Exclusive from the Little Infinities Extended Blu-Ray, Josh Boone and John Green introduce TFIOS!
We are beaming to watch the Little Infinities edition, are you?!
Showing posts with label Josh Boone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Josh Boone. Show all posts
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Friday, June 13, 2014
Academy Conversations: The Fault in Our Stars
In conversation with The Academy's Geoff Boucher, director Josh Boone and producer Wyck Godfrey, touch on the following topics: keeping the integrity of John's book, the importance of the soundtrack, directorial inspirations, on casting Shailene and Ansel, and the fanbase.
Be sure to watch the whole interview! It's great.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
TFIOS at BookCon: Pictures and Recap
We were lucky enough to be able to go to BookCon and see John, Josh, Nat and the writers and producers of TFIOS this Saturday.
Pictures
(Please source us if posting elsewhere.)
Recap
EW's recap of the event
1. MOVIEMAKING WORRIES
Green said he initially resisted the idea of a film adaptation because he assumed Hollywood would try to minimize the painful parts of this story of two young cancer patients who fall in love, finding a reason to live as they face down death.
For instance, he didn’t want the actress who plays Hazel (Shailene Woodly) to be depicted without the cannula breathing tube, even in the advertising – which he assumed would never happen.
Green began to change his mind when producer Wyck Godfrey and Isaac Klausner grabbed him for a few minutes backstage at a middle school event, and did a quick sell.
“They said … ‘We’re going to see that Hazel has her cannula in every part of the movie. Her disability is going to be part of her life, but not the defining characteristic of her life,” Green said. “They had three or four minutes to talk to me, and in those three minutes they said everything I wanted to hear.”
A mild cheer went up for that.
“I felt like I had to let them try,” Green said. “And I have to say they kept every promise.
SCREAM: WOO!
LEVEL: 1, Obligatory. They’d heard this before.
2. CHANGES TO THE STORY
Green revealed that he was bothered by some of the changes in the script, but only out of envy.
“There were parts of it I was infuriated by, actually. But I was mad about things I wish I had done,” the author said. “Particularly at the end of the script. I remember I got to the last 10 pages and was like, ARRRGH! So much better. ARRRGH. I was really mad. … I worked on that for years!”
There was a moment of stunned silence as fans contemplated possible alterations to the book’s tearful finale, made by screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, best known for (500) Days of Summer.
Then Green reassured them: “They captured the tone of the book, the feel of the book, and the vibe I wanted the book to have. I have no idea how they did that, but I was very grateful. I called Wyck and said, ‘This is good, let’s not change anything.”
SCREAM: WOOOO!
LEVEL: 4, Nervous relief and curiosity.
3. JUST ASKING FOR IT
The moderator, Entertainment Weekly’s own Sara Vilkomerson, noted that actor and musician Nat Wolff (who plays Isaac, a friend of lead characters Gus and Hazel who has lost his eyesight to cancer) is the one who first brought the material to director Josh Boone.
“I said you got to get this director job, they don’t have a director for The Fault In Our Stars,” Wolff said, breaking into a mumbling impersonation: “’Ah, well … I’ll never get that.’ And then I think he just owed me, so he had to give me the part of Isaac.”
Then Wolff paused, smiled at the audience, and said: “How you guys doing?”
A scream of ecstasy erupted – for no good reason, as Green noted: “You can tell Nat is a musician because if it goes 30 seconds without screaming, he’s like, ‘What’s wrong?”
SCREAM: AHHHH!
LEVEL: 5, Swooning.
4. THE HEART WILL GO ON
Vilkomerson also asked Boone what his pitch was that earned him the job from the producers.
“I went in and told them that I thought this was Titanic, and cancer was the iceberg,” Boone said.
The rest of his answer was drowned out by a swell of bittersweet moans.
SCREAM: AWWWwwwwww …
LEVEL: 4, it hurts so good.
5. FUTURE MOVIES FROM JOHN GREEN
Boone, who worked with Wolff on the 2012 film Stuck In Love, described the actor as a good luck charm of sorts. “Nat and I are married cinematically, forever,” Boone said. (Wolff deadpanned: “Not just cinematically.”)
“That’s great. But he is not available while we’re filming Paper Towns,” Green cut in, referring to the upcoming film adaptation of his other novel, which will also feature Wolff.
A wail of excitement pierced the air, and a similar cry rose later when an audience member asked Green if his novel Looking For Alaska would also be headed to the screen soon. Green hesitated, looking back and forth between the producers, clearly not sure how to answer – but suggesting there was good news.
“None of us control Looking For Alaska,” producer Godfrey said. “But I have a feeling as of next week things will look better.”
Green smiled. “That’s a very politically astute answer, Wyck. Good job.”
SCREAM: WOOOOOOO-HOOO!
LEVEL: 7, and a double. The crowd was very eager to see both of those movies become realities.
6. TRACKS OF MY TEARS
Green addressed his now infamous crying jags during the filming in Pittsburgh.
“Well, I mean, I cried a lot, partly because there are some sad parts,” Green said. “But I also cried during the happy parts and the funny parts of the movie because I was so overwhelmed. … I might start crying right now.”
A sympathetic moan began to rumble through the auditorium.
“Yes, I did cry all the time, but I was crying because it was so overwhelming and nice,” he added. “I just felt so honored, and complete, and happy. It’s just been an amazing, amazing trip.”
SCREAM: AWWWWWWWWWwwww…
LEVEL: 7, moist eyes, downturned mouths, and hands over hearts.
7. DANGEROUS RUSH
When Vilkomerson opened the panel up to questions from the audience, there was an immediate scuffling of chairs and shoving of tables as attendees – most of them adolescent girls – began crushing toward the microphone in the center of the room.
It was so intense, and so sudden, that a panic began to break out and Green himself began calling from the stage: “Stop. Stop! STOP! STOP!!”
He ordered everyone pushing into the line to, “Go back to your seats,” saying there were already more than enough people to close out the hour-long event.
SCREAM: CEASE AND DESIST!
LEVEL: 5, it was just Green crying out this time, but he was clearly worried about someone getting hurt.
8. TURNED ON, BUT SHOULD THE LEG COME OFF?
picture credit: Rosianna
No doubt the biggest, funniest, and most emotional reaction during the BookCon panel came near the very end, when a young man wearing shorts that revealed his prosthetic leg got his turn at the microphone.
The lead male character, Gus (played by Ansel Elgort) has had one leg amputated due to his cancer, and the questioner first wanted to make a comment about the book’s famous love scene between Gus and Hazel.
“As an amputee myself, I just wanted to say thank you, John, for answering a lifelong question of mine, which is: whether, during sex, to keep my leg on or off,” the young man said, to deafening squeals of delight from the mostly female audience.
Green rocked back in his chair laughing, then brought everything to a halt by jumping off the stage to give the man a hug. When he returned to stage, Green said: “That [question] didn’t go the direction I expected!”
A woman who had a question immediately after that noted: “I think he’s got a roomful of dates already,” while Green scanned the crowd and pointing out various girls swarming him.
“He’s not going to be able to walk out,” Green said. “He keeps getting stopped!”
SCREAM: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
LEVEL: 10, that blew to roof off the convention center. Even Green said, “That was one of the highlights of my whole career.”
TFIOS at BookCon: Video
We managed to snag great seats at the TFIOS BookCon panel and catch it on video for you all. Below is each question singled in its own video in a playlist. Listed are descriptions of what you'll be watching.
It was an amazing panel, so be sure to check out the whole panel in the playlist below!
It was an amazing panel, so be sure to check out the whole panel in the playlist below!
Playlist
1: Producer Wyck Godfrey on why he thought TFIOS would make a successful movie.
2: One of the screenwriters, Michael Weber, on adapting John Green's book.
3: One of the screenwriters, Scott Neustadter, on the adaption process and keeping in contact with John.
4: Nat talks about how he became Isaac (with a hysterical Josh Boone impression to supplement).
5: Josh Boone on the process of becoming director and truncated film clips. Additionally, Wyck on how Josh is a great fit.
6: Producer Wyck Godfrey, screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, John Green, and director Josh Boone discuss Shailene Woodley's casting as Hazel Grace Lancaster.
7: Nat Wolff on making John Green's heightened language and world work on screen.
8: John Green talks about his role as 'Girl's father' and the hairdresser's comments on hair hygiene.
9: John Green on his incessant tears on set and what it was like watching filming.
10: Director Josh Boone on the reception of the film and pleasing fans of the book.
11: Director Josh Boone discusses the scenes he was most worried about shooting.
12: John Green discussing the guts it took FOX to adapt TFIOS faithfully.
13: The panel discusses their favorite scenes.
14: John Green, Josh Boone, and Wyck Godfrey on what movie they think all English majors should watch.
15: John Green answers the fan question of the labyrinth link between Looking for Alaska and TFIOS.
16: John Green talks (around) his new project potential.
17: Fan question about the love scene answered by John Green and Josh Boone. You won't want to miss John's reaction to this!
18: John Green answers the fan question of what authors inspired him along the way.
19: John Green answers fan question about good friend and important Nerdfighter, Esther Earl.
20: John Green answering a fan question about how his ideas develop into full-length books.
21: John Green answers fan question about future works. (Stick around for the Sherlock/Doctor Who fanfic answer.)
22: John Green answers fan question about how he feels towards fanfiction about the film.
23: Panel answers fan question about who they would cosplay as at a convention.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Premiere Interviews: Traileraddict
Trailer Addict chatted with the cast and crew of the movie at the premiere. Check out their interviews below.
National Board of Review Q&A With Cast
The National Board of Review recently hosted an exclusive TFIOS screening and held a Q&A with Wyck, Ansel, Shailene, Laura and Josh afterwards.
This movie is based on a beloved book by John Green. Has he seen the film and how does he feel about it?
Godfrey: He saw it very early on and was involved in the production, and loved it, thank goodness. But I think he knew all along from the screenplay to the casting that we were putting together a team that loved the book as deeply as its fans and that we were going to pay honor to it in whatever way we could.
The book is dedicated to a 16 year-old girl that died of cancer. Its authenticity is very important for the film. Can you talk about working with the cancer support groups and patients for the movie?
Boone: They validated the book for me in a lot of ways because they were so similar to Hazel and Gus. They were just funny, cynical, and irreverent, these wonderful dazzling human beings. It just made me believe more and more that this story had touched something that was real. They were a huge part of the process and gave so much to these actors. We were so happy to have them and tried to do some justice to what it’s like to go through something like this.
Some of the patients are in the movie?
Boone: Yes, everyone in the support group that Mike Birbiglia runs.
Woodley: One of the biggest things that you learn, or recognize, is that cancer doesn’t define a person. So it didn’t feel like we were working with a bunch of cancer patients, it felt like we were working with a bunch of teenagers that happened to be going through a really difficult time in their lives. Apart from that, everyone was the same, and that was really special and something that was very profound for me. What happens to us in life doesn’t define who we are and what our hearts feel. And that was a really beautiful thing to take away.
Elgort: Like Josh said, it does validate the way Hazel and Gus are in the story. It’s nice to see people in real life actually are like that because people with cancer aren’t just cancer; they’re just people that happen to have cancer. We wanted to bring those people to life.
Boone: All of those kids we met had their own things going on and their own love stories. Their illnesses didn’t seem to define them at all.
Dern: I’d just like to add that with the privilege – and perhaps the horror – of someone who got to play a mother in this circumstance, I quickly learned about the phenomenon around John Green, rightfully, since it’s such a brilliant and beautiful book. I also learned, as a parent who considers what I should shelter my child from, that we live in an age where 1 out of every 3 people have cancer. Instead of wondering if my 12 year-old should see this movie, I realized that this is a generation of kids who know this story intimately though their own families and their own friends. It’s really beautiful to be a part of a film that is reflecting a story they really need to talk about.
When I read the book I thought, what actress is going to pull off this role along with having tubes in her nose for two hours.
Woodley: First off, so many props to you guys [Godfrey, Boone] and to Fox for having the courage to show someone with tubes in her nose for the entire film, because that’s not an easy move to make in movies right now. I did meet with some people who had a hard time breathing with their lungs, and had to use oxygen, and we had a discussion of how far we were going to take it in the movie. If we were actually going to implement the breathing people go through in real life to cinema, it wouldn’t translate and the film would probably be four hours long. So we chose certain scenes to sort of play that up more. For me, emotionally, the book is so truthful, and the script was the most perfect adaptation of any book I’d ever read, I felt like our only job was to come to work and fully succumb to the truth of what these characters were going through. People ask what it’s like to play a cancer patient, and I tell them I wasn’t playing a cancer patient, I was playing a girl falling in love for the first time who happened to have cancer.
Ms. Dern, how did you approach your character and bring it to another level of emotion?
All roads seem to lead back to John Green and the gift his book gave us all. The thing that excited me is that I’ve never really played a parent or even a grown-up for that matter! So it was a perfect fit in that John wrote these two people that were kind of progressive hippies from the Peace Corps who fell in love and found themselves having a kid, and in sort of a modern progressive form of parenting, raised her like she was a buddy. I think from that energy of deep respect came Hazel’s very unique and honored and respected voice. Then, with her diagnosis, these people had to become real grown-ups and learn how to parent in a different way. They get to grow up with Hazel, and with her diagnosis. I was very moved by that.
Mr. Godfrey, can you talk about what first drew you into this book?
I read it the night the book came out. An executive at my company had read it as well, and we both called each other the next morning and were like, this is tremendous, it’s a transcendent love story. I bawled my eyes out through half of the book – sometimes as a parent, sometimes as a born-again teenager. It was transcendent and made me want to live a better life just by virtue of how they were facing their situation. So I thought, I have to believe that other people are going to respond the same way. It blew me away.
How did you navigate the different tones in the film?
Boone: We had a really wonderful script that was really funny with funny moments and we hired actors that understood the tone and could speak John’s language and translate it properly. A lot of it is just finding actors that have chemistry and letting it develop organically once they start working together.
How did you use supporting characters to bring humor into the movie?
Boone: Nat Wolff was in my first film, and he’s one of the funniest people I think any of us know. He keeps us all laughing and he has really wonderful improv skills that help with a role like this where he can add little touches. He brought so much humanity to it, so it was real but also funny. Mike Birbiglia was the same way. We looked at a lot of people to play the support group counselor – that was a hard role to cast. We’re very lucky [Screenwriter] Michael Weber recommended him to us.
Godfrey: We could make an entire movie out of his outtakes. It’s so funny cause we’re doing this scene and you had wanted everyone to be sort of quiet watching him, and there were real cancer patients in the scene, and they would just start laughing in the middle of it, so Mike was like, Oh okay I’ll go again!
Boone: He was fantastic. So much of it is casting. Mike Birbiglia brought so much to that role, just the way he phrases things and his idiosyncrasies. Those are the things you look for in people, little things you like about them, and hopefully you can exploit them without them knowing!
The whole thing can also be read at the source.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Josh and Jake Braver talk Visual Effects with THR
The Hollywood Reporter chats with director, Josh Boone, and VFX supervisor, Jake Braver, on the texting/emailing effects, added cannulas, and more.
On Gus and Hazel's unique visual texting:
Josh: We can't have them staring at phones the entire movie. So we looked at House of Cards and Sherlock, and said, 'We should do something like this, but make it more like a Twitter-Tumblr aesthetic.' That was the idea – to make it look like the fan art people had made for the movie, and feel like Tumblr.
Jake: ...We needed to find a way to see what Hazel and Gus were feeling as they read and typed the messages. This scene was a lot of fun, because it's a whole conversation between Hazel and Gus where there is no dialogue, aside from the messages that are displayed onscreen.
Jake on the film's VFX:
There are almost 350 VFX shots in the movie, and on a movie like this, it's my job to make sure they are invisible. Hopefully, those moments feel organic enough that no one is thinking "How did they do that?"
Jake on the added cannula:
While editing, Josh and his editor Robb Sullivan found this amazing close-up of Shailene from later in the scene when she had taken off her cannula, and she is looking at Gus, but they wanted to use it right at the beginning of the scene. So we added a computer-generated cannula -- it was a bit tricky to add, only because it was a close-up of Shai's face, and the cuts right before it and after it were of her with the real cannula, so it had match perfectly. Hopefully, it's seamless.
Definitely seamless, Jake!
Please be sure to check out the rest of this great in-depth interview (there are some spoilers) at the source.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Apple Store Soho Event
Shailene, Ansel, Nat, Laura, Sam, and Josh and John promoted TFIOS at a Q&A at the Apple Store in Soho yesterday.
Video Via PlanetShailene
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