EnderWiggin.net – Ender's Game Movie Fansite

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Straight from the Set Part 5.2: Kicking it with Garrett Warren

“Everyone who’s been here? I follow ’em religiously. I actually read everyone’s blog.”

“No pressure, guys.” quipped Kelly.

And that’s how things started with Garrett Warren, stunt coordinator for Ender’s Game. When you first see him, he’s a tad intimidating, since he sports an eyepatch, but once he starts talking you immediately realize what a warm and friendly person he is.

Warren was introduced to Ender’s Game through his daughter in about 2009. He’d been attracted by the cool cover of the book, though none of us thought to ask him which cover it was. A conscious parent, he told us he’d read The Hunger Games and even Twilight to stay in tune with her reading habits. So when it came time for Ender, he was a bit taken aback. “I was dumbfounded that I didn’t find it earlier. I took an awful lot out of it and I liked it an awful lot. I mean, I have to admit, the book is far ahead of its time if you ask me.”

With three kids of his own growing up incredibly fast, using technology such as iPads in school, Warren said he could see the future generation of children simply being that sharp just by the world they grow up in. “I think that exponentially by the time they would be growing up as they were in this book, it may just be that fast, you know?”

A former professional fighter, Warren compared the principles of Ender’s Game to that of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. “It’s a really good book as far as teaching you how to relate to other people, whether it be family members or even business contacts in this world. It’s incredibly valuable to children as well as adults, so I liked that.”

When asked about the pros and cons of working with kids under time restrictions, Warren admitted that the rules were broken, but not for lack of trying on their part. “The kids did not want to get out of the wires. They had an awful lot of fun. They would find themselves time while they were doing shots to run over to where we were with our wires and jump in for rehearsals. I’m very fortunate in saying this, because by the end of their training period, they were all very proficient at flying in these wires. They did it all themselves. So I can’t tell you how excited I am for the world to see these kids actually doing their own movements, their own choreography, their own stunts, and their own action. It’s beautiful.”

While all the kids did great in the wires, Warren singled out Moises Arias and Aramis Knight out for being particularly amazing with the wires. Aramis, described by Warren as a “showboat on a wire” was all about doing flips and bouncing off the walls. Moises was particularly good at looking flawlessly weightless and really impressed the Cirque du Soleil acrobats that were on set as stunt doubles.

They became so good that for the most part the stunt doubles ended up being there simply to teach them and help them adjust their harnesses. It was amazing to hear him talk about how what the kids went through was some of the greatest training he had ever experienced as a filmmaker. And this is the guy who was stunt coordinator for movies like Avatar and Real Steel.

“The apparatus that we have was an apparatus that hasn’t been used in this way in the movie industry before, so it’s incredibly difficult. You have to have incredible stomach muscles and lower back muscles to be able to use this piece of equipment that we developed for this movie. And so all the kids when they first got in here were just dying, you know – “Oh my gosh, this is so hard, it’s hurting my back, ahh!” And by the end of about six or seven days, they were all great. No complaints, they were all 100% ready to do whatever the stunt was that we gave them. It was awesome.”

We’ve talked to the cast in the last month and anytime the conversation shifts to either Gavin Hood or Garrett Warren, the kids immediately light up and the feeling is mutual. “I honestly believe that these are the greatest kids I’ve ever worked with, so my hat’s off to Gavin for his casting process, and my hat’s off to the producers for finding these kids because these kids are the next greats in Hollywood.”

He tried to be vague about a particular fight scene that he was especially proud of that he said he’s putting in his reel, but I quickly asked if he was referring to the shower scene, which surprised him since he wasn’t aware of what the producers were showing us. “It’s filmed so well… Gavin did such a great job, and Asa and Moises did such an amazing job, that it goes down in the annals of history as a fight sequence that many people will copy, I think, for years to come.”

The fight incorporated MMA as well as Krav maga, but Hood insisted that aikido be very prominent as well, due to it’s artistic nature. I myself studied aikido for years, so when he started talking about how aikido is all about using the momentum of the attacker against them, it brought back a lot of fond memories and I suddenly felt inspired to return. Sadly, I haven’t, but there’s still hope for me, right?

Warren had a great grasp of what could be going through Ender’s mind during this fight, so the conversation with him left me feeling really great about what he helped create in that scene. “The fight is awesome. I would like to say it’s brutal, but it’s incredibly intelligent, so it’s more than just brutal.” he said, noting that it was about striking a delicate balance of military and yet still being aware they’re children. “If a genius was to fight, and yet have a dark side inside of them that they’re battling with and having to come to grips with, this is it.”

Fight sequences and training aside, he also mentioned that the steam in the film is all real. “That was a pain in the rear end.” he joked. He also mentioned that they did one continuous take of the shower fight from beginning to end, but obviously he had no way of knowing whether it would make it into the final cut. Even if it doesn’t, something like that seems to scream “DVD extra”, especially since Warren spoke so highly of the performances of Moises and Asa.

When teaching the kids how to fight on camera, Warren says they had to go slowly in terms of intensity. There were lots of takes trying to build them up to the level that Hood was looking for, but safety always came first. “Nobody [got hurt], thank goodness. Nobody even got a sprained finger. However, it took a long time to get there, so that they didn’t get hurt.”

It was astonishing to hear just how many innovative things they developed for Ender’s Game. Warren assured us that at the time there was nothing else out there that could simulate weightlessness than the apparatus they’d developed, along with something called a lollipop. He even talked about trying to get a technical award from the Academy for their inventions.

As we were wrapping up the interview, talk shifted back to his incorporation of MMA and it turns out he had just finished a movie where he was working concurrently with the UFC and several UFC fighters. A cue they took from the sport was relentlessness. “When you get someone on the ground, you don’t let up.” he said. “You don’t just hit someone once; you hit them until they don’t stop moving.”

And that sure sounds like a familiar concept in the world of Ender Wiggin.

September 4, 2013
AUDIO: ‘Ender’s Game’ Trailer 2 Music – Rebirth from Full Tilt

Those of you that love trailer music or score in general, you can listen to the track from the second Ender’s Game trailer below, thanks to Non-Stop Trailers.

The music, which is a track titled “Rebirth” by Full Tilt, was composed by Kaveh Cohen and Michael David Nielsen.

To listen to the music from the first Ender’s Game trailer, click here.

September 4, 2013
PHOTO: Ender and Bean as Launchies in the Battle Room

The LA Times has published a set visit report and an interview with director Gavin Hood and gives us a bit more insight on how he came up with the Battle Room’s design. In addition to that, we have a photo of Ender and Bean in the Battle Room!

As written in the novel, the Battle Room feels like a big, dark room, and the “Ender’s Game” combat situations unfold on something akin to personal computers.

“You had to feel it was the real thing — not a video game on a screen,” Orci said. “Visually, it had to be visceral, a you-are-there experience.”

Hood says two chance visits to Los Angeles landmarks — Griffith Observatory for a planetarium show and Disney Hall for a symphony concert — helped him solve two of his most pressing visual obstacles.

During the planetarium show, Hood realized that the battling spaceships could fly around Ender and his subcommanders like so many spinning galaxies inside the domed Griffith theater, immersing the cast (and the audience) in the clashes. And in watching Gustavo Dudamel lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the filmmaker figured out that Ender could conduct his team of pilots as if he were guiding them through a prestissimo symphony — front and center, orchestrating everyone’s movements in harmony.

Hood’s production designers also enveloped the Battle Room with panoramic windows, so that the cadets were both figuratively and literally floating amid the stars. “What is the point of going into space and being stuck in a black box?” Hood said.

You can read the entire piece at LA Time’s Hero Complex.

August 30, 2013
Ain’t It Cool News on the Rebirth of Dragon Army

Ain’t It Cool News has posted their set visit report and in it they provide us with the scene where Ender is assigned Commander of Dragon Army.

“[Y]ou have a habit of upsetting your commander.”

Ender replies “I find it hard to respect someone just because he outranks me, sir.” At this, Graff leans back in his chair, giving Ender his full attention, rocking back and forth slightly.

“That puts you in a difficult position, doesn’t it? You don’t like taking orders from Bonzo… perhaps you’d prefer to give them,” says Graff slyly, kind of like a parent about to unveil a Christmas present. Ender is confused. “Sir?”

Graff: “How would you like your own army? Dragon Army.”

Ender: “Sir, I’ve never heard of Dragon Army.”

Graff: “We discontinued the name four years ago. No Dragon Army ever won a battle.”

Ender: “Why not a new name, sir?”

Graff: “Because we already have the uniforms.”

Ender: “Who will be in this army?”

Graff: “Misfits, like yourself. Outcasts who might just be brilliant with the right commander.”

It should be noted that this is his transcript of the original scene he saw and that later takes may have changed it. Still a cool look into Ender’s promotion into Dragon Army, though! He also mentions the scene that we see in the trailer that Khylin Rhambo confirmed on EnderCast was with him and Hailee Steinfeld.

I didn’t spend much time in the Battle Room set, but I did see Hailee Steinfeld film a scene with Khylin Rhambo, who plays Dink Meeker. It’s one of Ender’s gambits where one person from his army is sacrificed and used as a human shield. In this case Dink is frozen into place and Petra (Steinfeld) takes his flash gun and fires John Woo style as Dink hugs her, protecting her from enemy fire.

In order to get this shot they had to get on a weird little contraption that the wire team called the lollipop. Imagine a bar stool seat attached to a long stick with one affixed wire attached at the middle. Hailee sat on the seat, Dink on the bar, his arms over her shoulders and her legs wrapped around his waist with both her arms shot out under his shoulders firing away as they float away from the enemy gate.

Dink whispers “Did you get him?” Petra smiles and says, “Oh yeah.” He’s looking behind her and sees their momentum is taking them on a crash course with a star and they both cringe, anticipating the impact.

Read his whole report here, including an amusing interaction with Harrison Ford.

August 28, 2013
‘Ender’s Game’ Shot Five Battle Room Scenes

Set visit reports are pouring out today and Slashfilm’s piece had a particularly interesting tidbit of info that should relieve fans still worried about author Orson Scott Card’s comments last year about how one Battle Room scene was “one too many”.

There will be about five scenes in the Battle Room and it took about 4 weeks to shoot them all.

Whatever the cost, producers knew the zero gravity battle scenes had to be done right. Stunt coordinator Garrett Warren said he was never given any kind of restrictions in developing the zero gravity tech because everyone knew the movie hinged on it.

Hood and Warren looked at all kinds of different ways to capture the zero gravity including, but not limited to, actually filming in real zero gravity. They investigated more mundane solutions such as computer graphics and motion-capture, but eventually decided on elaborate practical effects.

They also reveal that they learned that each of the three stars built on set weighed a whopping 13,000 pounds!

To read their full list of 30 things they learned on set, click here.

August 28, 2013
Straight from the Set Part 1: Producers Talk Ender’s Game

You are reading Part 1 of a five-part Ender’s Game set report series scheduled for the next week.

As of today, it’s been 464 days since I was on the set of Ender’s Game in New Orleans, Louisiana, staring up at vast green screens and sets in what can only be described as complete and utter awe. Never in the week leading up to that day had I imagined the place I ended up in.

I live in Hawaii, so when my journey began, I was put on a 10 hour direct flight from Honolulu to New Orleans. Seven hours into the flight I was ready to jump out of the plane, but consoled myself with thoughts about what was to come. I met Erin Gross from Ender’s Game Fansite at the airport and we shared a cab to the hotel.

After checking into one of the most gorgeous hotels I’d ever been in, I looked out the window to check out my view, then relaxed until it was time for dinner with Erin. I’d already “known” her by name through our Hunger Games websites, but this was the first time we’d spent some serious time together. It was great to finally talk with someone doing the exact same things that I was doing and who also loved Ender’s Game.

We met up with Kelly from Ender News, who would later become my podcasting partner in crime, and Cassandra from Ender’s Ansible. After a bit of chit chat, we said good night. I tried to prep questions, tried not to get too excited about the next day, and tried the impossible task of falling asleep.

In the morning, we met in the lobby and found a group of other press that would be touring with us including journalists from HitFix, IGN, J-14, and Nerdist. We were given Ender’s Game set badges (which I still have!) and hopped into a van to be driven out to Big Easy Studios at the old NASA Michoud Facility.

Once we got on site, we were taken to the production offices and lead into a conference room wallpapered in concept art and notes. I saw refreshments to the side including my weakness, strawberries, but I was too excited and almost too nauseated to eat. Bob Orci, the producer, was in the room. I’d had no idea he’d be there and being a big fan of a lot of his work, I was more than a little starstruck. Then we sat down and he and fellow producers Lynn Hendee and Linda McDonough proceeded to spew out everything I could have ever wanted to know about the movie they were making.

Ender’s World

Although they hadn’t yet taken us on a tour of anything, the initial producer’s presentation was a gold mine of imagery. If you can recall how long we all have been analyzing and scrutinizing each of the stills and imagery that come out, imagine having 50 of those flash before your eyes in a matter of minutes. I had to force myself not to shriek, “STOP! Go back! I didn’t stare at that one long enough!” Still, Bob Orci continued to flick through them one after another.

An International Fleet school on Earth. Image courtesy of Summit Entertainment.

Even though I’m a longtime fan of Ender’s Game, I admit I never put too much thought into the world that the Wiggins lived in on Earth. Judging from the still above, which Summit provided to us for this report, Ender lives near some type of metropolis. But while in the book, the Wiggins live in the city, that won’t be the case with the film. The Wiggins in the film will live in a home closer to what you may have imagined Bean visits in Shadow of the Hegemon.

“We want[ed] what’s happening on Earth to contrast to the technology of space. So many sci-fi novels present a dystopian future, kind of an ugly place, we wanted to present Ender’s world as one worth saving, one that’s become utopian in many ways.” said Orci. He showed us a slide of a beautiful home with classic columns. “Just like the Vatican is alive and well the way it’s been existing for the last five hundred years here, […] why wouldn’t there be classic houses?”

The Wiggin home is utopian indeed. We were shown photos of Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff and Viola Davis as Major Anderson inside a very picturesque living room, presumably when they’ve come (together, I might add) to take Ender to Battle School. Last month, we actually got to stand in that very same living room at the Ender’s Game Experience at Comic Con.

While a lot of the stills they showed us have been erased from my memory by time, one that managed to stick with me is an overhead shot of Valentine looking up at something with a sad look on her face, presumably at that point Ender is already gone. I can’t remember if it was a mobile or something else, but it could possibly be the plane hanging from the ceiling of his bedroom.

The homes aren’t the only things carrying “classic” themes. At school on Earth, the classrooms are designed after typical science classrooms just like one that you might have learned in yourself. When it comes to Battle School, however, you can see the contrast Orci talks about when you compare the classroom you know with this image (below) of a classroom in Battle School. We also saw a still with Ender facing off against a rather intimidating Stilson.

Some of you may remember we all got to see a photo of Ender’s monitor last year and during the presentation they showed us a photo of Ender sitting on a medical examiner’s table, with some concept art of the utopian society shown on a window behind him.

In the trailer, there’s a shot of a rocket shooting into space and I’m assuming that this is Ender and Graff launching from Earth to go to Battle School. Orci mentioned that they’d started with concept art of a space shuttle taking off like an airplane, but they were promptly shot down by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who they’d been consulting with. “[Musk] said, “No, that would never happen. Since you’re trying to get up, just point the damn thing up.””

Next: Battle School and the Battle Room >>

August 28, 2013
FANSITE EXCLUSIVE: ‘Ender’s Game: Inside the World of an Epic Adventure’

Here’s some seriously cool news for you Launchies! Publisher Insight Editions will be releasing a companion book for the Ender’s Game movie titled Ender’s Game: Inside the World of an Epic Adventure. Your fansites are here to unveil the cover for the new book, due out sometime before the movie’s release!

Read the official description for the book below:

Based on the best-selling novel, Ender’s Game tells the thrilling story of the fight to save the world from a devastating future. Now, in this official companion volume, the behind-the-scenes world of the film is brought into stunning focus.

Following an attack by an alien race known as the Formics—narrowly countered thanks only to the efforts of legendary war hero Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley)—Earth has been preparing itself for the next wave in the conflict. The fate of humanity lies in finding the next Mazer from a crop of the brightest young minds on the planet. Under the watchful eye of the International Fleet, the venerated Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) has been tasked with overseeing their training. Before long, a standout emerges among them: Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy but prodigiously talented misfit. His potential discovered, Ender is promoted to Command School, where he will soon find the war with the Formics to be more complex than he could have ever imagined.

Packed with in-depth interviews, removable posters and army badges, stunning concept art, unparalleled access to the visual effects archives at Digital Domain, and countless full-color images, this insightful insider’s view of the making of Ender’s Game will bring fans closer into the world of the movie, following cast and crew as it is brought to dazzling life.

Also featuring Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) as Petra Arkanian, Viola Davis (The Help) as Major Gwen Anderson, and Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) as Ender’s brilliant older sister, Valentine.

Jed Alger is the author of The Art and Making of ParaNorman. An advertising writer and creative director with more than twenty years of experience, he has worked on some of the biggest, most challenging brands in the world—Google, Twitter, IBM, Microsoft, Starbucks, Target, Electronic Arts, and Hewlett-Packard among them. Jed graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in philosophy and received his MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award–winning foreign language film Tsotsi. He is also the director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, among several other films.

For those of you that don’t care about spoilers, this sounds like heavenly access to the making of the film. For those of you that are afraid of seeing too much, you may want to buy it and leave it unopened until you see the movie! I know that when the Hunger Games companion books came out people got upset with themselves for not being able to resist looking at all the imagery.

You can pre-order the book on Amazon.com for $32.95 or at Barnes & Noble for $33.61.

Many thanks to Summit for giving us the chance to unveil the cover!

August 27, 2013
VIDEO: Constantin Debuts German Version of ‘Ender’s Game’ Trailer

As we’ve been reporting, Constantin has been holding an Ender’s Game laser tag event at Gamescom this week and it sounds like they also used this as a chance to debut the German version of the Ender’s Game trailer, which can be viewed below thanks to FilmStarts.de.

Ender’s Game – Das große Spiel

Also, my friend and old ZAM boss is attending Gamescom and I had asked him to snap me a few photos of the arena, which you can view below. Thanks Ryan!

August 22, 2013
First Look at the ‘Ender’s Game’ Battle School Board Game
Those of you that have been waiting for more information about the upcoming Ender’s Game Board Game by Cryptozoic Entertainment can now have a peek at the game! Thanks to a tip from @AllUsGeeks on Twitter, who linked to ICV2.com.

Here’s a brief description of the game:

Ender’s Game: Battle School is a two-player game set in the zero-gravity arena of the International Fleet’s Battle School. Players take the role of either Ender Wiggin and the Dragon Team or Bonzo Madrid and the Salamander Team, and then use Commander cards with special abilities (some for the whole team, some that only help the commander) to attempt to capture the other team’s gates or freeze opposing team players with laser-light guns. The player who completes either of the goals first (capturing all the gates or freezing the opposing commander) wins.

The MSRP will be $25.00. In addition, here is a list of what comes with the game:
- 22″ x 22″ Game Board
- 2 x oversized double-sided character cards,
- 16 x character pawns
- 12 x star terrain pieces
- 6 x gate terrain pieces
- 2 x hit point markers
- 4 x six-sided dice
- 1 x rule book
List source: Pop Cultcha
August 12, 2013
‘Ender’s Game’ to be Rated PG-13

After seeing a tweet from @AsaEnchancers about Ender’s Game getting a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, we did a bit of Google searching to find out what the deal was, since the last we knew, the film had not yet been rated.

The only result we could find was at the official Lionsgate movies page for Ender’s Game, which lists the film as PG-13. Oddly enough, none of their other titles have ratings, including You’re Next, which is out in theaters this month. We’re waiting for confirmation from Summit, but the rating being on Lionsgate’s official site is reliable enough for us!

I’ve seen some articles pop up in the past insisting that Ender’s Game needed to be Rated R, but I’ve never really understood why people feel that way. There are some pretty violent movies out there that are rated PG-13 (Wrath of the Titans is the first one to come to mind) and I’ve never really felt like Ender’s Game was truly R-rated violent to begin with. Sure, the scene with Stilson in the book is terrible, but I’ve outlined in the past my opinions on that scene and why things change with the older actors.

What are your thoughts? For me, no surprise here. If The Hunger Games can score PG-13 with 20+ body count, surely Ender’s Game can too.

UPDATE: Turns out we posted another image on Instagram earlier showing the rating too!

Here’s the image in full:

August 9, 2013
PHOTO: Graff and Mazer Rackham Face Off with Ender Wiggin

Although we just posted an image that is from Entertainment Weekly’s Fall Movie Preview, turns out that was the bonus tablet image. The image above, which shows Mazer Rackham looking at Ender while Graff gives Ender an angry look, is the actual image from the print issue on stands today. (look for the Anchorman 2 issue)

In the brief article, Gavin Hood talks about how when he told his visual effects supervisor what he wanted for the Battle Room, “his eyes nearly popped out of his head”.

HUGE thanks to my friend Michelle for helping me view this on her iPad!

Source: Entertainment Weekly tablet edition

August 9, 2013
PHOTO: Ender at the Gate from EW’s Fall Movie Preview

Update: This image is the bonus tablet photo from EW. For the Fall Movie Preview image, click here.

We’ve seen a slightly different version of this image from Entertainment Weekly and with the new Fall Movie Preview issue on stands this week, we’ve got yet another new photo of Ender as a launchie. In this photo, he grips a bar at the gate to the Battle Room with Graff smiling with approval behind him.

Any speculation on why Graff would be the one to take Ender to the Battle Room personally? Why wouldn’t Ender go with his launch group? Give us your thoughts!

Source: Dread Central

August 9, 2013
Audi Releases Details on the International Fleet Car

Audi AG has released an EPK about the International Fleet car seen in the official trailer released yesterday. Sorry to disappoint, but it’s actually a virtual car and doesn’t actually exist.

Ingolstadt, August 7, 2013 – Futuristic, progressive and cutting edge: the Audi Design Team has developed an entirely virtual car for Summit Entertainment’s film adaptation of the award-winning, best-selling novel “Ender’s Game”. With its visionary design, the Audi fleet shuttle quattro blends easily into the world of the science fiction feature film and combines futuristic design with groundbreaking technology.

The fictional Audi fleet shuttle quattro seen in the film “Ender‟s Game” marks the first time the car company has unveiled a purely virtual Audi in a feature film.

Called the “Audi fleet shuttle quattro”, they worked with Gavin Hood and the production team on integrating it into the film. “The Audi in the movie represents progress and it appears in key scenes that have a lasting impact on the life of the protagonist,” explained Florian Zitzlsperger, responsible for Brand Partnerships at AUDI AG. “As a result, our Audi becomes part of this fictional world.”

“Designing the Audi fleet shuttle quattro was similar to customizing a tailor-made suit. We adapted it to the requirements of the world in Ender’s Game and at the same time had to take care to preserve our brand values,” said Frank Rimili, chief designer for the film project.

Read the full press kit here. Thanks to Ender News for the tip!

August 7, 2013