The VES Awards (visual effects) were yesterday and Steve Weintraub from Collider had a chance to talk to Wally Pfister on the red carpet about his directing debut, TRANSCENDENCE. Wally Pfister has done the cinematography for most of Christopher Nolan‘s films as well as movies such as THE ITALIAN JOB and MONEYBALL. I absolutely love his work, INSOMNIA in particular. TRANSCENDENCE isn’t officially green light yet (it’s in “active pre-production”) and Wally Pfister sounds like he isn’t one to share too many secrets so if you’re looking for plot details on the film you’re out of luck.
On getting Johnny Depp for TRANSCENDENCE:
“Johnny’s [Depp] an incredible talent and he just responded to the material. He really loved the script and he really brought a new life to it. I think he’ll be amazing in that part, too. I’m really excited.”
Wally Pfister also talks about the possibility that the film may be shot in IMAX and his concerns about film labs shutting down:
I definitely have to ask you, you’re going to be directing your own feature soon. Something I’m really curious about, will IMAX be a factor?
Pfister: I don’t know, it depends on, when we get up and running, whether we can still get the film stock and whether laboratories are able to stay around for us, but I would definitely consider shooting some of it on IMAX if it’s possible.
See now I hear that, from filmmakers, “if the labs are still there.” Is it really that much of a concern?
Pfister: It is a concern because Technicolor stopped processing film and Deluxe seems to be on the edge of not processing anymore. It’s of great concern to those of us who want to be able to shoot film, it’s a concern that we’re going to be able to do so.
When asked if he was as secretive as Christopher Nolan, he says:
“Yeah, I think it’s unfortunate but I think that a lot of information just kind of leaked its way out; it wasn’t intentionally released. Then, as I said, people are rabid for information and I think it’s wonderful that people have an appetite but I think they should really wait for the film.”
You can check out the video interview over at Collider. TRANSCENDENCE sounds like it could be a nice little techno mind f*ck, and although Wally Pfister may not like it, I will be looking for as much information as possible on this film. He also added that he’d like to start shooting by April once all the other pieces are in place, so more news should be rolling in shortly.