Q&A at Cloud Atlas Screening at the Directors' Guild of America

Tom Tykwer, Lana, Andy Wachowski

I planned on getting Cloud Atlas read in time for the opening this coming Friday. Except my husband took me to a screening at the DGA (the Directors Guild of America) tonight, well last night now.  I ignored the fact that I wasn't finished reading and went because the DGA theatres are extremely high quality so you know you're seeing the film as intended to be seen. And also because the three directors - siblings Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer were going to be there for a Q&A afterwards.
I'll do my take on the movie manana; in the meantime just wanted to note how cool that part of the evening was. We weren't allowed to use cameras or cell phones so I couldn't take any pictures; I nabbed some from Google just to give you an idea of what everybody looked like.


In case you didn't know, Lana Wachowski used to be Larry Wachowski. She was still Larry when they wrote V for Vendetta, they were billed as the Wachowski Brothers - but had a sex change along the way. And yes, her hair is that deep pink color. It was amazing how much she exuded feminity, not in her clothing which was more that funky unisex thing but in her gestures and her demeanor. The way she smiled and opened her eyes wide and gestured with her hands. It wasn't effeminate; it was female. Fascinating.

James McTeigue, the Australian director of V for Vendetta which was written by the Wachowski duo, introduced the team and acted as moderator.

Lana Wachowski and Halle Berry, watched over by
Tom Hanks and Andy Wachowski

It's clear that the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer share a passion for Mitchell's novel and a deep respect for each others work; often referring to their collaboration as a relationship, a marriage even. Writing the script, they even moved in together to break the novel down. Tykwer said they each had a huge stack of index cards and went through the book writing down every single scene they found interesting.  Then they arranged them all out on the floor and began to prune and pare from there.

Lana shared that Thomas had taught them the round earth theory of scoring vs the flat earth method she was used to. Huh? What she meant was she always thought there was only one way to approach the music; she was used to doing it afterwards using temp mixes that gives an idea of the kind of music you'd like. It's the industry norm. It's how it's always been done. Flat earth. Lana said Tykwer taught them the Round Earth way of doing it which is before. Before you start filming, when you're still talking about tone, and how the film will look and feel and sound, she came to see, is the best time to design the score. And the score, I will say is truly stirring. The Round Earth method at work!

CHECK OUT A PREVIEW OF THE CLOUD ATLAS SCORE AT MY POST HERE

They also talked a lot about (actually Lana Wachowski talked and talked as did Tykwer. Andy just came in with a sharp or funny comment now and then.) how long it took to make, how hard it was to get anyone on board with the film. It was four years in the making at a cost of $100,000,000, money you see all over the screen.
That's all I can remember for now; I'll post if anything comes to mind.