| 
Part III: An Interview with Director David
Cunningham
By Kara Warner
David Cunningham might not be the first name that comes to
mind in directing a fantasy film – after all, his last
project was the six-hour mini-series, “The Path to 9/11.”
Cunningham’s other credits include independent features
and a slew of documentaries. It wasn’t until after the
critical and international success of his first and second
low-budget features, “Beyond Paradise” and “To
End all Wars,” the latter starring Kiefer Sutherland
and Robert Carlyle, that Hollywood came calling.
Here, he talks about making the move from no-budget documentaries
to studio projects, his desire to stay away from CGI and keep
things practical, and the challenge of adapting Cooper’s
work into something modern and relatable.
Q: Is it a challenge adapting a book that's a lot of
internal stuff and not a lot of action?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: That has been a challenge and Susan Cooper's
world is incredibly rich and really the mythology is the plot
in her book. Our goal has been to try and make this story
more accessible to today's audience and introduce a new generation
to her work. What that means is that someone like John Hodge
building on that incredible world and creating moments and
some interpretations of her book in order for us to be able
to run with it. From my standpoint, in terms of being a director,
is to take all of that rich mythology and all of the rich
ambiance and try to do something in a way that translates
to film. What my attempt has been is trying to do it in a
more modern way so that the film style is much more today
versus maybe more classical, in terms of how many fantasy
films are shot. So we're really trying to make this ride feel
not like a fantasy film. We want it to be very today and it's
happening to someone you know and recognize and understand.
Even in our casting with the boy and everything else has had
that intention in mind, versus the more dour kid who's kind
of dejected and strange things happen to him.
Q: You mean Harry Potter?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: I didn't say that [Laughs].
Q: Can you talk about the casting a little bit more and
what you were going for?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Well, with The Walker in particular, from
the books The Walker was a young man who would've aged and
you went back in time and so on, and so that was a matter
of what our emphasis was going to be – the tragedy of
a young man or the history of an old man? We chose to focus
on the previous and really make it about this guy who had
this love for this girl and was completely screwed over and
had to give his soul up for it. So when he comes back, which
is what we're shooting right now, he's back to himself as
a young man to try and get into his head and his experience.
Again, it's trying to reach out to the audience that we're
going after, which is today's younger audience.
Q: Can you talk about the changing the characters to
being American?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, that was an adaptation that happened
before I came along, but what's been good about it is that
it adds a whole other layer. The whole concept of culture
clash, even though the English and the Americans are cousins,
there is still a different culture there. So that allows us
to play with that and having these Americans living in an
English village. So from my perspective it gives it another
layer. I know from many readers’ perspectives, especially
the English readers, that's probably a bit of a bummer, but
it's just one of those things where we're in a no win situation
in terms of the loyal readers. We're doing the best we can
to capture the spirit of the book and at the same time translate
it for today's audience. That is our goal.
Q: The challenge of a fantasy film like this coming after
all the others is to not retread the same ground, while appealing
to an audience who likes these movies. How do you do that?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Exactly. Well, that's what we're working
on. I come out of grittier subject matters, documentaries
and independent films, and one of the things I like to think
that I'm bringing to this is the realism. It's a fantasy and
realism movie with an emphasis on realism and I think the
prism and the language, the style of this is unlike the other
movies. We're hoping that this will be very fresh and unique.
For example, instead of heavy CGI, computer generated imagery,
we're doing a lot of things for real. I brought in a thousand
snakes from the Czech Republic and dumped them all over our
actors. I used real water to wipe out the mansion. We used
real rooks, trained rooks to fly at these kids. We built this
stuff. You've seen the sets. The scale of them is there and
we're not relying on computer generated stuff to enhance them.
They are what you see. Vikings. I brought in real Viking re-enactors
that live this way year round.
Q: For real?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: For real and they brought their Viking
ship and we had a Viking war. It was amazing.
Q: Have you found it more difficult to do things practically?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Well, I think that I'm leaning in on my
own strengths in that as a filmmaker what I've been growing
in and getting better at and all of those things, is the real
stuff. Having traveled quite a bit and experienced quite a
bit is that whole thing of how we capture life. Computer generation
often, the tail starts wagging the dog sometimes and suddenly
it gets very cartoonish and it's all about something else.
So when you're filming it is more difficult in many ways,
but there is also something that is organic about it and you
can make more discoveries and the actors and the sets, everything
starts interacting with one another versus it being planned
to death and then feeling quite sterile. There are some phenomenal
CGI movies out there, but in many ways it's more difficult.
However for me, it's more satisfying. A good example is, do
you blow up a car and see what happens or do you blow up a
car in the computer? When you blow up a car for real, wild
stuff happens. The blast goes this way and maybe a camera
gets smashed and you get a cool shot and someone has to dive
out of the way, and it's like, 'Whoa! I just captured a great
moment.' So I'm leaning in on my strengths of being able to
try and use the real thing.
Q: Now your background with what you've talked about,
is this a stretch? It's not the kind of film that you would
even expect John to adapt or Ian [McShane] to act in. Does
that stretch down into all those levels?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: I think so. I think that younger audiences
are underestimated. I think there is a sophistication that
they are capable of and thrive on. So I think that having
John and people like Ian in our cast will add some colors
and some dimension and some life that perhaps some other movies
have gone a little cardboard, a little two dimensional. I
think that kids feel that. It's not just all about a cool
shot. There will be a lot of cool shots, but they get what's
new and they get what's working, versus fabrication or something
that's pastiche. 'Hey, let’s rip off that and rip off
that and put it there.' So we're excited. We've got a great
cast that is right for the roles. We're not trying to somehow
jump-start something that's all marketing based and I think
that ultimately the movie will present itself.
Q: It's interesting that this isn't a star vehicle, but
there are really interesting choices of actors – good
character actors in the roles. What were you looking for in
terms of some of the roles?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: I think that there is always an agenda,
hopefully a vision of some kind. Certainly when you're dealing
with two studios there's a process where a lot of people have
to sign off on. We were trying to serve this movie the best
that we could and the characters in such a way that we felt
was the right vision for this. That's what drove our casting
selection and then you're dealing with logistical issues too
and who's available and who's not and all of that.
Q: Can you talk about hitting your release date, especially
in the face of not using CGI and doing things practically?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Well, we do have some CGI in this in all
fairness, but I have three editors in Los Angeles and I have
one here on the set working with me. We're cutting around
the corner. We've already shot over a million feet of film
to date and on the last project that we did we had eight editors
working around the clock. So I've had to go through this before
and it's a matter of working quickly. I'll show you some footage,
if you like, and show you what we're doing. You'll get a sense
of the scope of it.
Q: What thoughts have you had, if any, of the other books
and this whole franchise?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Only just the larger scope of it all.
You obviously want to focus your efforts on making the first
one great and hopefully the world embraces it and so we have
put a ton of time into it. Of course there are high hopes
and expectations and some thought to that, but right now it's
about focusing on making this great and not getting ahead
of ourselves.
Q: Speaking of the other books, you've made some changes
to make it a little more modern and more cinematic. John said
that some of the Arthurian stuff has been taken out. That
is more important later on in the series. Was that a specific
decision that you were involved in?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Most of that happened before I was involved,
frankly. The one thing that is a benefit of that is that it
does separate us from a lot of the other fantasy films and
ground this in people that's maybe a quirky aunt that you
know, or a person across the street and they happen to be
this, or happen to be that. That works for me, but much of
that had been decided before I got involved.
Q: Can you talk about the way you're shooting this? The
production designer showed us a few sets.
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Well, we're really trying to have the
visuals carry the story and not necessarily dialogue. We're
trying to make the world in which Susan Cooper originally
created, which is so much about atmosphere and so much about
mood – really the tone was the plot. So we're trying
to take as much inspiration as we can from that and shoot
it with that in mind. This is all about the elements, the
six signs. I'm trying to incorporate that as well into the
language of the film. You'll see a lot of stuff that's filmed
through water and through fire and bringing all of those elements
in. So that's one specific example. I've worked with this
DP before and we like to get in there and try stuff. Sometimes
you're limited with a set and you only have this much to be
able to work with and you find yourself jammed up in a corner.
The other thing is that we shoot with a lot of cameras from
a practical standpoint. So I'm shooting with three and four,
five, six cameras at a time and that allows us to be able
to get this movie made faster, but also requires more set
from a practical level.
Q: What was the impetus for you to doing one of these
kinds of movies? How did you come on to do this?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Initially it was brought to me by the
producer Marc Platt. We did “The Path to 9/11”
together and for me it was the challenge. It was something
completely different and I like to keep people guessing. My
own tastes and feelings and thoughts about certain things
change from year to year and in terms of what's important
to me now. When this was presented I thought, “Wow,
this could be interesting.” I'm also the father of three
kids. A lot of the stuff that I've done they can't watch,
frankly, and I thought that this would be a great challenge
to flex some new muscles and hopefully use my strengths to
interpret this story in a different kind of way.
Q: Had you read the books before doing this?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: I had not. This was my introduction to
them.
Q: What were some of the biggest obstacles you faced
right from the start?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Well, one was that I literally got a phone
call from Marc Platt – I live in Hawaii and I was surfing
when I got a phone call. I was sitting there dripping wet
and he goes, “Romania in two days.” I was like,
“Okay, here we go.” So I was on the plane. We
came here first and the first question was whether or not
Romania could handle this size of a film. Knowing that was
going to be a massive factor - what are the benefits of coming
to a place like Romania and what are you going to get out
of it? Our sets are going to be bigger. We're going to get
a lot more production value. The downside is that we're going
to stretch the infrastructure of this country beyond anything
that they've done before.
Q: And how did you come to direct this?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: They had gotten to a place with the script
that the studios wanted to go with it and that's when I got
the phone call. They said that they liked this and since I
then got onboard we've done two or three more drafts and I
worked with John and so on, but they got it to a place where
they felt like they had a movie here. So they gave me a call
and said that they wanted to get this done in an interesting
way and wanted to make the schedule. They said that they weren't
afraid of Romania and so on. They wanted to make this kind
of movie with this sized budget in this amount of time, and
all I had to do was say yes. So I was on the plane over and
then it was just go, go, go. We had a three month prep for
a movie that really needed six to eight months. I have three
or four months to shoot a movie that really needed seven or
eight months. I've got a few months to edit a movie that really
needs five or six months. So that's my challenge as a filmmaker.
Q: Plus you have a release date too.
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: You're given a release date and you're
told, “This is your window. This is your sweet spot.
You've got to hit this.” It's a competitive marketplace
right now and so you know you have that window and so you
go for it. Right now we're that slot after summer, but before
Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is a bit of a lull there
and we feel that we can do well there.
Q: Is that also a reason why there is less CGI, because
that takes more time?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: That is one of the benefits of doing less
of it. Perhaps a different filmmaker would've put more emphasis
on that.
Q: How is it knowing that you're also going to be destroying
the sets that they built, especially if you don't have more
than one of those sets?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Yeah that's a little scary, but at the
same time I love blowing stuff up. It's a real thrill doing
that.
Q: Have you met with the author?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: Susan? Yeah, we've been in touch and in
fact she was going to come out, but I think that she had some
plans change. So we have been talking and she goes way back
with our producer Marc Platt, they've been friends for a while.
Q: What does she think about the changes?
DAVID CUNNINGHAM: I think that she's – I don't want
to speak on her behalf, but I think that she has mixed feelings.
She's thrilled that it's being introduced to a new audience,
but of course she would love it to be truer to the book and
in many ways we would, but at the same time we needed to translate
it. So she understands the difference between books and screenplays
and then her words that there is violence done to the book
to already get to that point. So she's been supporting us
and it's got to be a tough position to be an author and say,
“Okay, let's make the movie version.”
Continued in Part 4: Interviews with the cast of "The
Seeker" (coming soon)
|
