The Hunger Games - Part 2

[danoyse]

He also picked the actress in your avy for the lead and took what could have been tween soap and gave an authenticity to it. I can see how in lesser hands this could easily slide into Twilight territory in the next movie.

Actually, the source material did a pretty good job of keeping any of this from becoming a Twilight tween soap first. None of these books were anything like Twilight, none of the story that's coming is anything like Twilight, so I'm not particularly worried that a new director means that we're getting a Twilight soap opera next.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I thought the use of shaky cam during the actual Games was fine and a clever way to show the brutality of what's happening while still keeping it PG-13, but there were a few shaky cam scenes before the Games in District 12 that I didn't think were necessary.

There is "shaky" cam (What the hell is going on) and then there is hand cam (images completely distiughisable).

 

[dark_b]

He also picked the actress in your avy for the lead and took what could have been tween soap and gave an authenticity to it. I can see how in lesser hands this could easily slide into Twilight territory in the next movie.

i dont think that directors alone choose actors. the studio always has some input. in hollywood its not about who is the best actor. as i explained in my previous post days ago. the studio and Ross picked JL for the wrong reasons for HG. but in our luck she was the best choice IMO. i think the studio chose her because she got attnetion for her oscar nomination,because she is hot and because she was in a summer comicbook movie. thats what i think. but she is one of the best young talents from the last 10 years. so its a win win win situation for all us.

 

[Octoberist]

i dont think that directors alone choose actors. the studio always has some input. in hollywood its not about who is the best actor. as i explained in my previous post days ago. the studio and Ross picked JL for the wrong reasons for HG. but in our luck she was the best choice IMO. i think the studio chose her because she got attnetion for her oscar nomination,because she is hot and because she was in a summer comicbook movie. thats what i think. but she is one of the best young talents from the last 10 years. so its a win win win situation for all us.

It depends on the director.

 

[Infinity9999x]

I am starting to wonder if you all have seen the movie.

Where is this earthquake shaky cam at exactly, other then where it was more then likely enforced?



Very well said.

I personally noticed it in the beginning of the movie as she was running out into the woods. Completely unnecessary and annoying. At least it was to me.

That said, I don't think it ruined the movie for me, but it was an added annoyance. Like the badly filmed fights in BB. Were they god awful to the point that I thought it ruined the movie like some fans made it out to be? Heck no. But were they not the best? Yeah.

That's more or less how I felt about the overuse of shaky-cam. Had he toned it down a bit more I would have been okay with it.

 

[C. Lee]

The biggest problem my wife and I had with the movie was the shaky cam stuff. Other than that we were pleased with the movie.

 

[Drizzle]

I am starting to wonder if you all have seen the movie.

Where is this earthquake shaky cam at exactly, other then where it was more then likely enforced?

All over the District 12 scenes in the beginning. I didn't notice it as much the first time I saw it, but the second time when I saw it in IMAX, it was much more noticable.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I personally noticed it in the beginning of the movie as she was running out into the woods. Completely unnecessary and annoying. At least it was to me.

That said, I don't think it ruined the movie for me, but it was an added annoyance. Like the badly filmed fights in BB. Were they god awful to the point that I thought it ruined the movie like some fans made it out to be? Heck no. But were they not the best? Yeah.

That's more or less how I felt about the overuse of shaky-cam. Had he toned it down a bit more I would have been okay with it.

That was tone setter and doesn't last long at all.

I don't understand how some don't understand why it was there during the "fight" scenes. Yes it is annoying but it isn't something you can put on the director when a PG-13 rating was a must. It was that or cut away a dozen times.

All over the District 12 scenes in the beginning. I didn't notice it as much the first time I saw it, but the second time when I saw it in IMAX, it was much more noticable.

The camera slightly moving is a problem why? I understand the complaints about the murder scenes, but not the mood setting scenes where everything is clearly coherent. You can make out everything that is going on during the district 12 opening bits.

 

[Octoberist]

LionsGate exec: Bring us the one they call....Brad Bird.

 

[Speedball]

LionsGate exec: Bring us the one they call....Brad Bird.

And lock that s*** in!

 

[DACrowe]

Actually, the source material did a pretty good job of keeping any of this from becoming a Twilight tween soap first. None of these books were anything like Twilight, none of the story that's coming is anything like Twilight, so I'm not particularly worried that a new director means that we're getting a Twilight soap opera next.

Is there a love triangle with teenagers? Yes. Is this produced in Hollywood? Yes.

Here are a few things Ross did to make the movie:

-He cast Jennifer Lawrence. Pretty much made the movie so much better than it may otherwise have been.

-He said no to 3D and chose to go for "intimate" and "natural" with shaky-cams and practical effects instead of lots of CGI eye candy and 3D, though they studio approached him on that.

-Brought in the author of the book to co-write the screenplay.

I'm not saying that the material isn't good or that another director can't do well with it. It's just that he did a good job and ignoring that is silly. I could see another director casting more of a traditional starlet, pushing up the romance because it worked in Twilight and doing more committee-friendly decisions in plotting.

Just don't be surprised if this falls apart is all I am saying.

 

[DACrowe]

i dont think that directors alone choose actors. the studio always has some input. in hollywood its not about who is the best actor. as i explained in my previous post days ago. the studio and Ross picked JL for the wrong reasons for HG. but in our luck she was the best choice IMO. i think the studio chose her because she got attnetion for her oscar nomination,because she is hot and because she was in a summer comicbook movie. thats what i think. but she is one of the best young talents from the last 10 years. so its a win win win situation for all us.

Perhaps. He cast her though because he liked her. It's why in the past he works with actors like Tobey Maguire instead of more mainstream popular choices. I do think he goes for talent over hype. I think another director could have gone another direction and cast a different "It girl" for the part.

 

[Infinity9999x]

That was tone setter and doesn't last long at all.

I don't understand how some don't understand why it was there during the "fight" scenes. Yes it is annoying but it isn't something you can put on the director when a PG-13 rating was a must. It was that or cut away a dozen times.



The camera slightly moving is a problem why? I understand the complaints about the murder scenes, but not the mood setting scenes where everything is clearly coherent. You can make out everything that is going on during the district 12 opening bits.

The fight scenes didn't bother me too much. I honestly didn't think many of them were that bad. But the issues like the ones I talked about annoyed me. If you were fine with it that's okay, but it took me out of the movie, and I wouldn't want to have that effect again.

 

[KRIM]

-He said no to 3D and chose to go for "intimate" and "natural" with shaky-cams and practical effects instead of lots of CGI eye candy and 3D, though they studio approached him on that.

I agreed with everything except this point. 3D has no bearing on how intimate or natural scenes are presented, considering it is merely a tool to expand depth. Secondly, which parts of the movie did he choose to go "real" when he had the opportunity otherwise? Everything I expected to be cg (considering the modest budget), was cg. And to be frank, many of the aspects that were cg, were blatantly bad and poorly executed.

 

[flickchick85]

I think Ross did a very good job on THG, but I don't think it was necessarily the best directorial work imaginable for this story. So while I am a little worried about his departure, I'm not yet convinced it was a mistake on Lionsgate's part. True, they could easily end up with a worse director for CF, but I think they could also very realistically find a better one. I'm just waiting to see who the new candidates are before I decide if this was a positive development or not.

I think rising genre talents like Duncan Jones or Matt Reeves would be great and relatively inexpensive options. Drew Goddard's getting a lot of buzz for Cabin in the Woods, and while that's quite different tonally from THG, I know from his work on Buffy that he has a really good grasp on emotional truth and material of a heavier nature. After M:I-4, Brad Bird's probably gonna be even more expensive than Ross, so I doubt he'd even be an option, but there are some high quality candidates out there for sure.

 

[Project862006]

Sam Mendes was on the short list to direct HG so maybe they can get him

 

[Blue Sugar]

I agreed with everything except this point. 3D has no bearing on how intimate or natural scenes are presented, considering it is merely a tool to expand depth. Secondly, which parts of the movie did he choose to go "real" when he had the opportunity otherwise? Everything I expected to be cg (considering the modest budget), was cg. And to be frank, many of the aspects that were cg, were blatantly bad and poorly executed.

I think 3D would have been awful in this movie. First of all the grainy and more unpolished cinematography would have been lost since they probably would have to have gone digital. Therefore losing the authentic and harsh feel of this world that I personally loved. It would also have felt weird to sit with 3D glasses to make things cooler while watching children kill eachother forced by a dictator regime. Would have felt so much more shallow and speculative imo.

Say what you want about the use of 3D but in the eyes of the GA it is to make things and mainly action look cooler. You don't see many dramas with 3D do you?

 

[Project862006]

Hugo did

 

[Blue Sugar]

True but again that's a movie where the visuals are meant to "wow" you, I don't think they always should in a story like Catching Fire.

 

[Blue Sugar]

Eye candy is not what they should always strive for when it comes to the photography, just in my opinion. And Ross and his team found great balance in Hunger Games, I'm afraid a new director won't.

With that said, bring me Cuaron!!

 

[KRIM]

I think 3D would have been awful in this movie. First of all the grainy and more unpolished cinematography would have been lost since they probably would have to have gone digital. Therefore losing the authentic and harsh feel of this world that I personally loved.

Grain could have easily been added if they wanted to. That's not a limitation as it is a stylistic choice.

It would also have felt weird to sit with 3D glasses to make things cooler while watching children kill eachother forced by a dictator regime. Would have felt so much more shallow and speculative imo.

I'm not at all seeing how 3D or glasses makes it any more of a shallow experience than sitting in a crowd of hundreds, inside a movie theater, eating popcorn, and cheering our favorite characters on. If it was anything like my movie experience, we were just as bad as the Capitol audience because it didn't take very long to "take sides" and not value every loss of a child as the same. I'm willing to bet there were at least one or two scenes where people applauded a kid being killed off.

Say what you want about the use of 3D but in the eyes of the GA it is to make things and mainly action look cooler. You don't see many dramas with 3D do you?

You don't see many dramas with big budgets, do you? The eyes of the GA don't matter as it's been proven time and time again they do not know what they want and their opinions can easily be swayed with the right film.

 

[Drizzle]

Sam Mendes was on the short list to direct HG so maybe they can get him

He might still be busy with Skyfall when the time comes for preproduction on Catching Fire. I like the Brad Bird idea.

 

[mclay18]

Nikki Finke and Mike Fleming say that Gary Ross has NOT withdrawn from 'Catching Fire':

http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/sources-gary-ross-has-not-withdrawn-from-hunger-games-2/#more-253843

They say insiders close to Ross say he is on a family vacation, and that Ross was heavily involved with the screenplay back in November with Collins and Simon Beaufoy. So unless Ross' deal implodes, they expect him to return to helm 'Catching Fire.'

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

Ross was on vacation?

Reeks of BS. Though it is true he's already been working on Catching Fire. The outline for Mockingjay too.

 

[DACrowe]

I think 3D would have been awful in this movie. First of all the grainy and more unpolished cinematography would have been lost since they probably would have to have gone digital. Therefore losing the authentic and harsh feel of this world that I personally loved. It would also have felt weird to sit with 3D glasses to make things cooler while watching children kill eachother forced by a dictator regime. Would have felt so much more shallow and speculative imo.

Say what you want about the use of 3D but in the eyes of the GA it is to make things and mainly action look cooler. You don't see many dramas with 3D do you?

Well said.