In my last post I went into detail on the longest of two interviews with Jamie Bell,the well known actor cast as Tintin. Here I will review the second. There is no video of this one,and I am assuming there is more than I can find here but I haven’t found it yet. There is not too much I can say that isn’t stated there already,but there are a few thing’s worth mentioning and quotes from Jamie.

When Jamie Bell was approached with the project he was skeptical and clearly hadn’t worked with this technology before:

“What is it? That was my first thing initially. What is it? How do you do it? What does it require? How does it work? Does it even work? Let me see some evidence of it working. I watched some of those motion capture films, which were very early and primitive in terms of the technology. All props to Robert Zimeckis  for kind of spearheading the industry in saying that this is something we need to take note of.”

This quote is the biggest news from me. When he later talked about his first experience with motion capture he confirmed that he is a real fan of Tintin, as well as the fact that the new technology wound up being no problem at all:

“I knew everything about Tintin. I was already a Tintinophile or Tintinologist. I was very into that so it was literally trying to understand the mechanics of the technology. You want me to stand in a gray room and act as though I’m in a sea plane in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of the Sahara desert with nothing around me that informs anything about this character’s journey? Anything about anything in the physical world? That’s great because it just means that I can make it all up!”

That information complements the info from my previous post.  If any of us had any doubt about Jamie Bell,we shouldn’t now. He is a very good actor. But most important to me he is not going to do what many actors try and do in book or comic book based movies: try and put their own spin on a traditional character. That was one of my greatest fears about the Tintin movie. It’s one thing to take a character like Willy Wonka and twist him into something else or remake another Jane Eyre,but if such were ever attempted with Tintin the results would be disastrous. But Jamie Bell gives every indication that he did and will do his best to stay as true to the character as possible and to live up to Hergé’s work. That’s great news for all true Tintin fans!

Another possible issue was whether Tintin will appear to American audiences. I happen to be an American myself and I’ve asked myself this many times. A few people like my father knew about Tintin,but in general most people in the USA have never heard of him or confuse him with Rin tin tin. If the movie doesn’t go over well in the US that will definitely affect the final grossing and although this has no real source it might even affect the making of the sequels. This subject came up with Jamie as well:

“I think anyone who understands and appreciates Indiana Jones, understands Tintin and they don’t even know what it is yet. I feel like it’s not going to be difficult. I think the characters are great because they all have human flaws. The Tintin character is a very driven and ambitious guy. The structure of the story and the adventure is something we all know and love. There’s something at the end and they’ve got to get to it. There’s a very bizarre and quirky and exciting relationship in the center of it between these two guys. And there’s Steven Spielberg at the helm, who does this story incredibly well.”

The other day I heard somebody who had never heard of Tintin say that ”Tintin:the secret of the unicorn” was a funny sounding title. Had I not read the book or recognized the character,I probably would agree. But I think Jamie is right. The character’s are wonderful,the story is both entertaining and action packed,and I’m sure the huge amount of advertising that will be put out will get the American’s past the funny title. They may even see it just because Spielberg and Jackson made it.  That would be too bad if that were the only reason,but hopefully that will get Americans to know and love Tintin. As for myself,I can’t wait to see it and continue to wait anxiously for it’s premiere. These last two interviews are just two more reasons to look forward to opening night.

From what I can gather at least two different interviews with Jamie Bell after the press junket for ”The Eagle”, another upcoming film starring Jamie. Both have valuable information for Tintin Movie fans. Very special thanks to Pro-man, Wolfgang and Britto for finding information on these articles!

The first six minutes or so have almost nothing to do with Tintin,but he appears every so often from then on. There’s plenty of interesting info though for 10 minutes. Nothing that’s quite breaking news or anything that reveals much more than we knew already,but certainly worth a watch none the less. For those of you who don’t want to watch the whole video (or for those of you like me who have a computer that won’t have it loaded until the Tintin movie comes out) here is a summary of the Tintin related parts.

Jamie comments on the huge contrast between shooting on location for ”The Eagle” and shooting on a motion capture set where ”nothing is real” and things like a chair or even a camera are represented with pieces of metal. About 8 minutes into the video the interviewer asks a few questions about Tintin. Peter and Jamie have a professional relationship since King Kong. When approached on how he got the part Jamie talks about how he went down to New Zealand to meet with Peter Jackson and ”played around with the technology”. Jamie makes some comments on how he believes that motion capture is the only way to really stay true to Hergé’s artwork,the reason he believes that Tintin is still ”so successful and has withstood the test of time”.

He goes on to say ”I think what Hergé did was an incredible thing”. It’s refreshing to see that the actor playing Tintin is a true fan of Tintin as well. That will certainly show in the movie. Also,although he does not specifically say so in the interview about Tintin,at the beginning of the interview he spends a lot of time talking about how much work and research he put into playing his part in ”The Eagle” to the point where he even learned Gallic. If he was willing to do that for The Eagle,we can only imagine what his work on Tintin must have been like.

When asked if he had more respect for Andy Serkis now,Jamie answered ”Oh,for sure!…I’ve never worked so many times with Andy Serkis and now to actually work with him in something where I’m kind of in his back garden of technology…He is the guru! He is the Gandalf of motion capture!” He goes on to compare how just as Andy ceased to be Andy when he became the beast of King Kong he ceases to be himself when working on Captain Haddock. I can’t wait to see this on screen.

Since Tintin has such a long post production period,Jamie was asked how he was doing waiting to finally see the movie. Jamie replied ”I am itching…literally itching to see some stuff”. He commented on how post things took so long because thing’s are done in bits and pieces and it is so easy to change stuff. ”You just type it into a computer and your whole world pops right back up,so it’s very easy to change things”. Jamie said he was pleased with the images he has seen so far,believes the movie will be very and cool and that it has a ”very very driven kind of action adventure story with some really great characters I think everyone’s gonna love”. Later talking about the reaction of fans who haven’t heard on Tintin he says ”For anyone who are fans of things like Indiana Jones, this is kind of a very fresh take on that with a character that is very well established”

He was then asked about the experience of acting in motion capture and if he acted with others simultaneously or if he acted on his own. He replied that he acted like you would for any other film. ”It’s almost like rehearsing for a play that will never be put on stage.” It doesn’t feel like a movie set,he says,because all it is is a grey room with a bunch of cameras on the ceiling. ”When you’re acting it feels like a rehearsal space,which is really great cause it allows you to feel a lot freer because the room just feels so creative in that sense”. ”It’s really about kind of letting your imagination run wild”.

Jamie later confirms ”Tintin 2” but says the idea right now is to work on it after Jackson is done working on The Hobbit,a project he is very busy on right now and very devoted to. All that’s left in the video of Tintin related interest is his excitement of travelling around the world when Tintin is released,excited about being able to talk about his work with Spielberg and Jackson.

I will post more about a shorter interview in my next post.

Hello readers!

My name is Stephen,and due to a new time consuming business Chris Tregenza is very busy working on right now,I will be assisting him to keep this blog alive and running. It is just too great a blog to let fade away,and I jumped at the opportunity to help write the occasional blog post. I by no means plan on substituting Chris and as a fan of this blog will continue to look forward to his posts,but at the moment he does not have much time so I will probably post more than he will be able to for a while. I will work hard at keeping my posts up to the high quality of the blogs posts and the high expectations of the fans who follow this blog.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself.

I have been an enormous Tintin fan since I was in the second grade and my father gave me a 3 album set of Tintin in America and the two following albums. Since then Tintin has been more than just my favorite comic book character. For me he has outdone any fictional character from any comic book,novel or other story I have ever read,or from any movie I have ever seen. I own every Tintin album and have read each one so many times I lost count. A trip to Brussels for me meant a trip to the Tintin gift shop and the hand painted subway stop done by Hergé.

My favorite albums are the two moon albums,The Calculus Affair,and after that The Secret of The Unicorn duo. Since I heard of the project of a Tintin movie coming out for today’s modern audiences directed by 2 of the world’s best directors I have been sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting about as patiently as Captain Haddock waited for his broken stair to be replaced.  Right from the beginning I followed this blog,and you may rest assured that another true Tintin fan and Tintin movie fan is assisting with this blog. I will be checking leads and posting on new news as soon as I find things out.

I am such a huge Tintin fan for many reasons. For one thing Tintin and I instantly clicked in that we both love to travel. As a matter of fact I probably got a good part of my love for traveling reading Tintin. I have currently visited 10 countries. I loved,and still love,reading the books and being transported from my room,the car,or wherever I’m reading to the Land of Black Gold,to America,to Scotland,to Borduria…volcanic islands and tropical jungles, the Sahara dessert and the Artic ocean…and even the moon! Although this could be true with many fiction stories, it is a rare occasion to find all these great locations,especially in the world of comic books, mixed with delightful interesting stories and beautiful art. Tintin is not only fun to read,but it is fun to look at.

That’s one of the reasons I look forward to seeing the Tintin movie in 3D. Using the miraculous technology they have today they won’t reproduce something that looks like the exact drawings Hergé painted,but they will preserve the effect the stories give regarding how the viewer feels like he is literally right there with Tintin and Snowy searching for Red Rackham’s treasure,enjoying the storyline and visuals every step of the way. Digital 3D is a great way to do that and although we cannot know for sure I believe Spielberg and Jackson will pull it off.

Another thing I love about Tintin is the detail put into each book. Each page,each panel even, has lots of detail in it. I love going back and just reading the signs in Chinese,although I don’t understand them,or the numbers on the side of a tank,or some antique I never noticed before in Marlinspike Hall’s basement. I have always been one to make a big deal out of the little things. Tiny pieces of trivia fascinate me.  I love reading books or magazines with tidbits of useless Trivial Pursuit material. I don’t care if I’ll never need the info in real life. It’s just something that I have fun with,that interests me.  It’s cool to feel like you know something or noticed something that probably very few people on Earth know. After all who doesn’t like to learn a neat fact that they can show off around their friend’s with?

One of the things I hope to post is clever Tintin Trivia. I will work on posting on Tintin Movie news,but often there won’t be any,so I will work on finding information and news about Tintin. Tintin is so much more than just another comic book,and I’m convinced you could read the same book 20 times and still not see half the details and work Hergé put into his masterpiece. In a more modern sense the motion capture team is doing something similar with the Tintin movie. Just as Hergé put detail into every panel of his books, it’s clear from the first images that the makers of Tintin movie are putting immense detail into each frame of the movie. Unlike previous Tintin movie’s that seem to tone down the beauty and work Hergé put into the books,on this one they are working hard to make sure that it’s worthy of living up to it’s name. I am confident that will show on the big screen.

Of course there are more reasons,the characters,the humor,the suspense,.. but basically these are the biggest reasons why I am a Tintin fan and why I am looking forward so much for the Tintin movie. If you are new here and haven’t read Tintin I strongly recommend you do. To those of you who have followed this blog for a long time, I hope that you think of me not as a strange new writer on the blog but as a fellow fan who wants to make other Tintin fans happy. It’s my privilege to keep this blog alive and running.  Feel free to check here regularly for posts,I will do my best to post as much as possible.

Again,I hope to keep this blog as informative,as interesting and as much fun as possible. If any of you find a source to follow or write to, anything you think should be posted here, or even anything that just might be worthy of a post,feel free to write an email or leave a comment.

Stephen