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Quint has a rather odd chat with Christopher Doyle, DoP of HERO! You gotta read this!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with one of the most surprising interviews I've done in my long time here at AICN. I heard from the local publicists about HERO interviews about a week and a half ago. I was totally down for talking to anybody from the film and I heard Christopher Doyle (cinematographer) and Donnie Yen (super action star badass supreme) were doing the circuit. Too cool!
So, last Friday I wake up around my usual time... 3pm-ish... to find an email saying that Mr. Doyle is doing interviews only through email and if I wanted to get my questions answered by today, then I'd need to send them questions ASAP. Well, that took away any prep time I was going to have, so I just whipped up some quick questions and sent them off, thinking that the interview was going to be pretty drab because of my rather boring questions. So, imagine my surprise when I read Mr. Doyle's responses and found myself gut-laughing.
This guy seems to be a class-act and really likable. I now wish I could have done this interview in person or over the phone (even if it would have added to my backlog of transcription I already have waiting for me) because this sounds like a hoot. I corrected some of the misspellings, but I left the rest just as he wrote it... My personal favorites are the second and fourth questions! Give it a go... It's short, but a helluva fun interview!
QUINT: Thanks for your time, Mr. Doyle. I'll try to keep it short.
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: thats what you say to all the boys
QUINT: When did you discover your interest in cinematography and how did you learn your craft?
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: all the big questions at this time of my day!!! Let me try ... where to start? ... in our house
the batteries would rust in the camera before we could
even get close to finishing a roll of film .. my
interest have and remain literature, the sea and
women .. my frinds are mostly in dance or music and i
guess that is where my life and my images intersect .
I want to be mick jagger but i am closer to keith
richards ( or pirates johnny depp ) .. i just happened
into what i do now when someone put a camera in my
hand and i fucked up so much. i still do and thats
where i have learned most: through and because of
appropriating all these mistakes
QUINT: You've worked on both American and Asian films,
but you work more often in Asian cinema. What is it
about the experience or sensibilities of Asian
cinema that attracts you to it?
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: They dont fire people for liking the
stars ego in asia .. the process is more organic (you
can find a film or a style instead of appropriating one) We make real films Hollywood buys the remake rights
.. white women are more difficult to light ...
the food is better here .. we work longer hours so i
stay out of trouble a little more .. the 7/11 , the
corner store even the gas station sells beer ...
QUINT: HERO is a film epic in scope. Was it more
demanding of your talent to do a picture that big or
is it just like doing a smaller film like MADE?
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: its all about people . Some films seem to have more people and some films show less .. but at
the end of the day the encounter with the small group
who are actually making the film is what it is all
about .. to be honest the frustrations of making a
film like Made are perhaps greater than the waiting
for three days in the desert for the sandstorm to
subside . The give and take of any relationship are
even more preicous and more intense on a film than in
so called normal life
QUINT: I would imagine the cinematographer has one of
the most collaborative jobs on a film set. Tell me a
little bit about how you work with directors.
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: like a whore: you pay me and i give
you a good time! Tell me what you want and i will do
more than you can! I make a lot of noise but i
like what i do! I'll call you BIG BOY if you will
just let me get on with my job .
QUINT: What was the most challenging aspect for you
shooting HERO?
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: the late night meetings after 14 hours
on the set
QUINT: What do you have coming up next?
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: hopefully a life
QUINT: This is something I ask just about everyone I interview. What's your favorite dirty joke?
CHRISTOPHER DOYLE: where i have been and come from so far "White women are more difficult to light"? I love this guy! Many thanks to Mr. Doyle for taking my boring questions and turning them into one of my favorite interviews I've been a part of! I hope you liked it as much as I did!
That's it from me, squirts! I got a face to face, eye to eye interview with the youngest and hottest (next to Eli Roth, of course) director in the world tomorrow plus my mountain of transcription still to work through... It'll be worth it, though... Take my word for it... Got one more SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW interview from Comic-Con and one of the kids from the upcoming (in most of the States, anyway) MEAN CREEK. 'Til then this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu!
-Quint
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+ Expand All
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seems like he's got better things to do
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His visuals on HERO is a main element on this film that just makes it stand above the genre. Doyle's added so much to Wong Kar Wai's films as well (See FALLEN ANGEL). Just one of the best DPs in the industry. Add some stills from the new Scifi WKW film!
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thx a bunch. AICN on track again huh? Guess no one expected that
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Thats why I refuse to work with directors.
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Aug 24, 2004 5:50:02 AM CDT
Yea this guy is a riot... his answers were suprising, but expect
by kampbell-kid
I love this guy. He's obviously very down to earth and has a good nature about him. Even tho his responses were quite candid and silly. It shows the guy can still be fun, enjoy doing what he does, and still do a fantastic job. He is truely one of a kind.
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yet another fantastic film that never got the cinematic release it deserved. i asked my local multiplex when it was likely to get a screening and the lady who did the bookings told me it wouldn't even get a wednesday special slot (just one single solitary showing). i had the same problem with CTHD and had to catch that one at a small cinema down on the south coast of england whilst i was away on business...i just wish that multiplexes would give the less commercial films a chance...cineworld if you're listening?
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He's cast in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. As himself. Excellent. Anyway,I really think Mr. Doyle is an amazing cinematographer and I'll be hiring him for my next epic historical swordfight film.
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which is to say, brilliantly unhinged -- if this dotty, borderline alkie has any restraint and/or grace, he saves it for the extraordinary work he's been doing behond the camera, primarily in asia. one of the finest DP's alive, and surely a fine drinking companion...you can't quite say that about sven nyquist. more: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0432/lim.php
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the director said in numerous interviews that "Hero" is more of a test and "House of flying daggers" is the real thing. I tend to agree: after seeing "HOFD", I rushed in a shop to buy "Hero"DVD but the beauty of the first scene in HOFD(the echo's dance) has yet to find its match...
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Not to be a star fucker or anything but it was one of those "So, what do you do? Oh shit, you're fuckin' Chris Doyle!" moments. He was wearing a shirt that said "I feel like a new man! You'll do." A total mind fuck, but a very cool guy.
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just recently. some online retailers were offering the director's cut version, but shortly thereafter they were pulled from their listings without explanation. (i'm sure miramax had NOTHING to do with that, oy...) but more important than why these discs mysteriously disappeared, i'd like to know exactly what was added. anyone? anyone?
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Aug 24, 2004 1:06:08 PM CDT
Why has RandallFlagg been banned from the chatroom?! Mods, answe
by not the messiah
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Aug 24, 2004 3:08:05 PM CDT
Speaking of wire-fu, the $130 10-disk Matrix "ultimate" collecti
by frankdrebin
Just tracks by some pretentious "critics" and "scholars".
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Aug 24, 2004 3:22:41 PM CDT
"They dont fire people for liking the stars ego in asia " What
by russman
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Aug 24, 2004 3:50:35 PM CDT
man, just contrast the snappiness of this interview with the ted
by eraser_x
This guy clearly is a guy who can let his work speak for him and who can make a few serious points without making a big production out of it. The Brown Bunny guy is at the other extreme. Oh well, it takes all types, I guess. The Brown Bunny guy's self-absorption would probably be tolerable if he really were a genius; however ...
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the ones you promised a week ago would be here in a "day or so"?
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The "Psycho" remake shouldn't have been made, and black-and-white is best for it, but Doyle's cinematography for the remake was weirdly pretty, pastel candy cane colors. Maybe not bad. But the movie was bad.
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When it was nominated for best foreign film. What is the difference in this theatrical version to my DVD version?
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doyle is a legend. professionally, socially. he gave a presentation of "rabbit-proof fence" a while back. his passion for his craft, and for life, was inspiring. refreshingly candid and brutally honest, he obviously takes his work seriously, and himself not at all. and while he genuinely seems interested to hear what people have to say and think, and share his experiences (sometimes a little more than you needed to know), i also think he has one of those great built-in, shock-proof, bullshit detectors and wion't suffer fools. what's not to like?
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check out The Quiet American or In the Mood for Love
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Ye gods.
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