious to that artists. 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:36.640 But I wanted to ask just since you didn't go 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.000 to school for film per se, like what like, how 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:43.760 did you learn the craft? Was it just through our 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.800 short films? Actually? So, I was an active for a 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.400 long time before I started making film, and I think 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.360 I learned. I think my film school really was watching 0:03:54.360 --> 0:04:00.240 movies and watching people make movies and then eventually making 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.080 making some short films and stuff like that. And I 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.000 learned a lot doing that. But yeah, I've learned most 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.800 of my stuff. Just being on sets is a great environment. Yeah, 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.720 is that this is the best film schools being on set? 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:15.880 What were some of like, you know, your inspirations. I 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.000 guess when you started watching films and figuring out how 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:23.880 to make them by observing Um, I mean a very 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:28.960 eclectic um mix of films sort of inspired me over 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.240 the years. But films I always go back to films 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:40.000 like The Graduate bad Lands, UM, how Ashby's films, UM 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:46.000 so American UM cinema of the seventies for sure, and 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:51.000 Korean cinema. UM, I really love Korean films. Sort of 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.360 just like to take it a little bit from everywhere really, UM, 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.599 not so much the French weirdly what do you know, 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.000 how Ashby? That's interesting. H What I love about him 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:05.120 is he doesn't really have a distinct style. You can't 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:09.159 really you can't really find, I mean, other than his 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:13.120 cameos or you know, and maybe some of the cutting 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:17.680 style is not a really a a three line or 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:20.200 a link in style between any of those films. Are 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.200 the difference between Harold and Maud and Coming Home well 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.480 you know, the last detail and um and being there, 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:30.600 so they were vastly different and um, you know, and 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.800 some of the comedies and some of the straight up 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:35.960 dramas and yeah, I just really love his I just 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.479 love that mix, you know, where he never felt like 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.360 he was repeating himself. And he's fascinating too. For being 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.279 an editor first and transitioning to filmmaking, was there a 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:49.080 particular aspect of the trade, like editing cinematography, that that 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:54.839 you gravitate towards most mm hmmm, I don't know, not, 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:57.320 not not so much. Now. Um. You know, I used 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.479 to think I was really into writing, but now I've 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:05.279 realized how a lonely that is. And um, I feel 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.920 like I like editing, but usually only when I'm editing. 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:10.520 Um I don't usually like being in a room with 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.320 someone for six months because you feel like you just 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:17.440 want to kill them. Um yeah, I like, I mean, 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.200 I mean maybe the camera department because I work so 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.799 closely with them, and it's sort of yeah, it feels 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:27.520 like the area that that I focus on the most, 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.520 and I mean and and and our department. You know, 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:34.120 I really love seeing sets being created in the seat 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.960 and and all the details. Well, that was very crucial 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:38.359 on the new movie, which I'm going to get do 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:40.800 in just one second, but before I do, I didn't 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.599 want to talk briefly about Mohana, which you worked on 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.800 early drafts of, and then walk the way to work 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.240 on movies in New Zealand. Was that hard for you 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.120 to walk away from that situation. No, it was very 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.480 easy to walk away because I wasn't directing it, and 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.159 just as a as a writer on a film like that, 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:02.400 Um the you know, then those guys were great, and 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:04.440 it was it was it was a really cool experience, 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:07.640 but I didn't feel like it was going to do 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.720 much for me and in my projects or my creativity 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:19.080 just by being someone's writer, you know. And when I 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.160 realized that, because those films, you know, they take four 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.239 or four years or so to make four or five years, 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.960 and just the prospect of working on one project for 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.680 five years as a writer, um just did not appeal 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:33.800 to me. And oh yeah, and so I would often 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.240 made what we do in the Shadows and and Hunt 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.840 for the World of People and shot four in that time, 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:41.520 in the time that it took for them to finish 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:46.720 that film. So I feel like there was a good move. Definitely, 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:51.440 Density wives. Did you, you know, take anything from the 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.080 experience that you've applied going forward, anything that you learned 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:58.800 on it that kind of set you up? No? I mean, yeah, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:00.640 did you actually the one? One One of the good 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:07.600 things about the the writing process on the Disney slash 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.600 Pixar films, it is really the kind of brain trust 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:14.680 story room sessions that they have, and you know, they'll 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.680 they'll take the project, everyone will read it, and I'll 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.200 invite all the directors from the past films and all 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:22.400 the writers from the other films, and everyone kind of 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:24.840 comes out, and all the producers and it's just like 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.560 a kind of massive roundtable with you know, thirty forty 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.680 people and it's a free for aw and you know, 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.480 really everyone just there to tear it apart and and 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.560 make the best story possible, and hopefully by the end 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:38.400 of that day or two days that they concentright on 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.160 on the story. Yeah, you'll have a new structure, and 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:44.760 you'll have really clear ideas about characters and and how 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:48.040 to move forward. And I think that's really useful. I 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.600 love I love it when people get together and tear 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:54.920 something apart because it's it's it's yeah, when people are 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.800 very complimentary and they don't have any criticism, it's um, 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.320 it gets you get a bit complacent, and I think 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:06.040 you can get too comfortable on your ideas and then 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.040 you start thinking that you're you know, you're a genius 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.199 and every idea that you come up with is amazing. 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.400 You need people to put you in your place. Well, 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:15.600 you're you've come back that doesn't need to work on 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:19.520 thor here. And so, uh, what did you feel, I 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:24.960 guess was if anything lacking in the Marvel cinematic universe 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.280 that you could put in it? Uh? You know what, 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.840 what did you want to contribute? What what got you 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.200 excited that you were the guy to put this movie 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.400 out there? It wasn't really um that I felt that 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.480 they were lacking anything because you know, after Guardians had 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.840 come out, you know, I realized, oh yeah, there's definitely 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.480 room for jokes on this and this uh m c 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:50.800 U for me coming into it, I think selfishly, I 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.000 just wanted some you know, a nice challenge and suddenly 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.880 that would break me out of my comfort zone. And 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:59.439 I just I just I was editing Hunt for the 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.440 Will of People, also made four films, and was starting 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.000 the thing, man, the next thing I do am I 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.040 just gonna be repeating myself, you know, is it going 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.560 to be just another you know, and make destined to 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.920 just keep doing these smaller films and that would be fine. 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:16.160 But when the opportunity came to do something really big 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.560 and something that would be a huge challenge, that to 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.840 me was a perfect opportunity to learn to keep learning 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.000 about film. And I've you know, as a result of 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.439 obviously I've learned a huge amount of doing this film. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.720 Um and with thought with that franchise, I felt like 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.880 that was the one franchise that had the most potential 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:39.040 to be shaped into something new, like I couldn't come 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:43.040 in and do you know the third Guardians film, because 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.680 it's so well shaped and it has its own personality 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.079 and its own voice, and that's all James, and you 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.400 know some similar thing with you know, if I come 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.559 and try and do Captain America, it's very distinctly the 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:59.120 Russo's domain. And I just I would feel very strange 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.360 coming into into those franchises and trying to put my 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.800 mark on it. And they don't need someone to put 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.480 their mark on those things. They're you know, they're great. 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.800 They're great as they are. Before one had the most 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:17.800 potential because it just I felt it probably didn't quite 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.080 know itself as as well as the other franchises knew themselves. 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.680 There wasn't quite a distinct voice there yet. And I 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:27.520 felt like, Okay, well, this is my opportunity to come in, 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.800 and this is something I could probably bring a lot 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.080 of myself to and you know, my voice in my 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:37.600 style too, because it's you know, it hasn't got a 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:43.480 really shape yet. And yeah, and and and I think 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:45.680 I was right, you know, And and well I was 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:49.439 lucky because Brandon and Taylor had done so much groundwork 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.520 and laying the foundations for the world and the character 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.320 and everything that I could come in and every all 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.960 of that establishment of you don't explain anything homes they're 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.439 all done, and it's one of the hardest. Um, it's 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:04.320 one of the hardest stories to establish because of all 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.079 the crazy names and the Rainbow Bridge, the by Frost 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.400 and all of them, you know, the names of the characters. 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:11.360 So I was very lucky and that Dad had all 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:13.120 been done for me and I could just kind of 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.240 come and pick up the ball and run with it. Um. 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.080 So yeah, so I totally have to acknowledge, you know, 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.800 the fact that it was It was quite an easy, um, 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.200 an easy thing to walk into. Yeah, is that what 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:26.960 the process was. They brought you in and said, we'd 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.040 like you to work on something. What are you interested 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:30.760 in doing? And you you came to that a mix. 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:32.960 It was a mixed They they wanted to do something fun, 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:37.200 and they wanted to make a radical departure from the 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.400 first two films. Then you were brought in specifically for 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.520 thor and not just generally which one of these do 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:44.600 you want to I was just brought in just to 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.839 talk about for And I've always wanted to work with 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.640 Chris Um. We were mates, we knew each other before, 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:54.240 and I've always been a big admirer of his and 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:59.280 but mainly of of his um his comedy. It's a 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.800 very funny guy, and the opportunity to work with him 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:06.800 was there, and Marvel knew that they you know, they 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:11.320 wanted to um to focus on that and to bring 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.320 that out because they realized just how funny he is 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.640 and it's something that they hadn't really tapped into, and 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.720 so they saw an opportunity to do that. Chris was 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:26.240 feeling like his the older version of thought was becoming 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.240 a bit too familiar, and he wants to try something new, 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:32.200 and so the ideas of cutting his hair and making 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.280 them a little more colloquial and all that stuff that 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.080 was already the seeds of that were already germinating. And 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.440 when I came in, um, you know, I fully supported 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.280 that and said, yeah, we should make him more fun. 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:44.680 You know, the movie is called four. He's got to 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.320 be the best character. And you know, I grew up 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.640 with watching Kurt Russell movies, and you know, he's one 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:55.360 of my favorite heroic actors. And I remember like just 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:58.079 feeling very safe in his hands when I was watching 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.839 movies and thinking, yeah, this is a hero. Is a guy. 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:04.480 Sometimes he's a bit bumbling, and he's really funny, but 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.760 he's Also he's like a great hero who you want 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:09.800 to you want to follow around. So Bruce Willis, you know, 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.000 he was one of those guys for me growing up, 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:16.839 and I felt like Chris really had had that kind 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:20.840 of quality about him. Um and yeah, it's just it 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.480 was really about pulling that out and pushing that to 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.320 the front and saying like, yeah, here's a guy who 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:30.920 looks incredible. You know, he's charming and he's funny, and 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.760 you want to follow him on an adventure. And that's 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:40.240 just Chris were like basically transplant that those qualities onto 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.480 four and and so Yeah, as a result, he's kind 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:46.440 of playing the most crisp version of four there is. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:48.280 I do feel like I could see him in like 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.560 a remake of Tango in Cash or something like that. Like, 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.400 you're right, I've been I've been joking about doing Tango 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:57.760 and Cash it. Um. What was the just the initial 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.160 connection though? Who brought you in to the Marvel? Brad Winderbaum, 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.200 who's the EP on the film. He got in touch 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.960 through my agent and I guess they were talking to 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.440 maybe three three directors or you know, three or four 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.640 directors at the time, and I guess we all went 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.880 and pitched on on the on, really on a story 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.240 that no one kind of kind of had any idea 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.400 what it was. At the time. There was a script, 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.760 but they were trying to move away from that and 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:30.040 try some new things. Um, yeah, there was So when 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.360 I pitched it was more like, this is the kind 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:34.520 of tone I think the film should be, because there 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.000 was no real story for me to pitch. It was 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.120 you know, this could happen, that could happen, but really, 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.400 this is the kind of film which should be have 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:46.720 this tone, should have jokes, and you know, it should 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:48.960 have some you know, some weight to it where it needs. 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:53.480 And my main thing really was just color, as just 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:57.880 saying it's got I've grew up with Marvel comics and 0:15:57.960 --> 0:15:59.800 you know the thing about the splash pages and all 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.640 those in the seventies and the eighties, there's just it 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.400 was just color. It was bold and vibrant and really 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.800 strong lines. And then especially looking at the Kirby art, 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.680 that was stuff that I felt like would make a 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:15.920 would make a statement, and it would. And it was 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.960 also I feel like that departure they were looking for 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:23.200 from you know, from the tone and the palette of 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.280 for one and two are you looking at my questions, man, 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.520 because you're like anticipating what I'm going to ask. I 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.080 was gonna talk about the reflection of your thing and 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.680 the Jack Kirby stuff. It really stands out. And I 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.720 often ask, uh, you know, directors of comic book films, 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.360 like what were the inspirations visually? Were there any specific 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.640 frames from books that you wanted to emulate or anything 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:44.480 like that. And with this one, it's pretty clear that 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:46.040 the Kirby stuff is front in the center. So I 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:49.440 wanted you to can you expand it a little more? Yeah, yeah, 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:51.840 we wanted to, And that was something that I know 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.040 that I think there's been a little a couple of 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:58.160 Kirby references and guardians that James had used, um some 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:02.320 celest deals and stuff. But I feel and Kevin had said, 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:04.040 you know, we we haven't really had the opportunity to 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.239 run straight into the Kirby's art and use it as 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:12.160 a bold inspiration for the for the design of any 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:15.560 film yet. And I always loved Kirby's art, and I'd 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:19.399 love just the really the line and the contours and 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:26.440 and and his even though he is I guess his costumes, Um, yeah, 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.280 so those are the things that have really stood out 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.600 to me and made me feel like this is this 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:34.560 is the way to kind of push the film into 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.840 that kind of Flash Gordon sort of territory where it's 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:43.120 like vivid and in your face and unapologetic in terms 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.040 of it's just like, this is a comic book that 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:49.240 happens to be moving. Um. That that was really the 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.200 aim for me, was to try and make something as 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:56.360 close to reading an old comic book as possible and um, 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.480 and then marvel fully into it and fully supportive. And 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.520 what the hard us things with transferring that Kirby art 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:06.240 from the page into a into a live action environment 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:11.000 was that there's so much going on when you have 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.000 it in a in live action it's actually it's almost 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:16.639 too much for the human idea to take in because 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.560 once it's moving, it's like so many different things are 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:22.360 going on, and it's very hard to kind of pick 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.959 out characters from those backgrounds. So we have to work 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:28.000 quite hard on figuring out it's like a magic high post. Yeah. Yeah, 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:29.919 And we had to a pool characters away from walls 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:33.399 and away from the backgrounds because we had to soften 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.200 that stuff. And and and actually and we had to 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.440 make bigger block colors in the backgrounds so that people 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.720 could stand out rather than I think what people's first 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.359 instinct with Kirby's at is just like, oh, any old color, 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.320 just anywhere, and just you know, and and but it's 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:51.960 not really like that when you look at the stuff beyond, 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.439 just like aesthetically, like those colors in this color palette 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.200 you ended up with. Did that mean anything to you 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:01.560 thematically with the story you wanted to tell um No, 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:05.040 I think it was more just I wanted to I 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.320 just sort of wanted to shock the human eye, and 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.520 especially ben't go into Sacar because it would Asgard had 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:19.280 already been established as a very golden world. And and 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.359 once we got to Scar, everything changed, included in music, 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:26.680 you know, that's when Mother's Bows sort of symp music 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.520 started coming through. He'd done the score for everything, a 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:33.399 big orchestral pieces, which in the traditional things, which was 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:36.879 a sort of upfront in the film. But then it 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.399 was more when when when four arise on Takar, that 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:44.040 the entire music changes and and and the palette really 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:49.359 takes off. And that for us was just a perfect 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:54.200 way of of celebrating all the stuff from the comics, 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:59.680 but also just showing for in a world that neither 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:02.240 he or any audience that you ever been in before. 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.480 As well, then we were pulling Jeff Goldblum as well. 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:06.959 I mean, it's the craziest I think of all of 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:10.720 the alien planets that that I've seen in these movies. 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:13.480 And speaking of music, it's it's kind of nice that 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.760 they loosened the whatever was going on with led Zeppelin 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:19.960 songs forever? Oh yeah, use them in commercials and movies 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:21.840 and more. And it yeah, well that led Zep song 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.359 was made a sizzle role from my pitch and that 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.000 um I put that song in just part of that. 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.720 And right from that moment, they really loved the song. 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:32.840 And even you know, as soon as I got the job, 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:36.520 you know, they said, well, why don't we start exploring, um, 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:38.320 you know, what it would take to get that song 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:40.040 just in case we want to use it for the film, 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.160 and um, so it was there right from the beginning. 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:45.240 For the last two years, that thing has kind of 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:48.560 been drifting around us. It's immigrant song, by the way, 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:53.479 everyone you'll see it first seen and it's badass. Uh. Also, 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.639 the you know, you assembled like a delicious kind of 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:59.440 array of characters here obviously our players, I mean, like 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:03.080 Jeff gold Room, Keith Blanchet, Tessa Thompson. Did you write 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:08.040 with them in mind? Because they there they just hit 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:10.439 the characters like a glove, you know. So it just yeah, 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.000 when we were storylining, we didn't we didn't really know 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:17.919 that that we would cast Tessa. Um. She's so awesome, 0:21:17.960 --> 0:21:22.800 she's amazing character. She's amazing. Um sort of the female 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.600 hand Solo. Maybe hand Solo is a male valkyrie, that's it. 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.120 So yeah, so you know, we hadn't really thought of her. 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.280 Kate was already um in the works, and you know 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:36.680 when I first came in, they were already talking about 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:39.200 it and I agreed, and I said, yeah, we should 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:40.879 just go And that's what I went and talk to 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:44.600 her and tried to convince her to do it. Um 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:46.800 and that worked. And then she has this look on 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:49.639 her face in the film where it just looks like 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:52.040 she's having a blast. Yeah, it looks like she's having 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:56.320 a blast. But also there's a sort of this I 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:59.560 feel like she's so relaxed in the film because much 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:03.120 like however, returns to Asgard and and that's her first 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:06.800 sort of bold thing there. Um, it's like yeah, I've 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:09.399