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Goblet of Fire Article:
Comic-Con Interview with Mike Newell
BRIANNE CISNEROS: You have to make sure some stuff is used in this movie because
it is important in the future movies. How much does J.K. Rowling actually tell
you about the other stories?
MIKE NEWELL: "J.K. Rowling keeps each story absolutely insulated from all the
other stories so that nobody but J.K. Rowling knows about Book 6, which is to be
published in three months time. So, other than what I read in Book 5, I have no
special knowledge of the future needs of the story. I simply do what seems to be
sensible for setting up the next film."
BC: How do you film the underwater parts of the Triwizard Tournament? Is it
really underwater or is it computer?
MN: "The underwater sequence is both filmed naturally underwater and also
heavily computerized. We built a huge tank, the biggest in Europe,specially to
make this sequence. We made very careful drawings/illustrations of every
movement of the sequence and then we shot the human being action exactly to
those illustrations, but against a underwater bluescreen with which the tank was
lined. So Harry's in the tank, doing all the movements he has to do but not
against real underwater scenery. Just against the blue. Then the computer people
come along and put in all the backgrounds- the rocks, the weeds, the fish, and
of course the Mermaids, and the Grindylows."
BC: Are the dragons in the first task of the Tri-wizard Tournament computer
generated graphics or machines? If they are computer generated, how do you
direct something like that?
MN: "The dragons in the First Task are cg entirely. The process is: First,
imagine your dragon, take your imaginings to an illustrator called an concept
artist and get him to draw and draw, making constant changes at my direction
until I feel the dragon is convincing. Then those drawings are made into models.
They are modeled in clay, and changes are made to make them even more real, then
they are painted. So that, at the end, you have a full size inanimate sculpture
of the dragon. This is then photographed from every angles and the photos[are]
scanned into a computer which works out every tiny measurement of the sculpture.
Then the sequence of action is again drawn out with an illustrator and the
computer takes those drawings and turns them into the real picture, adding the
dragon as it goes."
BC: Who decides what to leave out of the movie and what to change from the book
so that it works in the movie.
MN: "This is a very difficult matter and is worked out in huge discussions
between representatives of Warner Bros, the scriptwriter, the producer, the
director, and sometimes J.K. Rowling. It takes a long time, and while it's
happening you constantly seesaw back and forth on certain things- Dobby should
be in, Dobby should be out, Dobby should be in, Dobby should be out-and so
forth. After a while, everybody gets a feel for what would work in a movie as
opposed to what works in a novel."
BC: In all the other movies, Hermione is not as plain, big toothed or bushy
haired as she is in the books. In the book, nobody recognizes Hermione at the
Yule Ball because she is so dressed up and beautiful. Is there going to be alot
of time spent on that?
MN: "I think Emma Watson is a pretty girl, but I don't think she is super model
beautiful. She's just like a real ordinary person. When she goes to the ball,
we've made her look as beautiful and stylish as we knew how but still
recognisably herself. We don't spend a huge amount of time on it, but the way
she looks does very much surprise Harry and Ron. And she's very excited to be
invited by the Quidditch hero, Viktor Krum. He takes a real shine to her, and
it's a very sweet relationship even though Ron is tortured with jealousy."
BC: The Dursleys are not a big part of this book, but I really like the letter
with all the stamps and Mr Weasley blowing up the living room after he gets
trapped in the fireplace. Are they in the movie at all? And secondly, I
initially heard that this book was going to be two movies(Yay :)), but that they
decided to make just one Boo :( ). What's good about it being one movie and
what's bad about it being one movie.
MN: "I'm very sorry the Durselys are not in the movie at all. I, too, found the
little scene very funny, but it's not neccessary for the telling of the story of
Book 4, as it was in Books 1,2, and 3. So because were were making one, not two
films, and something had to be let go, we decided the Dursleys were one of those
things. We were sad about it. What's good about it being one movie is that the
Tri-Wizard Tournament and Voldemort's plot to get Harry become very taut and
very exciting because a lot of the purely descriptive stuff in the novel must be
let go. That means the main story becomes a very tight, exciting, fast-paced
thriller. Of course, what you miss are the fascinating little details, which in
some cases, there just isn't room for. So it's swings and roundabouts what can I
tell you?"
Source: Comic-Con Update. June 18, 2005.
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Goblet of Fire articles | Movie 4
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