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FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2009WATCHMEN: TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER -- UNDER THE HOOD DIRECTOR ERIC MATTHIES![]() Warner Premiere's Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday. Included in the release is co-producer/director Eric
Matthies' all-new take on Under the Hood, the Hollis Mason/Nite Owl
autobiography from the original Watchmen graphic novel.
One of the more cutting-edge creators of DVD content,
Matthies, along with partners Tricia Todd and Josh Oreck, has been
responsible for a ancillary materials for such DVD
releases as The Matrix, 300 and Spider-Man.
Along with co-producer Wesley Coller and writer Hans Rodionoff,
Matthies created the perfect vehicle for bringing Hollis Mason's
tell-all autobiography, Under the Hood, to life. As the subject of a
story revisited 10 years later in the fictional "The Culpepper Minut"²
TV news magazine, Under the Hood expands beyond what was originally
limited to words on a page and a few single-frame images. The
chronicle of the events in Mason's life that led to him to become the
masked avenger Nite Owl including the formation of the Minutemen
now plays as a feature that allows the characters (Mason, the original
Sally Spectre, the Comedian, Moloch the Mystic) to add even greater
depth to the tale.
Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
appear as their characters from the theatrical Watchmen film in this
live-action documentary-style special. Produced in association with
Legendary Pictures, Under the Hood is executive produced by Watchmen
director Zack Snyder, Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Deborah Snyder,
Thomas Tull and Wesley Coller.
Matthies took a few moments this week to discuss the origins,
direction and incidentals of Under the Hood. The following is a
transcript of the Q&A.
Question: What made the news magazine format work for Under the Hood?
Matthies:: We needed a concept that would not require a leap of
faith, and that would not just be a book on tape. The news magazine
format really allowed us to expand in so many ways. First, we were
able to incorporate Larry Culpeper, and have him represent an outside
voice speaking about both the memoir and the world in which it was
taking place. And by having Culpeper revisit the story 10 years later,
we were able to cover two different time periods and give the original
piece greater perspective within the Watchmen movie. It also gave us
the chance to explore more of the characters through interviews -- like
Wally Weaver and Laurence Schexnayder -- and delve more into the
background of their characters. This was an idea that worked on so
many levels.
As Zack said to Hans, "When in doubt, go back to the source material
and you really can't go wrong." And he's right.
Question: Did changing the format from first-person narrative to a new
magazine perspective work for or against the original content?
Matthies:: One of the ways we stayed true to Under The Hood was
simply to have Stephen McHattie answer the interview questions pretty
much the way Hollis had written them, combined with some of his own
improv on what Hollis would say. And then we were able to fill in the
gaps with other interviews.
Question: How did the cast react to these in-character interviews
especially Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason?
Matthies:: Stephen McHattie was great -- he really got it and was
able to really bring something special to that material. It was
obvious that he had read Under the Hood, and I think it was fun for
him to be able to put some life behind those lines.
It's a testament to each individual -- they're all fantastic actors
with a great understanding of their character, regardless of the size
of the role and to Zack (Snyder), who gave them a three-ring binder
of resource material and back story. So when we came along and gave
these actors the opportunity to bring even more depth to these
characters through this ancillary content, they all jumped in and
really embraced what we were trying to do. And they all had their
different approaches, which made it even better. Carla (Gugino) was
amazing -- she and I probably had the most dialogue about the project.
Rob LaBelle and Matt Frewer were great, too. We even got to introduce
Malcolm Long and he alludes to how he'd love to interview one of these
masked heroes. They seemed to really appreciate the opportunity to
play with these characters.
Question: Was it difficult shooting Under The Hood during the filming
of Watchmen?
Matthies:: The planning started pretty much day and date with
production, and we started shooting in late November knowing that
there would be a couple of things we'd have to pick up later. The
tricky part of Under The Hood was balancing the shoot schedule with
the film, and coordinating shoots on certain sets or areas of sets in
combination with which actors were available, in coordination with
hair and make-up and costumes, because everything had to match with
the different time periods. So a lot of things needed to come together
and, yes, we had to change our plans a few times, but everyone really
pitched in. It was complicated, but a lot of fun. It's an honor and a
challenge when you get handed the responsibility of something like
this -- working with a crew this talented -- and part of that thrill is
that you really have to raise your game every day. So for me, that was
great.
Question: What were the specifics you were seeking to convey behind
the TV commercials within the program?
Matthies::
Originally we talked about showing three Veidt ads, and the one we
used was actually the one we made as a sample for the fan contest.
Discussing it with Wes Coller, Debbie, Zack and the producers, we
wanted commercials that would help anchor the piece in something
familiar to the audience for that time period. We had obstacles -- a
lot of what we found and loved was either not available or not
licensable. But I like the commercials we used -- the Seiko commercial
is a nice nod to the watches in the film.
Our researcher Anna Obropta really deserves a lot of the credit -- she
really knocked herself out. Those are actual commercials -- we just
redid the voiceovers. Anna was responsible for getting us the
commercials, plus all of this amazing stock footage -- everything from
the old New York street footage to the McCarthy hearings. She and a
team of lawyers worked hard to clear to use what we used.
Question: Do you have a favorite scene within Under the Hood?
Matthies:: I really had a lot of fun going back to recreate the
footage from the 1930s of Mothman and Silhouette and those characters,
having them in costume on the New York streets fighting crime -- and
shooting it on 16mm with an old Bolex hand-crank camera. We mixed that
footage with interviews we shot on high-def, which we treated in
post-production. It gave the film a nice texture.
Question: Do you believe you achieved your initial goals with the
final result of Under the Hood?
Matthies::
The goal was to make ancillary material that complemented the film,
and I think we achieved that. The wonderful thing in the graphic novel
is that UTH gives you all the background and psychology and philosophy
of the masked adventurers and the impact they had prior to Dr.
Manhattan. But there was no way Zack could include every bit of that
information. It was a great responsibility to make something that they
didn't have to shoe-horn into the movie.
The production team on the feature was so fantastic -- especially
because I don't think they completely understood what we were up to at
first. It took a little convincing. But they all did amazing work on
our behalf. When we first shot with Hooded Justice, that was a thrill
to walk out onto the New York Street set. I'd shot on that set before,
but now it was my set. To have Michael Wilkinson's team doing their
costume magic to help our production, and to have prop master Jimmy
Chow making things like holsters for us -- it was amazing to have all
the resources of this giant movie afforded our little 40-minute piece. I
want to thank them all -- they were very gracious about everything,
they were so attentive to details, and I appreciate that they wanted
to elevate our production value so it would fit into this amazing
world they had already created.
And then there was Zack and Debbie Snyder and Wes Coller, Lloyd
(Levin) and Larry (Gordon) -- they all gave me the confidence to run
with it and do what we did as well as we did. It was a huge
responsibility and a tremendous honor, and I'm proud of what we
achieved with Under the Hood.
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