Interviews: 1-1 With Tim Story On Fantastic Four II: Audio interview included

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.latinoreview.com/news.php?id=2117

Date: June 5, 2007

By: Kellvin Chavez
Source: Latino Review

The Fantastic Four are back, and so is Tim Story. Tim directed the surprise hit film Fantastic Four and Fox rewarded him with the reins to the upcoming sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. In the second go-round, it’s up to Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Jessica Abla), Ben Grimm/Thing (Michael Chiklis), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Chris Evans) and Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) to save Earth when the indestructible Silver Surfer arrives to bring about the planet’s demise. Rise of the Silver Surfer opens June 15. We caught up with Tim, and here’s what he had to say.

Latino Review: You surprised a lot of people with the first film. What do you think people liked about it?

Story: I knew that families were going to be my core audience. Of course I knew that the film was probably more accessible than any other comic book-based franchise out there. But I kind of forgot that kids love the Thing, that they want to be Johnny Storm. Whole families could go in there and watch it and not have to worry about too much. So it was kind of a surprise, but at the end of the day, it was one of those, ‘Well, duh’ kind of moments. I think it hit because it was very accessible and, for the most part, inviting. It just told you, ‘Hey, you can come here, have a good time.’ I think the characters are lovable. I think the situations were done in a way that was, ‘If this really happened, what would it be like?’ I think that just made it entertaining.

Latino Review: What lessons as a filmmaker did you take from the first film to this one?

Story: Well, going into story one, I kind of knew it was going to be what it was, which was a very contained movie. For the most part, the whole movie was about this thing, this big event happens to them and then they go into hiding. At some point they come out of hiding, only to fight their foe. It doesn’t really leave much in the way of, ‘Hey, let’s go do some big stuff.’ So, in the second movie, it’s all about them being in the public. And what better way to put them in the public eye than to put them on a global scale. So the lesson was one that I knew, which was that I was going to have to go from a contained movie to one that was balls-out, all the way open, in the daylight and just all over the place. Also, going into the second film, I’d gotten my big lessons doing the first film on visual effects and action. I just had a little bit more knowledge about what was going on.

Latino Review: Were your actors more comfortable with each other the second time around?

Story: They were extremely comfortable with each other. We were all extremely comfortable with the story that we’d told and where we could go now. There was a lot of discussion about, ‘How do you do this? Where do we go with this?’ And they all had very big ideas about what they wanted to do with their characters now, and for the most part I agreed with everything they talked about doing. So there was a comfort level, and it allowed me to put more attention on the action, on the huge scope of this movie. It’s like three times bigger than the first one. We have a lot more action. We’re all over the world. And it was just a good platform for us to tell the next story.

Latino Review: Your effects guys created the Silver Surfer, but how big a part of the process were Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne?

Story: Doug basically did the movements. We had him in some motion-capture. We had him on the set with the actors. And he just basically gave the character of the Silver Surfer a physiogomy. He gave that to the character of Surfer so that the actors could say, ‘Oh, OK, he’s going to move like that. He’s going to be looking at me there.’ Doug was able to really act with the actors and, of course, it allowed for the actors to have something to play off of other than a green tennis ball. Then, in post, we also did more movement and actually captured some of his actions and put them directly into the movements of the Surfer. So I didn’t have to animate a character from scratch. I actually had a person dealing with his movements. And then, of course, Laurence Fishburne is the voice of the Surfer. You want that actor that just gives you power and grace, and Laurence Fishburne was just the perfect fit. He was my first choice and luckily he was up for doing it. I’m really excited about what he’s been able to bring to the movie.

Latino Review: And are you happy with the way the Surfer has been inserted into the movie?

Story: It’s my first real avenue into CGI characters, and there are some shots where you could swear that he is right there. You could swear that I lit him, that he was moving inside that environment. I’m 105 percent pleased with what has happened with the Surfer.

Latino Review: Does Julian McMahon have much to do as Doctor Doom?

Story: One thing I will say is that Julian has a crapload to do in this movie, and we have been pretty good at keeping it under wraps. But I can’t wait for the audience to see what happens with Doctor Doom because it’s some of the coolest stuff in the movie. It’s really some cool stuff.

Latino Review: What scene were you most concerned about, and how’d it turn out?

Story: There’s a London Eye sequence. There’s a scene in the movie where the London Eye literally falls and the Fan Four, as you would see in any of their comics, have to do a really big rescue. This sequence was just one of those sequences you really didn’t know how to pull off. Every other action sequence in the movie you knew how to pull off. Whether it was going to be difficult or not you just jumped in with both feet and you went. But with the London Eye (sequence) we didn’t even have a clue on how to pull it off because, when you take into consideration the scale of a person to how big the London Eye actually is, it made the task extremely daunting. At the end of the day, it turned out really cool. It was one of those that I knew was going to be hard, and it was. I was not wrong. The London Eye was probably the first sequence shot and the last one we’re finishing. The premiere of the movie is at the London Eye, and I can’t wait to actually go see what I have destroyed in the movie.

Latino Review: The first film was a surprise hit. How much higher are the expectations for Silver Surfer? Also, is there more pressure on you, more pressure on the film, to do well because you’re African-American?

Story: With the first one, there were not a lot of great expectations about it and we did well. And we did well in the midst of a lot of huge releases. This one, they’re putting us up there, which I guess is OK. I actually like being the underdog. I can’t 100 percent say we’re the underdog again because there is a little bit of an expectation out there, but what’s cool is I think I have made a better film than the first one. At the end of the day as a filmmaker, that’s where you get off. I have only made four films and this has become one of my favorites. When I compare it to the first one, which I love, this one just has more of me in it. It has more of the type of story I wanted to tell. And so my expectations, of course I’m hoping it does well, of course I’m hoping we get a shot at doing a third one, but I’m pretty sure the studio will at least make their money back and I’m happy with we have done. So I have kind of rewarded myself. I’m trying not to go into what happens next with any expectations. And when it comes to the African American question, I must admit I kind of throw that on someone else because I’m just trying to make good movies. I found, especially with my first movie, Barbershop, that when you just make a good movie emotions are not race-related. They’re basically just emotions and everyone has them, and when you make a compelling story people get it. They can get into it. So I put that pressure onto other people. My only pressure is to make a better film than I did last time, to learn, to not be afraid to fail. If it takes me to the stratosphere, cool, and if it doesn’t, I have had a ball. I set out to make movies, and here I am. As an African American, if I’m carrying any kind of torch, cool, but at the end of the day I want to make myself happy. I want to make good movies and I don’t care who sees them.

Latino Review: You are producing a film called First Sunday with Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan, but do you have anything else lined up to direct?

Story: I like to work more than I like to sit around, so hopefully I can get into something else immediately. I don’t have anything yet, not yet. I’m just starting to read things again. My brain is just starting to clear itself from this, so hopefully I’ll be into something soon.

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER OPENS JUNE 15TH

 

[GoblinScrier]

Latino Review: Does Julian McMahon have much to do as Doctor Doom?

Story: One thing I will say is that Julian has a crapload to do in this movie, and we have been pretty good at keeping it under wraps. But I can’t wait for the audience to see what happens with Doctor Doom because it’s some of the coolest stuff in the movie. It’s really some cool stuff


This sounds so cool....maybe this means Doom is a constant...he seems to be in the novelization a lot....

 

[Kelly]

Latino Review: Does Julian McMahon have much to do as Doctor Doom?

Story: One thing I will say is that Julian has a crapload to do in this movie, and we have been pretty good at keeping it under wraps. But I can’t wait for the audience to see what happens with Doctor Doom because it’s some of the coolest stuff in the movie. It’s really some cool stuff


This sounds so cool....maybe this means Doom is a constant...he seems to be in the novelization a lot....

If they go anywhere near the novelization, he's very much a constant from beginning to end......not sure what they may have cut.....but he's definitely a major part of the novelization....

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Good interview.

 

[Kelly]

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER: An Interview with Director Tim Story
By Wilson Morales

June 4, 2007

When Tim Story was first attached to direct “Fantastic Four” in 2004, most of the world had not known who he was, despite the fact that he was successful with his first film, “Barbershop”. “Barbershop” would itself become a franchise but Story wasn’t part of it. Fighting off negative reviews, when FF came out and blew up the box office with over $150 million domestically, a sequel was all but guaranteed. Story had put his name right up there with F. Gary Gray, John Singleton, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and Antoine Fuqua as one of the few Black directors who can do well with a big studio film. Nevertheless, once the sequel was greenlit, the fans of the comic book wanted to know what would be next in the series and with the help of the producers, mainly comic book maven Avi Arad, the introduction of the Silver Surfer sparked excitement, hence the title, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”. Not only has he brought in a character so revered, but Story has Lawrence Fishburne to be his voice. Talk about amazing casting! Everyone’s back including the addition of Andre Braugher as a general in the film. That’s two new heavyweights worth seeing/ hearing on the big screen. In speaking with blackfilm.com, Story talks about the making of the sequel, the casting of newcomers, and what the future holds for the franchise.


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How long did it after the success of the first film to come up with a story that the fans would want to see?

Tim Story: You know what, it didn’t take any time you can’t help but when you have material like this, to think about, in the event the first movie did well, what would be the next story; and then we started throwing characters and the materials sort of writes itself, which is more good than bad. You know what will be cool. It will be cool to have this person in there and we knew from the start that it would be cool to have Silver Surfer in there, and at the time, Fox, luckily owned both material, or controlled both material but hadn’t figured out how to do a Silver Surfer movie. We knew immediately that we could use Silver Surfer in this film just like we knew we could use Dr. Doom in the first one. I actually thought we would use Silver Surfer in the third film, but we also have other characters like the Puppet Master and other ones that you go to next because of how they are connected to the popularity in the comics. So that idea was talked about before the movie came out and once they pulled the trigger about a month after the first movie came out, we knew that was the best way to go.


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Not many directors or actors have a myspace account where they can get feedback from fans without studio involvement. How satisfying has it been for you to communicate with the die-hards of the comic book?
TS: It’s so weird. At the end of the day, you are just making this movie, and first I’m making it because I want to see it, and second, you’re making it for the fans. You’re not making it for critics. You’re not making it for anyone else. To be able to have the one to one… it could have its bad things about it. Sometime you can take too many of the comments literally and it gets in your head, but if you can keep from getting into all that, it’s great to talk to the fans and hear what they say. We were even able to test the idea of what the name of the film was going to be. I started saying “What do you think the name of the film should be?” and people just started out ideas and “Rise of the Silver Surfer” was something we were talking about in the studio and then when I started hearing people saying that without me saying it, I was like “Wow!”. It’s great to have that sort of feedback in such a franchise that is based on fan support.


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The film has a whole new look from the first one. What was the decision behind changing the production design team with Kurt Petruccelli?
TS: I wanted to mature everything about the film, storywise, the characters; and also the photography, the production design was key to me. I wanted it to be a little bit more real. With the first film there were a lot of things that looked a little cartoony and I wanted to go for a real world, even though the backstory is going to be something that’s a bit “out there”. I wanted the rest of the film to be approachable where you can say, “Oh, I’ve seen that before”. I think what’s most interesting about these types of movies is that these characters live in a world that you are familiar with. If they were in a total alien world, and you don’t know the alien world, you really couldn’t get into it as much as you would, but when you have been walking down the same street as anybody else, and certain worlds are designed like something that you would see, I think it just makes it a little bit more accessible, so I wanted to mature the film and make it a little bit real world if that’s a term, and Kirk was able to connect the real world with a fantasy world that obviously we have to bring to the production.


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What about the special effects to Silver Surfer and Galactus?
TS: We’ve done some upgrades. This time we’ve been able to work with some of the better houses. They are not doing everything, but we have about three houses on the movie, and WETA is of course an Academy award winning effects house and the new superheroes of video effects. They’re doing our stuff and it’s makes a big difference because you have a lot of artists that are down the cubicle from one another who can work with one another and make the shots look a little more cohesive and just work together a little bit more. What is great about it is that they can crank out a few more shots because even to this day we are still designing shots for the film, and to be able to design the shot for them to turn it around quickly and make it work is pretty incredible. We’d like to think that we are operating on that level.


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Can you talk about working with the cast again and bringing in new members such as Doug Jones and Andre Braugher?
TS: I’d like to think that that’s a strong part. I come from that world where I love family arguments. I love that real kind of dialogue and stuff like that. We tried to bring that with film as well as with the first film and the films before that like “Barbershop” In this franchise, I knew that’s what this franchise would hopefully stand out from the rest; that they get into arguments with one another and that they don’t always like one another. I thought this would be a perfect franchise for one another. Working with the core actors for the second time, you already know each other. You are already friends. You can also go back and find the strength from the first film. So, you sort of your guys a little bit better and the know you, they know what to expect from you and vice-versa, and then when it comes to Andre and Doug Jones, you try to cast people that you think you will mesh well with the rest of the cast and when that happens, it’s incredible. In this case, we were looking for Andre to bring a certain thing to the cast, and that was to anchor it a little bit. If you are going to have a general, and not your clichéd general, someone that stands out and have the voice of life and just sinks in and what’s interesting about that, he sinks in and at the same time, he stands out because we wanted him to deal with a different type of character in the movie, and Andre brought that. As I try to cast new people that come into a franchise, even though this is my first sequel, you try to cast people that are going to fit well with the original cast and I think we did that successfully.


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Can you talk about casting Lawrence Fishburne as the voice of Silver Surfer?
TS: I had the opportunity to speak with Lawrence months before I started shooting the movie and all we talked about was Galactus and the Silver Surfer. He was a complete fan. So when it came the time to cast someone, his name came up immediately. Besides, who, aside from James Earl Jones, has a more powerful voice? He was perfect and I didn’t have to convince anyone; and him being a fan of the material was icing on the cake.


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John Ottman is the composer of the film and he did the first one as well, but he is also an editor. Did he add any of his inputs to the film?
TS: You know what, he’s been respectful in the sense that he actually hasn’t given much input on the editing unless he thinks it got better. He would say, “Ah, that’s a good move.” As an editor, he also understands that we are in a crunch period in our post that I have to show him early stuff that we hadn’t tweaked yet. Although it has a lot of air in the edit, he was able to deal with that and know that it’s only going to get tighter; and to a certain degree because he’s a musician, a composer, he likes more air because it allows him to do more music. I have also been respectful in that if you asked him, I think he would want to be a composer first and an editor second. When it comes to composing I just wanted him to concentrate on that. He’s seen the movie a couple of times and definitely has given his opinion on that, but I don’t depend on him for that becauseI don’t want to put him in that situation. He’s been great and as far as his score is concerned, just like the other avenue of the film, he has matured the film as well. He’s been able to do a sequel to his score. He’s using the theme from the first film and doing something different. He either makes it comical or evil. Everything I’ve heard from him as been incredible.


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With Avi Arad doing so many projects, who’s more hands-on with the film, Avi or Chris Columbus?
TS: It would definitely be Avi. Avi comes from the Marvel world, even though he’s not in the executive ranks at Marvel anymore, Avi is still a producer on this film, and he just loves these characters. There are a few that he always takes to heart and I think Fantastic Four, and of course, Spider-man, and the X-Men have always been a great deal for him. He was over here recently watching the latest cut of the film and he just really enjoyed it, and he always felt that these characters meant a lot to him and he worked to bring it to the screen for probably close to a decade now and it’s really cool. He’s been very instrumental and very hands-on.


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How far do you think you can go with this franchise and would you like to do something different?
TS: I would love to do something different, but at the same time, it would only be amazing to complete the trilogy. I think the characters for this film can probably survive maybe 3 or 4 because it’s all about the new characters you bring in. I think you can go 4 but I will keep my fingers crossed. If there’s a reason to do a 3 and I’m involved with it, that would be the ultimate goal because franchises go in 3 and if I could complete a trilogy, it would be awesome.


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Can the Puppet Master pop up somewhere in the future?
TS: I’ve always wanted to do something with the Puppet Master, mainly because of the story with Ben Grimm and Alicia. I’d be really surprise if the Puppet Master wasn’t part of a 3 if there was a 3.


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With Kerry Washington playing Alicia, an African American actor could play the Puppet Master.
TS: As you know, he was her step-father, so you can get anybody and that would be awesome.


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With so many sequels out this summer, would do you see film ranking among them?
TS: We’re trying to make it its own. I don’t think that there are many films that take a humorous side to a big action film. The audience knows where we stand. None of these films have influenced us on howwe are doing it. We’re just doing our own thing, get in, have some fun, and get out. I’m not concerned about the other films. Of course, it’s a crowded summer and hopefully we don’t all suck dry all the money and no one makes money or something like that, but at the end of the day as far as film goes, I don’t compare us to anyone, not even Spider-man. We came out before with a big franchise. We came out with Batman and I just don’t compare. We are in our own little world and we have upped the ante on this thing and I hope people enjoy it. We have probably one of the coolest top five of comic characters added to this film in the Silver Surfer and I think people will have a ball.


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Will you continue your blog after the film opens?
TS: Absolutely! Hopefully everybody enjoys the film because I tell you, my fans will get on me if they don’t enjoy it. At the end of the day, I do expect to continue blogging and keep the relationship with the folks in the community.


Source: http://www.blackfilm.com/20070601/features/timstory.shtml

 

[Retroman]

Good stuff.Thanks guys.
Hope he's right about Doom. I actually like the fact the he's been kept under wraps.

The premiere of the movie is at the London Eye, and I can’t wait to actually go see what I have destroyed in the movie.

lolt:

Latino Review: The first film was a surprise hit. How much higher are the expectations for Silver Surfer? Also, is there more pressure on you, more pressure on the film, to do well because you’re African-American?

Good question from LR. That's one thing i've been wondering myself.

 

[highguard]

...........I don’t compare us to anyone, not even Spider-man...............http://www.blackfilm.com/20070601/features/timstory.shtml

This is the most refreshing thing I have heard from Tim, not even Spiderman. Good for him he is not trying to be like the other guys, he is bringing his own spin to the table.

That my friends is the spice of life.

 

[thegameq]

It basically translates to: "I made a film, I'm pleased with it because the studio will be pleased with it, because they will make their money back. Is my movie as good as the Spider-man films? I don't really care. Did I make a great fantasy film? I don't really care. I'm just greatful, blah blah blah, yada yada yada...."

You ever notice how the response from guys who make these types of movies are totally different from guys who make great films? You can hear the passion, knowledge and sophistication about their craft and their film. The other guys just tow the line with their responses.

...How could he not compare his film to the best in the genre? That's just being ignorant. Very disappointing......

 

[highguard]

It basically translates to: "I made a film, I'm pleased with it because the studio will be pleased with it, because they will make their money back. Is my movie as good as the Spider-man films? I don't really care. Did I make a great fantasy film? I don't really care. I'm just greatful, blah blah blah, yada yada yada...."

You ever notice how the response from guys who make these types of movies are totally different from guys who make great films? You can hear the passion, knowledge and sophistication about their craft and their film. The other guys just tow the line with their responses.

...How could he not compare his film to the best in the genre? That's just being ignorant. Very disappointing......

That is not what he meant. He meant he put his vision up there based on what and how he sees the FF. I am glad for that. The FF is not Batman, it is not Superman and it is not even Spiderman.

I am thankful that if nothing else Tim realizes that.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I think this quote:

‘If this really happened, what would it be like?’

really sums up one of the main things that attracted me to the FF as a kid. All the other superheros had day jobs and secret identities, and I remember thinking: "Screw that. If I had superpowers and I was risking my life to rescue the world every day, I'd be taking credit for it, and I wouldn't be working for a newspaper."

 

[highguard]

^^ Yeah I think the whole reason we loved the superheros so much is we had hidden delusions of grandeur.

W wanted to be like the heroes, larger than life, and why......

So that we could get the girl and the respect of all mankind.

 

[terry78]

It basically translates to: "I made a film, I'm pleased with it because the studio will be pleased with it, because they will make their money back. Is my movie as good as the Spider-man films? I don't really care. Did I make a great fantasy film? I don't really care. I'm just greatful, blah blah blah, yada yada yada...."

You ever notice how the response from guys who make these types of movies are totally different from guys who make great films? You can hear the passion, knowledge and sophistication about their craft and their film. The other guys just tow the line with their responses.

...How could he not compare his film to the best in the genre? That's just being ignorant. Very disappointing......

How did you get that from what he said? You can twist around Raimi, Nolan or Singer's words the same way if they said something like that. Nolan and Singer would both say they're not doing Spider-Man if asked. If I'm making a movie that's supposed to be on par with those, I'm not bowing down kissing my respective colleagues in the field's asses.

 

[antariss]

Hi Guy's,

I'll make this quick and I'll post more a bit later on.

Here's a link to my recent interview with Tim Story (5min clip) in London. Theres alot more, the interview was about 30 mins, but I can't post it. I will try and put up a transcript real soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG3lKlDodlM

In the meantime, tell me what you think about what he say's and fire any additional questions.

Cheerst:

 

[TNC9852002]

Hi Guy's,

I'll make this quick and I'll post more a bit later on.

Here's a link to my recent interview with Tim Story (5min clip) in London. Theres alot more, the interview was about 30 mins, but I can't post it. I will try and put up a transcript real soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG3lKlDodlM

In the meantime, tell me what you think about what he say's and fire any additional questions.

Cheerst:

Cool.

-TNC

 

[antariss]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that its an audio interview. I will replace the photo too with one of me and him taken on my camera phone (as soon as I work out how) incase I get sued by the photographer

Tim loves this site.

 

[tedw]

Thanks for posting antariss, great interview!

 

[mjbull23]

Nice solid interview, I was intrigued by his evasiveness when asked about Doom and the extent of his integration into the story. All the better...just wet's my palette even more.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Hunter, does that LR review have audio like the topic says?

 

[Nokio]

Both Tim Story and FOX is pure shyt!. I knew this film would be awful. Glactus is now a freaking cloud? Does Marvel have no say in their properties. I'm not paying to see this mess.

 

[antariss]

Hunter, does that LR review have audio like the topic says?

The title is refering to my interview that has been included in this thread to avoid making another Tim Story interview thread. And there is a link here to a snippet of the audio interview that I conducted.

 

[Maestro83]

The Film Freak, "Leo Quinones" interviews the director of The Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer, Tim Story.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Regards,
Maestro

 

[antariss]

The Film Freak, "Leo Quinones" interviews the director of The Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer, Tim Story.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Regards,
Maestro

So this is what it feels like to be upstaged (rock breaks scissors)....lol

Only jokin, but once you checked out the video interviews do check out my audio link and posts your thoughts on that too guys'.

 

[Fantastic-Boy]

Nice!

 

[Mr. Socko]

Thanks antariss and maestro, I like these more than reading interviews lol