Juliet Landau
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hen Gary Oldman directed a music video for the Jewish Hip Hop band Chutzpah, all the action was shot on Nokia cell phones. Well, not all the action - the behind the scenes "making-of" footage was documented by Juliet Landau. CoA presented a special feature on Juliet, lightly touching on this upcoming project, in July of 2008. Now, almost a year and a half later Take Flight is complete and we revisited with Juliet to talk about the entire process and what it was like for her to go from 'in front' of the camera to 'behind it' and beyond! Bring your chairs to their upright position and fasten your seat belts as we once again...
'TAKE FLIGHT'
CityofAngel.com: Last year, when we talked, you briefly touched on the film, which marked your directorial debut, the documentary Take Flight. Could you reacquaint our audience with how that project came about and what it entails?
Juliet Landau: Take Flight is a short documentary film about Gary Oldman. Gary directed a music video for the Jewish Hip Hop band, Chutzpah. He asked me to direct the "making-of" and what starts out as solely a behind-the-scenes making of, blooms into more.
CoA: Take Flight is a unique introspective into the mind of Gary Oldman - what was your initial expectations on working with him? Did he offer any directive what "he" was looking for as a retrospective or was that left all up to you?
JL: First of all, I absolutely love the range, depth and skill of Gary's work. After taking this on, I realized that although as an actress, I have been in a lot of "making-of's," I had never actually watched one (not even mine!) I embarked on watching mountains of documentaries, director commentaries, regular "making-of's," music video "making-of's", the whole gamut. I saw what I thought worked and was of interest and what I felt didn't work. I made notes and I went after those specifics during the shoot. Gary gave me free reign, both on set and afterwards, which was incredible.
CoA: Tackling over 50-hours of footage would be a daunting task for the world?s best editor! Was it a case of: "what have I gotten myself into", or "I can work with this." (laugh)
JL: I oversaw three cameras on the shoot and also had access to the cell phone footage, so yes, there was 50-hours of material. I watched all 50-hours, three times through. Gary operated one of the "cell-cams" which gives a truly unique perspective that one would never have with a traditional camera. It is literally like being 'inside his brain,' If you will, seeing from his POV. You can see the genesis of his ideas and then him carrying those ideas out. Watching the footage that many times, not only helped me to become really well acquainted with it all, but I felt like it spoke to me, telling me what the film should be. Take Flight runs 25-minutes, including the music video, which runs at the end.
CoA: You had a very specific vision for how you wanted to do the film. Can you discuss/expand upon that a little?
JL: I intercut the cell phone footage with the standard def and high def footage. It cuts seamlessly and fluidly. But I kept different aspect ratios. The cell phone footage is 4x3 and everything else is 16x9 letterbox. I wanted the viewer to be able to tell when we are looking through Gary's eyes. At first we just get glimpses. I used smaller, shorter pieces. Then the pieces get longer, more expansive. By the end of the film, we are completely released into Gary's perspective. There is a point where Gary says, "I'm just trying to find the right moment," I think that is the pursuit of any artist, searching for the moment where it all gels. We get to witness Gary's process and see where it kicks in and takes flight. I wanted to capture the childlike joy of that.
CoA: You also have a Sound Dept. credit on the film, how did you go about choosing the music?
JL: I loved doing this. I used classical pieces for Gary's internal creative world. The outside world was represented by the music of Chutzpah. I listened to tons of music trying to figure out what the inside of Gary's head should sound like. I would put it up against the footage. When I came across Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending, I knew it had to be used for the culmination of the film. Weirdly, without going for this, three of the pieces have birds in their titles: the lark, the swan and the magpie. It was meant to be: Take Flight and all!
CoA: How effectual do your find music as a contributor to a scene?
JL: It is hugely important. When you see a rough cut of a film without the music score it is so different. It augments the emotion, mood and tone.
CoA: Did your experience directing this film get you really excited to attack other directing projects, like Hero for example?
JL: Yes. I loved it. As an actor you are one component of a project, which I love as well. But it was really exciting to have a vision for the whole and to bring that vision to fruition. I recently had that same experience with the collaboration with Brian Lynch for my Drusilla arc in the ANGEL comics.
CoA: You co-directed the Godhead "HERO" music video - Did you subconsciously, take anything going into this from working with so many different & talented directors on BUFFY and ANGEL?
JL: I've had the opportunity to work with amazing directors on BUFFY/ANGEL and also with Tim Burton and with many cool directors on Independents. I think the best work comes out of establishing an atmosphere of creativity. It is a collaborate art form. Lots of riches can be discovered when people are open and inspired.
CoA: YouTube launched an entire generation of amateur filmmakers on the web scene. How do you think the unique technology used on this project, cell phones, will affect the future of filmmaking?
JL: It makes filmmaking accessible in a way it has never been before, which is very exciting. The cost of camera equipment can be prohibitive. Anyone with a cell phone and an idea can get going. Gary was very creative in his ways of using the cell-cam. He taped it to a pole for aerial shots, used a wheelchair for dolly shots, built rigs for static shots, all for little to no money. Also, you can get shots that you would never get with a traditional camera.
CoA: Is there anything else you would like to add, that we haven't talked about, that people should know about Take Flight?
JL: First off, I want to thank all of the amazingly talented people that worked with me on it. I truly hope that people enjoy the movie! It has been a labor of love. A lot of labor has been involved in that love. So I hope people support it. The film is available at: JulietLandausTakeFlight.com
CoA: You are also working on your own feature film, named It's Raining Cats and Cats. Can you discuss the status of that project?
JL:It is actually a short film that I wrote, in which I will play 7 different characters. Again I have an amazing team of talented people onboard. Drac Studios who just won their 4th Academy Award for [The Curious Case of] Benjamin Button will design and do the make-ups. Two time Emmy winning Gloria Casny will do the hair. Two time Emmy winning Pembroke Andrews, who I worked with on Take Flight will do the sound. Jeremy Alter who produced David Lynch's Inland Empire and who produced Take Flight will again produce. It is an ambitious project, so we are still raising money to make it. One of the ways is by selling autographed merchandise in the julietlandau.com store as Amber Benson did to make her two films.
Written by CoA Writer, Michael Conrad
CityofAngel.com would like to graciously thank Juliet Landau for such a wonderful interview
and for giving so much of her time.
For more information about Take Flight, visit the Official website:
JulietLandausTakeFlight.com
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