Hooper answers the question. I loved the close-up shots, made it feel more intimate, like you were getting into their soul.
Tom Hooper Defends Close-Up Shots in 'Les Miserables'
Among the positive reviews he got for his work on "Les Miserables", Tom Hooper was criticized for using a lot of close-up shots. In a new interview with Movieline, he addresses criticism that he relied too heavily on close-ups in the drama film.
"I find that discussion interesting," he responds, "I always give myself options. I didn't assume that the tight close-up was the best way to do a song
." He explains, "The tight close-ups won out in the cutting room because, over and over again, the emotional intimacy was far more intense than when you go loose."
Hooper then gives an example how a close-up made the cut into the final film. "So in 'I Dreamed a Dream', there was a close-up of Anne that we used but there were two other cameras
shooting from other perspectives... for a long time we were using a mid-shot of her at the beginning of the scene followed by a very slow track and maybe in the last quarter of the scene it was a medium close-up," he shares.
The British filmmaker further reveals that Eddie Redmayne suggested him to use the close-up featured in a teaser trailer for the movie
. "He was talking about the way you see all the muscles in Anne's neck work as she sings and the raw power of that, and I thought, God, that's interesting," Hooper continues.
"So, it was actually Eddie's suggestion to re-examine that scene, and the moment we put that close-up in, the film played in a completely different way. The level of emotion went up about a hundred percent. So the process of moving toward these close-ups was a process of discovery."
I heard it. [blackout]His lower back hits the concrete or whatever rock that is at the edge of the water drop.[/blackout] There is an agonizing crack in that moment.
Hathaway was so strong in that scene it worked. But I agree that it was FAR too common. The worst one to me was during "Empty Chairs." Redmayne is pouring his heart and soul out and completely killing the song, but he distorts the feeling by shooting in either extreme close-up or a tilted 45 degree wide angle. It is a scene about emotional pain, not horror or tension. I do not get some of the choices.
My dad actually said "ouch!" at that. I heard it too.
I didn't have a problem with the close ups. I'd heard so much criticism about them that I was expecting not to like it, but it didn't bother me at all.
My parents are still raving about the movie this morning, they both want to see it again.
Same here. Didnt notice anything wrong with the close-ups. I liked being close, made you really feel the emotion of the singer. And I'm not expert at editing, so i guess i dont notice as many editing flaws as others, who are apparently experts at looking for editing mistakes. lol
I think I dodged a bullet by not working Christmas Day. Apparently, not only did we sell out Les Miserables but also had lines for Django Unchained.
It was bustling yesterday when I came in, but not the madhouse that marked Black Friday or Christmas. I think a $140M domestic cume is the ceiling for this movie. If it makes it to $200M, I will be shocked.
THURSDAY 9:45 AM, 6TH UPDATE: Working Title/Universal’s #1 Les Misérables has grossed $28.3M internationally. Combined with the North American 2-day total of $30.3M, the worldwide cume now is $58.6M. The film is playing in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain so there are many overseas territories still to go.
I'm trying to figure something out here...the character of Eponine from the books is pretty mean to Cosette going so far as to tamper with her budding relationship with Marius, aided by a sister whom they never included in the narrative of the musical. But in the musical they really soften up the character of Eponine to the point where Cosette has been unfairly disliked by a lot of fans of said musical. My curiosity is whether or not they've made Cosette pretty sympathetic and fleshed out her story a bit.
THURSDAY 9:45 AM, 6TH UPDATE: Working Title/Universal’s #1 Les Misérables has grossed $28.3M internationally. Combined with the North American 2-day total of $30.3M, the worldwide cume now is $58.6M. The film is playing in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain so there are many overseas territories still to go.
More to that story - I can only imagine what it will do in the U.K. and after awards are announced:
Australia opened Wednesday with $1.9M and set the record as the biggest opening day ever for a musical (45% bigger than the opening day of Mamma Mia!). It was also the biggest opening day for a Russell Crowe film and the biggest opening day for a Working Title production.
LES MISÉRABLES grossed $5M internationally on Wednesday, December 26, raising the overseas total to $28.3M. Combined with the North American 2-day estimated gross of $30.3M, the worldwide total is $58.6M.
The film is now playing in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain.
Australia opened yesterday with $1.9M and set the record as the biggest opening day ever for a musical, 45% bigger than the opening day of MAMMA MIA! It was also the biggest opening day for a Russell Crowe film and the biggest opening day for a Working Title production.
Hong Kong reports that in addition to applause at the end, some people are rushing out to the box office to buy tickets for the next day. A lot of "Must Watch Again" comments online.
Japan added $1.2M on Wed. and raised the 6-day total to $8.6M. LES MIS is still No. 1 of the Hollywood films and is dominating the box office with 53% market share.
Korea grossed $925k on Wed. for an 8-day total of $14.1M.
Spain grossed $640k on Wed. and raised the 2-day total to an excellent $1.5M.
We open in Hungary today. The rest of the international will release in 2013 including the U.K. and Ireland on Jan. 11.
Wednesday (12/26) Update: From Universal:
LES MISERABLES is off to a record-breaking start with outstanding openings and previews in 7 international territories. The film is currently playing in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain. The international gross as of Dec. 25 is $23.4M. Combined with the U.S. opening day estimated gross of $18.2M, the worldwide total is $41.6M. LES MIS has enjoyed sold-out shows in numerous locations and enthusiastic applause at the end of the film has been reported. Like the U.S., word of mouth and social buzz are positive and spreading around the world.
LES MIS had the No. 1 opening in Korea grossing $8.6M for the weekend. This marks Universal's biggest opening of all time in Korea; the biggest musical opening of all-time; the biggest Hugh Jackman opening of all-time as well as the biggest Russell Crowe opening of all-time in that territory. LES MIS was bigger than the opening of THE HOBBIT and Universal's 2nd biggest opening weekend ever behind THE MUMMY 2. The 7-day total including previews is $13.2M.
In Japan, LES MIS is No. 1 of the Hollywood films. The weekend gross of $4.5M is bigger than the opening of THE HOBBIT and at the same level as MAMMA MIA! The 5-day total is $7.3M. LES MIS was the No. 2 opening in Spain on Christmas Day with $850k, which is also on the same level as MAMMA MIA!
Australia has had 3 days of previews, grossing $1.3M from limited sessions. The film opens officially today and early results indicate that it will be the biggest opening day ever for a musical, 45% bigger than the opening day of MAMMA MIA!; the biggest opening day for a Russell Crowe film and the biggest opening day for a Working Title production along with being Universal's 4th biggest opening day of all time.
Hong Kong grossed $194k and set the record as the biggest opening day for a musical of all time and the biggest Russell Crowe opening day of all time. The total with previews is $536k. Malaysia and Singapore opened strong on Christmas and have grossed $41k and $186k, respectively.
We open in Hungary tomorrow and will continue our international rollout in 2013 including the U.K. and Ireland on Jan. 11.
Getting into Les Miserables for a second, how long have you been with this project trying to get this thing going?
Fellner: I met with Cameron [Mackintosh] in 2009 and the guy that runs this company in England, a chap called Mick Allen is a very, very good friend of mine and he just said to me, You know, I think Cameron it was 24 years ago when he last tried to make this as a movie, Allan Parker was going to direct it at Columbia. I think he might be ready to have the conversation again. So if youre interested why dont you see if you can persuade him? So I went to his office and started to persuade him and we got on well, we created a partnership and we decided to do it. It was complicated because I knew the way in which a film gets made the filmmaker would need a certain amount of control, and I also knew that from Camerons point of view that him, Claude-Michele [Schonberg], and Alain [Boublil] who have spent thirty years creating this masterpiece, this theatrical masterpiece, of course they should have some control. So it was complicated working out how we would make the rub work. Ultimately, it worked beautifully. Everybody got on famously. There was a lot of trust in the process and Claude-Michele, Alain, and Cameron brought the detail, magic and knowledge of the music world and we brought the detail, knowledge and magic of the film world, and Tom was right in the middle trying to do all of it and weve all ended up friends. For me, I cant tell you if the film is good or bad, all I can say is for me the film is way better than I had expectation of us being able to make. So for me thats the most important thing. Have we exceeded our dream in terms of what it could be? And I think we have. The dream was to not only make a good-looking film that engaged, but also had the DNA of the show so the fans would love it and also as important had the opportunity to cross over out of the fans because of the price-point. You make a film thats 60 million dollars you cant just appeal to musical theater fans.
I will tell you as an outsider, it looks a lot better than 60 million. It looks real good on the screen.
Fellner: Good, good.
The movies real *beep* good. Sorry for cursing.
Fellner: Good, do you come at is as a fan of the show?
Not at all.
Fellner: Yeah, see, youre who Im really excited to get to.
Its quite good.
Fellner: You know, when we say quite good, it means its O.K.
No when I say quite good-
Fellner: You mean very good.
I would see it again, thats my definition. My biggest thing is when I get out of the movie do I want to tell somebody they have to go see it? Thats it, right there. Because if you dont want to tell anyone that they want to see this movie, youre *beep*
Fellner: Youre *beep* yeah.
Because on Friday night on Facebook and Twitter when people arent recommending it, youre dead on Saturday. Im putting myself into this interview and I dont want to; its quite good. The movies about 2:30; how long was your first cut on this thing?
Fellner: About four and a bit.
[Laughs] Now the big question is if this is a huge hit in theaters is there the possibility of doing a re-release extended cut?
Fellner: Theres always that possibility. But, it would take a hell of a lot of work. Because unlike a movie where you just have to do a little ADR and then some mixing, weve actually got to bring the orchestra back because there is music, as you probably noticed, right the way through the film so you have to orchestrate all of that extra time. It wasnt like we cut songs out; we cut bits of songs, bits of action or bits of whatever. So we would have to go back in get a full orchestra re-orchestrate it, re-score it, re-record it. Its a massive job. But, if theres a demand we can always discuss it.
Is there the possibility of doing an extended cut on the Blu-ray down the road? Are there deleted scenes that came out at the last second that you had scored?
Fellner: No, we only scored the very finished film. For one thing Tom did an amazing thing. We screened the film at 2:46 or 2:47 to the studio and then to a little bit of a wider audience, but not that much wider, and it went down incredibly well and everyone really, really liked it. We said, It would be great if it was shorter, how could we try and make it shorter? But it works pretty well as is. Tom, to his credit, and Ive worked with many, many directors and they would have just gone locked; he came back to London and said Ok, lets go. And he cut seventeen minutes out of it in a matter of two weeks and I watched the film and I could hardly see the cuts. It was incredible what he did. It was literally him and his editor and they just kind of shaved it, shaved it, shaved it and the film suddenly had a because you would notice, it motors, the film. It literally just sprints from one scene to the next. I think for a musical youve got to do that, because otherwise people who arent used to musicals could find themselves getting bored or whatever. So he cut it down, and I think its good at that length. So the answer ultimately is no, we never orchestrated that longer version. But we could, we might do. Theres one song
that Sacha [Baron Cohen] sang in the sewers thats not in the movie, thats the only song. That would be very doable to put that back.
I like the movie. But there are jarring jump cuts in the movie and shooting half the shots in Dutch angles does give it an awkward vibe it didn't necessarily need. I can still enjoy the movie and notice these things as well.
I'm trying to figure something out here...the character of Eponine from the books is pretty mean to Cosette going so far as to tamper with her budding relationship with Marius, aided by a sister whom they never included in the narrative of the musical. But in the musical they really soften up the character of Eponine to the point where Cosette has been unfairly disliked by a lot of fans of said musical. My curiosity is whether or not they've made Cosette pretty sympathetic and fleshed out her story a bit.
I would say no. Cosette is still a pretty peripheral character after she grows up. She falls in love with Marius and that's about it. I actually always thought hugo could have given her a little more grit and steel given her childhood. I actually liked the way Claire Danes played it and how it was written in that 1998 film. It was the best thing about that movie.
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