This week I was delighted to sit down with Michel Gondry, the director who brought us “Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep,” and who is currently in post-production on the superhero genre "The Green Hornet", and promoting his documentary "Thorn in the Heart." In this exclusive conversation, I had the opportunity to talk with Gondry about the recent news regarding "The Green Hornet" 3-D conversion. Gondry shares his quest to have the film released in 3-D. He says, “We’ve been trying to get the studio to do it in 3-D since we started. It’s a good sign they really care for this movie.” Gondry started using 3-D back in 1994 when he worked on a music video for The Rolling Stones. His continued excitement about the technology is obvious in this interview.
Click here to watch Gondry discuss 3-D, the influence of music on his films and details about Gondry’s upcoming projects. Next week, MakingOf will feature an interview with Gondry about his most recent film "Thorn In The Heart," a documentary that takes a personal look at the life of Gondry family matriarch, his aunt Suzette Gondry.
direct link to interview: http://www.makingof.com/posts/watch/1741/michel-gondry-talks-3d-the-green-hornet
UPDATED: Michel Gondry On 3D & "The Green Hornet" Transcript
Christine: Sony’s taking the time to convert “The Green Hornet” to 3D, what is your opinion on 3D?
Michel Gondry: My opinion is that we’ve been trying to get the studio to do it in 3D since we started. Seth and I and Evan Goldberg, his co-writer, we’ve been lobbying to the studio, we want to make it 3D. And after nine months, a year, they eventually said, “yes.” So I don’t know why I would not be happy about it. And I think it’s a good sign that they really care for this movie. I don’t think they would…it’s pretty expensive, I don’t think that they would spend this money if they didn’t think that the movie would be great. I don’t think that’s the way to do work. I think when they decide that the movie is going to be a disaster they just stop trying to make money and that’s when you see a movie coming out with little promotion. In fact, the conversion to 3D is something that I’ve been studying because in ’94 I did this video for The Rolling Stones with this effect that I reused in my tricks after, where we took two cameras and we create the intermedia with the computer so it’s frozen moment. But the idea came to me by watching my grandfather because my grandfather was president of the French Stereo Club in the 70s. So I was exposed to 3D since I was a kid, so I know all about it and I’m really excited. I’m gonna do some tricks with 3D that are not possible in 2D.
Christine: So you’re in post on “The Green Hornet,” you’re promoting “Thorn in Heart,” what else do you have that’s next for you?
Michel Gondry: Well, I’m doing a project, developing a project with Bijork, a scientific musical for IMAX and I have two, maybe, other projects that I’m developing as well. But I don’t want to be too talkative about them because when they don’t happen, it’s terrible.
Christine: That’s understandable. How does music relate to the way you create your films?
Michel Gondry: First, when I started to do videos, it was an obstacle because I was a drummer and I was editing my own videos and I couldn’t think of how to edit except on the beat. And it was a disaster because, basically, I was limiting myself so much. Then I had to work with an editor to understand that you have to separate yourself from the music a little bit. You can’t be so literal and you have to edit in function of the action or the emotion of the image, not simply follow the beat. But so, in the beginning, it was, uh, a drawback, I would say. But then, now, music is really positive to me when I write or when I focus on a project, because I can sort of maneuver my moods by playing this type of music. I will play Michael Jackson if I want to do something upbeat or something else if I want to do something mysterious or scary. So I have a pallet of music to help me to write on the mood I want to have. So it’s very important and of course, to add the music, we always say that music is the doctor of the film, you know, you give the composer a film that’s sick and the composer fixes it up. And it’s true to a certain extent but some of my favorite movies are very important scores, so I think it’s not a bad thing.
