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Category: Interviews

VIDEO: Gavin Hood Talks Ender’s Game for Blu-ray Release

Gavin Hood spoke with The Movie Interview about Blu-ray release and sadly dashes our hopes for a director’s cut of Ender’s Game.

“The tricky thing with director’s cuts when you’ve got a huge visual effects movie is that in order to have those cuts you need the shots and the shots require an enormous amount of money to make the shot. So if you haven’t made the shots…”

Big bummer there because you can hardly argue against that. There’s one deleted scene in the car between Valentine and Graff that had very basic VFX done for the DVD (you could see green outlines around Val’s head), so you can imagine that anything that included the Battle Room would end up looking like a terrible mess, which is such a shame.

Don’t forget to pre-order your copy of Ender’s Game!

Watch the entire video below:

February 4, 2014
Asa Butterfield On Choosing Movie Roles

Prior to the release of Ender’s Game, Asa Butterfield sat down with Ned Ehrbar of Metro to talk about the internet, audiences, and how Glengarry Glen Ross influenced the way he chooses movie roles. Here are my favorite tidbits:

I sort of have a checklist of things. Of course you want story to be brilliant, … that’s probably No. 1 on the list. And then of course you want your character to be as interesting as possible and not just be there to fill in the gap. Then you look at the director and the crew — are they respectable, are they reputable. Yeah, if it ticks all those boxes then generally I find it’s a good project.

[O]ne of the most important parts is the character. It may be a lead, it may be a supporting part, it may just be very little. But as long as you can make your mark on the film, then you’ve sort of done your job. And one of the films I always refer to when talking about this is, do you know the “Glengarry Glen Ross” film? Alec Baldwin comes in at the start and pretty much just tells them to sharpen up. That scene, I mean that has one of the best pieces of acting I have ever seen — and it’s his only scene in the film. I think it’s definitely one of the most memorable scenes I’ve ever watched.

Read the rest of the interview HERE!

Source: Metro; photo courtesy of Zimbio

November 12, 2013
‘Ender’s Game’ Costume Budget: $4M

Tyranny of Style talked with Ender’s Game costume designer Christine Bieselin-Clark and she talked about some interesting things such as the budget for the film, which was around $4 million. We already know how complicated the flash suits and helmets were, but still, wow!

The level of responsibility and accountability that comes with heading a department is gargantuan. You’re talking millions of dollars. Our costume budget on Tron was over $10 million, for the costume department. The costume budget on Ender’s Game was close to $4 million. The level of stress that you have for being accountable for not only bringing something visionary and interesting- a design that the director, producer, and the studio are jazzed about, but then executing it on time and on budget that’s what the designer wears. As the assistant designer, though you’re fully invested and responsible for those things as well, it’s not your plan, really. It’s not your designs. There is a level where you can just kind of take a step back and be a worker bee. Whereas going in and being the designer you really have got to be on your toes 24/7.

She also talked a bit about why she chose Valentine’s outfit, something I found particularly interesting because I felt like Valentine’s clothing contributed a lot to the character Abigail brought out in the film.

[M]y future is an amalgamation of some iconic things from different time periods. Like I have a Peter Pan collar on Valentine and this Mandarin kind of stand collar on things. You take kind of things that our mind’s eye will recognize from other times and you put them all together and you make a new time. That’s sort of what we did aesthetically. And there are other reasons behind those things. You want to create an innocent childlike feeling to Valentine, so that’s why you give her the Peter Pan collar. I don’t really have one thing, because it was such an amalgamation, a mish-mosh of all kinds of different time periods.

Clark describes in detail how technologically advanced the costume design was for Tron and that this actually prompted her to go the other way for Ender’s.

[W]hen we went into Ender’s Game I didn’t want to use foam latex. I didn’t want to sculpt anything. I wanted to go the other way. So on Ender’s Game, the suits that we made are actually fabricated with normal pattern making and draping. The materials we used were technologically advanced. And we made materials, but the suits them self are patterned, drafted, cut, and stitched.

We did most of it in our department. The department started in Los Angeles and then we migrated to New Orleans. So we had a lot of in house people doing the pattern making and drafting. And then Quantum, the company I had worked with on Tron, mass-produced the suits for us. So we did a prototype in house and then they did the mass-production. There are some sculptural elements like the body armor pieces on the shoulders and the helmets- they did all of that stuff for me also. The helmets we did do exactly like Tron. We did sculpt them digitally and grow them. It’s easy to do with hard stuff. The hard parts are easier to grow and 3D print than anything else, I have to say.

I have to admit, even with the Sandboxr ship sample I got, I still don’t know what 3D printing is or how you “grow” a helmet. I’m going to have to go find a video with the process.

Read the full interview at Tyranny of Style.

November 7, 2013
VIDEO: PopSugar Interviews Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld

PopSugar sat down to interview Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld, talking to Asa about why he chose Ender’s Game, what part of Ender he wishes he could be like, and what he thought when he first saw the film.

With Hailee, they asked what Hailee’s relationship was like with Asa offscreen, whether it was hard for her to be the only female main character, and why she loves young adult adaptations.

Source: BuzzSugar

November 5, 2013
The LA Times Talks to Ender’s Game Costume Designer Christine Bieselin-Clark

The LA Times interviewed Ender’s Game costume designer Christine Bieselin-Clark and talked to her about the construction of the flash suits and the helmets.

Bieselin Clark designed the helmets in three parts connected by strong magnets: the main helmet, the mandible that comes around the front of the chin, and the visor. “We knew that we might get into a place where that visor and the reflections would be compromising for filming,” she said. “So that visor could come away if we needed it to not be in the shot. It’s very cool. They also had to be light enough. And we had to put little fans in them so people could breathe.”

Since the film is set in the future, no present-day fabric felt quite right. “The predominant fabric in the Flash Suit is one that we made,” Bieselin Clark said. Using spandex or leather as a base fabric, she layered other fabrics on top using glue, solvents and heat-fusible webbings and overlaid these with thin laminates. “It was like a crazy science experiment to combine certain ingredients to make specific fabrics for specific places on the suit,” she said. “[We also did] screen printing with rubberized inks in different colors to create surface texture.”

To construct the helmets, Bieselin Clark and her team took a digital scan of each actor and fed it into a computer program, which overlaid the helmet design onto the scanned head shape. They then created an output of that by using a rapid prototyping machine that lays down thin layers of resin and shapes them with lasers. “So you’re basically growing with lasers a part that perfectly fits the head of the person you’ve scanned,” Bieselin Clark said. “It’s super crazy.”

They also talk to Christine about how she got into the business. You can read the full interview at the LA Times and also visit her website at www.christineclarkdesign.com.

November 4, 2013
Huffington Post Talks to Andrea Powell

The Huffington Post spoke with actress Andrea Powell recently and discussed her role as Theresa Wiggin and how she once stood in for Viola Davis with Harrison Ford during a table read!

What was your audition like for Ender’s Game in which you play Ender’s mom? Did you HAVE an audition?

I had an audition! And it was simultaneously wonderful and horrifying. The callback was essentially a rehearsal session with writer/director Gavin Hood, which was wonderful to work on. But by that time I wanted the role so much that I felt like every single thing I did in the audition was just grossly overacted, that I was barely better than I’d been in junior high productions, when I played the mother by spraying my hair grey. But ultimately I think I dove in very deep emotionally, connected with the character and her struggles, took Gavin’s insightful adjustments, and it just worked. That felt good, and made me a little less nervous. The callback was in New Orleans, and I remember taking my husband along and making sure that we did at least nine more interesting things in New Orleans that day, so that the callback would be the tenth most interesting thing. It was a busy day, but we accomplished it. For the audition, I just had the sides [part of the script] — the full script was locked up tight as a drum. The first time I saw it was at the table read, where I read in Viola Davis’ part opposite Harrison Ford because she couldn’t be there that day. Good thing I didn’t fully understand what was happening (truly, I was that into the script, it’s amazing) until it was over, when I looked at the scar on his chin, thought to myself, “Wow, that’s Harrison Ford,” and my stomach turned over 50 times. And Sir Ben Kingsley was sitting two chairs to my left. So yeah, just a typical Thursday.

Read the Part 1 of the interview here.

October 25, 2013
Nerd Reactor Talks Dink Meeker with Khylin Rhambo

Nerd Reactor interviewed Khylin Rhambo (Dink Meeker) and talked Ender’s Game, his reaction to learning he’d be acting with Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley, and his work on First Family.

Nerd Reactor: You’re in a big budget science fiction action movie, Ender’s Game. What’s your excitement level right now?

Khylin Rhambo: I mean my excitement level is probably at 9 billion right now to be honest. I’ve been waiting two years, or about a year and change, basically I’ve been waiting for this whole thing to finally unfold. Soon I get to see the finished product, so that is almost so exciting that I don’t even feel anything; it’s like a surreal moment. That’s what I’m feeling right now.

Nerd Reactor: Can you tell us about your character?

I play this character whose name is Dink Meeker, and he’s like the junior of the Battle School. He’s been there for a while and he comes in contact with Ender. The rules are simple, nobody interacts with the new kids because they ‘are’ the new kids and nobody likes them. But Dink, I liked playing him because he was an honorable character to play and when I say that, I mean he was willing to talk to Ender because he knew that there was something special about him. He’s willing to take one for the team if it means that they win. He’s willing to team up with people that he might not necessarily like, he’s willing to respect his boss’ orders even though his boss may be unorthodox. There’s just so many things about him that I would like to incorporate into my own life, so being able to play a noble character like that was actually an experience that I’ll never forget.

Nerd Reactor: You get to act with some big talent including Ben Kingsley and Harrison Ford. So how was that?

Khylin Rhambo: Man, I’m not even going to lie to you. I was really scared. When I first found out who was going to be in the cast, I was like, “Are you serious? Did they make a mistake? Am I supposed to be in the movie?” It was amazing when I first saw them because these guys, I’ve seen so many of their movies and when I shook their hand I just couldn’t help but feel honored to be part of it. Every actor says that, you know, that it’s an honor to work with this person or it’s an honor to work with that person. But it truly, truly was an honor because these guys are elite. They’re at the top and you can’t help but learn from them. The energy on set, the way they carry themselves, it was great to see them like that, to be so professional and extremely talented. So you can’t help but be better when you’re surrounded by people like that.

Read the full interview at Nerd Reactor.

October 22, 2013
VIDEOS: Ender’s Game Press Junket London
As you remember, some of the cast and crew of Ender’s Game did a press tour through Europe earlier this month. While in London, they gave a number of interviews, some of which have now surfaced online. Since they all have the same sort of setup, it can be quite confusing and hard to tell which interview is which just by looking at it, so here is a comprehensive list of all London press junket interview vids I could find. Enjoy!

1. Joe Michalczuk for Sky News Entertainment

Joe basically asks all interviewees very similar questions, so the real treat here is how much they sometimes differ in their answers. Asa, Hailee, Harrison and Bob, Sir Ben and Gavin talk about
- Ender’s Game being an independent movie
- the book, the script, and the movie
- the potential of SciFi and the themes of the movie
- working with the greats/being greats working with kids
- sequels
Watch the other interviewees here:

Hailee Steinfeld…………Harrison Ford and Bob Orci…………Sir Ben Kingsley

2. Rory Cashin for Entertainment.ie

Now, these are probably the best ones of the lot. The Interviewer asks interesting and insightful questions and you can actually tell that the interviewees enjoy not having to talk about the same things over and over again for once. Unfortunately, these are not on Youtube, and there is no embed code available on the site. So you’ll just have to do with links!
- Asa and Hailee on their chemistry, reading the source material when doing adaptations, physical challenges and Harrison Ford: HERE
- Harrison and Bob on the book, SciFi, Harrison returning to space, models for Graff, the younger actors and upcoming projects: HERE
- Sir Ben on what attracted him to the role, parallels between the story and the shooting experience, Asa, and telling stories: HERE
- Gavin on his history with the novel, Graff vs. Anderson, challenges of adaptation, and how he works with different actors: HERE
3. James Kleinmann for HeyUGuysUK and NerdyUK

These are run-of-the-mill interviews with some interesting tidbits. Gavin Hood, for instance, talks about why he decided to play the Giant in the Ender’s Game video game sequences.

Here is the rest:
- Asa and Hailee on their characters and their relationship, the pressure of playing an iconic lead character, and what’s special about the movie: HERE
- Bob and Harrison on the book, what attracted Harrison, casting Ender, Asa, and their hopes for the movie: HERE
- Sir Ben on what he likes about the book, lead vs. supporting roles, and wearing the tattoo: HERE
4. The Showbiz 411

So far, they have only published their interview with Hailee and Asa. It’s refreshingly light-hearted and probably geared towards younger viewers. The two young stars talk about hitting it off right away, space camp, boot camp, fun on set, tight flash suits and their ideal planet.

5. Cel Spellman, CBBC Friday Download

And last but not least, the most fun video of them all. Kiddy program “Friday Download” (CBBC) presenter Cel not only interviewed Asa, Hailee, Sir Ben, Bob and Harrison, he also challenged them to a match of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The whole thing is hilarious!

Note: It’s out of sync, so if that bothers you, just download it and play it with an audio delay of 2,1 seconds in VLC or Windows Media Player. Thanks to Tumblr users ceolwaerc and toothle55 for making it available.

Sources: Youtube, Youku, Entertainment.ie
October 22, 2013
Sir Ben Kingsley Talks Shower Fight

News.de editor Susett Queisert met Sir Ben during his press tour in Berlin. She talked to him about his tattoo, preparing for his role, and the movie’s rating. I translated the most noteworthy bits for you.

On how he ended up wearing the tatoo:

When I met Gavin Hood three months before we started shooting, he showed me the most beautiful graphic designs of landscapes and Earth on his laptop. He also showed me the costumes … but he never mentioned the tattoo. I met him in New Orleans the day before shooting and he was nervous, wondering if I would even wear the tattoo. But he is a nice and generous person who knows his trade. And he knows how to equip his actors. He asked me if I wanted to spend time with a Maori expert to talk about the tatoo, and I said: “Gavin, wait! If it helps to tell the story, then let a make-up artist put it on my face.”

On the younger actors’ reaction to him:

When I came on set for my first scene I was standing on higher ground and the younger actors were talking to each other in a relaxed manner. When I said my first line they started to behave oddly. They turned around, took a step, sat down in front of the machines and started to operate them without looking around. … When Mazer says something we do it. When he gives an order we jump. It was astounding.

Asked if the movie’s rating/appropriateness for children didn’t weaken its impact, he answered:

I think the film is very unsentimental. It doesn’t contain any cruelty or violence. Gavin told me about the stunt coordinator. In the movie, there was a fight scene between Ender and Bonzo in the showers and the stunt coordinator was talking about all the things he was planning to do in that scene. But Gavin said: “Wait, I want to finish this shot in two takes.” He wanted to make the scene as short as possible in order to put Ender’s shock [about what he’d done] also on the faces of the audience. If the fight had been 15 minutes the audience wouldn’t have felt this moment of “What did I just do?” that Ender felt.

Source: News.de

October 22, 2013
Viola Davis: Harrison Ford Tells a Lot of Dirty Jokes

Entertainment Tonight spoke with Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Viola Davis, and Hailee Steinfeld at the Ender’s Game press junket on Saturday. Although they talk a lot about the underlying themes of the film, the gem is definitely when Viola Davis continues her Harrison Ford fangirling and reveals that he’s got a really dirty mind and tells a lot of dirty jokes.

October 21, 2013
VIDEO: IGN’s Extended Interview with Gavin Hood and Bob Orci

Watch IGN’s extended 17 minute interview with Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood and producer Roberto Orci. A lot of what they talk about we’ve heard already, but it’s still a good interview to watch.

Gavin Hood talks a bit more about why he eliminated Locke and Demosthenes, explaining that writing on the computer isn’t visually exciting and early on he made the decision to make the entire movie about Ender and cutting away to an Earth storyline would create a disconnect between the audience and Ender.

They also get asked the question: Are you afraid the fans will hate the movie?

Source: IGN

October 21, 2013
Wireless Magazine Talks to the Cast of ‘Ender’s Game’

Wireless Magazine recently spoke to the cast and crew of Ender’s Game while they were in the UK and there are some interesting tidbits in the various conversations they had.

Gavin Hood: [T]his is really about a young boy trying to find his own moral centre in a world that is encouraging his more aggressive nature. From a technical point of view there’s all the great fun stuff we have with the battle room and with the simulations. In the book they are slightly different, I’d like to hope fans will feel we’ve made them more visual for the purpose of cinema.

Asa Butterfield: I think that relationship is quite important in the film. When Ender’s first taken away from his home, from everyone he loves, everyone he trusts and put into this completely alien world where almost immediately he’s alienated from his peers there’s no one that he can talk to about what’s going on so he doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to be doing. When he meets Petra as their relationship develops they start to realise they can trust each other. She almost fills the gap that his sister has left so it’s definitely not a love relationship in any sense I don’t think, I just think they’re really close friends. They don’t know anything about boyfriends or girlfriends, they’re just someone they can lean on, to help.

Ben Kingsley: Well, the ending is that one wonders whether or not, without giving too much away, the audience will be curious, intrigued and troubled to know, is this child’s soul going to be distorted forever? Or will he get back to his original self? That in spite of or because of that very taxing journey, adolescence to young adulthood, have they distorted him? I think the answer is in the film and I find it very uplifting.

Hailee Steinfeld: I think there are many, there’s everything from leadership, compassion, all these different things that are so relevant to today. I don’t know that there is a main message I think there are plenty and it will be interesting to see what the audience takes away from it because there is so much in there.

Check out full interviews here.

October 21, 2013
VIDEO: Asa Butterfield on the Importance of Peter and Valentine

Watch video below as Asa Butterfield talks about the importance of Peter and Valentine and how much he loved the script.

October 16, 2013