HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Surrogates

I took part today in the second of three interview roundtables with Surrogates' director Jonathan Mostow. I thought those who enjoyed the movie or who are looking forward to the Blu-ray/DVD release next week would enjoy the questions and answers from my session:



Q: This isn't your first time dealing with a high concept of man versus machine. Can you

talk about why this concept intrigues you?
 

Jonathan Mostow: It's true that I've touched on this thematic material before -- in fact,

I think all my films in some way have dealt with the relationship between man and

technology, so apparently, it's an idea that fascinates me. I assume your question

implies a relationship between the ideas in Terminator and Surrogates, so I'll answer

accordingly... Whereas T3 posed technology as a direct threat to mankind, I see

Surrogates more as a movie that poses a question about technology -- specifically, what

does it cost us -- in human terms -- to be able to have all this advanced technology in

our lives. For example, we can do many things over the internet today -- witness this

virtual roundtable, for example -- but do we lose something by omitting the person-to-

person interaction that used to occur? I find it incredibly convenient to do these

interviews without leaving town, but I miss the opportunity to sit in a room with the

journalists.

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Q: Can you explain the casting choices in Surrogates? Did you go after anyone specific or

were they cast for what the individual actors could bring to their roles?
 

Jonathan Mostow: The interesting thing about casting this movie is that for the

surrogates, we needed terrific actors who also looked physically perfect. Prior to this

movie, I labored under the false perception that Hollywood is teaming with gorgeous great

actors. Not necessarily so. Yes, there are many wonderful actors. And yes, there are many

beautiful ones who look like underwear models But as we discovered, the subset of actors

who fall into both categories is surprisingly small. We were lucky to get folks like

Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe -- and we were equally fortunate to find a

number of talented day players to round out the smaller roles in the cast. I must say

that myself and everyone on the crew found it somewhat intimidating to be surrounded all

day by such fabulous-looking people!

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Q: You've worked with special effects a lot prior to Surrogates. Can you explain the

balance between practical and digital, and what you wanted to achieve for the film in

special effects?
 

Jonathan Mostow: My goal for the effects in this film was to make them invisible. There

are over 800 vfx shots in Surrogates, but hopefully you'll be able to identify only a few

of them. A vast quantity of them were digitally making the actors look like perfected

versions of themselves.
 

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Q: One of the deleted scenes shows the surrogates' prejudice towards a human being among

them. Why was this particular element cut?
 

Jonathan Mostow: The scene you reference (Bruce and Radha in a bar) was cut, but the

underlying idea is still in the movie -- although admittedly not as strongly as had we

kept the scene. (There are references in the movie to "meatbags" and other moments that

indicate a hostility and prejudice toward those who reject the surrogate way of life.) We

cut the bar scene for narrative pacing reasons, although there are aspects of the scene

which I like, which is why we included it in the Blu-ray version as a deleted scene.
 

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Q: I found the distinction between the surrogates and their human hanldlers interesting.

Can you expound upon why such a drastic difference?
 

Jonathan Mostow: The difference was logical. For starters, human operators would be out

of shape -- they sit in their stim chairs all day not moving. They'd also appear kinda

shlumpy, since they don't need to leave their homes (much less shower or dress), so who's

gonna care if they stay in their pajamas all day. On the surrogate side of the equation,

we imagined that based on human nature, in most cases, people would opt to operate

idealized versions of themselves -- so if their surrogate looked in a mirror, for

example, they'd see this fantastic-looking version of themselves. The contrast between

these two looks was visually compelling -- for example, Boris Kodjoe's character, or

Rhada's.
 

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Q: How do you approach the promotional campaign for a film and in what way do you enjoy

participating most in promoting one of your films?
 

Jonathan Mostow: I greatly enjoy the press phase of the film -- but not for reasons you

might expect. For me, the press are often the first people to see the movie, so it's a

chance for a filmmaker to sit down across the table from intelligent, thoughtful people

and get feedback. (Of course, this virtual roundtable kinda removes the face-to-face

element!) I also enjoy the questions, because they prompt me to think about things I

wouldn't have thought about previously. For example, someone today asked about the

thematic connections between T3 and Surrogates. But when I think about that, I realize

that my other films have also been about man and technology. Journalists' questions often

cause me to take a step back and look at things in a fresh perspective. Historically,

I've enjoyed the travel associated with these press tours and making friends with some of

the journalists across the world, but as I say, this virtual technology may be replacing

a lot of that.
 

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Q: I really enjoyed listening to your audio commentary on the DVD. Talk about your

approach to it. You seemed to enjoy it so much, you kept talking even as the credits were

rolling.
 

Jonathan Mostow: Thanks for the compliment. My approach to commentary is to provide the

kind of info I'd like to hear if I was the consumer. I started listening to commentaries

when they first began in the 80s on laserdisc. I remember a famous director who greatly

disappointed me by babbling on about trivial nonsense -- such as what he had for lunch

the day a particular scene was being filmed. I believe people should get their money's

worth, so I'll provide as much useful information as space allows. My assumption in the

commentary is that if you're listening to it, you probably liked the movie, or at least

there was something that interested you enough to find out more about why specific

choices were made. So I try to tailor my comments for that audience. The actual process

is a bit weird, because you're sitting in a dark room, all alone, talking into a

microphone with no feedback from anyone as to whether or not what you're saying is boring

or not. So you send it out there and cross your fingers that people find it worthwhile --

and don't fall asleep listening to your voice.
 

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Q: How involved was KNB Effects? What did they bring, if anything, to the film's effects

designs?
 

Jonathan Mostow: KNB is a top-flight company that specializes in prosthetic devices for

movies and creature design. They did a lot of great work that is heavily interwoven with

CG techniques, so it's tricky to single out specific shots from the movie that are

entirely theirs. They were great to work with.
 

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Q: Each of your films have boasted sound mixes that many have considered classic examples

of sound design. Can you discuss your philosophy on sound when working with your sound

designers in post-production?
 

Jonathan Mostow: I really appreciate this question because sound is something I care

deeply about and I believe that mixers I've worked with will probably tell you that few

directors get as involved with sound as I do. Perhaps it's my musical background, but I

have very sensitive ears, so I can discern details on a mixing stage that others often

overlook. I'm very particular not only about the sound design (this is my third film with

Oscar-winning sound editor Jon Johnson), but also about the mix itself. I think a good

soundtrack helps immerse the audience in the movie. Ultimately, I believe a soundtrack is

like a piece of orchestral movie -- a great one requires structure, dynamic range,

emotional highs and lows and of course, definition. To me, the great thing about the DVD

revolution -- more so than picture quality -- has been the introduction of 5.1 surround

sound to the home.
 

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Q: Was there ever a discussion to create a SURROGATES-themed video game? The plot lends

itself to a decent companion game.
 

Jonathan Mostow: There are no discussions that I know of, but I agree, it would make the

basis for a cool game.
 

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Q: Mr. Mostow, 2009 was an extraordinary year for science-fiction, from your film to

Avatar, Star Trek and District 9. Why do you think so many good sci-fi rose to the

surface last year, and do you think we'll see any good ones this year?
 

Jonathan Mostow: First of all, thank you for mentioning our film in the same breath as

those other movies -- all of which I loved. I don't think it's a coincidence that 2009

was a good year for sci-fi. I think that as mankind faces these towering existential

questions about how our lives our changing in the face of technological advancement, we

will continue to see films that either overtly or subtly address these themes. From the

time of the ancient Greeks, the role of plays, literature and now movies is to help

society process the anxieties that rattle around in our collective subconscious. We now

live in a time when many of our anxieties are based around issues of technology, so it

would make sense to me that films with techno themes will become increasingly popular.
 

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Q: Do you supervise aspects (video transfer, extras or other elements) of the home video

(DVD/Blu-Ray) release for your films?
 

Jonathan Mostow: Yes. In the case of the video transfer, we did it at the same place we

did the digital intermediate color timing for the movie (Company 3), so they are

experienced in translating the algorithms that make the DVD closely resemble the

theatrical version. I am deeply involved in that process, as is my cinematographer.

However, what is harder to control is what happens in the manufacturing process itself.

There are sometimes unpredictable anomalies that occur -- and then of course, the biggest

issue is that everyone's viewing equipment is different, so what looks great on one

person's system might not be the same on another's. We try to make the best educated

guesses, anticipating the wide variations in how the disks will be played.
 

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Q: As far as I know in the movie there was some digital rejuvenation of Bruce Willis for

his role as a robot. How did you do it and what do you foresee for this technique? Will

we have forever young actors or actors that at anytime can play a younger or older

version of themselves without makeup?
 

Jonathan Mostow: For Bruce, we approached his surrogate look with a combination of

traditional and digital techniques. In the former category, we gave him a blond wig, fake

eyebrows, and of course, make up. In the digital arena, we smoothed his skin, removed

wrinkles, facial imperfections and in some cases, actually reshaped his jaw-line to give

him a more youthful appearance. Could this be done for other actors? Sure. It isn't

cheap, so I don't see it catching on in a huge way, but certainly, some other movies have

employed similar techniques. Technology being what it is, one can imagine a day in the

future in which an aging movie star can keep playing roles in his 30s, but the

interesting question is whether the audience will accept that, since they'll know that

what they're seeing is fake. In the case of Surrogates, we discovered with test audiences

that if we went too far with Bruce's look, it was too distracting, so in certain cases,

we had to pull back a bit.
 

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Q: I imagine that before writing and creating the world of Surrogates you studied the

topic. What is the scientific background of the movie and how far are we from what is

seen in the movie?
 

Jonathan Mostow: I did a fair amount of research for the movie, but really, what I

discovered is that the best research was simply being a member of society in 2009. If you

take a step back and look at how the world is changing, you realize that the ideas behind

surrogacy have already taken root. We're doing more and more from home (this round-table

for example), so really, the only ingredient that's missing is full-blown robotic

facsimiles of humans. Having visited advanced labs where that work is occurring, my sense

is that the technology is still decades away.
 

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Q: Boston's mix of old architecture and new, sleek buildings works wonderfully well for

"Surrogates." I love the mixing of old and new architecture in a sci-fi film, something

that has not really been done too often in since 1997's sci-fi film, "Gattaca". Can you

discuss the process of picking a city and then scouting for specific locations?

Jonathan Mostow: Thank you -- I talk about that in my DVD commentary. Boston is one of my

favorite cities, so it was easy to pick it as a location for the film. And we certainly

embraced the classic look not only in our exteriors but also the interior production

design. To be frank, Boston made it to the short list of candidates based on the

Massachusetts tax incentive, which allowed us to put more on the screen. Of the places

offering great incentives, it was my favorite -- not only because of the architecture,

but also because it's not been overshot. Once we got to Boston, then scouting locations

was the same process as on any movie -- the key is to find locations that are visually

interesting, help tell the story, can accommodate an army of hundreds of crew people and,

most importantly, will allow filming. We had one location we really wanted -- a private

aristocratic club in Boston -- and they had provisionally approved us, but then one day

during a tech scout, an elderly member of their board of directors saw our crew and

thought we looked like "ruffians". Our permission was revoked and we had to find another

location. The great footnote to that story was that the president of the club was

arrested a few months later for murder!
 

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Q: Do you have a preference in home audio: Dolby Digital or DTS? And are you pleased with

Blu-ray's ability to have lossless audio?
 

Jonathan Mostow: Personally, I prefer Dolby Digital, but only because my home theater is

optimized for it. Obviously DTS is also a great format. I am thrilled with all the

advances in Blu-ray audio.
 

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Q: On the movie's you've directed, you have done some rewrites. Was there anything in

Surrogates you polished up on, or was it pretty much set by the time pre-production got

under way?
 

Jonathan Mostow: In the past, I've typically written my movies (Breakdown and U-571 were

"spec" screenplays I wrote on my own and then subsequently sold, and then brought in

collaborators once the films headed toward production.) On T3 and Surrogates, I did not

work as a writer (both movies were written by the team of John Brancato and Michael

Ferris). Surrogates was interesting in that the script was finished only one day before

the Writers Guild strike of 2008, so by the time we started filming (which was shortly

after the strike ended), there had been far less rewriting than would typically have

occurred on a movie by that point.
 

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Q: The film does a magnificent job of portraying the difficulty and anxiety of characters

forced to reintroduce themselves to the outside world after their surrogates have

experienced it for them, which is certainly relevant in an era where so many communicate

so much online. Can you comment on the task of balancing the quieter dramatic elements

and the sci-fi thriller elements?
 

Jonathan Mostow: When I was answering a question earlier about sound, I spoke about

"dynamic range", which is the measure of the difference between the loudest and quietest

moments. I think the same is true of drama -- and I find myself drawn to films that have

the widest range possible. I like that this movie has helicopter chases and explosions,

but also extremely quiet intimate moments in which the main character is alone with his

thoughts (for example, the scene in which Bruce gets up out of his stim chair the first

time we meet his "real" self.) As a director, I view it as my job to balance these two

extremes in a way that gets the most out of both moments, and yet never lets you feel

that the pace is flagging.
 

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Q: What was the most difficult element of the grahic novel to translate to the film?
 

Jonathan Mostow: I'll give you a slightly different answer: The most difficult element to

translate successfully would have been the distant future, which is why we decided not to

do it. When we first decided to make the film, the production designer and I were excited

about getting to make a film set in 2050. We planned flying cars, futuristic skyscapes --

the whole nine yards. But as we began to look at other movies set in the future, we

realized something -- that for all the talent and money we could throw at the problem,

the result would likely feel fake. Because few films -- except perhaps some distopic ones

like Blade Runner -- have managed to depict the future in a way that doesn't constantly

distract the audience from the story with thoughts like "hey, look at those flying cars"

or "hey, look at what phones are going to look like someday". We wanted the audience

thinking only about our core idea -- which was robotic surrogates -- so we decided to set

the movie in a time that looked very much like our own, except for the presence of the

surrogate technology.
 

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Q: Are any of the props from Surrogates currently on display in your house?
 

Jonathan Mostow: That question makes me chuckle, because to the chagrin of my family, I'm

a bit of a pack rat and I like collecting junk from my films. I had planned to take one

of the telephone booth-like "charging bays" and put it in my garage, but I forgot. Thanks

for reminding me -- I'll see if it's still laying around someplace!
 

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Q: What aspect of filmmaking process do You like the most? Directing the actors? Doing

research? Editing?
 

Jonathan Mostow: Each phase has its appeal, but for me personally, I most enjoy post-

production. For starters, the hours are civilized. It's indoors (try filming in zero

degree weather at night, or at 130 degrees in a windstorm in the desert and you'll know

what I mean). But what I enjoy most about post-production is that you're actually making

the film in a very tactile way. You see, when you're finished shooting, you don't yet

have the movie. You have thousands of pieces of the movie, but it's disassembled -- not

unlike the parts of a model airplane kit. You've made the parts -- the individual shots

-- but now comes the art and craft of editing, sound design, music and visual effects.

Post-production is where you get to see the movie come together -- and it's amazing how

much impact one can have in this phase -- because it's here that you're really focussed

on telling the story -- pace, suspense, drama. To me, that's the essence of the

filmmaking experience.