From this interview article, you will learn why Joss Whedon, who shot the blockbuster "The Avengers" on an incredible scale, suddenly decided to make a low-budget Shakespeare film. You will also understand why working on another project will allow you to relax much better than just traveling.
Imagine Toronto's historic Elgin Theatre is crowded with people in T-shirts with images of the heroes of the films "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly". They are here for their idol — Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy, "Serenity Mission", "Toy Story" and, perhaps, the best movie about super heroes — "The Avengers". And now Whedon is standing on stage and talking about his latest, very unusual project. The new film is very far from super-heroes, star battles and vampire hunting. "Much Ado about Nothing" is a low—budget black-and-white version of the William Shakespeare comedy that Whedon shot in just 12 days at his home in Santa Monica.
The fans are screaming like mad. And Whedon smiles nervously: "Guys, I hope you'll be in the same mood in two hours after you watch the movie. I must admit, I was in this theater last night and watched Anna Karenina and now I don't really want to show my film"
In the film Much Ado about Nothing, Whedon expresses a modern view of Shakespeare's famous comedy. He shot this picture last fall, when the main filming of "The Avengers" ended and post-production of the film began. Whedon was assisted in his work by his wife, producer and designer Kai Cole.
Purists who shoot based on Shakespeare (like Kenneth Branagh, who also shot "Much Ado about Nothing") most likely they will be surprised by Whedon's version, despite the fact that he strictly follows the original text of Shakespeare. Instead of an enchanting spectacle, with chic costumes and sophisticated cinematography, Whedon presents to the audience a film with deliberately low quality of shooting, which is characterized by the genre of Mumblecore, indie arthouse with low quality shooting and unprofessional actors.
However, the film is very dynamic, funny and seasoned with that charming wit, which, probably, can only be found in Shakespeare. The film presents a lot of surprises and the audience really, really liked it.
Whedon admits that at the beginning of filming he did not know whether his new film would appeal to fans, even the most devoted, whether he would show them this film at all. The 48-year-old director and father of two children admits that he started shooting "A lot of noise out of nothing" at the insistence of his wife Kai, who saw firsthand his physical exhaustion after filming "The Avengers". But he didn't need a vacation, he needed a working vacation on the set with actors, a film crew, a field kitchen and other attributes. To rest before returning to work on The Avengers, he just needed another project.
«“The Avengers”was a job, a very difficult job," says Whedon — which I can't say about “Much Ado about Nothing.” It was a gift, a gift from my wife, who said, “This is what you want to do! You don't want to go anywhere, you want to do this movie!” I remember thinking then: “Am I crazy or something?!”But I started shooting anyway and felt my tension go away. Oh, that was amazing. When you are working on something really very difficult, you need to take up some other project to relax. I remember going back to work on The Avengers with a fresh mind and becoming more involved, but not because it was my job that makes me money, but because the joy of storytelling returned to me."
The crew of Much Ado about Nothing included both "veterans" who had worked with Shakespeare's works many times, and newcomers for whom this was their first experience. But all of them, without hesitation, rolled up their sleeves and plunged into Whedon's experiment, despite the frenzied pace of filming and tons of text that had to be learned. As Clark Gregg (actor, "The Avengers") said, they did it because, like fans of the director, they love Whedon and his work.
When a director makes a film with a large budget, in addition to impressive technical resources, he gets a lot of restrictions, conditions and strict deadlines in addition. In the case of "The Avengers" there was one more point: the film had to be similar to all the other creations of the Marvel studio.
"I'm a big supporter of low-budget movies. Whedon says. — I like to work on the ground. This contributes to the growth of directorial professionalism. Nothing is prepared in advance to make it as convenient as possible for you to shoot. And you have to adapt the environment to your needs. I'm a storyteller. Of course, I am also interested in high technology and I like to use it, but a storyteller should care that his story is told reliably. And if it's about how cavemen sit around a campfire, roasting a captured mammoth, then the director must be in this cave. That's why I love working with both comics and serious prose. I like to be in different environments."
One can expect that after The Avengers, any Whedon film, even a somewhat unusual one, will be met with a storm of delight, but he himself has never harbored illusions about this. However, Lionsgate bought his film to be shown in cinemas.
After working on Shakespeare, Whedon's love of storytelling is renewed and he is happy to return to all his projects. ABC revives his "S.H.I.E.L.D.", work continues on the film "In Your Eyes". Whedon is also working on the web series Wastelanders and the sequel to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along blog, which is due to be released in 2013.
He is even preparing to shoot "Avengers 2", despite the fact that the pace of shooting the first part almost killed him. Why is he doing this, because he understands perfectly well that you can't enter the same river twice, and the second film will never repeat the success of the first?
That 's what Whedon himself says:
"I would be disingenuous if I didn't say that the business aspect plays a significant role here. But still the main question for me was: “Can I tell another story about these heroes?”And the first thing I answered myself was: no, I can't do it. And yet the thoughts of the second film did not let me go. I was in London at the time and went into a pub, I got fish, chips and a mug of beer, I opened a notebook and started writing. I wrote as if I was already going to shoot it. After 40 minutes, I filled the notebook completely. I called my agent and said that it was possible to make a deal. I am so in love with these heroes, with this universe we created, that I realized: I can and want to tell you more about them! I know I can't make a movie as successful as the first one, but I can try to make an even cooler movie! I'm excited and inspired because I'm discovering new opportunities again."
