"Cloud Atlas" production notes [PDF] - VisualHollywood

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CLOUD ATLAS (2012) PRODUCTION NOTES timeline, shuttled from one locale to another. Tykwer also composed the "Cloud Atlas" score, with Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, months before cameras rolled. Composing their own music is uncommon enough among filmmakers, and to begin so early is even rarer, but Tykwer found the approach valuable in helping define the tones and meanings of each scene as it was being created, and to inspire his cast and crew. The heart of the score is a symphony born in the 1936 sequence about a young musician laboring to realize his masterwork, called The Cloud Atlas Sextet, and its challenge, says Tykwer, "was to have a piece of music that connects with the period in which it is supposedly written and also serves as the central theme for the entire movie, reappearing and underscoring many scenes; a piece of music that someone who hears it ages later may recognize as something from his own memory." For the filmmakers, bringing "Cloud Atlas" to the screen was undeniably a labor of love. Even while writing the script, they agreed to move forward only if author David Mitchell was enthusiastic about their adaptation, and that commitment extended through every aspect of the production and was shared by cast and crew alike. "It's a fabulous filmmaking experiment, an epic, adult film about epic, adult ideas and what filmmaking is all about," states Susan Sarandon, who plays, among other parts, an Indian man and a spiritual leader in the 2300s. "It's one of those rare scripts you read where you don't know, three pages in, what's going to happen." "The whole approach is adventurous and ambitious and refuses to go down formulaic lines," adds Hugh Grant, who particularly relished the way he was cast against type in an escalating range of villainous roles. "Even now—and I know this sounds a bit mushy—I get teary with gratitude when I think about the fact that we actually got to make this thing," says Lana, echoing the sentiments of her colleagues. "We are deeply indebted to all the actors who joined us and embraced this experimental concept and this extraordinary story. Few movies have asked so much of their actors. After our cast readthrough, one of the funnest we've ever experienced, Hugo Weaving summed it up best: 'The story demands the characters act with courage and faith and that is also true of everyone here in this room.' The making of this film constantly demanded our courage and faith." STORY, CAST AND CHARACTERS "Yesterday my life was headed in one direction. Today it is headed in another." – Isaac Sachs, 1973 "The pressure that Lana, Andy and Tom put on themselves to see this project through was equaled by the faith they had in us as actors," notes Tom Hanks. "It really was extraordinary the way they allowed us to follow our instincts. This shoot went by in the wink of an eye because every day we were embarking on an exciting new sequence and I was part of a great team—a genuinely unified ensemble." "Having each of us play multiple parts was an inspired idea," proclaims Jim Broadbent. "There have been various star vehicles before where the leading actor played several parts, but nothing like this. It's quite unique, and so well suited for this story, where everything is related and the energy from one current charges the next until you have this beautiful momentum, one exciting moment after another." © 2012 Warner Bros. Pictures 8
CLOUD ATLAS (2012) PRODUCTION NOTES Because of the way production was synchronized around dual hubs, actors spent the shoot segueing from one set to another—often from one country to another—with stops between for makeup and wardrobe that would sometimes transform them so dramatically that they were able to momentarily pass amongst one another unrecognized. Likening the experience to a fun and festive Cirque du Soleil atmosphere, with the cast leaping bravely from one trapeze to another, Susan Sarandon recalls, "There was a day I looked into the mirror and, for a second, couldn't see myself, which was the first time in my career that has ever happened. It was a startling experience. But it's just one of the ways cinema gives you the chance to take on the perspective of a character you thought you had nothing in common with and, in the process, see how alike we are, and how little time and age and color and gender really mean in the scheme of things." By all accounts, it was a performer's dream. Says Ben Whishaw, "It reminded me of why I became an actor in the first place, and I think that was true for all of us. Most of the time, no matter the role, you look more or less like yourself, but the instinct is always there to be transformative and this has been an amazing opportunity for that. It's been really liberating." For some, perhaps more liberating than others. As Hugh Grant dryly notes, "I was quite intrigued by the story, which is brilliant, but I would have done it just for the chance to be a cannibal chief who does a lot of pillaging and throat-slitting. There wasn't much throat-slitting in 'Sense and Sensibility.'" "Cloud Atlas" begins in 1849...and in 1936...1973...2012...2144...and 2346. By introducing all its narrative threads at once and then rhythmically shifting focus from one to another throughout, the film propels audiences simultaneously down six parallel tracks that are experienced as one. Causes and effects immediately reveal their synchronicity and links between characters and times are vividly realized as each piece builds toward a common end. 1849, The South Pacific Jim Sturgess portrays idealistic young San Francisco attorney Adam Ewing, who has traveled to the Pacific Islands to conduct business with sanctimonious plantation owner Rev. Horrox, played by Hugh Grant. While there, Ewing witnesses the savage flogging of one of Horrox's slaves, Autua, played by David Gyasi, who locks eyes with him in the moment as if embracing a kindred spirit. Later, when Autua stows away in the lawyer's cabin on his voyage home, Ewing is forced to choose between his professional obligations and his growing moral convictions—a decision that will reverberate through the centuries in ways he cannot imagine. "There's a moment when Autua asks Ewing to either save him or to take his life, so the stakes are quite high," Gyasi recounts. "It's the first time Ewing has seen the horror of the slave trade," adds Sturgess, marking the scene that sets off a series of recurring examples of how people strive through the ages to overcome oppression of one form or another. "It was a time when it was easy for a man like him to get caught up in the mentality of people like Horrox, who believed they were at the top of the ladder of civilization, but he has the innate feeling that something is very wrong with this. And then, suddenly there's a chance for him to do something about it." © 2012 Warner Bros. Pictures 9
Page 1 and 2: CLOUD ATLAS (2012) PRODUCTION NOTES
Page 7: CLOUD ATLAS (2012) PRODUCTION NOTES
Page 21 and 22: About the Cast CLOUD ATLAS (2012) P
Page 33 and 34: tion. CLOUD ATLAS (2012) PRODUCTION

"Cloud Atlas" production notes [PDF] - VisualHollywood

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?