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Showing posts with label Drake Doremus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drake Doremus. Show all posts
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Thursday, August 25, 2016
NEW ' Equals' BTS photos by photographer, Lindsey Byrnes
Click on pics for full view.
Lindsey Byrnes When Kristen Stewart asked if I wanted to come visit her in Japan, where she was working on a film, I didn’t hesitate; I grabbed my camera and went. Well, there was a little coordinating but that part is really boring.
Never did I think I’d be on the set of an actual feature film, let alone be in Japan and with one of my closest friends. But in the end of 2014, that’s exactly where I was. Specifically, I visited Tokyo, Kyoto, and Awaji Island, three of the locations where Equals, a science fiction-romantic-drama hybrid was shot.
Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart play two people living in a world where emotions are not allowed to exist. When they both become infected with a disease that gives them back their ability to feel compassion and love, the film turns into a sort of futuristic Romeo and Juliet. Hanging out behind the scenes, I got a glimpse into a whole other side of the filmmaking process: the quiet moments, the in-between thoughtfulness.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Friday, July 22, 2016
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Kristen, Nicholas and Drake Doremus' interview with The LA Times + NEW Portraits
Click on portraits for HQ.
For a long time, it seemed like Kristen Stewart was hiding. Under hoodies and flat-brimmed caps. From flashbulbs. Even her voice, because silence couldn’t betray her.
Back then, when she was known as the star of the “Twilight” films, the idea of living in a world without emotion might have perhaps appealed to her. That’s the premise of her new film, “Equals,” which is about a futuristic society where humans have been stripped of feelings because they cause too much physical and mental anguish.
But now, at 26, Stewart is repelled by the idea of withholding emotion. In fact, it’s something she’s often not even capable of.
“People used to think I was really expressionless,” she said. “But I’m such an oversharer. Recently, I was puking before a Chanel show in Beijing; I ate fried rice or something that was not good. And when I walked in, I just started telling everyone I didn’t feel well. It was the grossest thing, but I prefer them thinking I’m gross then wondering, ‘What’s wrong with her? She’s being weird tonight.’ ”
She’d just thrown down her backpack and slid into a booth next to Nicholas Hoult, her co-star in “Equals,” which opened nationwide on Friday. Drake Doremus, their director, sat across from them.
Stewart removed her ball cap and ruffled her hair, which was platinum blond with purposefully dark, exposed roots. Her outfit was a mix of grungy hi-and-low: mesh socks with sneakers, a Chanel watch, tons of smudged black eyeliner. Hoult, meanwhile, had flown in the night before from England and looked sleepy, like he’d thrown on whatever happened to be packed at the top of his suitcase.
In “Equals,” the two play lovers. Though their characters are supposed to be unfeeling, each is afflicted with S.O.S. -- Switched-On Syndrome -- which means they’re fully emotional beings often crippled by sexual desire, fear and sadness. When they start to fall for each other, they must keep their relationship a secret or risk being treated for S.O.S. and being stripped of emotions again.
The movie is something of a departure for Doremus, an indie naturalist who tends toward messy relationship dramas. Though “Equals” again finds him working with two young actors -- his most successful film, 2011’s “Like Crazy,” provided a launching pad for Felicity Jones and the late Anton Yelchin -- it also marks the first time he’s explored the world of science fiction. The film was shot in Japan and Singapore and has a colorless, sterile aesthetic. And Doremus stuck loosely to a screenplay (written by Nathan Parker), even though in the past he’s typically used only a scrappy outline.
Despite the changes, Doremus retained his familiar rehearsal process, asking Hoult and Stewart to spend a week doing exercises together before filming began. Some of the drills were trippy: In one, the actors had to stare at one another for an hour, saying nothing but “hello” back-and-forth. The goal, the filmmaker said, was to get the actors to think about what it would be like to be blank slates.
“It was all about stripping things down, which is sort of the opposite of how you normally approach movies -- trying to add layers and complexity,” said Doremus. “There’s no backstory here, so essentially, we just had to rebirth and start over.”
“This was the first time a director has turned around and been like, ‘Do nothing. Do less,’ ” said Hoult, who starred in “About a Boy” when he was 12 and has since appeared in the “X-Men” films and “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
“The hard part was finding how base of a place we were supposed to be starting from,” Stewart chimed in. “I was so close to that, especially then, that I was like, ‘It's just going to hurt so badly to do this movie if we do it right.’ I was terrified. How could we possibly look at things with baby eyes?”
It was a hypothetical the trio explored at length during the rehearsal period in Japan. The premise led to discussions about online dating (is it causing us to separate from one another?) and the over-prescription of drugs (are we all too numb?).
“I was on Ritalin and Dexedrine as a kid, and I’m still mad at my mom about it,” recalled Doremus.
“Have you taken Adderall as an adult?” Stewart asked. Doremus shook his head no.
“I’m sorry,” Stewart continued, “but I took an Adderall once and I was like, ‘Children take this?’ It’s speedy, to be honest with you. I was on a road trip and I was just lockjawed.”
Hoult, seemingly surprised by her admission, mimicked picking up the tape recorder on the table and tossing it across the room.
“No, that’s OK,” Stewart said. “People can know that. I’ve done -- well, never mind.”
Hoult, who is also 26, is far quieter and more careful with his words than Stewart. The two have both been in high-profile relationships -- Hoult with Jennifer Lawrence, Stewart with Robert Pattinson -- but the actor is more guarded about his off-screen life.
“I feel protective of anything personal,” he said.
“I wouldn’t talk about who I [have sex with] and how I [have sex with them] unless I was friends with you. That’s weird,” agreed Stewart, who also stars in Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society” this summer. “But then, at the same time, I’ve discovered a way to live my life and not feel like I’m hiding at all. And I think that’s pretty apparent for anyone who cares -- not that everyone does. But I think that if you had been tracking it in any way, it’s more apparent that I’m more relaxed than I used to be.”
She seemed to be referring to paparazzi photos of her holding hands and kissing women like French musician Soko over the last year. For someone who used to guard her private life so fiercely, it’s been a marked shift in attitude.
“Somehow, as I got older, I reoriented my mind,” Stewart said, “I’ve gotten better at assessing people’s motivations. It’s not something I have to overtly think about -- what I share and what I don’t share. It’s a natural thing. Whereas, when I was younger, I was like, ‘You’re gonna screw me over.’ Now I’m like, ‘Whatever. You can’t.’ ”
Though Hoult may not be as willing to share his feelings with the public, he does enjoy having a rich emotional life. Like Stewart, he said he finds the idea of living in an “Equals”-esque society terrifying.
“I quite like feeling [crappy] sometimes and then putting on a record and wallowing in self-pity for the day,” he said. “Because you’ve got to have the lows to have the highs, haven’t you really?”
“Did you just say ‘Haven’t you really’?” Stewart asked. “You just sounded really English. Have you been home for a while?”
“Yeah,” he replied with a laugh.
“I agree with Nick, though,” she said, finishing the thought. “I can’t lie and say that in darker moments I haven’t been like, ‘No! I don’t want to feel this!’ But I know that’s not really true. I feel really blessed to put a lot of stock in what I feel, and it’s led me to really good places. Like he said, you can’t have the highs without the lows.”
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Friday, July 15, 2016
Drake Doremus talks about 'Equals' with THR and mentions Kristen
In his futuristic movie, the director looks at a secret romance taking place in a society where human emotions have been eradicated.
Drake Doremus loves making movies about love.
His breakout film, 2011's Like Crazy, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, followed two recent college grads, played by Felicity Jones and the late Anton Yelchin, who are separated due to issues with visas and must battle immigration authorities, while also fighting doubts about their own relationship.
The California native followed that with Breathe In, another Sundance selection, which starred Jones as a foreign exchange student who has an affair with a high school music teacher, played by Guy Pearce.
With Equals, his newest film, Doremus continues his exploration of love and relationships, this time within the context of a futuristic society where humans have eradicated all emotion. Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart star as Silas and Nia, co-workers who discover they have developed the ability to feel and begin a secret romance.
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, going on to Toronto, after which it was picked up by indie distributor A24, which is releasing the dystopian sci-fi love story today.
What was the inspiration for Equals?
I had this basic concept: As we evolve away from human contact through social media and online dating, is love necessary for human being to function and progress as a race?
How did you go about casting the film?
I kidnapped them and forced them to do the movie. They are actually not onscreen under their own will. [Laughs] I had actually met Nick through mutual friends and immediately wanted to find something for him. You know, you meet actors through generals and you never end up doing anything together and Nick was the first exception to this. When we started to build the character of Silas, I told [screenwriter] Nathan [Parker] that he was this guy. We wrote the part for him.
How did Kristen come on board?
I met with a few different actresses for the role, but as soon as I met Kristen I knew she was the perfect person for Nia. She is such a strong, convicted person but there is also so much vulnerability. The dynamic between the two of them was perfect. We rehearsed in Tokyo for a week before we started shooting and we did a lot of exercises where they could build up their character's childhoods and pasts, growing up without feeling anything. From there, we did a bunch of trust exercises between just [Nick and Kristen]. They had never worked the way I work, either, and had never done improvisational work like this. So, the week of rehearsals was very important.
Equals and Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster, which are both in theaters now after having made the festival rounds, both center on relationships in oppressive future societies that lack emotion. Why do you think we are seeing films like these now?
I think it is a topic that is of concern for some people, I know it is for me. I can see myself making more films that focus on human beings and how we date and find each other and fall in love and how constant the turnover is, like how you can just move and keep swiping. It's just crazy to think about how quickly it is all changing. Like in five, six years what kind of algorithms will humans have come up with to try and define how you find something.
How difficult was making making a futuristic film on a smaller budget?
For me it was a big movie... $20 million — or whatever it was — was massive for me. Previously, the biggest movie I made was five million dollars, so I had a lot more storytelling tools at my disposal. We have 750 VFX shots in the film, so I had to teach myself about that, which was frustrating. [Laughs] At the same time, it felt like me and my little team, that I have worked with for eight years, making our intimate little love story.
Do you think you will continue doing bigger-budgeted projects?
That's a thing I have been wrestling with since Like Crazy. There are two very different routes to go on, and after I made that film I could have gone the much more commercial, mainstream route but it didn't feel right. I am much more open to it now, as opposed to four or five years ago when I was like 'F—k this, I just wanna make my film and do what I want to do.' But now I am more open to it, if it's the right films and the right story. I want to make small films and intimate films and I want to make big films with small, intimate content.
Other directors of well received indies have immediately gone on to direct big movies like Jurassic World or a Star Wars movie.
Well, that' s not me. [Laughs]
Do you have a dream actor you want to work with?
I have worked with a lot of my dream actors, so I'll start by saying that, but I love Benicio del Toro.
What are you reading right now?
I am reading a lot of self-help books. No, just kidding. [Laughs] I am always reading love stories.
Are you a fan of rom-coms?
Sometimes, yeah. I love Four Weddings and a Funeral and When Harry Met Sally. I'll watch [When Harry Met Sally] on any plane because it's the perfect amount of — my soul gets filled up but it's also light so I can sit back and relax and eat my loaf of bread on the plane to wherever I am going.
Are you looking forward to any particular summer movie?
Oh shit. That's a tough question. I don't see a lot of them to be honest. I see a lot of movies but I don't know what's coming out.
Coming up there is Jason Borne and Suicide Squad.
Anything with an action sequence that's longer than a minute and a half — I'm usually out. I am not your guy, but I will try and watch them.
What about Rogue One with Felicity Jones?
Yeah! I am so, so proud of her. She is so kick-ass and she is going to kick so much ass in that movie and bring so much depth to her character too. That is a movie I am looking forward to. I will be there opening night.
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Video/Audio: Drake Doremus narrates a scene from 'Equals' and mentions Kristen
The science-fiction drama “Equals” imagines a future where emotions have become pathologized and criminalized. Nicholas Hoult plays a man who is diagnosed with “switched-on syndrome,” what his colleagues see as a disease that begins to bring his suppressed emotions to the forefront. Kristen Stewart plays the object of his forbidden longings. In this scene, which takes place after hours in their workplace, the two are no longer able to prevent themselves from acting on their emotions. In a recent interview the film’s director, Drake Doremus, discussed the scene. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.
After making a pair of contemporary dramas (“Like Crazy,” “Breathe In”), what got you interested in a more futuristic film?
What interested me was trying to do something that seemed really out of my comfort zone and foreign to me. The genre seems to be a distant, cold one and I wanted to try to turn it on its head and do something really warm. I’m a huge fan of Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451” and Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.” I love this idea of an emotional, musical and visual odyssey that you can let wash over you. That’s what I wanted to do here.
The film’s design and architecture has a stark, uniform look. Could you tell me about the locations?
We looked all over the world for locations that had this sterile, cold concrete mixed with this beautiful, Zen-like green earthy kind of a vibe. We ended up finding these beautiful structures all over Japan. We shot the movie all over the place, Kobe, Osaka, Awaji Island. We were chasing these wonderful buildings. I didn’t want to make a green-screen movie. I wanted to make a movie that was very practical and felt very grounded. And being in Japan and being so isolated was awesome, because it really contributed to the feel of the movie.
Your previous films have explored big emotions nearly from their beginning. What was it like to make a movie where emotion was so suppressed?
That was the most difficult part. Usually, we’re building the emotional complexities. Here, the process was about stripping that down and starting with a clean slate. We did a lot of exercises where the actors would have to spend a few hours really forcing themselves not to feel anything.
What would you say is the central focus of your movie?
I would say the film is really a metaphor for a long-term relationship. You fall in love and it’s exciting and wonderful. Then over the course of time, the relationship changes and evolves and you have to fight to remember why you’re in that relationship. But at the end of the day, it’s not an intellectual film. It’s an exercise in emotions. I always try to tell audiences to turn off their brains and turn on their hearts.
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Kristen, Nicholas Hoult and Drake Doremus' interview with Yahoo Movies for 'Equals'
You only have to glance at recent headlines to see that emotions are running high in America right now. That makes the sci-fi drama Equals a particularly timely futuristic parable. Set in a society where human emotions have been forcibly eliminated from our genetic makeup, the movie follows two citizens of this gleaming dystopia — Silas (Nicholas Hoult) and Nia (Kristen Stewart) — who succumb to that debilitating disease known as “falling in love.” It’s a star-crossed romance in the tradition of Romeo & Juliet and Like Crazy, the 2011 film from Equals director Drake Doremus.
That Sundance-winning feature starred the late Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones as a couple who cling to a summer romance much longer than is healthy for either of them. Similarly, Silas and Nia just don’t know how to quit each other, even though their feelings make them outcasts in their society.
“That’s what interests me,” Doremus tells Yahoo Movies. “The idea that you only know that somebody is your soulmate when you can’t get rid of them, even when you try.” In separate conversations, we spoke with Doremus and Equals stars Stewart and Hoult about the experience of creating a future ruled by logic, rather than emotions.
On the pros and cons of living in a world without emotions
Drake Doremus: I’m such an emotional person that I can’t imagine being in this world. But I think it’s fascinating to remove the thing that makes us the most human, which is the capacity to love. And then it’s really fascinating to think, Should we find a way back to that? Is it more productive for a society to focus on exploration and curiosity, without the things that hold us back? And the answer is no, not really. Life is messy, and relationships are messy. It’s not perfect, and accepting that is really important.
Kristen Stewart: It’s a hypothetical question that’s good for conversation’s sake and good for this movie, but I genuinely don’t think you could have this kind of world. We would just be fleshy masses of uncaring people that never got out of bed; we would have no human response to anything. There would be no intellectual curiosity or desire for progression at all. I wouldn’t even know how to be alive without that.
Nicholas Hoult: It would be an easier society to live in, and there would be a lot more peace without the terrible things that make people feel so deeply. But you can’t have the good without the bad.
The specific sci-fi influences on the film
Doremus: Full disclosure: I’ve never seen THX-1138, and I’ve never read 1984. But I have seen and loved Francois Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451. That movie was made in the ’60s, but it feels like it could have been made today, because there’s nothing that ties it to that era. Blade Runner is also an influence from the standpoint of its ethereal music and visuals. It’s kind of a tone poem. With Equals, I always tell audiences before the film to turn your brains off and your hearts on. It’s not a thinking film, it’s a feeling film.
On shooting the film’s intimate scenes, including a steamy encounter in a bathroom stall.
Hoult: Drake gives you a space and an environment where you feel secure to explore and do your thing. But within that, he’s very encouraging and cares so much. It was strange to go from zero to 100 in a sense, jumping between scenes where you can’t feel anything and scenes where you’re experiencing things for the first time.
Stewart: These people know how to walk and talk, and they have jobs. So they’re not infants. Yet they are emotionally and sexually [stunted]. If you just put two people who were born as adults in front of each other, what would they do — especially if they were attracted to each other? They wouldn’t know how to kiss or classically procreate, but they’re still humans. It’s a weird hypothetical, but I can imagine it.
Doremus: Kristen and Nic threw themselves so fully into the film. It was amazing being around that energy. They’re so different; Nic is kind of shy, and Kristen is very passionate and intense. They brought out things in each other that I don’t think other people would have had. You don’t want to direct them too much. On set, I wasn’t saying much, to be honest. I just tried to let the camera roll and let them explore the dynamic that exists and get out of the way more than anything.
On shooting on location in Asia
Doremus: We shot all over Japan, in Tokyo, Kobe, and Osaka, as well as Singapore — all of these amazingly beautiful places. Most of the locations were museums or collages or institutes. I wanted everything to be practical; I didn’t want a green-screen movie. It needed to feel like a tangible version of 10 years from now. 2016 in Los Angeles and 2016 in Japan are so different; when I was there, it was like, “I don’t even know what century I’m in!” It’s such a different world and better world in some senses.
Hoult: The architecture and the look of [those locations’] is very much a part of this world. You notice how lean and precise they were but also how void of any human touch or personality.
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Thursday, July 14, 2016
Drake Doremus talks with Roger Ebert.com about 'Equals' and Kristen
Doremus spoke to RogerEbert.com about "Equals," how Stewart always brings 110%, his interest in making films that are like visual tattoos, and more.
Nathan Parker wrote the script, but you are credited with the story. What was the first seed or thought that gave birth to this movie?
Well, two thoughts. It was the beginning of thinking about the last couple movies, and what to do next and trying to do something sort of out of the box that was scary and different, and thinking about the future really. And the way that technology is sort of pushing us away from each other,but also closer to each other, and how interesting that is. And I was thinking about what if we evolve into a society that is exteely focused on prorgess of the yuma race and not hate and love and all those things that are tied together with hate and love and beings that are emotional, volatile beings. Essentially, it started as a love story that takes place in a world where love doesn’t exist, or need to exist, but asks the question of do we organically always come back to the same place, and come back to what makes us human beings?
Do you feel with social media and technology that we are more connected or less connected?
I don’t know, I kind of missed that whole thing in my life. It’s interesting, I am very interested in exploring it more, but from what I understand, I do find it odd and serious, because it is so immediate. It feels inorganic in a way, this idea of chemicals and pheromones and all these different things, but [people] exist when you meet them in in any point in your life ... it's about how pure that is, and how the opposite the other thing is.
Your previous films have that idea as well, about these wavering connections between people, and this natural connection. What do you find fulfilling about exploring that?
Well, I think it’s just something that’s endless. Long term relationships and different themes and metaphors in this film are really interesting to me, and it’s just constantly having love, losing love, taking care of it, maintaining it, it fading, it is just so fascinating with the life and people you meet, who come in and out of your life.
What were some films that made you think "Equals" was possible, or inspired you?
I think Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451” and the character of Montag had some very stylistic ways about him. I’d say “Blade Runner” as well, and the idea of that film is that it’s an emotional experience, a tone poem in a way that washes over you. I’m not a big sci-fi guy, and not bossed with the genre, so for me it was interesting to turn it on its head a little bit, and try to make something different and something that’s really warm.
When you were designing this sci-fi movie, were you making vision boards or using story boards?
I don’t board anything. My DP and I just know where to go. We shot ideas for how we wanted to shoot and what’s important in a scene. We kind of let the moment guide us, we’re constantly improvising, the actors are and we are as well, and we’re kind of just finding the story and letting it evolve and that’s the process, And sometimes they’ll get frustrated with me because I’ll throw the camera out and just start walking around, and set up another shot and I’ll do something I like.
How does Kristen Stewart collaborate?
She’s amazing, it’s great working with her because she’s so passionate and intense, and you get all of her. You don’t get part of her, or 50%, you really get 110% of her every moment and every day and sometimes it’s a lot. And nobody is harder on her than she is, so a lot of it is trying to get her to let go and jump in and not worry about what she’s doing because she’s so natural and so beautiful, and this was something that she hadn’t really done before. She’s a good person in every way. She cares about the right thing.
Which is invaluable for a director.
It’s the best, I can’t make these movies without actors like that.
With this and your previous movies, was casting something that you were thinking about when you were writing?
I think it’s 80% of directing, it’s so much. At the end of the day, you can’t change somebody. You guide them and direct them, but essentially you’re hiring the soul that is going to be what it is. Nick and Kristen brought so much of who they are into the character, and put so much of themselves into the film and brought so much out of each other. To me, getting that in the first time we ran through it and realizing, okay, that is right, that’s such a good part of the process.
Was there any Kristen Stewart movie that had made you feel like she could play the character, and that she was the right person?
I had seen “Into the Wild” when it came out in theaters, and was super curious. You know you get that feeling when you watch movies and be like, one day you have this knowledge or predestined theory that you’re going to collaborate together, but I don’t know. Just watching that movie was where I got very excited about her, she was natural and beautiful and interesting.
Along with your actors, your locations stand out. They're futuristic-looking but real buildings, and this indie's scale is even bigger because of it. How did you get them, and how did they fulfill your idea of what you wanted the movie to be?
We looked all over the world: South America, Europe, to try to find these locations that had these sterile, concrete beauty to them while also having these very green, zen-like elements mixed in. And then we started finding these buildings all over Japan, and it was so cool to find these budilongs because they were museums and institutes and so many of them are featured in the film. And there’s a tunnel that’s an art piece, and we just wouldn’t have been able to do the film without them.
As a filmmaker you’re trying to get an audience to come aboard where a movie is monotonous, what was your strategy to present a welcoming, lively version of a world that ultimately isn’t?
I wanted to present a utopia in the beginning, and a society where so many things are right, where so many things are beautiful and harmonious, and we’ve come to a place where we’re progressing to actually advancing the human race. But because of that, I think we’ve distanced ourselves very much and it’s scary of how we meet people, and how we interact with people, especially in Los Angeles [laughs]. But from there, going forward I really wanted to let the film to be texturally and tonally and even color wise to let that take over and become this warm, intimate love story.
What other films inspired the idea of creating a warm movie with visual and sound?
That was just in our hearts. We hadn’t seen anything like that. We just wanted to pull images, and music was a great inspiration, all the great bands that are really cool, exciting, ethereal pieces that we got to use.
Do you have an interest in exploring these ideas on a larger scale? If someone offered you a giant sci-fi movie would you be interested?
No, I feel like this is kind of the biggest … I don’t know, man, I don’t know what the future holds. Yes, I know I want to make bigger films at some point, things that resonate, things that are right and make me say, “Okay, yes, this is what I want to go do.” But to be honest I’m looking forward to going back and making some smaller films as well. At the end of the day, to me it’s about making stuff that I feel like are time capsules, and what I have to say about relationships or love right now, whether it’s a giant or smaller movie, it’s kind of irrelevant to what is being said or made.
You see films as expressions of a certain time, and maybe you’ll look at them completely differently 20 years later.
Oh, completely, man. I can’t find a way in, it wouldn’t be honest to me if I made a film that was like, “Oh, this is a great story, so let’s make this.” No, that’s bullshit. What’s honest is, “Okay, where am I at, what am I thinking, what is my experience?” If I don’t do that, I can’t find a way in.
I’ve heard people talk about tattoos like that, where it designates where people are at in a certain point of time, and I live it with the rest of my life.
These are like tattoos, they’re forever. They last forever, and they don’t go away. These are visual tattoos.
What was it within the experience of making "Equals" that was a particularly new challenge for you?
Technical aspects, for sure. I had to learn a lot and I am still learning a lot, and there were over 750 visual effects shots, and I had to have patience with the process, which was very difficult. It’s very frustrating, the learning curve, and I’m the least technical person I know. I was lucky to have John Guleserian, my DP, be so savvy with it and so patient with me. He did such a great job integrating it all.
Did working on this film give you a new appreciation for Hollywood movies doing these kind of effects week-by-week?
Very much. It did both. It made me appreciate the artistry that goes into that, for sure. But it also made me not appreciate what a business it can be sometimes, and a factory. You can’t, in that machine, lose sight of the beauty and personalization of cinema. But these guys are artists, they’re incredible. They’re filmmakers in every right.
As a film fan, do you find yourself gravitating more towards practical effects? Special effects over VFX?
Absolutely. Anything that we can do in-camera ... I’m so impatient and I just want to feel it all, and I want it to be present for the actors, and not have them use their imagination. I think it’s just so exciting to have everything there, and to be as natural as possible. We did that. All the stuff in the apartment, that’s rear projection outside the windows, and it’s all live, and the actors are working with it. There’s no green screen in the film. It’s organic as effects we can make, and that’s something I’m really proud of.
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Monday, July 11, 2016
Video: Kristen, Nicholas and Drake Doremus' interview with ET Canada for 'Equals'
For Stewart, that feeling of having a crush on someone and falling in love has a special feeling and name to go with it – icy fingers.
“When I have a crush on someone – it is purely physical,” she candidly tells ET Canada. “I always think of it like it’s icy fingers in like my stomach and that you think is only going to happen the first time and then it comes back and you’re like ‘S***, I got the ‘icy fingers’ again, that’s great!’
It’s a feeling we can all relate to.
“We talked about this,” she says to “Equals” director Drake Doremus. “Like, ‘What’s that feeling?!’ It’s almost like you’re being ripped in half but it feels good but it’s hot and it’s cold.”
As the couple falls in love on-screen, their actions have consequences for them and their emotionless society.
In order to capture the building chemistry between Stewart’s character Nia and Hoult’s Silas, the film was shot in mostly chronological order, culminating in one kiss that opens up a whole new world to the pair, including a sizzling sex scene that takes place in a shower.
“We didn’t hook up before the bathroom scenes,” Stewart jokes with ET Canada.
“And then at the wrap party we all hooked up! It was crazy!” Hoult adds jokingly.
While the on-screen story was all about suppressing emotions, Hoult’s emotions were on full display when it came time to call it a wrap on filming.
“One of my biggest memories is shooting the last scene on the last day and Drake was playing the music into the set we were on… and I was sitting there and at that point I’m not supposed to feel anything but I remember standing off camera and just like crying!” Hoult laughs. “And it’s not even on camera. I want a goddman award for that!” he jokes.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Kristen, Drake Doremus, Nicholas Hoult & Jacki Weaver's interview with THR
Though Equals has been exclusively available on DirecTV since May 26, the premiere celebrated the film's limited release in theaters.
This futuristic romance takes place in a world where emotions have been eradicated, aside from a certain few -- including Hoult and Stewart's characters. While the two are an exception, that doesn't mean they don't portray themselves as emotionless in portions of the film. Doing so presented a unique challenge -- not only for Hoult and Stewart -- but a majority of the cast. "The characters aren't meant to feel, so then you have to play into that and understand that and how that changes through the movie and what it all means for these people," Hoult said.
Jacki Weaver, who plays Bess, also struggled with the task. "I had to concentrate," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
There is one scene in particular (it's even teased in a trailer) where Hoult and Stewart are forced to confront their newfound feelings, though. "It's a special scene," writer-director Drake Doremus told THR. "This is a scene where, the whole movie they've been waiting and waiting, to touch each other and then suddenly they're able to in this very strange, tight environment and it was really amazing because we waited to shoot it. It was just an explosion. It was like boiling water until that moment, so it's very explosive and very intense."
Hoult thought so, too. "We shot it, and after, I think after a week or two of filming, there had been no physical contact between our characters up until that point or anything so it was kind of a release I guess, in terms of that -- and also a discovery for the characters," he told THR. To prepare the actors not only for the scene, but the entire film, Doremus used slightly unconventional methods.
"Drake has this incredible rehearsal process that really doesn't consist of rehearsal because it's not about going over the material; it's about getting to know each other, which is, like, really nice groundwork that a lot of people don't necessarily typically put into rehearsal," Stewart said. "Usually it's about making sure in this sort of fearful way that you know your lines or that you are on the same page -- this was really more about breaking down barriers and feeling comfortable with each other and just knowing that once we actually got to set that we were able to give our all."
Hoult explained the process as being put in a room and doing different exercises, "where you'll just say hello to each other, look into each other's eyes for a long time and then you'll, like, only be allowed to tell the truth or you'll only be able to lie."
The two seemed to have a natural chemistry, according to Doremus.
"They're perfect," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "I mean, I really wrote the film for Nick, so he was always, you know, right there. When I met Kristen, she was so interesting and such a powerhouse, so much energy. I feel like they bring out something really intense and beautiful in each other in the film."
While Equals certainly isn't Doremus' first love story (his credits also include the award-winning Like Crazy), the film is different compared to other movies he's worked on.
"I think this film is very different than the previous films, but also very similar," he said. "I mean, at the end of the day it's a very intimate study of what it's like to fall in love and deal with those feelings and over the course of time how that changes you."
The dystopian setting also brought Doremus into a new territory. "I was never really a sci-fi nerd, per say, but I was always fascinated with the genre and thought it was an interesting sort of landscape to set a love story, to try to do something really warm to be honest," he said. "Most sci-fi films, to me, are very cold and very distant and I really wanted to make something that was the opposite of that -- it seems very warm."
Weaver even called the film a "retelling of the old Romeo and Juliet story," due to Hoult and Stewart's love being forbidden.
Though Stewart certainly isn't new to playing a Juliet-type character -- like Bella in Twilight -- she didn't see any relation between Bella and this new character; however, she said the two are "similar in their sort of dire nature."
For moviegoers, Doremus told THR he wants them to turn off their brains and turn on their hearts.
Charlie Hunnam, Courtney Love and Matthew Gray Gubler also were among those attending the premiere of Equals, which will hit theaters July 15.
Source
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Video: Kristen, Nicholas and Drake Doremus interview with 'Variety' at the 'Equals' LA Premiere
The film, which stars Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult, along with Jacki Weaver, Aurora Perrineau and Tom Stokes, bowed at the Venice International Film Festival last year.
“I was never really a sci-fi nerd, but I was always fascinated with the genre,” Doremus said. “I thought it was an interesting landscape to set a love story and try to doing something warm. Most sci-fi films to me are very cold and very distant and I wanted to make something that was the opposite of that.”
Stewart and Hoult complimented Doremus on his unique approach to helping spark chemistry between the onscreen lovers during rehearsals. “It wasn’t about learning lines,” Stewart said. “It was about breaking down barriers and getting to know each other.”
Hoult still found many complexities in playing a character that “isn’t meant to feel” and “understanding how that changes throughout the movie.” “It’s kind of like these characters have been alive and know how to do everything a human knows how to do, but they don’t feel,” he said. “So, it’s like a baby feeling emotions for the first time, but not knowing how to process them.”
A24 and DirecTV acquired U.S. rights to “Equals,” which is set for a July 15 theatrical release.
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Wednesday, July 6, 2016
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