Eagle vs. Shark

[size=100:dvclog8f]Synopsis:

Celebrated short film director Taika Waititi's first feature is an offbeat comedy about two lonely misfits and their bumbling attempts to find love. Lily is a shy fast-food restaurant cashier with a crush on clueless gaming geek Jarrod. When Lily crashes Jarrod's fancy dress party wearing a shark costume and impresses the self-styled ‘Eagle Lord' with her gaming prowess, she gets her man, but their fledgling romance is sorely tested by Jarrod's obsession with a childhood nemesis.

giggletycoon wrote:A Pretty Cool People Interview with Taika from youtube:

[flash=350,287:eywnr25s]https://www.youtube.com/v/6v3igtarDlc&hl=en&fs=1[/flash:eywnr25s]

pukeko wrote:In case you guys haven't heard, Taika picked up the award for best film director last night at the NZ Film and Television Awards. Delayed reaction I know, but there was nop film awards last year because of the mess the industry was in if I recall correctly.

Here's an article, Taika is very briefly mentioned at the end and most of the article talks about Outrageous Fortune which cleaned up, but here it is anyway:

sunnyringo wrote:
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Taika Waititi with his award for Directing in Film for Eagle vs Shark at the Qantas New Zealand Television Awards at the Civic Theatre on September 13, 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand.

gezyka wrote:One of my favorite parts from the Eagle vs. Shark outtakes, the very end:

"
CUT!"






And I love how he has Gordon hair.

gezyka wrote:[size=133:ne641v58]Disney's Kiwi misfits
By Peter Griffin

[size=75:ne641v58]Idealog September/October 2007, page 38. Photograph by Mike Clare

Eagle vs Shark, Taika Waititi’s movie about a couple of Kiwi misfits, was never intended for an overseas audience—but it’s showing on screens across the US courtesy of The Walt Disney Company, complete with a killer soundtrack by fellow Wellingtonians The Phoenix Foundation. Peter Griffin follows their road to the Magic Kingdom

Its doors are yet to open for the day, but film festival-goers are already queuing outside Wellington’s Embassy Theatre when Idealog meets filmmaker Taika Waititi at the neighbouring Deluxe cafe.

Eagle vs Shark, Waititi’s debut feature, has its second Wellington screening at the Embassy in the afternoon. A red sticker on the festival programme shows the session has sold out.

After weeks travelling the US on the press junket in support of Eagle vs Shark, the homecoming for Waititi, a committed Wellingtonian, has been a warm one. A stream of people walking past Deluxe, including Waititi’s old music teacher from Onslow College, stop to wish him well.

Waititi’s reputation as actor, artist, stand-up comedian and filmmaker is well established here at home, though it’s as a movie director that he has found success abroad—to his surprise.

“Eagle vs Shark was really something I wanted to make just to experiment, to learn how to make a feature film so I didn’t screw up my next one,” he says. “If it played in a few festivals overseas, that would be great. The fact it sold overseas was never factored into the equation when we were making it.”

Eagle vs Shark, which after a brief airing at the Cannes Film Market was picked up for US distribution by Disney-owned Miramax, is an oddball comedy about two social outcasts who fall in love. It’s also a distinctly New Zealand story and is punctuated with sequences of stop-motion animation. But it’s impossible to read an American review of Eagle vs Shark that doesn’t draw comparisons with that quirkiest of comedies, Napoleon Dynamite.

If Waititi is tired of having his film measured against one of the most successful low-budget movies of recent years, he’s not showing it.

“Today’s audiences may as well be screenwriters … they know when the cute meet is, they know when the inciting incident happens, they know when the first act is supposed to be over and they’ll freak out if it’s not”

“If Napoleon Dynamite wasn’t around, maybe we’d be compared to Little Miss Sunshine,” he says. “If that wasn’t around maybe it would be Buffalo ’66. You could probably go all the way back to Revenge of the Nerds.”

The common thread in all these films is the presence of eccentric downbeat characters. Waititi sees few other similarities between his movie and Napoleon Dynamite, which was drawing rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival three years ago as Waititi debuted his breakthrough short film, Two Cars, One Night.

He later picked up an Oscar nomination for the film in what turned out to be a bumper year for New Zealand at the awards ceremony, thanks to Peter Jackson and The Lord of the Rings.

The success of Two Cars, One Night won Waititi a place in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters/Directors Labs, where Eagle vs Shark assumed its final characteristics.

Although the movie was originally intended as a drama, Waititi’s deadpan dialogue steered it towards comedy overall. “The main thing for me was finding the right tone, capturing the comedy and the drama together,” Waititi says. He still finds it hard to place Eagle vs Shark in any particular genre, something he believes reviewers have struggled with as well.

“It’s really a New Zealand take on the romantic comedy,” he says, reluctantly. That’s because the structure of romantic comedies, set in concrete by Hollywood’s filmmakers, has become so formulaic.

“They may as well be screenwriters,” says Waititi of today’s sophisticated audiences. “They know all the beats of the film, they know when the cute meet is, they know when the inciting incident happens, they know when the first act is supposed to be over and they’ll freak out if it’s not over,” he says with resignation.

Another friend stops outside the Deluxe to welcome Waititi home. “Are you enjoying the ride?” he asks. “It’s a rollercoaster. It’ll just never stop will it?” answers Waititi, with mock melodrama.

“Don’t try and jump off,” his friend advises.
Magazine layout

Jemaine Clement and Loren Horsley play two social misfits in small-town New Zealand, but the quirky Kiwi comedy found a big-time buyer at Cannes

Waititi’s happy to take that ride in filmmaking, but he’d rather make his own movies here, despite now being flooded with offers to direct other people’s movies in the US. The scripts come thick and fast, sent by his agent at the Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles.

“I’m almost one of the romantic comedy go-to guys. I was already getting sent a lot of shii scripts, but now it’s a lot of shii genre scripts,” he laughs. He reckons 80 percent of the scripts he receives are substandard. But he reads them all the same, in the hope of discovering something good enough to make a two-year commitment.

Waititi was reunited with Eagle vs Shark star Jemaine Clement, one half of the Wellington Flight of the Conchords duo, to direct two episodes of the Conchords’ HBO TV series. “It wasn’t that much different to here, other than they’ve got teamsters and a lot of union laws,” says Waititi of the directing gig.

“It was an easy job, the scripts were done. I basically walked in, sat down and said action.”

But the prospect of making feature films in the US currently holds little appeal, he says. “Times are changing … filmmakers don’t really have to leave New Zealand, go and live over there in that hell-hole, that soul-destroying tinsel town.”

That hell-hole? If Waititi sounds as if he has come to loathe Los Angeles in the space of his short film career, he says no—not completely, anyway. “It’s a great place if you know lots of people,” he admits. “But LA is filled with people who are talking about what they’re going to do. Not many of them actually do it.”

He occasionally catches up with Kiwi doers in LA like Lee Tamahori and Andrew Niccol, who picked up his own Oscar nomination for the screenplay for The Truman Show.

But Waititi sees potential in helping to build a more stable film industry here in New Zealand, one he hopes could be as successful as the prolific Hong Kong industry he admires. “If it’s something we can consistently achieve that would be great. The only way we can really do that is by staying here and making New Zealand stuff and not trying to copy overseas films so much.”

He says he made Eagle vs Shark with only a New Zealand audience in mind, determined not to broaden its appeal just to please overseas viewers. The approach paid off. A few lines of dialogue were re-recorded “to make them understandable”, says Waititi. Other than that, Eagle vs Shark was released in the US largely untouched by Miramax.
Magazine layout

“If we tried to make a lot of films in a true New Zealand style, they would probably come across as not ground-breaking but definitely pushing the boundaries a bit, purely because we don’t really know the ground rules that well here,” he argues.

He has so far enjoyed a dream run with the New Zealand Film Commission, which funded Eagle vs Shark. “They basically gave me the money and left me alone. I’d be the first to admit that’s probably not a good idea with most directors.”

It helped that Whenua Films, helmed by experienced producer Ainsley Gardiner and actor Cliff Curtis, produced Two Cars, One Night and had a good track record with the Film Commission. “Ainsley’s the person I grew up with as a filmmaker—I can’t really imagine doing it with anyone else,” says Waititi.

While Eagle vs Shark had a fast-tracked ride through the Film Commission thanks to the buzz created by Two Cars, Waititi says the development process for most New Zealand feature films is too lengthy.

“There’s a lot of stuff in development, but a lot of it stays in development for a long time. I know people who’ve had stuff in script development for five years.”

But he says he tries not to take money in the form of film development funding. “For some reason I don’t trust it. If you can make the best script you can off your own back and then look to make it, you’ve a lot more protection for yourself.”

That’s exactly how he wrote what he hopes will be his next film.

“It’s not set in a car park or anything, it’s more about the world of those kids,” says Waititi of the feature-length version of Two Cars, One Night.

The three child actors who were plucked from an East Cape school to give such convincing performances in the short film are unlikely to make appearances in the same roles—after all, it’s been four years since the film was shot. But the feature will return to the same world, one that Waititi knows so well from his childhood.

Whenua Films will produce the film, though Waititi expects its route to a worldwide release will be more conventional route than that of Eagle vs Shark.

“Two Cars is a hard one for a studio to get on board with at an early stage, there’s no star or anything. They’d have to go to a festival and watch and see how it goes and then buy it,” he says.

The rest of the year will be spent refining further drafts of the script, a process Waititi relishes. “I love directing, but there’s nothing like that feeling when you’re on a roll writing, when a scene’s a scene and you know where it’s headed,” he says. “The sense of achievement when you’ve finished a screenplay is so pleasing.”

Eagle vs Shark opened on general release on August 16

[url=Source][/url]

zombie wrote:randomly! my brother got me the new zealand 'lonely planet' book for christmas (a friend and i are planning to go in september) and in the top 10 mandatory movies Eagle Vs Shark was number 7

gezyka wrote:So I found this a couple months ago (man, I'm slow " title="" border="0"/> ), but forgot to post it:
[url=Eagle Vs. Shark Blog][/url]

Most of you have probably seen it, but I just read it for the first time. hahaha. It's just like his blog, but about EvS (obviously). And I love how he signs his name differently for each entry.

gezyka wrote:(cross-posted from EvS thread)

Q&A with Taika :

[flash=350,287:rezoe4nu]https://www.youtube.com/v/eVNiFFvomOY&hl=en&fs=1[/flash:rezoe4nu]


ADD: Actually, there's a little more to it than that!

The Taika part starts at ~10:20:
[flash=350,287:rezoe4nu]https://www.youtube.com/v/Ls2oSpcXGls&hl=en&fs=1[/flash:rezoe4nu]

And from the beginning until ~8:00:
[flash=350,287:rezoe4nu]https://www.youtube.com/v/lYotNc5mqE8&hl=en&fs=1[/flash:rezoe4nu]

[size=150:5b7aw7zp]Taika Waititi: Eagle vs Shark & Ripping Off Life

FEATURE: 20 JULY 2007


[size=100:5b7aw7zp]Script to Screen, the New Zealand Writers Guild, and the Telecom Auckland International Film Festival featured screenwriter and director Taika Waititi in conversation with filmhead Ant Timpson hours before the hotly anticipated Auckland premiere of Eagle vs Shark.


Waititi and Timpson kept the capacity audience of the Civic’
s Festival Lounge hanging on every word with deft comic timing, providing candid insights into Waititi’
s early creative impulses, his path as a filmmaker, and the evolution of the script for Eagle vs. Shark.

Early Inspirations

Waititi grew up within a creative environment. His artist father and English teacher mother (who forced the young Waititi to read and write essays in his spare time) did not pressure him into a corporate career. The young Waititi’
s obsessive copying of the Robocop poster was perhaps one of the first signs that he had absorbed his parents’
artistic temperaments and was drawn to the medium of visual story telling. Comedy was another early obsession. Waititi often spent Friday nights staying up to see The Young Ones, taping every show so he could ‘
watch it again and again’
. Waititi, who is now an accomplished comedian, playwright, actor, and visual artist, is able to combine all of these creative outlets in the medium of film.

Strong Kiwi Sensibility

Waititi is very clear that he writes about what he knows and those subjects that interest him. Eagle vs Shark began with ‘
ideas and scenes that I thought would look cool in a film’
and Hollywood or international appeal was not a primary consideration during the development of Eagle’
s script. Eagle vs Shark is a low budget film for New Zealanders with a strong kiwi humour and sensibility. ‘
I made it to try to learn how to make a feature film, to learn about the pressure of making 90 minutes of story and to be able to make mistakes and apply lessons in the next film.’
Waititi said writing this first feature was like writing several short films and putting them all together. ‘
Sometimes it can be that easy,’
he said. ‘
Lots of scenes are based on things I’
ve experienced, conversations I’
ve overheard. I’
ve ripped off life really.’


The Development Process

There was no treatment for Eagle vs Shark. Waititi’
s partner, Loren Horsley, came up with the idea of a girl as the central character, the ‘
best friend’
rather than the usual type of female protagonist. Waititi and Horsley paired this girl up with a second rate guy, wrote about the situations and stories that might eventuate from such an unlikely union, and created two main characters whose stories are not often told. While working with Horsley, Waititi was approached by the Sundance Institute to submit a script to their director’
s lab. Waititi had previously workshopped Choice at Sundance, a feature script based on his Oscar nominated short film Two Cars, One Night. When asked if he had anything else to submit, he replied ‘
Of course!’
and wrote the first draft of Eagle vs Shark in a week to meet the Sundance deadline. Although the initial process was fast, Waititi noted that subsequent drafts ‘
took a lot longer and were a lot more painful.’


Sundance offered to workshop scenes from Eagle, and this process helped to define the genre and structure of the film. ‘
It’
s great to be ground breaking,’
Waititi said, ‘
but screenwriting rules do apply to Eagle vs Shark. It’
s right within the boundaries of classic romantic comedy.’
Each of the four scenes work-shopped at Sundance was seen by crews and actors and feedback was given by a range of advisors. Varied and contradictory advice would often result, but Waititi said, ‘
You don’
t go to Sundance looking for answers but to get stimulated. You’
re buzzing afterwards –
that’
s when you find stuff. Being able to test your material, scenes and writing –
that’
s the beauty of Sundance.’


Waititi stressed the integral role music plays in Eagle vs Shark. He listened to the Phoenix Foundation while writing the script, and they eventually came on board to score the film. Their music informs the images and the way scenes unfold. Waititi sees the Phoenix Foundation as once of the key contributors to the final film.

Directing Your Own Script

Waititi storyboarded Two Cars One Night with exquisite care, only to see half go out the window during the shoot. He decided to use stick figures for his next film Tama Tu, and went without for Eagle vs Shark. ‘
With the budgets for films I’
m going to make, I’
m never going to shoot the whole storyboard. A shot list is better. I try to list the shots needed for the scene to work, get them, and then do all the fancy stuff afterwards.’
Waititi says the director must know the intentions of the story, ensuring that no matter what happens on set, the crucial story will still be told. Cinema is an art of compromise. Time, budget, sets and locations never quite fulfill the images created during the writing. ‘
There will always be small changes affecting your material,’
said Waititi, ‘
but that isn’
t always a bad thing.’
However he did warn writers to be prepared for much of the script being cut on set and again in the edit.

Waititi praised producer Ainsley Gardner, saying he values their professional relationship and their friendship, that affords him the creative freedom to make the film he wants within a supportive environment. Waititi said the Oscar nomination for Two Cars, One Night has smoothed the way and helped secure deals with Miramax and ICON as an international distributor for Eagle vs Shark before the film was made.

Filmmaking for Pleasure

Waititi never intended his shorts to be calling cards in a directing career. Two Cars One Night was an attempt to get a feel for filmmaking, and he enjoyed it so much he made another. The leap to feature film was taken seriously, with Waititi well aware of the differences between the two formats. ‘
I was definitely anxious and wasn’
t sure it was going to work.’


Waititi is now back working on the script for Choice which he describes as a ‘
coming of age’
story about a small Maori community and the impact the release of Michael Jackson’
s Thriller had on the town in 1984. Waititi says he still enjoys projects ‘
that you can finish in a month’
, so will continue to make shorts and participate in the 48 Hour Film Festival. ‘
The 48 Hour festival is an opportunity to have the most freedom, to challenge yourself, to make something fresh. It’
s invigorating and liberating, there’
s a certain joy in knowing the outcome is inevitably going to be shii and just going with it.’


Waititi says that although he has been courted by Hollywood, he will not be moving to LA any time soon. He is happy to be in New Zealand, contributing to the local industry and having the freedom to make films that appeal to him.

Script to Screen’
s Comments

‘
With someone as multi talented as Taika, Script to Screen and the NZ Writers Guild were thrilled to have the chance to focus specifically on his career as a screenwriter, and to be able to help celebrate the Auckland premiere of Eagle vs Shark,’
said Rebecca Kunin, Executive Director of Script to Screen. ‘
We were delighted to work with the Telecom Auckland International Film Festival to hold a large event such as this in the wonderful space that is the Festival Lounge.

[size=150:vpd9cc4z]Taika Waititi (Eagle Vs Shark) Interview

[size=100:vpd9cc4z]On your MySpace page, you list your favourite films as war and Love Actually. Does that explain the collision of familial conflict and hopeless romanticism in Eagle Vs Shark?

[laughing] I was being sarcastic about Love Actually. I don’
t like that film. But if you want to write that I’
m a hopeless romantic, I love Love Actually and that inspired me to write Eagle Versus Shark, then I wouldn’
t mind. I do have a real interest in war, not that I like the idea of fighting. I have a real interest in the older wars, World War II especially. Great stories have come out of it. I made a short, Tama Tu, about that period. I don’
t think we’
ll ever see –
or maybe we will –
a war like that ever again, a war where it’
s good versus evil. In those days, it was like the good guys and the bad guys. Today, the wars have got so much more complicated, so much more political.

So where did the idea from the film come from?

It’
s was an amalgamation of me and [actress] Loren Horsley. I wanted to make a film that she could be in, and she had this character, this kind of outsider protagonist who I really liked. Loren especially wanted to play someone like Lily because females only ever get offered roles where they play good looking, bubbly, confident girls, who are always pretty or get a makeover halfway through the film and turn into beautiful swans. In our film, Lily has a makeover and looks even more weird. Everyone in the film is weird and when you put a whole lot of weird people together in a film, you create a very eccentric world. But I really hope that people don’
t sit back and say, “
This doesn’
t have any bearing on my life whatsoever, I can’
t relate to it.”
I really want people to see themselves in these characters. I want them to say, “
I am one of these characters”
.

Most people have been bullied at some time, or made up stories to impress someone, so we can sympathise with Lily and Jarrod on that level.

The characters are just extreme versions of ourselves. We all do what Jarrod does, we all lie. This whole thing that kids do, the more tragic your life is, the more interesting you are. If you’
re a teenager, you think “
If I’
m really depressed, people will think I’
m more deep.”
One of the most amazing things happened to me after a screening in the States. A man came up to me and said, “
Oh my God, that’
s my family! I had an uncle who we were told died saving a kid and I only found out a couple of years ago, that he actually killed himself.”
This guy’
s family made up this story to kind of save face. Why do people do these things?

You developed Eagle Vs Shark at the Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program. Could you talk about how the program works?

Sure. You take along a first draft. It needs to be a good size script. You take that along and you meet up with about six or seven other filmmakers, who have all read your script. You talk together, then you meet one-on-one for about two or three hours and just discuss the script. You might go for a walk around the woods and have a chat about ideas for the story. The great thing is you have a different perspective each time you meet one of these people. You go away with these different points of view on your script, all conflicting, and then you filter out the stuff you don’
t think you can use and you’
re left with these little pearls of wisdom, brilliant ideas that inspire you to finish a new draft of the script.

Once you’
ve polished the script, what happens next?

Then there’
s the filmmaking part. You take along your improved script and you spend three weeks shooting about four scenes from you film. So you spend four or five days to rehearse, shoot, edit and screen each scene. [American comic] Judah Friedlander played Jarrod in the labs. He’
s an absolute genius. That process goes on for three weeks and you’
re surrounded by all these incredible filmmakers - directors, actors –
who come to give you advice, see how you work, and help you out. It’
s a pretty exclusive little club, full of really smart people, who are there to help you.

How much did your original vision of the film change during that Sundance process?

The film did change a lot. Essentially, the whole story was the same, most of the scenes stayed the same. I just cut ones here and there and added a few things. Eagle Vs Shark was the sort of film that if you read the script, you didn’
t know if it would work. The only way to know was to just shoot it. The nature of the film was such that we needed the option of shifting scenes around. So, we had about another half hour of footage that didn’
t make it into the film - you know, ideas that needed to be shot, just so we could figure everything out in the edit. There are so many elements to this film, it’
s almost like this complete mish-mash of stuff. My next film will be much more conventional and much more straightforward in terms of narrative.

You mention letting the film take shape in the editing room. How much did it evolve?

The original assembly was about two and a half hours. Then we cut it down to just under two hours - 119 minutes –
and I was like, “
Yes! We did it, we got it down! I don’
t think we can really cut much more guys!”
We got it down to 104 minutes and I said, “
This film is practically done, guys.”
But the great thing about Sundance is that they give you ongoing support throughout editing. You can send cuts off to people and they watch it and give you notes and ideas. We got some really great feedback, which inspired me to cut out certain things and concentrate more on Lily and her point of view. Once you give yourself that kind of freedom, you can practically cut the film down to half an hour, if you want. You can just keep cutting.

Wasn’
t it hard, though, chipping away at your months of work like that?

It was quite daunting and scary, but really freeing, and we ended up with a really tight 88 minute film. I still think that the 104 minute configuration works - it’
s a slightly different tone, it slows down a little bit more, it’
s a bit more meditative, more of a reflection on life and love, which I really like.

Will the longer version of the film be on the DVD?

Yes, you’
ll get a lot of the extra scenes on the DVD;
a lot of scenes of Jarrod being a prick. We cut a lot of that stuff out because he was being too much of an arsehole. I guess it’
s just me, but I love all that stuff.

When people think of the New Zealand film industry, it tends to be orcs and hobbits, or girls riding on the back of whales and domestic violence. Was it tough pitching the idea of an offbeat comedy?

People don’
t automatically think about comedy in New Zealand films. We’
re often known for our darkness, usually someone dies in our films. I don’
t think New Zealanders put much faith in their ability to be funny or to tell a different type of story. For me, I just wanted to make a small, intimate film that, in reality, we never thought would do anything but maybe play in a couple of festivals. Something really small that I would be able to cut my teeth on;
this strange, kind of comedy, kind of romance, kind of dark dysfunctional family drama. I’
m never going to get the opportunity to play around this freely again, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

So was raising funding difficult?

It’
s a difficult film conceptually for people to grasp. The fact that we got the money was really lucky - that was purely because my short films had done so well. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time. And I think people were ready for something different. There was also another comedy that was being made at the same time called Sione’
s Wedding, and that was like a pretty broad comedy. People were starting to think, “
Okay, maybe we can branch out and make different stuff that proves to ourselves we can actually do.”
It still baffles me how we got funded.

Were you worried that the film wouldn’
t translate for foreign audiences?

You always want to make something that has universal appeal, that on the off chance someone in Poland watches it and says, “
This applies to my life”
. But you also have to realise that you’
re from a certain place and shouldn’
t cater to international tastes. You’
ve got to make your own stories with your own voice. Plus, the budget was so low that it didn’
t matter. If the film only came out in New Zealand and nowhere else, I was confident that we would make our money back, which was all I cared about - making back the 1.5 million dollars, New Zealand dollars that is.

And now here you are releasing the film across the UK!

More people have seen Eagle Vs Shark than I ever thought would. I’
m really happy that it’
s had this extended life. When I was writing it, I just wrote what I wanted to see in a film because I was sick of seeing certain types of films, and situations where the character would make the right decision. I just wanted to see something a little more challenging in that respect. Some of it is pretty specific to New Zealand but family dysfunction - people relate to that everywhere.

You had Loren in mind to play Lily from the start but did you also have Jemaine Clement in mind for the role of Jarrod?

No, he came in and towards the end of the casting process. Jemaine, Loren and I use to flat together for years and years, we’
ve known each other for about 12 years. Basically, all of the character’
s lines were written and we were casting the role. I was in three minds about who I wanted to play it and then thought actually maybe Jemaine would be good for it, so I called him, got him to screen test. I thought it would be good to work with friends, people you can trust and you know won’
t bring egos to set, emotional baggage. Making a film with friends was such a good experience.

Would you have considered say an English actor for the part?

Jarrod needed to be played by a New Zealander. The New Zealand accent is just so impossible for most foreigners to nail. I haven’
t ever heard an actor do it properly. Anthony Hopkins did a pretty good accent for The World’
s Fastest Indian but even then, it wasn’
t quite there. Because I’
m making a film for New Zealander’
s to watch, I don’
t want them going, “
What accent is that?”


On screen, Loren and Jemaine are such a wonderfully strange combination.

I really loved the way they looked together: he’
s so hulking and weird and gangly and she really changed her physicality for the role. In real life, Loren is really energetic –
I wouldn’
t say extrovert but she’
s very open –
and for the film, she really closed herself down, sucked all of the energy inside and kind of withered. When I put them together, it was so good.

You show a lot of affection for your characters.

I love the characters. Lily is the kind of person who is usually the best friend of Julia Roberts and never gets her own movie. I often say that Jarrod is the guy who gets left in the Julia Roberts movie for Richard Gere, or whoever. He’
s like the guy who gets left behind because no one likes him. Lily and Jarrod are two of the people who usually never get a chance to change in the movies, they never get an opportunity to redeem themselves. People will either get Eagle Vs Shark or they’
ll go, “
This doesn’
t fit into my idea of what a romantic comedy is.”
And they’
ll freak out. That’
s why audiences really love the film, because it’
s something really different, or they really don’
t love the film because they are so used to the formula of these types of story. When something doesn’
t quite fit the mould, it kind of startles them.

Does that kind of reaction disappoint you?

It drives me crazy when people say, “
Oh it’
s obviously meant to be funnier than it really is.”
Eagle Vs Shark is not funny all the time, it has depressing moments in it, otherwise I may as well have taken the script to America and made it there. We’
ve been fed this diet of crap, fast food moviemaking from the States and there’
s no other way to tell a story now. We judge everything and compare it to something that has come out of a conventional oven. Make something to a slightly different recipe and all of a sudden, people start saying, “
Wait a minute, this is not how you make it!”


You use beautiful, stop-go animation throughout the film as Lily and Jarrod’
s relationship evolves. Why did you decide to combine live action and animation?

The film could survive without the animation, and would probably stand up pretty well without it, but it wouldn’
t have that same kind of handmade feel to it. All the characters in the film are weird, eccentric, clumsy, awkward. They stumble around, not quite sure what they are. They try to be one thing and then realise they are something else. The film is basically the same –
a clumsy, awkward piece that fumbles around, trying to be at one moment a comedy, trying to be a drama, trying to be an art film, trying to be Svankmajer animation. I really love the animation. It’
s probably one of the few and only opportunities I’
ll get to make something that hands on, something that human, with flaws, with real emotional depth, even when you’
re dealing with such “
extreme”
characters.

Was the animation always in the script from the early drafts?

Yes, the animation was always in there. I really like animation, especially stop-go animation. It’
s the last animation that’
s used today where you know someone has gone in and moved something with their hand. You can’
t do it without the human going in and actually moving stuff around. It’
s the last great cinematic art form because you need a human to do it. I really like the fact that there’
s no dialogue in those moments of animation. They are like little chapter points, or like little moments of meditation where you can say to the audience, “
It’
s okay to sit back and just think about what’
s going on. Sit back and look at this wonderful visual treat,”
which hopefully connects to people on a more visceral, basic, childlike level. Just moving images, pure cinema.

And yet the fashion nowadays in films seems to be characters talking incessantly about their feeling?

I think dialogue ruins 80% of movies that I see because it’
s badly written, it’
s over expository –
it’
s only there to explain stuff. I just think it’
s a complete waste of time. Which is why there are lots of things that are never explained in Eagle Vs Shark: you don’
t know why the father can walk but sits in a wheelchair, you don’
t really know why the brother kills himself, you don’
t really know anything about Jarrod’
s daughter who just wanders around the house. I just love that you pick up information through the eyes of Lily. You see the whole thing unfold from her point of view.

Miscommunication, or rather an inability to communicate, is central to the film.

People are so protective of their feelings. It takes more work, in real life, for people to communicate on an emotional level. Most of us don’
t have the emotional tools to be honest in our conversations with one other, to say, “
This is how I feel…
”
In most movies, people say, “
This is how I feel and I’
m going to open up to you really easily, tell you the truth, blah blah blah.”
In reality, people just skirt around the subject again and again, going round and round in circles. Which again, is why I think the animation really works, because it gets rid of all that crap.

In the film, when Lily attends the fancy dress animal party, Jarrod tells her, “
I almost came as a shark then I realised an eagle was slightly better.”
But he never explains why?

I think Jarrod secretly wanted to be a shark but I think he looks at Lily’
s costume and is kind of jealous. His whole thing is to go on the attack as a form of defence, before he can be attacked. He sees this incredible shark suit and probably wanted to come as a shark, but had no idea how to make the costume, so decided to just go as the eagle that he went as last year.

Those costumes look fantastic!

They were originally too good and I said that they needed to look more like the characters made them. So I started chopping things off, making the eyes crooked, making the beak crooked, screwing them up a little bit so it didn’
t look like costume person had made them. That was one of the main aims of the film actually to make stuff look like it was badly made. Meaty Boy and stuff, none of that actually exists.

Really? There is no such thing as the Meaty Boy burger chain?

No, we just took over KFC. The Cinesaurus Rex cinema doesn’
t exist, the Fight Man computer game doesn’
t exist. I didn’
t want it to be a specific world. I also like the fact that all those elements are slightly more shii versions of existing stuff. The Fight Man game is a crappier version of Mortal Kombat.

Why did you choose to make Lily work in a burger bar?

In most films, most characters have jobs that are not really that mundane, not like real life jobs. So we walked through town and looked in shops and thought, “
Where would Jarrod and Lily work?”
Originally, she was going to be a stagehand in a theatre, someone dressed in black who sticks stuff on stage, but that would have taken her to another world.

And then there’
s the sweet yet surreal sex scene…


In the original script I wanted to show the sex. I wanted it to be excruciatingly uncomfortable. Not that you were going to see anything, it all happens under the blankets but just seeing their fumbles, all their horrible sex stuff. It looks weird with Lily still being dressed as a shark - she looks like a nun sitting there in that costume.

Has anyone taken offence at the scene where Jarrod picks a fight with a man in a wheelchair?

It surprises me that no one’
s complained about that. No one’
s complained about the Twin Towers candle either. I always get so nervous when that scene comes up. Jemaine actually used to make candles when he was young. Not candles like in the film, normal style candles. I stole that from his life before he was even in the movie. It’
s one of the things that I thought would be interesting for Jarrod to do in his spare time: to make candles, to make all these inventions. I like characters who have got projects because I’
ve got hundreds of ideas that have never gone anywhere. Like a guitar with an emery board neck…
after all, a guitarist’
s first problem is keeping their fingernails tidy.

Do you think American audiences will appreciate the idea of your hero setting light to his George W Bush candle?

We should have done a burning Bush candle. Burning Bush –
ha ha ha! Why didn’
t I think of that? Idiot!


Eagle Vs Shark is out to own on DVD from 21st January 2008.

[size=150:1pg0c7xr]Taika Waititi on Eagle vs Shark
by Ambrose Heron on 18/08/2007

The quirky comedy Eagle vs Shark is out this week and I recently caught up with its writer and director Taika Waititi.

A director, writer, painter, comedian and actor of Maori descent he comes from the East Coast region of New Zealand.

He is most notable for his short film Two Cars, One Night for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.

We spoke about Eagle vs Shark and how he got the film made.

Listen to the interview [url=here][/url].

[url=Download the interview as an MP3][/url]

[size=120:1ceymv5b]Eagle Vs Shark to Screen on SBS One

August 03, 2010 11:55

This August SBS celebrates the release of feature film 'Boy' - http://www.sbs.com.au/films/movie/7397/Boy - with the Australian free-to-air premiere of 'Eagle Vs Shark' followed by a special New Zealand package of short films.

To coincide with the Australian theatrical release of Taika Waititi’s latest film 'Boy' (in
cinemas nationally from 26 August) SBS is delighted to announce the Australian free-to-air
premiere of Waititi’s first feature, 'Eagle Vs Shark', on Saturday, 28 August at 10.10pm
on SBS ONE.

Borne from the Sundance Lab, and starring Jemaine Clement (SBS’s 'Flight of the
Conchords'), 'Eagle Vs Shark' is a wonderfully awkward and sweet romantic comedy about
growing up, love, revenge and video games. Superbly played and scripted, and with a
choice '90s soundtrack, 'Eagle Vs Shark' follows the story of two lonely misfits as they
discover the right match isn't always perfect.

In Waititi’s latest instalment, it’s heroes, magic and Michael Jackson in 'Boy'. Set in 1984
the coming-of-age comedy follows the story of 11-year-old Boy as he reacquaints himself
with his absent father, and comes to terms with the reality of the man he remembered as
his hero.

Following the premiere broadcast of 'Eagle Vs Shark' will be a New Zealand S.O.S. special featuring shorts by Waititi starting from 11.45pm. This will include:

'Two Cars, One Night
'This is Her'
'Nature’s Way'
'Tama Tu'

[size=120:2l6hs4j0]Loren Horsley &
Taika Waititi Interview – EAGLE vs. SHARK
6/19/2007

A film that has already opened in very select release is “Eagle vs. Shark” – a quirky New Zealand movie that was a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. And while you may have a hard time finding it right now, this weekend it’s expanding to a lot more theaters.

If you don’t know about “Eagle vs. Shark,” here is a synopsis:

It all begins with Lily (LOREN HORSLEY), a lonely oddball and fast-food waitress who happens to be a hopeless romantic. Then there’s Jarrod (JEMAINE CLEMENT), the man of Lily’s dreams, another lonely oddball and video game clerk, who has spent the last decade plotting ultimate vengeance on a bully from his high school past.

When these two connect at a “dress as your favorite animal” party, she’s an anemic Shark and he’s a fluffy-headed Eagle. It’s a match that seems made in outcast heaven, but when Lily decides to risk everything for love, her hopes are nearly dashed. After a brief fling, Jarrod dumps Lily because he’s too busy “training” for his all-important payback mission. But neither of them can anticipate just what kind of grit the steadfastly optimistic Lily will show in her heartbreak. As Jarrod’s day of reckoning arrives, and everything hits the fan, Jarrod and Lily will find something that goes beyond romantic fantasies and revenge -- faith in who they are.

If you’re looking for something that’s a bit off the normal path I recommend the movie. It’s along the lines of a “Napoleon Dynamite.” And if you missed the review that ran on Collider a week ago [url=click here][/url].

To help promote the movie one of the stars (Loren Horsley) and the writer/director (Taika Waititi) recently sat down at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills to talk about the film and let us know the behind the scenes stories. The interview was done in roundtable form but everyone who participated asked good questions.

As always, you can download the MP3 of this interview by [url=http:
//media.
collider.
com/collider_audio/Eagle_vs_Shark_Audio_Interview/loren_horsley___taika_waititi_interview___eagle_vs.
_shark.
mp3:2l6hs4j0]clicking here[/url:2l6hs4j0].

“Eagle Vs. Shark” has opened in very select release and it’s expanding this weekend.



Were you worried about non-New Zealanders getting the humor?

Taika Waititi: Yeah, I think there are definitely moments in the film where no matter where you are, everyone laughs at these moments.
But yeah, for sure, there are...A lot of European audiences laugh at completely different things.

Loren Horsley: Yeah, the Dutch laughed at stuff that no one else did.

Taika Waititi: They like a lot of the kind of darker stuff. And New Zealand as well. I guess our humor is maybe a little more subtle in that I think we really love those kind of moments of...

Loren Horsley: Pain.

Taika Waititi: ...pain and discomfort that comes from watching dysfunctional families, and relating to them in a way. So yeah, definitely, the audiences have reacted differently. But I guess I was pretty pleasantly surprised that everybody basically really enjoyed the film and got it.

Loren Horsley: We were most nervous about Germany. [We were at] the Berlin Film Festival and that was terrible. We would like go, "
This is going to be a disaster."


Because of their penchant for over-the-top humor?

Loren Horsley: Yeah. Exactly. [laughs]

The really physical stuff...

Loren Horsley: And a lot of slapstick in this one. [laughs]

Why did you choose to insert animated sequences throughout the film?

Taika Waititi: Well, that actually kind of developed a little bit from the script stage right through the very final edit, where we had these little...we had like maybe one...originally there was going to be one moment of animation, and that kind of threw everything a little bit too much. And then the animation story broke into two, and then it got chopped up a lot into different moments, which I think some audiences kind of freaked out when they were watching the film and then sudden it breaks into this new format. And I think a lot of people couldn't handle it. So yeah, we kind of tied it right in from the very beginning, created it and saw it through to the end. It actually works better, I think. Yeah.

Loren Horsley: And that's because you love animation. Animation is Taika's favorite thing. So any chance to put it in would be great. And then he'd always say, "
This is my low budget, my first feature, I can do what I want."
And we didn't think anyone would see it apart from New Zealanders.

Taika Waititi: Yeah, originally, we never really thought that this film would do anything, except maybe a few festivals here and there, because it was a very small, intimate New Zealand film. And the only New Zealand films that do well are like dark family dramas where kids die. And so it's definitely, I think it's a new development for New Zealand cinema to have comedy, and especially romantic comedy, get as much attention as this one.

Can you talk about the casting process? You had some really eccentric characters that worked well.

Taika Waititi: Yeah. Well, Loren's character, that was like a given right from the start. She was going to play that character.

Loren Horsley: We cast the film together.

Taika Waititi: Yeah, and a lot of the characters were written based on certain people, or like with actors in mind, just thinking, "
This guy will be great for this role."
And the actual casting, we didn't actually audition that many people. We just sort of screen-tested our first choices, and a lot of time, they were perfect.

Loren Horsley: New Zealand has got a really strong...Lots of the actors do lots of theatre, because there's not a lot of film, and it's kind of really rubbish TV. [laughs] And so there's lots of really fantastic character actors around the place that we know and have worked with, and so...at last we got a chance to pull them in and give them something to do.

Taika Waititi: Yeah, and in some cases, a lot of the actors are really just playing themselves. You know, there are a couple of people who had never acted before. I mean, like the kid who...you know, Jarod's nephew who's like the big guy. He's got the band with the little girl and the ponytail. And he plays guitar and stuff. And I wrote a character based on him, because I had met him when I was in my friend's house, and I just found him this incredibly weird kid. And I just wanted a character like that in my film, and then eventually just cast him as the character. I didn't think I'd find anything better. So yeah, and he was exactly what I wanted. [laughs] So it was great.

Is there a real Meaty Boy in New Zealand? Do you have any stories from the fast food frontline?

Taika Waititi: A friend of ours used to work in Kentucky Fried Chicken. And their store manager used to come to work with a brief case every day, and he was wearing a suit and was very professional. And all the other employees used to wonder what was in the briefcase, and they're like, "
Why do you need a briefcase to come to work managing KFC?"
And eventually like after a few months, when he wasn't looking, he had gone off to do something and they snuck into the office and they opened up his briefcase, and inside it was a single apple and a bottle of Prozac. [laughs]

Loren Horsley: It's true. It's really a true story. We remodeled that...That's the exact store where he worked.

Taika Waititi: So Meaty Boy doesn't exist. That was the KFC, and we changed everything. So I didn't want to have a world where anything was very specific and that anyone could relate too much to. And so we made up the video game. That was based on a game called Mortal Kombat, and it's a very...

I was going to ask about that. What was the inspiration for Mortal Kombat?

Taika Waititi: Well, I mean, I really like...I love video games, but I never really get into the new kind of games. I really like arcade games, and like the '80s and early '90s kind of games, just because there's a real kind of naiveté to them, but there's like a real inventiveness to it as well. And so Mortal Kombat, that was a huge game for us, and it kind of blew everyone away because it was like this photographic game.

Loren Horsley: I think you were 10 or something, right?

Taika Waititi: Well no, I was 15. But yeah, that's another one of the elements in the film that was made up. You know, we made up this game, Fight Man. And also, I guess, it's just nice when you watch a movie and you see a little bit of effort has gone into the production design, where they've actually created new things. And you automatically know it's Mortal Kombat, or you know that it's a McDonald's or a Burger King. But it just helps to set it in a slightly different world as well.

So Loren, are you as adept as Lily (aka "
Dangerous Person"
) at pulling out people's spines?

Taika Waititi: No...

Loren Horsley: Absolutely not. No, I was raised without a television, and I have a loathing for video games of any sort. So it was a... joystick, is that what they're called?

Taika Waititi: [laughs] Aw!

Loren Horsley: You know, the thing. I had to get lessons on how to look like I was...

Taika Waititi: Console.

Loren Horsley: Console! He's the boss of that stuff.

Taika Waititi: I'm not even...I hardly ever play video games.

Loren Horsley: You don't have a PlayStation. No, you don't, that's true.

Taika Waititi: But if I get a chance to play something from the '80s, I would definitely jump into it. I love it. And again, like that's the biggest thing for us, was the '80s as a reference, like the computers are all these archaic machines. You can probably never actually run the internet on them or stream video.

Can you talk about your experiences at Sundance?

Taika Waititi: Yeah.

Loren Horsley: It's the best place in the world! [laughs]

Taika Waititi: It's an incredible opportunity to really learn a lot about filmmaking and your script. Someone who I was there with said she had just done like three years at USC, and she said like in front of everyone, "
After like a week, I feel like I just wasted three years and I should have just come and done this. I've learned so much."
So yeah, it's a real privilege to get access to all those minds, who all come in and it's a very concentrated process. And then Loren got to come as the actor when we work shopped the scenes. And we got Judah Friedlander, who's a great American comic, and he came in and he played the part of Jarrod for the Sundance scenes. And it was just a fantastic opportunity.

Loren Horsley: Everyone comes for free, so automatically it's all about community and mentorship and all of that fantastic stuff. So it really feels like they set you in the right direction as far as making work for the right reasons. They kind of infuse a feeling of responsibility to try and be rigorous with yourself about everything.

Is that how you got discovered by Miramax before the film got to the festival? Because it's sort of an odd story...

Loren Horsley: It is an odd story.

You already had a distributor before you got the festival...

Taika Waititi: Before we had even finished editing the film.

Loren Horsley: [laughs] Taika got an Oscar nomination, which means that they were already watching him, I think.

Taika Waititi: So I had met a couple of those guys about a year before or something, and kind of talked about...They asked me what projects I had, and I sort of mentioned this and that, and my kind of strange ideas, and they weren't very interested at all.

Loren Horsley: They were very excited!

Taika Waititi: "
Oh, you must be so excited."
And that was the end of it. So we made our little film in New Zealand with the film commission, and then the Oscar nomination thing kind of came out. And that's actually probably helped me get funding as well, because of that. Sort of like the whole film got fast-tracked by the film commission because I was suddenly the kind of...

Loren Horsley: Golden boy.

Taika Waititi: Golden boy. Yeah, for a brief moment in New Zealand. [laughs] Which is great timing. Especially having a script that was as odd as this one, and then having those guys kind of just go, "
Well, we don't get it, but here's some money. Go and make your film that you want to make. We trust you."
[laughs] And I think that hardly ever happens. So it was just totally lucky.

How was it in New Zealand? Did you have people watching as you were filming scenes or did they not they care?

Loren Horsley: New Zealand is a really odd…we’re not even going to look at you…

Taika Waititi: New Zealand. We’ve got a thing called the tall puppy syndrome in New Zealand where if anyone is doing really well, it’s quite common to try and bring them down -- like cut them down and say, ‘You’ve been to the moon? So what? I mean plenty of people have been to the moon.’ Even before ‘Lord of the Rings’ a lot of films were made in the cities and stuff and they were a few other American productions made there and I think a lot of people really don’t really care about seeing a production. Obviously, anywhere you go, there’s always somebody who likes to just look but also I think in New Zealand the chances of actually seeing a star are so slim. People kinda just think, ‘Well who am I going to see, like some guy from a New Zealand soap opera who I see in the supermarket anyway.” So those sorts of things are never really a huge deal:

So what are you both working on next and what have you done since this?

Taika Waititi: Loren is….

Loren Horsley: [Laughs] Okay, you do me and I’ll do you.

Taika Waititi: Loren’s got a film collective back home called The Chapel Collective and it’s her and a bunch of other artists that make films and they’re currently making a feature but trying to do low budget feature films outside of any kind of studio or financial system and just concentrating purely on making a story. She’s probably going to go back home and continue with that. I’m finishing a script based on the Oscar-nominated short and this is called “The Volcano” and it’s about some kids growing up, a coming of age story, kids growing up in New Zealand in the countryside in the 80s around the time when Thriller came out. It’s a coming of age story but with my twist on it, I guess.

Loren Horsley: And he’s just finished doing the HBO series with Jemaine who’s in Flight of the Conchords. He plays Jarrod who’s just done the HBO series. He’s just written and directed two episodes of it just finished two weeks ago.

Taika Waititi: They’re shooting now and it’s coming out the same weekend that this film comes out.

What that on purpose? Was that timed?

Taika Waititi: Not by Miramax. I think Miramax -- originally the date was going to be a couple weeks earlier but they put it off because there was another romantic comedy – both well known actors in it. They didn’t really want to compete with another romantic comedy so I have to just go out there and compete with Fantastic Four instead. [Laughs]

Are you going to try to mix in your love of old school video games and arcades into your script?

Taika Waititi: Yeah, well it’s definitely got more of an 80s setting. I grew up in a really, really tiny town and there weren’t any video games or arcades or anything of that sort. Television was the only sort of connection to the outside world and especially to America.

Loren Horsley: And you used to make your own sticks.

Taika Waititi: My own what?

Loren Horsley: Your own video games.

Taika Waititi: Yeah, yeah. [Laughs] I don’t want to talk about that.

Now for the million dollar question. What are both of your favorite animals?

Loren Horsley: Mine just changed. Mine was baboon until last night when Taika showed me this BBC Planet Earth – their latest documentary. Have you seen it? Oh my God!

Taika Waititi: I don’t think they were Amazonian. They were from the Philippines or something.

Loren Horsley: It was a parrot.

Taika Waititi: A bird of paradise.

Loren Horsley: That you’ve never seen before ever in your life.

Taika Waititi: He flips his wings out and it’s like…

Loren Horsley: He looks like a squid, but it’s a bird.

Taika Waititi: Black. A big black bird with like a strip of blue with these two blue things that look like eyes.

Can you tell us about the HBO show and how it went?

Taika Waititi: Yeah, it went well. It’s going to be hilarious. It’s going to be huge. It’s basically about these two New Zealand musicians living in New York who I guess you could say try to make it but that’s not really any of the story. It’s just about these guys from another country hanging out in New York and I guess their perspective of life in America – a little bit like that TV show in the 80s. What was it called? Perfect… with Balki [Bartokomous].

Perfect Strangers.

Taika Waititi: [Laughs] Perfect Strangers. Perfect Strangers with two New Zealanders instead of an Albanian or wherever he was from.

I think they made up the country he came from.

Taika Waititi: [Laughs] Right.

Loren Horsley: It’s outrageous.

Taika Waititi: Bret and Jemaine speak in the same accent as that guy. [imitates Balki’s accent]

How was working for HBO? Did they give you a lot of creative freedom? Did they give you notes?

Taika Waititi: No. It was fine. They were great actually. They were all about …. I mean I think the fact that they were taking a chance on these two guys from New Zealand and giving them a TV show, it shows they’ve got enough balls to let them do what they want and back them. I came on about half way through their shooting so for me the job was a lot easier because they had already established their characters and the settings and the tone and everything. So, you know, I just walk on set and say ‘And go!’

Loren Horsley: Be funnier.

Taika Waititi: ‘And action!’ No, it was totally great. Obviously with TV there’s not a huge amount of creative freedom because you need – because there’s format and you can’t really be as poetic as in film but still there’s some pretty unconventional humor in this show, I think. It’s pretty cool. I can’t tell you what it is. [Laughs]

What about the costumes – making them and [to Horsley] for you actually wearing them? What was that like looking at yourself in dailies?

Taika Waititi: [to Loren] How was that?

Loren Horsley: I was wearing a wig so automatically I had great fun. If you put a wig on, then you’re finished. I don’t know if you watched any of the dailies but that costume was so uncomfortable. It was just genius. It was one of those things that felt bad so it wasn’t the nicest thing to wear but they’re beautiful costumes. The costume designer made them all from scratch. She kind of stitched around them. Taika kept on saying, ‘No, they have to be made worse, more…

Taika Waititi: The original costumes were really well made and I wanted them to look more like…

Loren Horsley: Yeah, take a pair of scissors and ripping it [pretends to tear the costume] and she was going like ‘What is going on!?’

Taika Waititi: Yeah, originally it was supposed to look like these guys made the costumes themselves and we originally wanted you guys to actually make them themselves but there was just no time. Everything was like once we got into the second week of pre-production, everything spun out of control. It was like there was no time to do anything but make the film.

That’s a lot to ask of your actors to make the costumes.

Loren Horsley: [Laughs] No, we were dying to. No, we really wanted to. I was really pissed off I couldn’t.

Taika Waititi: Yeah. That would’ve been great.

Can you talk about this next project that you’re working on? Has making this movie and the reception that it’s gotten critically across the world helped with financing for your second movie? Do you feel like you’re….?

Taika Waititi: I think this will definitely help with the next film. The next film obviously has a bigger budget. It’s funny. The next film is actually the original script that I took to the Sundance Writer’s Lab the first time I went there so the next one’s actually my first film. I’ve gotten rid of any expectation on my second film by making that first and now I can just go back and make my debut film which is going to be brilliant. [Laughs]

Lower the expectations?

Taika Waititi: [Laughs] Yeah, lower the expectations first...

Loren Horsley: Shift the expectations.

Taika Waititi: …and then come down with the big guns.

Loren Horsley: It’s like David Copperfield – smoke and mirrors.

The stop action photography part that you guys did, especially the sleeping bag scenes with the setting sun, did you guys fake the setting sun or did you really shoot for a whole day just being dragged around in the sleeping bags.

Taika: Yeah, that was like about 5 or 6 hours of shooting that stuff. There were extras in the…there were like….

Loren Horsley: There were doubles. I did it in Sundance. That’s what Taika made us do in Sundance which was like 2 hours in Sundance and it’s like I’m never…I have a high tolerance for doing stuff but this was against all rules. It’s like you move—stop. You move—stop. For 2 hours.

How many extras did he…did you just use one extra double each or did you…?

Taika Waititi: Yeah. Everybody was sunburned at the end of the day. We were off shooting other stuff and we just missed them with the 2nd unit crew and …

Loren Horsley: …and they were crawling through cow dung and …

Taika Waititi: …and they were crawling on grass patches with prickles and stuff and cow shit. It was so funny.

Loren Horsley: They were weeping at the end.

They were crying?

Loren Horsley: Yes, seriously. And it was a little girl.

Taika Waititi: It wasn’t a little girl. It was like a woman. We don’t use little girls, what are you talking about?

Loren Horsley: In New Zealand it’s kosher. They love it, those little girls.

Taika Waititi: A four year old girl who can double as Loren.

I’ll ask the question about the DVD. What have you have planned for it?

Taika Waititi: I’m having some conversations about the DVD at the moment. I obviously want to do commentary and we overshot this film completely and so there will definitely be some extra scenes and I think we dropped about 25 minutes of the story from the final movie. I’m not going to put 25 minutes of extra stuff on the DVD, don’t worry about it.

Was there a scene that you were really regretting cutting?

Taika Waititi: Yeah, and I put it back in at the last minute.

Or any tiny bits or something that we just…

Taika Waititi: There was a dream sequence actually that we shot.

Loren Horsley: Sort of Ingmar Bergman.

Taika Waititi: It’s a very Bergman dream sequence in black and white that was shot for the film where Lily has gigantic robotic arms from the video game and she’s on the beach fighting seagulls and that never made it to the film but it’s something that I really want to be on the DVD. It’s funny;
the film commission gave us this money and basically gave me complete creative control. Left me alone. The one time they came to see it was the day that we were shooting the dream sequence and they turned up….

Loren Horsley: I was covered in blood.

Taika Waititi: …what’s going on here? She’s got blood all over…pretending she’s fighting these seagulls and I’m yelling out—Ok, they’re pulling your heart out of your chest. Fight them off. And they’re “your film looks interesting Taika”.

Loren Horsley: They smiled and nodded and walked away really quickly.

So what was the reaction after they finally saw the final film?

Taika Waititi: Oh they never saw the dream sequence so they were pleased. They forgot about that. The other things I imagined that would go on the DVD are….I thought it would be really funny just to do the entire film but do the rough assembly which is about 2-1/2 hours long just to punish people. It would be really funny. Funny for me.

Loren Horsley: It hasn’t be released in New Zealand yet, so it’s been released here first so not many people have seen it. The film commission has seen it and loved it but …

What was the decision behind that?

Taika Waititi: Well, apart from the fact that I don’t think we can do anything in New Zealand without getting approval from bigger countries….

Loren Horsley: If you like it we won’t.

Taika Waititi: I think the main reason is for the distributors in New Zealand and Australia, it makes much more business sense for them to wait and see how a film does here and it makes their job a lot easier advertising the film in New Zealand. They can just say this is what these guys said about the film or you know.

Loren Horsley: Our main paper which shows (inaudible) publishing our bad Variety review saying Eagle vs. Shark got a terrible review in Variety.

Taika Waititi: Americans say Eagle vs. Shark won’t fly. Something like that you know.

Loren Horsley: All these people were coming up to me going I’m so sorry, and I’m like what?

Taika Waititi: I got e-mails from people saying oh, man it’s just…don’t worry man, I’m sure the film is good. It’s so funny because it’s like a big deal in New Zealand to concentrate on like the negative stuff.

So did you go to Variety and try to find them?

Taika Waititi: You can’t do anything about it.

Was it always an eagle vs. a shark and did you pick those animals because of certain symbolism?

Taika Waititi: Yeah. I think…I’m not sure about the specific symbolism about an eagle and a shark but for me they represent the loneliest of the animals. Very solo animals who are….the pattern that they are, they both circle around looking for something. Running around and around in circles but are in just completely different environments. They’re very different but also very similar as well.

What’s the one thing you’d like an audience to take from this film?

Taika Waititi: A receipt. I think it’s important to me that people don’t go into this film just thinking ok, it’s like a broad comedy that’s good for a couple of laughs for a hour and a half and then you can forget about it. I hope the film connects with people on a deeper level and that people realize that we are all outsiders and that this is one of the main themes for the film is that you can connect to that fact that none of us belong and it helps to ground you a little bit more in the fact that we’re all together in this and it’s not a film where you laugh at people who are different. It’s a story about recognizing that we all are those people. They’re just extreme versions of ourselves.

Loren Horsley: We can wake up the empathy that are part of people’s natures. That would be good.

Taika Waititi: My big theory is that human’s are the outsiders in the animal world and we’re like the nerds of the animal world and we don’t fit in and they’re all secretly looking at us and shaking their heads and saying what are those things? When you think about it, we’ve evolved so much now that I just don’t think we belong here anymore. These clumsy ridiculous animals---we’re not even animals we’re just like strange awkward clumsy beasts.

That sounds like your 3rd movie.

Loren Horsley: Yeah, Clumsy Awkward Beasts. Great title.

Did you get to take anything from the set? Did you bring anything home?

Loren Horsley: Too much.

Taika Waititi: What did you take?

Loren Horsley: No, you brought too much. The numchucks…our living room is like numchucks and all this samurai swords, the candles.

Taika Waititi: Yeah, I took a lot of stuff.

Loren Horsley: The candle. Far too much stuff. He’s been away for a month. I’ve been putting it into the attic.

What did you take?

Loren Horsley: Nothing I don’t think.

Who has the costumes?

Taika Waititi: Miramax has the costumes at the moment. They’re over here doing…

Loren Horsley: People are really wearing our real costumes around that’s really funny.

Really?

Taika Waititi: Yeah. We’re submitting the costumes to the Academy for consideration.

Loren Horsley: Historical research and…

Taika Waititi: …for best wardrobe in 2006.

And don’t put it past him, he might get a nomination.

[size=120:3gy2rz0s]Taika Waititi’s Geeky, Deadpan ‘Eagle vs. Shark’ is Antidote to Slapstick
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 22, 2007 - 8:54pm.
By ADAM FENDELMAN

CHICAGO – “Playing out extreme or unusual characters in the straightest of ways is what makes deadpan serious so funny,” said “Eagle vs. Shark” director Taika Waititi. “It is the antidote to slapstick.”

As for the million-dollar question to a comic about what makes funny really flippin’ funny, he says it’s about letting loose and being real.

“It’s about not trying to push the funny,” Waititi said in a Chicago interview with Adam Fendelman. “It’s looking at truth in human situations and having empathy. I especially love the funny that comes out of tragedy. I like situations so uncomfortable that you produce that nervous, cringe kind of laughter.”

Known professionally as Taika Waititi along with Taika Cohen (he’s Kiwi;
not Jewish), the New Zealand independent film “Eagle vs. Shark” is the first feature-length film for the young comic star. It was shot for $1.35 million in 25 days using a homegrown crew of 35 close-knit people.

The film, which opens in Chicago on June 22 and heads to the U.K. and New Zealand in August, harmonizes a story that’s wrapped in dead-serious droll with how cool it is to be geeky.

Two dominant animals – the eagle and the shark – represent sky and water. In the animal kingdom, they live in worlds that would never meet. Just as both animals are loners, the main characters are also outcasts who bridge a wide divide.

“Though the characters are weird and the situations extreme, everyone can relate because it’s about family dysfunction and the tragedy of day-to-day living,” Waititi said. “Being a human is being a geek.”

Jemaine Clement plays Jarrod and Loren Horsley plays Lily, which is a role she created after wandering the streets of Utah completely in character. Horsley said: “The test worked. I took Lily out for a trial walk and the Red Sea parted. No one wanted to be near her.”

“Creating Lily was a cathartic process,” Horsley said in an interview with Adam Fendelman. “Being a human is strange. Lily was about finding that vulnerable, awkward feeling. Growing up, I was a loner who was raised by hippies in a conservative place. I was weird. I know that feeling very well.”

While his project embraces a style that decidedly parallels “Napoleon Dynamite,” Waititi says that film wasn’t an inspiration for his. The script for “Eagle vs. Shark” was written before becoming acquainted with its smash-hit brethren, which has grossed $46 million in worldwide receipts on a $400,000 production budget.

While Clement’s expressionless character is strikingly akin to Napoleon Dynamite, it was Horsley’s that really took the cake from this critic. The magnetic eccentricity in her eyes, the gawky facial expressions and her innocently peculiar mannerisms were distinctly charming. She’s someone you’d want to befriend.

Jarrod, on the other hand, isn’t. Waititi added: “He’s all the very worst traits of every male you’ve ever known – including myself – all plonked into one package.”

“He represents danger and adventure. She represents peace, compassion and acceptance,” Waititi said. “He’s fighting to get out of his circumstances to be better than what he is. It’s a relationship built on those conflicting ideas. They cross over, she becomes more confident and the powers shift.”

To Waititi and Horsley, telling such a story inspires people to reflect upon what it does to them emotionally. They speak of intense disappointment with many films Hollywood has been pooping out over the years and find themselves yearning back to 1970s films in particular.

“In the 1970s, Hollywood was making really good, smart films about human behavior. Then someone realized you can make hundreds of millions of dollars,” Waititi said. “I’m sure McDonald’s was a pretty good restaurant when it had one. Now it’s like a hideous beast no one wants to touch. That’s what has happened to Hollywood.”

Echoing the perks realized today by many indie filmmakers across the globe, Waititi craves the freedom, creativity and control achieved through independent film.

“A small film can be your film. The studio can really muddy your vision,” Waititi said. “Our actors know they’re not going to get paid much money. They do it for the love of filmmaking, the story and the chance to work with creative people. That’s why so many movie stars these days are dying to get into indie films.”

He added: “They can’t stand being in such big franchises. They get depressed when they’re done. Sure, they make millions, but that doesn’t satisfy them creatively.”

While in his hotel room for the Chicago junket, Waititi says he couldn’t find a film on TV that’d keep him glued for two hours. Like you’d expect from indie talent, Waititi and Horsley were overwhelmed by the grandeur of Chicago’s Four Seasons setting.

“It’s surreal,” Horsley said. “Right before this interview, we were running around the room – doing laps – and laughing at how huge it is. About 0.1 percent of people actually live like this.”

“I don’t feel like a star at all,” Waititi said. “I feel like a guy in a band just starting out. I feel like a Beverly Hillbilly. Soon we’ll return to New Zealand and go back to paying rent in our little apartment with five other people. We’ll be fighting over bills.”

While many Americans who aren’t rich could quickly figure out what to do with gobs of dough if it fell from the sky, Horsley says she can’t conceive of how to handle millions of dollars.

For Waititi, he says living life ideally would be making films like this, traveling, frequenting the festival circuit, viewing evocative films and making just enough loot to pay the man. He says his films don’t have to tip the scales so long as people connect with his message.

Beyond box-office receipts as a barometer of a film’s success, Waititi understands that the mark of a good film is one that is timeless. When asked what he thinks “Eagle vs. Shark” will look like in 30 years, he said: “Its feeling is already clumsy and archaic. The technology is already obsolete. Setting it here and now automatically dates it.”

Rather than a fine wine maturing with age, Horsley said: “It’s more like a strange cheese. While you don’t know if it’ll mold or dissolve, it will be delicious.”

Taika Waititi: New Zealand. We’ve got a thing called the [size=200:37vm8qk5]tall puppy syndrome in New Zealand where if anyone is doing really well, it’s quite common to try and bring them down -- like cut them down...

Taika Waititi: Yeah. Everybody was sunburned at the end of the day. We were off shooting other stuff and we just missed them with the 2nd unit crew and …

Loren Horsley: …and they were crawling through cow dung and …

Taika Waititi: …and they were crawling on grass patches with prickles and stuff and cow shit. It was so funny.

Loren Horsley: They were weeping at the end.

They were crying?

Loren Horsley: Yes, seriously. And it was a little girl.

Taika Waititi: It wasn’t a little girl. It was like a woman. We don’t use little girls, what are you talking about?

Loren Horsley: In New Zealand it’s kosher. They love it, those little girls.

Taika Waititi: A four year old girl who can double as Loren.

Taika Waititi: /.../ These clumsy ridiculous animals---we’re not even animals we’re just like strange awkward clumsy beasts.

That sounds like your 3rd movie.

Loren Horsley: Yeah, Clumsy Awkward Beasts. Great title.

Did you get to take anything from the set? Did you bring anything home?

Loren Horsley: Too much.

Taika Waititi: What did you take?

Loren Horsley: No, you brought too much. The numchucks…our living room is like numchucks and all this samurai swords, the candles.

Taika Waititi: Yeah, I took a lot of stuff.

Loren Horsley: The candle. Far too much stuff. He’s been away for a month. I’ve been putting it into the attic.

What did you take?

Loren Horsley: Nothing I don’t think.

[size=130:m6w0i7ue]A kiwi among eagles and sharks
August 11, 2007


Eagles vs Sharks may bring its New Zealand director fame, but he doesn't want it, writes Rebecca Lancashire.

AT NEW Zealand's gala premiere of Eagle vs Shark, director Taika Waititi introduced it briefly, as a "
shy little film"
. Hardly the sort of hyped-up promotion the people at Miramax might have wished for, but an appropriate one, given the audience.

Waititi's much-anticipated first feature film is a low-key romantic comedy. The humour is deadpan, the characters are awkward and frequently stoical. Much weight is given to uneasy pauses. It's all a New Zealand kind of joke, really.

In 2004, Waititi was a painter, illustrator, comedian and actor who had made some short films. He didn't really consider himself a director, it was just one of the things he liked doing. Then his critically acclaimed short, Two Cars, One Night, made it to the Sundance Film Festival. In 2005 it was nominated for an Oscar. When the camera panned across the audience seeking Waititi's reaction, instead of the standard feigned surprise or faux-modest smile, he pretended to be asleep.

Waititi says he is still hopeless at selling himself. He has barely recovered from Eagle's recent promotional tour of the US, with its endless travel and interviews. "
It drove me a little crazy, talking about myself for seven hours straight, trying to be perky and original and really excited."


This is the sort of modesty that many New Zealanders relish. Australians too, Waititi reckons, because we share the same laconic sense of humour. "
Australian comedy has had a huge influence on me. Love Serenade and The Castle are two of my favourite films. I made Eagle vs Shark for Australians and New Zealanders, who I knew would get it."


The title of the film refers to the animal costumes the two geeky love-birds wear to a theme party. Lily (played by Waititi's partner and the film's co-writer, Loren Horsley) falls inexplicably for Jarrod (Jemaine Clement) a self-absorbed man-child. It's set in a nondescript small town in the '80s, and there is plenty of family dysfunction to go around.

One of the film's producers, Ainsley Gardiner, has said Waititi's humour comes from finding the "
lighter side of tragic"
. Waititi is keen that we don't laugh at Lily and Jarrod, but with them.

"
My favourite kind of comedy comes from the awkwardness of living, the stuff that makes you cringe but borders on tragic — that is more interesting to me. It resonates, it comes from emotional truth."


Jarrod and Lily, he says, would turn up as secondary characters in a conventional romantic comedy. "
Lily is the best friend of the good-looking protagonist;
and Jarrod is the arsehole who never gets a chance to redeem himself."


The film climaxes in a hilariously un-PC scene. American audiences found this tricky, Waititi says. At Q and A sessions "
they said, 'I wanted to laugh but I held back,' which was very interesting in terms of their culture."


With the Oscar nomination and Variety magazine naming him "
a new filmmaker to watch"
, there is a lot riding on 31-year-old Waititi's debut feature. He's keen to play that down. "
Eagle vs Shark is a little film I could take risks with and make mistakes on. I'd only made two shorts, I needed to learn how to make a feature film."


Initially, he'd begun a full-length script based on Two Cars, One Night. The original short features three Maori children waiting for their parents in the car park of a country pub. Waititi went back to his East Coast home town and picked the cast of unknowns from the local school. It's a film that relies on the interaction between the three children and on what is left unsaid. The trio do nothing but sit in the car and talk. Somehow, Waititi extracted extraordinarily poignant, multi-layered performances. But it felt too soon to expand this into his first feature and he was wary of being labelled an indigenous filmmaker.

"
Eagle vs Shark was about keeping myself sane. I wanted to go back to my comedy roots with people I trusted and had worked with before, and do something low-budget and more experimental."


He's had offers to make big-budget films in the US but for now, he's resolute about staying in New Zealand and doing his own thing. "
A lot of the scripts are so bad that I can only read 10 pages … I'm not interested in doing work that doesn't captivate me. I've survived 31 years without any money, I'll survive another 50."


Eagle vs Shark screens tomorrow at RMIT Capitol, at 7.45pm.

http://melbournefilmfestival.com.au

[size=150:2zze2x0w]'Eagle' gives Waititi wings
[size=85:2zze2x0w]The Washington Times
By Jenny Mayo
Friday, June 22, 2007

America may be having a bit of a Kiwi moment this month, what with the talked-up premieres of New Zealand director Taika Waititi's "
Eagle vs Shark"
and HBO's new "
Flight of the Conchords"
series, which stars two of his countrymen (one of them also an actor in his film). When we meet up with Mr. Waititi at the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown, however, he's having a bit of a lemon and hot water moment.

It seems that Washington is the last stop on his very first press tour for this, his very first feature film, and he's "
totally exhausted."


Clad in a white T, brown corduroys and socks (no shoes), the 31-year-old sinks into a moss-hued couch and fills a teacup with healing elixir while explaining, "
I just got a sore throat this morning so I'm a little ... argh."


He and his quirky little flick — a comedy about two geeky young adults who fall in love after a dress-as-your-favorite-animal party — have apparently spurred a lot of questions about the director and his background, and his voice is now paying the price.

For the record, his history goes a little something like this: He first stole the spotlight in his homeland as a comedian and also cultivated skills in painting, photography, acting and filmmaking. His 2003 short film, "
Two Cars, One Night,"
earned an Oscar nomination, and he received an invitation to workshop a script at the Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs in 2005. That's where the "
Eagle"
began to take flight.

Much of the inspiration for the flick came from actress Loren Horsley, who's the leading lady in the film as well as in Mr. Waititi's personal life. Sick of portraying "
confident, blonde, heady people,"
she dreamt up an awkward outcast named Lily, then began to brainstorm with her director beau. They wondered, "
What kind of person might Lily date?"


The onscreen answer is Jarrod (played by Jemaine Clement, one half of the "
Conchords"
), a Napoleon Dynamite type whose outward confidence masks the fact that he's really a big nerd.

Lily and Jarrod's love affair is odd and complex, and becomes more so when Jarrod dumps her so he has more energy to stage an attack on an old high-school bully.

A tale that pokes fun at oddballs as well as one that reminds us of our own painful moments of outsiderdom, it's indeed a bit "
Napoleon"
-ic, as well as a little "
Welcome to the Dollhouse"
-like.

"
The whole rule while we were shooting was to keep the performances truthful and honest and not try and play for comedy,"
says Mr. Waititi, who adds that despite this emphasis, his focus puller wrecked a few shots because he kept cracking up.

The flick hasn't wowed every last critic, yet it's certainly garnered a lot of attention for the up-and-coming artist and his talented cast. Many overseas filmmakers and actors at a similar career crossroads might be tempted to relocate to Los Angeles, where more work is available — but this Kiwi couple isn't really interested.

"
Whenever we lose talent from home it weakens our pool of creativity,"
says Mr. Waititi. He'd rather stay home and support his homeland's artistic community than hit Hollywood pay dirt — "
even if that means remaining kind of poor most of the time."


"
The way I see it, I've survived 31 years without being a millionaire,"
he says. "
I can survive another 60."

[size=150:3iixxzlr]Don't Call Me Cock-Hole, Bitch!
[size=85:3iixxzlr]by An Exercise in Narcissistic Ego Tripping
Monday, 16 August 2010

In 2005 New Zealander Taika Waititi nabbed an Oscar nomination for his live action short Two Cars, One Night. I think it got a fair bit of attention in Australia because of the fact that we seemed to be having quite a run in the short film categories of the Oscars over that period, with Harvie Krumpet taking out the Short Animation award, Birthday Boy and The Mysterious Geographic Explorations Of Jasper Morello picking up nominations and Inja also getting a notice in the Live Action category, all between 2002 and 2005. And, as we know, when it comes to major awards, New Zealand has always qualified as Australia. It's how we roll.

So, when his debut feature Eagle vs Shark came out a couple of years later (having been worked through the Sundance labs in 2005), everyone was taking note, waiting to see what would happen. Not a lot did happen, and while I liked the film, I can't really say that I'm surprised by this. While it has been likened to Napoleon Dynamite, it is much deeper and less superficially comic, making it that much darker and harder to simply laugh at - rather, the laughter has to come from a place of identification, or else risk being that of one taking advantage of those in a much weaker position.

Lily (co-creator Loren Horsley) and Jarrod (Jemaine Clement) are awkward social misfits. Lily works at a fast food burger outlet, with a crush on Jarrod, who works in a gaming store and is more interested in Lily's co-worker. One day, when the co-worked is not in, Jarrod drops off an invite to a party he is holding. Lily dutifully passes the invite on, but when it is brushed off without even a glance she decides to attend the party herself, dressing up in the costume of her favourite animal (a shark) as requested on the invite. The party is attended by similar apparent misfits, and the party culminates in a video game competition, with Lily ending up competing in the final to Jarrod (dressed as an eagle - get it?), losing primarily because she spends much of the time staring at her crush.

So begins an awkward and seemingly ill-conceived relationship between sweet-hearted Lily, who is willing to put up with a lot of mistreatment, and selfish, confused and angry Jarrod, a compulsive liar who by his own admission is 'too complex.' As his complexity continues to rear its ugly head, however, Lily tires of putting up with it and determines to escape. Her determination is, however, thoroughly thwarted by a bus timetable, allowing for Jarrod's hard and created shell to collapse under the weight of his own fear, letting the scared little boy inside climb out.

The comparisons to Napoleon Dynamite are valid, but as mentioned there is a much deeper commentary on social pressure underlying Waititi's work. The laughs are derived from the same comedic realm, but where Dynamite's are heartier guffaws, Shark's tend to more reserved, tending to the sardonic or the relieved. The comedy is also very evenly spread - Waititi's script has been very well honed to reveal his characters gradually over the course of the film without there being a need for an expository act of somberness to give depth to otherwise under-realised characters.

That being said, the film did feel somewhat longer than its fairly short ninety minute runtime. The pace, while even, is slow, and the grouchiness of Jarrod coupled with the meekness of Lily are quite draining as prolonged thematic elements. In fact, there is very little in the way of light in the film, either light characters or laughs or storylines. For the most part, until the film begins its small arc to a conclusion, all of those introduced have similar problems or contributions to the world as our initial protagonists. And when the light does crack through as the film closes, it doesn't seem bright enough or long enough to truly lift the film up.

It is a great debut, obviously very intricately worked to arrive at the final product, incredibly lean. As a study of Waititi's abilities it works very well - it's a great little calling card that has obviously worked as his second feature Boy played at Sundance this year in the World Dramatic competition (Eagle vs Shark played in that competition also in 2007.) I will definitely be looking out for a chance to see Boy as soon as I can, because I'm sure Waititi has progressed leaps and bounds and that could only mean wonders for his sophomore effort. In the meantime, Eagle vs Shark is definitely worth a look, though don't expect fireworks. Solid and interesting, but not earth shattering. 3 stars.

Chloue wrote:that interview was cool, but the "
with James"
is a bit too much, I mean, he barely says some words, poor kid.

But there’s also the soundtrack to Eagle vs Shark, which the band was primarily responsible for, contributing some original compositions and previously released songs such as the sublime instrumental Hitchcock. More than just providing a soundtrack, the Phoenix Foundation played a part in the film’s creation.

“In a way they deserve some credit for the screenplay,” says director Taika Waititi. “Some of the tracks I was inspired by when I was writing Eagle vs Shark are used in the same places in the movie.”

Buda, who counts famed Greek soundtrack composer Vangelis among his biggest influences, said the band took a completely different approach with the music it composed for Eagle vs Shark. “With an album, you want the music to be totally engaging and you don't hold back,” he says. “With the music for a film you really are just trying to add to, or help the movement, action, emotion on the screen. So there is a lot of space you can leave that you might not when making music for its own sake.”

The band came on board reasonably late in the piece, but enjoyed a good working relationship with Waititi.

“Taika did a rough cut with temporary score, and we got all the scenes we did music to with that temporary score there as a sort of guide,” says Buda, who also has a cameo in the film. “He was very specific and full of input. I guess in the future I would probably want to be involved earlier, or to try and do some demos for the temporary score.”

Many of the reviews accompanying the June release of Eagle vs Shark in the US made mention of the great soundtrack, which also features Buda’s solo work and the music of other local artists such as Age Pryor and The Reduction Agents.

“We receive album royalties for our own albums whereas the soundtrack is not all our music so we won’t be getting as much for that side of things,” says Buda. But there will be royalties from the theatrical release of the film and should the soundtrack sell well, it will ultimately help Young American shift more copies of Horsepower, which was repackaged with bonus tracks for the US market.

The soundtrack is released through Hollywood Records which, like Miramax, is a Disney subsidiary, but Buda says the band’s dealings with the studio, by choice, were minimal. “A couple of us went and had a meeting with someone in Los Angeles at the Disney studios. Ha! She was very nice.”

About my design
by herky

As the saying goes, "
timing is everything"
especially in the case of an eagle and shark relationship.

The stats

Scoring finished:
1220 days ago

Submitted on:
Jun 13 '07

Scored by:
2,618 people

Comments:
79 comments

Final average score:
2.86 out of 5