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Wednesday, June 29, 2005
new teaser poster
The Vendetta movie website has updated. Gone are the "floating into infinity" Fawkes masks and now there's a more streamlined approach. More importantly is a new teaser poster that the site says will be displayed in movie theaters on July 4th. 
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Score Magazine Article on the movie's soundtrack
It seems James Purefoy wasn't the only person who has left the movie production. Score Magazine
, a Spanish magazine about film soundtracks, has a small article regarding the composer(s) of V for VendettaThe V for Vendetta movie soundtrack is currently being scored by Dario Marianelli. Marianelli has previously scored The Brothers Grimm and Pride and Prejudice. However, Marianelli is actually the third composer for the movie, having replaced Craig Armstrong and Massive Attack. My thanks to Pablo Nieto, who co-wrote the article, for making me aware of this.
New York Times article on Vendetta
This past Sunday's New York Times has a brief article on titled From the Wachowski Brothers, an Ingenue Who Blows Up Parliament
The article rehashes most of what's already been published about the Trafalgar Square location shoot, although the article does spend some time discuss the dubious nature of V's methods. Interestingly, the article says:
The story, as told in the much-praised graphic novel, raises sharp questions about the morality of using violence to fight oppression and asks, how far would you go in the service of what you believe in? As far as the filmmakers are concerned, the film provides no easy answers, no overt message; instead, it is meant to challenge audiences to come up with their own conclusions.
This indicates the movie is striving to keep much of the comics ambivalence--something rather in contrast to what's already been leaked about the movie.
Also of note is what the article says of the titular character, and the men who have been cast to play him:
One of the biggest decisions was how to design the costume that V wears to cover a face and body ravaged by fire. (It's part of his complicated back story and has to do with his stay in a government-run concentration camp.) [Production Designer Owen] Paterson has more or less been faithful to the mask imagined by the original authors. It is a classic Guy Fawkes mask, driving home the sense in the film of a connection to a long-ago British past that can be interpreted in several different ways, depending on your point of view.
Mr. Paterson said the mask was meant to create a feeling of theater, mischief and mystery. But it proved hard to pull off as a plausible costume when filming began and a different actor, James Purefoy, was playing the title character.
After a month or so, the filmmakers decided Mr. Purefoy was not ideal for the part, and Mr. Weaving was called as an emergency replacement.
"The challenge to me was that the mask wasn't working, and I had to make it work by figuring out what I needed to do physically in each particular scene - thinking, 'what is he saying and why?' " Mr. Weaving said. (Clever lighting to suggest different facial moods helped, too). Crucially, V is never unmasked, a detail meant to show that he is more symbol than particular person.
"He isn't just a human being; he's an idea, and what he's saying and doing is more important than who he is," Mr. Weaving said. "This was more important to me as an actor than getting my face up there."
To view the full article requires online registration, which is free.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Hi-Rez pics of Portman and Weaving
Remember that bald Natalie Portman pic from a few weeks back? And that small, shadowy image of V? Well, natalieportman.com obligingly provided links to Moviehole.net's ri-rez V for Vendetta photos. Yes, they're the same photos as before, but the detail is much better. Portman looks severely beaten, obviously this shoto was taken while she was filming her interrogation scenes. The V pic is still shadowy and vaguely Zoro-like. But It's bigger, and the white mask seems much creepier, standing out so much against the shadows.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
updated news posted to the official Vendetta movie site
www.vforvendetta.com posted an update on June 9 announcing principal photography had wrapped. So principal shooting lasted four months, from March 7 or June 8. The last shot for the film involved shooting the death of Guy Fawkes back in 1606. The original Wachowski screenplay included a prologue that briefly told the story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpwoder Plot; looks like the actual movie will contain the same thing. The site also includes some vague photography from the Trafalgar Square shooting. Nice quality, but the pictures reported elsewhere by Ain't It Cool and Time Out and below give much more detail.
Hugo Weaving (briefly) Talks Vendetta
Combic Book Movies has some quotes by Hugo talking about Vendetta. Yhe article actually quotes from an article in The Hearld Sun, but the important info is that Weaving confirms the reason for Purefoy's depature: Purefoy "just wasn't working out with him and the directors," Weaving told The Herald Sun. "It was a kind of mutual thing, I think."This confrims what Eoin found out when he was an extra at the Trafalgar saquare shoot. If I can find an online link to the Hearld Sun article, I'll post that here. Thanks to James over at V for Vendetta: Your Views for refering me to this info.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
First hand account of London-location shooting
I first learned about the Tralfalgar Square location shoot thanks to Eoin Jennings. Beyond just telling me about the filming, of which Eoin took part in as an extra, he also sent me some pictures he took during the filming as well as an insightful essay describing the experience.As for the pictures (click to view full-size).... That's Eoin in the top picture. The guard flanked by the Fawkes' is Andreas Speck, whom Eoin met during the shoot. I'd like to take this opportunity to again stress that I will gladly sell my first born child to anyone who can get me one of those Guy Fawkes masks. Click here read Eoin's account of the Vendetta filming. My my heartfelt thanks to Eoin for his generous permission to post both the pictures and his filming diary.
Friday, June 10, 2005
'V for Vendetta' set visit - Movie News - Time Out Magazine
Once again my thanks to Andrew for pointing out another bit of Vendetta movie news. Time Out has a small article about visiting the London location shoot of 'V for Vendetta' set visit. However, the article does include the first known publicity shot of Weaving as V.  Alas, not the most detailed we're likely to see, and V looks as much like Zorro as he does Guy Fawkes, but it's still nice to get a glimpse.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
J.M. Straczynski responds to Vendetta Script Review
You have to just love it when professionals get personal. Lying in the Gutter's Rich Johnston once again breaks information, printing a column that JMS has e-mailed blasting the critical V for Vendetta script review. JMS's rant is mentioned near the end of Rich's June 7th LITG column, but here's some choice tidibts: The anonymous individual who sent AiCN his 'review' has his head well and duly up his butt [. . . .] This person clearly has no idea what's actually going on in that script despite having read it (or having it read to him) [. . . .] I think it's one of the smartest, sharpest, insightful and well-crafted scripts I've ever read. It's emotional, evocative, heart-rending, biting, sharp, relentless and just plain garden variety powerful. It's not just a good film, it's an *important* film, and there's a great deal of subtlety and nuance in it that was clearly lost on the idiot that read the script so he could make fun of it and stir the pot.While I am trying to keep these posts as impartial as possible, I feel it my duty to point out that if something is "just plain garden variety powerful", then that states that something is not overly powerful and is, in fact, rather ordinary. Let the debate begin (for those who have nothing better to do) over the fairness and biases of Straczynski and the AiCN reviewer. Regardless, you can read Straczynski's full comments in the LITG column. My thanks to Warren for making me aware of this info.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
More from the London shoot
Via Superherohype.com: Ain't It Cool has more pictures from the London shoot. Some gorgeous pictures of the Guy Fawkes masks being used in the film, and even some low-quality video taken by someone's cell phone.
V for Vendetta Location Shoot
From This is London:
Five pictures from the Vendetta movie shoot in London this past week. The pictures are actually part of This Is London's brief news article about the filming According to the article, the film needed permission of 14 government agencies to film in front of Parliament, and filming lasted 'till about 4:00 in the morning. The caption to one of the pictures calls this one of the largest location shoots in London in years. Armchair reporting from my computer, my guess is that this shoot was for the finale of the movie when the people riot and the Nazi/Norsefire dictatorship collapses. That one of the pictures includes a crowd of people in cloaks and Guy Fawkes masks seems to confirm the Ain't It Cool article I mentioned earlier this week.My thanks to Warren Hoss Jr. for this info.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Filming in Trafalgar Square
This evening I've received an e-mail from one of the extras on the Vendetta movie shoot. Apparently the movie had a three day casting call for a night shoot beginning Thursday night and lasting into Friday morning. My thanks to EJ for informing me about this shoot. As I am on the East Coast of the US, I am writing this five hours behind London Time, which means by now the shooting is most likely over, or at least winding down. Still, if anyone else has any news about the night shoot, feel free to contact me at vendetta@shadowgalaxy.net.
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