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.

Its been a week since the Empire Tintin Issue came out and I’ve had time to digest the images in it.

Below are my thoughts on those images. Note, the images, not the film itself. There is a big difference between a handful of stills and a full length film. Not to mention there is still a year to go and a lot can change. When the film is released I will judge it on its own merits and not pre-judge it.

However, several stills have been released by Spielberg and Co. so they are fair game. It has always been my intention with this blog to write what I think about the film. When I like something, I say so. When I dislike something, I will also say so. You are free to disagree with me and voice your own opinions in the comments in a polite manner fitting of Tintin fans.

The Good

Scanned from Empire Magazine

This shot is the cream of the crop.

The texture of Silk’s beard, the look of the Twins, the detailed background, the composition of the shot, the lighting – they are all perfect.

The Not As Good But Still Good

Scanned from Empire Magazine

Dark and moody, full of portent and potential action. The low camera angle and heavy shadows gives the shot a nice feeling of tension.

From Empire’s online gallery

I wrote earlier that I didn’t like “the harsh light behind Haddock”. Interestingly, the print version of this image is much, much darker. This is down to the technological and production differences between VDU displays that emit light and printed matter that reflect light. In the print version, the back lighting looks less out of place and I much prefer the image even though it is harder to make out the details.

The Worrying

From Empire’s online gallery

A close up of a scanned image from Empire. Click the image for full size

These two images are the only ones from the film that show the full body lengths of our main characters plus Snowy. In both of them, something looks off-key. Haddock in particular look unnatural in his pose in both. Maybe this is just Andy Serkis’s acting of a drunk and it will look OK in context.

Snowy also doesn’t look right. This may be because he is the only true character animation in the film whilst everyone else is motion-capture.

Given the quality of everything else, I willing to bet that in the film everything will look right but it does leave me with a Polar Express type worry.

The Bad

I really don’t like this cover. The detail is exquisite but both Tintin and Snowy look really unnatural but without any of Herge’s charm. It would of been much better if they had only used actual images from the film. I suspect that this image is influencing my opinions and unduly increasing my worries about the two previous images.

Am I Excited? You Bet!

Despite all the quibbles and doubts I have about the images, all the signs are that will Spielberg & Jackson capture the look and the spirit of the books. Roll on October 2011!

A very quick update as I’m away for a long weekend in couple minutes.

The Empire magazine December issue has Tintin on the front, the two stills we have already seen plus an image of Tintin, Haddock & co in the desert (from Crab with the Golden Claws), an image of the Thompsons with Silk (the thief from Unicorn) and Tintin greeting Barnaby (who I cannot place off the top of my head). Additionally there are several behind the scenes photos and six pages of articles.

First impressions of the new images pretty much my reaction to the first two – parts of them look great (the Thompsons in particular) but the figures of Tintin, Haddock and Snowy in the desert look off somehow. Their shape or stances is just a little too cartoony for my taste.

Once I’ve had some time to read and digest the images over the weekend I’ll post more detailed thoughts. In the meantime, if you spot these images on the web, post the links in the comments below so that fans around the world can also see them.

Back soon, have a great weekend.

The first two stills for Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, have been released.

An iconic scene from The Crab with the Golden Claws

Is this Tintin meeting Haddock for the first time?

Both images have been revealed by Empire Magazine and the December issue (available 4th November) will have more comments and news from the cast. Including this:

So what can we expect from the story? Here’s what Spielberg told us. “The first part of the film, which is the most mysterious part, certainly owes much to not only film noir but the whole German Brechtian theatre — some of our night scenes and our action scenes are very contrasty. But at the same time the movie is a hell of an adventure.”

The images follow a weekend-long teaser that slowly released close-ups of their cover. A full version of which is now available.

This image was specially created for the magazine and is not from the film.

All images are copyright to someone, though who the hell knows because Empire doesn’t say. So please credit Empire magazine if you reproduce them.

Apparently, Simon Pegg (Thompson or possibly Thomson) ‘agonised over Tarantino rejection‘ when the filming dates for Tintin and Inglourious Basterds clashed.

The story is pretty thin and originated from the News of the World (not the world’s most reliable paper). I would link to the original sources but the NotW is part of Murdoch empire and now behind a pay-wall.

Burke & Hare

In better and more reliable news, Simon Pegg Andy Serkis (Capt. Haddock) are starring together in the new comedy, Burke & Hare.

Edit: And Paul

Thanks to Tom for reminding me. Pegg and Nick Frost are teaming up for Paul, a comedy adventure where a couple of SF fans find an alien.

Video: Exclusive: Paul – Trailer

Sorry about the annoying 20 second advert before the 1 minute trailer but I can’t get rid of it.

In a recent edition of Empire Magazine, Spielberg and James Cameron gave and interview about motion capture and similar techniques used in Avatar and Tintin. An interesting article but with little about Tintin except this titbit.

You can find a PDF of the full interview here. Thanks to Archibald for the link.

Total Film’s web site has a feature entitled The Adventures Of Tintin: Everything We Know. It is a recap of how Spielberg acquired the rights, the problems of financing, the cast and working with Peter Jackson.

There is no new information but there is some confusing / wrong information.

On the script Total Film says “The first draft was knocked up by Coupling writer Stephen Moffat, only for him to turn his back on the project”. This is not entirely true – The script was complete but Moffat was prevented from working on the script for the second film because of the writers strike in America. By the time that finished, he had been offered a chance to fulfill a life long ambition to write for Dr Who.

See Moffat Walked Away From Tintin and Moffat Denies Quitting Tintin for our original coverage. Note also how Total Film report that Moffat walked away from $2 million yet the original newspaper reports it was £500,000. A great example of the guesswork and the constant inflation inherent in the game of chinese whispers that is reporting on Hollywood.

Total Film go on to give credit to Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish for the bulk of the script writing duties where as the original press release gives them equal credit and the info at the time suggested this was just minor changes to Moffat’s script. However Total Film go on to say:

“….have condensed events from three of Hergé’s stories (The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure) in order to introduce the major characters ….”

This is (probably) wrong.

Comments from Spielberg have previously put the first film as covering The Crab and events up to the end of Unicorn. Also Professor Calculus has never appeared on any cast list and Red Rackham’s Treasure would be unthinkable without Calculus and the shark submergible.

In the first bit of Tintin Movie news in ages, legendary composer John Williams has finished his work on the score for Tintin.

This titbit of information appears near the end of this article: Endlessly devoted to his music

At home in Los Angeles, he takes a one-hour break from writing each day at dusk, he says, to walk at a golf course near his house. After his walk he returns to the piano, working until he has finished the day’s writing task: two or so minutes of music. Williams has just completed a chamber music piece for the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest in California and the score for “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,’’ a Steven Spielberg movie due out next year.

It may be short of news but mentioning John Williams gives me an excuse to feature this video.

It turns out the new photos from the filming of the Tintin movie I reported on the other day are not so new after all.

According to regular readers Sam and Proman, these have been out for a while and originally appeared on Tintin.com. Somehow I had missed then when they first came out and despite having looked twice, I still cannot find their original appearance.

Note: The photos below are copyright to someone, probably the production company behind The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn or Moulinsart.