AFTER a hard day's vampire slaying, what better way to relax than with a cool blast of Shakespeare?
Such was the thinking that once brought England's Bard, the cast of Buffy, and the show's creator together in after-hours verbal jam sessions, and which has now led Joss Whedon to adapt Much Ado About Nothing for the screen.
Filmed in his home in Santa Monica over 12 days, tickets sold out within hours of the movie being announced as the Glasgow Film Festival's opening gala in February. While takings did not quite match the $1.5 billion of his previous movie, Avengers Assemble "“ only Avatar and Titanic have earned more "“ the demand was so high another screening had to be added lest there be Shakespeare-themed rioting in the streets.
Whedon had once again confirmed his position as the entertainment industry's Merlin, the man with the magical touch. Even if, in the case of Much Ado, his children had to sacrifice their space for the cause.
"At some point my kids became slightly disoriented, especially when they would have to sleep in our room because we were filming in their rooms," laughs Whedon as he describes what it's like to make a movie in your home. The junior Whedons compromised, but when it came to Shakespeare's language, Whedon senior was never tempted to settle.
"The language is what I love. It's the rhythm of the thing, it's the music, the essence. The plots sometimes are very exciting but if you took the language out of Hamlet you have a guy who doesn't get things done, and I hate those movies."
While he credits Kenneth Branagh with showing him how Shakespeare could be brought to the screen, his interest began with his mother, an English teacher, actress, and theatre director, and the two years he spent at Winchester College in England. "That blew the doors open for me."
He recalls the productions he has seen with the fervour of a rock fan recounting legendary gigs. Paul Scofield's Othello, Jonathan Pryce's Hamlet "“ these were Whedon's Beatles-on-the-roof moments.
Just as Dickens is forever being touted as an ideal candidate for writing soaps if he was around today, so Whedon, 48, sees Shakespeare as a natural fit for television, where the creator, more so than in movies, has more chance to keep control.
"Television is as likely a home for him as anything because he was incredibly prolific, he was part of the acting troupe, he was directing, he had his hand in everything."
Whedon, too, has more hands than a watch factory. Besides producing, directing and writing films (he was Oscar-nominated for co-writing Toy Story), he writes comic books and music, and acts too. Before Avengers Assemble he was best known as the creator of the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse.
His grandfather and father were television writers, and from early on he picked up a sense of how the business worked. When his father was writing for the Dick Cavett talk show, young Whedon came across a drawer full of notecards. One stack was labelled "jokes", another "savers", lines to use if the first joke fell flat. The message: never take anything for granted.
"That alone informed my understanding of an audience as much as anything."
The education continued on his first job in television, writing for Roseanne. It was here, says Whedon, that he learned "how not to do almost everything". The comedy, starring Roseanne Barr and John Goodman as a blue-collar couple struggling to bring up a family, was "in chaos" says Whedon. In future, he would do things differently.
"Some producers need to rewrite everything no matter what. I am not one of them. That is something that I took away. If my writers get it right they know that it will be on the screen the way they wrote it. I am too lazy to rewrite something that is already good."
After a misfired movie version of Buffy, the concept was resurrected in the television series that made Whedon's name. Fast, funny, wildly creative and with a heroine who kicked ass, dead or undead, Buffy was the first of many strong female characters Whedon has showcased. While his mother "“ "a radical feminist and an extraordinary presence" "“ can take some credit for that, there's more at work there, he explains.
"There's a certain amount of identification with the idea of being, shall we say, the weaker. I've never really understood why my avatar has always been an adolescent girl but it has. I live with that, it's fine," he laughs.
The Avengers 2 will hit cinemas in 2015. As we talk, Whedon has time to reflect on what he will do differently next time. The worst thing about the first movie, he says, was being away from his family for so long.
"Film crews on great big movies just came off a great big movie, are headed to a great big movie, you don't get the kind of intimacy within the group. Even though the cast was very sweet and supportive they work a day then they would be gone for a month. That experience was a little bleak for me. On the second one I will understand how to change that, enjoy it more."
Still, there were compensat-ions. "The best thing was that I had a job where every now and then I would have to strike a superheroic stance on purpose as part of my job. That's the best job you could have."
It sounds as though film might have replaced television as his great love. It's not that clear cut, he says.
"I set out to make film and fell in love with television. My heart belongs to storytelling. That is the only thing that I care about. I'm not one of those directors who can be his own cinematographer.
"I'm not precious about film stock. I'm not going to make a music video any time soon because I would not know what to do without a story.
"Maybe I should. I am media agnostic. I love television for its breadth, I love film for its height, I love the internet for its freedom."
Being the Merlin of many media means he is recognised a lot more these days. Not many ex-Roseanne writers can say that. He's still able, however, to write in his favourite place "“ restaurants.
He says: "I'm a bit of a foodie. I'm in my space, I've got my tunes, and people are bringing me nice things all the time. It makes it very easy to write."
While he has another TV series coming out, Agents of SHIELD, it is Avengers 2 that is taking up most of his time.
"I'm very, very committed to making The Avengers part deux a better film than the first one. I have a very different mindset about approaching it. I want it to work emotionally and visually on a level that the first one got close to. I think I can do better."
Better than $1.5 billion and the global adulation of fans? Of such stuff are Whedon's dreams made on.
Much Ado About Nothing opens on June 14
Source: Herald Scotland
Such was the thinking that once brought England's Bard, the cast of Buffy, and the show's creator together in after-hours verbal jam sessions, and which has now led Joss Whedon to adapt Much Ado About Nothing for the screen.
Filmed in his home in Santa Monica over 12 days, tickets sold out within hours of the movie being announced as the Glasgow Film Festival's opening gala in February. While takings did not quite match the $1.5 billion of his previous movie, Avengers Assemble "“ only Avatar and Titanic have earned more "“ the demand was so high another screening had to be added lest there be Shakespeare-themed rioting in the streets.
Whedon had once again confirmed his position as the entertainment industry's Merlin, the man with the magical touch. Even if, in the case of Much Ado, his children had to sacrifice their space for the cause.
"At some point my kids became slightly disoriented, especially when they would have to sleep in our room because we were filming in their rooms," laughs Whedon as he describes what it's like to make a movie in your home. The junior Whedons compromised, but when it came to Shakespeare's language, Whedon senior was never tempted to settle.
"The language is what I love. It's the rhythm of the thing, it's the music, the essence. The plots sometimes are very exciting but if you took the language out of Hamlet you have a guy who doesn't get things done, and I hate those movies."
While he credits Kenneth Branagh with showing him how Shakespeare could be brought to the screen, his interest began with his mother, an English teacher, actress, and theatre director, and the two years he spent at Winchester College in England. "That blew the doors open for me."
He recalls the productions he has seen with the fervour of a rock fan recounting legendary gigs. Paul Scofield's Othello, Jonathan Pryce's Hamlet "“ these were Whedon's Beatles-on-the-roof moments.
Just as Dickens is forever being touted as an ideal candidate for writing soaps if he was around today, so Whedon, 48, sees Shakespeare as a natural fit for television, where the creator, more so than in movies, has more chance to keep control.
"Television is as likely a home for him as anything because he was incredibly prolific, he was part of the acting troupe, he was directing, he had his hand in everything."
Whedon, too, has more hands than a watch factory. Besides producing, directing and writing films (he was Oscar-nominated for co-writing Toy Story), he writes comic books and music, and acts too. Before Avengers Assemble he was best known as the creator of the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse.
His grandfather and father were television writers, and from early on he picked up a sense of how the business worked. When his father was writing for the Dick Cavett talk show, young Whedon came across a drawer full of notecards. One stack was labelled "jokes", another "savers", lines to use if the first joke fell flat. The message: never take anything for granted.
"That alone informed my understanding of an audience as much as anything."
The education continued on his first job in television, writing for Roseanne. It was here, says Whedon, that he learned "how not to do almost everything". The comedy, starring Roseanne Barr and John Goodman as a blue-collar couple struggling to bring up a family, was "in chaos" says Whedon. In future, he would do things differently.
"Some producers need to rewrite everything no matter what. I am not one of them. That is something that I took away. If my writers get it right they know that it will be on the screen the way they wrote it. I am too lazy to rewrite something that is already good."
After a misfired movie version of Buffy, the concept was resurrected in the television series that made Whedon's name. Fast, funny, wildly creative and with a heroine who kicked ass, dead or undead, Buffy was the first of many strong female characters Whedon has showcased. While his mother "“ "a radical feminist and an extraordinary presence" "“ can take some credit for that, there's more at work there, he explains.
"There's a certain amount of identification with the idea of being, shall we say, the weaker. I've never really understood why my avatar has always been an adolescent girl but it has. I live with that, it's fine," he laughs.
The Avengers 2 will hit cinemas in 2015. As we talk, Whedon has time to reflect on what he will do differently next time. The worst thing about the first movie, he says, was being away from his family for so long.
"Film crews on great big movies just came off a great big movie, are headed to a great big movie, you don't get the kind of intimacy within the group. Even though the cast was very sweet and supportive they work a day then they would be gone for a month. That experience was a little bleak for me. On the second one I will understand how to change that, enjoy it more."
Still, there were compensat-ions. "The best thing was that I had a job where every now and then I would have to strike a superheroic stance on purpose as part of my job. That's the best job you could have."
It sounds as though film might have replaced television as his great love. It's not that clear cut, he says.
"I set out to make film and fell in love with television. My heart belongs to storytelling. That is the only thing that I care about. I'm not one of those directors who can be his own cinematographer.
"I'm not precious about film stock. I'm not going to make a music video any time soon because I would not know what to do without a story.
"Maybe I should. I am media agnostic. I love television for its breadth, I love film for its height, I love the internet for its freedom."
Being the Merlin of many media means he is recognised a lot more these days. Not many ex-Roseanne writers can say that. He's still able, however, to write in his favourite place "“ restaurants.
He says: "I'm a bit of a foodie. I'm in my space, I've got my tunes, and people are bringing me nice things all the time. It makes it very easy to write."
While he has another TV series coming out, Agents of SHIELD, it is Avengers 2 that is taking up most of his time.
"I'm very, very committed to making The Avengers part deux a better film than the first one. I have a very different mindset about approaching it. I want it to work emotionally and visually on a level that the first one got close to. I think I can do better."
Better than $1.5 billion and the global adulation of fans? Of such stuff are Whedon's dreams made on.
Much Ado About Nothing opens on June 14
Source: Herald Scotland
