I recently got to travel to Los Angeles to a rather special day-long event. That event was a 20 minute sneak peak at Tron: Legacy and the chance to meet some of the actors and film-makers behind this fabulous looking project!
Over the course of the next 3 months (until the film’s release on 17th December), we’ll be bringing you interviews, videos and images from the visit where we packed so much in that I ran out of tape on my video camera (yeah, it is still tape I’m afraid!).
The first of our features is a video / transcribed interview with the director of the movie, Joseph Kosinski. Joe has previously worked on video game TV spots so is no stranger to CG but this is his first feature. In the interview we find out how he got involved with the project and what we might be able to expect from what I have been describing as the coolest looking movie ever!
This interview was conducted by myself and Mic who was reporting for ElectricPig.co.uk. I’ve given you two options here. Either you watch the video interview immiedialy below or scroll down to read the transcription.
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HeyUGuys
Did you watch the original Tron growing up?
Joseph Kosinski
I did. My first experience with Tron was seeing it on VHS tape in the mid 80s which was a really crappy format so the presentation probably wasn’t up to spec but I could tell this movie was like nothing else out there and that’s what I remember is the uniqueness of Steven’s vision.
Mic
What has it been like having Steven (Lisberger) around?
Joseph Kosinski
It’s been great having the creator of the entire story on the project and was really important to me and I know it was really important to Jeff and Bruce as well to have Steven attached to the project as producer.
It was great and he called himself the Obi Wan Kenobi – the sage with the overarching advice after going through a Tron movie himself.
HeyUGuys
Did you feel overwhelmed with the responsibility you’ve taken on with a huge cult following and a massive fan-base
Joseph Kosinski
It’s kind of grown over the course of the project and I feel like when I first signed onto it that maybe I wasn’t aware – I don’t think anyone was aware of the fan-base you’re talking about. It was kind of, they were sitting in a dormant state and there were the die hard fans who kept the faith. I think it surprised the studio a little bit when we showed that test piece I did at Comic Con a couple of years ago. Just how that one screening we did of it kind of spread around the world and ignited these Tron fans so it was an important part of getting this movie made was that fan support.
HeyUGuys
And did you feel overwhelmed with it? Were you worried about messing it up?
Joseph Kosinski
I think every director feels pressure and if you’re not feeling pressure then you’re probably doing something wrong. I made the first film and it set the bar high in a visual and conceptual level and we knew that if we were to do this, we’d need to push the envelope in so many different ways and we wanted to push it in story as well. We wanted to tell a story that couldn’t be told until now and wanted to make sure that the technology and the visuals supported that story above all else.
Mic
Having worked on spots for Gears of War and Halo, how much does modern video game culture and visuals come into work on Tron. Is there any element to that which translates?
Joseph Kosinski
I think working on those projects, and the technology involved to making those spots played into how some of the techniques we used on this film. SO having the experience of making thse commercials played into making the film.
I think stylistically, there’s probably an influence from video game in terms of where I put the camera in some shots and how they’re shot that feel kind of second person over the shoulder gaming type of view which seemed appropriate.
Mic
Do you think that perspective, with young people spending some much time playing 1st person shooters? Does that affecting the way people direct films now?
Joseph Kosinski
I think so. I think you can see in some people’s style a sort of video game of fist person type of view. I think in this movie, my approach because of the camera technology which is a true 3d movie shot with F35s and Master Prime lenses, which are big cameras with big lenses, the film camera itself is this unwieldy, 150lb thing so my approach to shooting the movie was more like what I would imagine shooting 70mm was like; which is probably a more classic style filming just because the nature of the technology we’re using. But I also think for a 3d movie it fit it to let scenes play out in master-shot rather than being handheld all the time.
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Tron Legacy is released in UK and US cinemas, 17th December 2010.
