Interview: The Amazing Spider-Man Director Marc Webb

Article from /Film

Yesterday Sony invited a handfull of press to the studio lot to present an advance screening of the new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man (watch it now online here). Director Marc Webb wanted us to see the trailer on the big screen, and experience the 3D aspects of the trailer. After the trailer screening, Webb took some questions from our group. He was only supposed to answer a few questions, but ended up sticking around for 20 minutes worth before he got dragged back to post production.

Webb talks about the negative response to the teaser trailer’s POV footage, how he brought The Lizard to life using different technologies, keeping the characters and relationships grounded, how Peter will discover his powers, his approach to the humor in the film, casting Dennis Leary as an authority figure, some of the more impressive 3D effects, uncle Bens death, the pressure to deliver an iconic Spider-Man kiss, the film’s running time, how much of the global Spider-Man universe we see in this story, his involvement in the script for the Sequel, and advances in technology like 3D and 48 frames per second.Read the entire transcript after the jump.

Marc Webb: Are there any questions? I have a couple of minutes.

Question: In the first teaser trailer there was a point of view thing which seemed to get a very negative response online.

Marc Webb: The first one, yeah.

Question: Yeah, because it was very computer generated.

Marc Webb: Right.

Question: We see some point of view stuff in here. How much of that is in the film? Let me just say, it looks a lot better.

Marc Webb: Yeah, well we were still in production when we made that trailer I believe, so that was a very early rendering of some of the CG stuff and the POV stuff is, again part of the fun of this was to create the movie thinking about subjectivity, meaning getting to feel what Spiderman feel what Spiderman feels and I thought 3D was a really interesting way to exploit that. We spent a lot of time refining and just making that shit better and so there is that in the movie, but its a much more refined version than what you had seen before.

Question: How much of it is in the movie? Like how many minutes of POV kind of stuff?

Marc Webb: How many minutes? Its interspersed throughout the film. Its not like the third act is all point of view, though that is an interesting idea.

[Everyone Laughs]

Marc Webb: Im not that bold.

Question: Not to get too specific about the trailer, but Im kind of curious. Who was the voice that said Dont tell the kid about his father?

Marc Webb: Youll have to see the movie.

Question: Its an intentional mystery?

Marc Webb: Yeah, sure.

Question: Can you talk a little about just bringing the Lizard to life and technically how you accomplished it? I imagine it was all motion capture?

Marc Webb: Theres a lot that goes into it. I mean there was When we shot those sequences we actually shot a human, a rather large There was a combination of things. There was a guy named Big John, who was literally this big guy named John who did a lot of the interactive stuff, because when you are trying to interact with Andrew, with Peter, you need someone grabbing him to do those things and then we would replace him with the computer generated Lizard. But then the performance capture was done with Rhys and that was we would shoot Rhys in a similar environment and get his facial components, (Laughs) which we are still working on. I actually just came from SPI trying to incorporate his performance into the Lizard itself. That takes an enormous amount of time and its tricky. In the comics theres different incarnations of the Lizard. Theres the one with the snout, and I was interested more with something that could relate human emotions, because I wanted to keep Rhyss performance in that creature and I was interested in. You know performance; Pixar does it extremely well like creating the emotional qualities within characters that are essentially computer generated. So Rhyss performance, getting that nuance and getting those ticks and the looks and creating an armature that can actually speak and lips that make sounds (Laughs) Its a very detailed and tedious process, but I really wanted him to have emotion. I wanted him to have a face and have a feeling and thats the way I chose to do that and then theres the physical components of it, where I wanted to make him very powerful. I wanted to make him stronger than Spiderman, thats a really important part of it.

Question: We see a lot of spectacle on screen. How did you balance your approach to delivering the thrill ride that audiences will want with the fact that Spiderman is also one of the more down to earth and grounded super hero characters?

Marc Webb: Yeah, see for me the access point I mean I was always a Spiderman fan, but I was bigger Peter Parker fan than Spiderman and when you see the movie, I dont think anybody will be worried about the emotional part of it. There is an incredibly innocent and tender quality to Peter Parker. I mean hes not billionaire. Hes not an alien. Hes a kid. He doesnt have money and has trouble with the people that raise him and he has trouble talking to girls and theres that intense relate-ability, which is all through the movie and that access point was I wish we were in the editing room, I could show you scenes that would describe that, but I think you guys have all seen the hallway stuff and that is a texture that for me was really intuitive. I mean in my last movie I felt like that was something Its just something I love in movies, that romantic dimension. Its something Im very familiar with, being nervous by women.

[Everyone Laughs]

Marc Webb: But again with the relate-ability is sort of the The interpersonal relationships that Peter Parker has are so simple and so domestic that its a very fun dichotomy to play that big massive spectacle alongside those very small movies. I mean in a very real way theres a small intimate little indie movie at the heart of SPIDERMAN and that was my access point. And the trailer is, you know, you want that spectacle and you want that energy, because I think theres an expectation surrounding that, but as we get closer to release there will be materials that will come out to help show and demonstrate the more intimate parts of SPIDERMAN, which is to me where the heart is.

Question: Well some of the best parts of the Sam Raimi movies are when hes discovering his powers for the first time. Do you get to have fun with that again?

Marc Webb: Yeah, there are elements of that. I mean listen; I wanted to do things differently. Weve seen the origin of Spiderman, maybe we havent seen the origin of Peter Parker and there are certain iconic elements of Spiderman that I felt obligated to honor, but there are some exploratory phases, but I wanted to Again, Im trying to build something with a different tone and a different attitude and do things in a little bit more of a practical way, especially at the beginning of the movie, so there are elements where we spent a lot of time designing and engineering sequences that existed within the camera that we just shot practically, like him swinging on these chains to help create that sensation, that feeling of joy and fun, which is always a great part of these movies.

Question: Can you talk about your approach to the humor here? It seems like Peter becomes this more animated version of himself, like this guy that maybe he always wanted to be like when hes wearing the suit. Can you talk about your approach to the humorous side of Peter?

Marc Webb: Sure. Again, thats something from the comics that Ive always been a fan of, but humor is a very tricky thing, because its very subjective and I wanted to Everything in this movie, the first domino is Peter Parker getting left behind by his parents, right? And I thought to myself, What does that do to somebody? How does that change your view of the world? To me it creates a little bit of a level of distrust. Its a brutal thing to happen to you and that, to me, is where he gets that outsider status and then theres a sarcasm that comes from that and the wittiness I think maybe some of your guys have seen the car thief scene where that attitude comes out and that generates from him having this chip on his shoulder. Hes a little bit mean, a little bit kind of snarky. But thats an attitude that we can all understand and relate to, but I think it comes from a very real genuine place and I think thats an important part. My point is the humor comes from a very human real emotional place, its not just slapped on.

Question: Can you talk a little bit about those domestic elements, in terms of the casting? I mean somebody like Dennis Leary is, to me, will always be the guy in the leather jacket chain smoking, but its interesting to see him playing this very

Marc Webb: He plays the authority figure that hes made fun of for his entire career. Its funny.

Question: Yeah, can you talk about casting him and also Sally Field, a much younger and hipper Aunt May.

Marc Webb: When you cast someone like Sally, they can come with a certain level of awareness and real genuine affection, which I think for Aunt May is an incredibly important thing to have. We all love Aunt May, but I wanted to created a tension between May and Peter, because again Whats the reality of this situation? God, I wish I cold show you guys more. I actually cant, I dont have anything here, so Im not setting anything up by saying that, but What would happen if you were someone who was in charge of taking care of a kid who has had a lot of tragedy in his life and he goes out late at night and comes back and hes fucked up? You would be concerned. Hes got bruises and When you cast someone like Sally, they come with a certain level of awareness and real genuine affection, which for Aunt May is an incredibly important thing to have. We all love Aunt May, but I wanted to create a tension between May and Peter. I was like, Whats the reality of this situation? What would happen, if you were someone who was in charge of taking care of a kid whos had a lot of tragedy in his life, and he goes out late at night and comes back and hes fucked up? Youd be concerned. Hes got bruises on his face, and what happens in that moment? That can create some tension, but you want there to be love there. Thats what someone like Sally Field gives you. And then, we all trust Denis Leary. Hes got this attitude, but you love him. In this movie, he puts pressure on Peter Parker. Hes on Spider-Mans case, but you understand him. Ive said this before, but good drama comes from competing ideas of whats good. People have different ideas of what that is, and when you put that together, they collide and theres an honest difference of opinion. Theres something thats really interesting that happens there, and I wanted to explore that as much as possible.

Question: Theres one shot of Spiderman with his leg coming out of the screen that comes closer than anything Ive seen in the recent crop of 3D. How did you do that?

Marc Webb: Its true. Its a matter of convergence. Again, the movie I designed as a 3D movie and that sequence that that comes from is later on in the film. James Cameron, who was incredibly generous with me early on, likes to play them at depth, to play 3D like depth, like This is a window and everything you see behind there, thats what is fun about it. The jungles of AVATAR are really a great example of that. I liked pushing the 3D a little bit further, so it would come out at you. I just remember as a kid watching THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON stick his and all of that stuff You know, HOUSE OF WAX and all of that stuff. Theres something fun about that and seeing an audience with kids in it reach out There were moments that I wanted to exploit like that and that was one of those moments. That was shot that has many, many visual layers to it, but we generated around this figure and then we converge, meaning we put the screen level behind the character, behind Spiderman there, so that his legs would come out and then we made him a little bit more in focus, so that you could feel a tangible sense of him rather than the motion This gets very technical and boring, but you reduce the motion blur, so it felt more tactile and then that shot in particular, if you notice it, when a subject violates the end of the screen, to those of you guys who know 3D, like it corrupts the illusion, right? Like you start to notice that its not really real.

Question: You cant go past the edge of the screen.

Marc Webb: Exactly, so I designed it so that it would exist within the barriers of the screen, so youre not aware that its crossing out the screen. So that helps with that notion that it can come out at you a little bit more. So thats another one of those layers and then another thing is and that shot is longer in the movie, but its there to You sit on it longer, thats the other part of getting that feel that hes coming into your space.

Question: In the comics, uncle Bens death is really the catalyst for Peter becoming Spiderman. From the trailer it kind of seems like the search for the truth about his parents is sort of the catalyst.

Marc Webb: Thats the first domino in the story, the parents and he goes out looking for his father and he finds himself. Thats my tagline, but Uncle Ben of course plays

Question: So what is his role, then?

Marc Webb: Uncle Bens death is Youll have to see the movie, but there are three elements to it. There are a few elements that Marvel was very protective of and I think are very important parts of the Spiderman origin story. It Uncle Bens death transforming him and having an impact him in a certain way is an incredibly part of the mythology and I would never subvert that. So thats all I will say about that, but Im very protective of that.

Question: Can you just mention working with Martin Sheen? How is Martin Sheen in the role?

Marc Webb: Hes awesome.

[Everybody Laughs]

Marc Webb: Hes a dream. I mean between takes he would tell us stories about Terrence Malick, about APOCALYPSE NOW Fellini I mean it was spectacular. That was one of the really, really joyful parts about making this movie, getting to work with Sally Field and Martin Sheen and Dennis Leary and talking with them. I mean it is so cool. They are so cool and such pros. Again, like Martin Sheen, you think of President Bartlet and he has that sense of benevolent authority, but theres something else in terms of the dynamic that I wanted to explore visa vi Peters relationship with his absent parents. Peters parents were, depending on the comics, Ben and May are sort of street wise blue collar people, but they are not scientists and Peter has this incredibly scientific ability, which creates a little bit of a gap between him and Ben and May. I thought that was a really interesting thing to explore and what Martin was able to do was to embody this sort of blue collar guy and there was some fissure, some break between the two of them that was developing and even though there is a great love for him, he knew he wasnt the father, that he wasnt Richard Parker, and that gap, that crack, that missing piece that Peter had was a really fun thing to start off with in terms of exploring..

Question: You mentioned the romance part of it earlier. Did you feel any pressure to deliver one of those iconic Spiderman kisses?

Marc Webb: Its hard to compete with that first SPIDERMAN kiss, so that wasnt my primary objective. I wanted to make a movie that To me its about the chemistry and thats the thing you rely on and those things can happen, but I didnt want to use that language. I wanted to create a language of my own.

Question: Theres a rumored running time. Has a final cut been locked?

Marc Webb: Yeah, its right around two hours, so I dont know There was something on some website that said an hour and thirty minutes or something like that?

Question: Yeah.

Marc Webb: No. (Laughs) Every once in a while its really interesting, because you hear people talk about information that gets out and youre like Oh yeah, Im sure theres some truth to it, but sometimes things come up and youre like What are you talking about? Thats one of those things. I dont know where that came from. So its not, and the cut is pretty much locked, we are just doing a lot of visual effects.

Question: With the Spiderman universe obviously you have decades of not only comics, but animated series I mean you have an entire world. Outside of the main story, how much do we really get a global view of Spidermans universe?

Marc Webb: We spent a lot of time with the writers coming up with the back-story and a world that could hold different stories if this series is ongoing. We plucked things from different We took stuff from the Ultimates. We took stuff from The Amazing Spidermans and then we invented other things to make it interesting for people, you know what I mean? Take Gwen Stacey for example, I look more toward The Amazing Spidermans, because I just like the texture of her character more in that than in The Ultimates where I thought it was more appropriate for Peter, whereas the body language, like I thought were great reference points in terms of creating the physical identity of Spiderman, which is from The Ultimates of course.

Question: How in touch are you with the scripting thats going on for the second one and the changes that

Marc Webb: I am not Im so deeply immersed in this one that I havent touched anything. Theres this talk and whatever, but its all just talk and a lot of it just has to do with schedules, but Im literally spending eighteen hours a day finishing the movie, so I cant give you any interesting scoop there. I wish I could.

Question: Do you have any thoughts on this coming out of Cinema Con theres a lot of talk about forty-eight frames a second becoming the future

Marc Webb: I havent seen that. I have absolute trust in Peter Jackson. I think hes an incredible filmmaker and I feel like its really important to support experiments and its really important to try new and different things and I really want to honor the theatrical experience and things that can make that better are great and we have to be patient and see what happens and its a very hard thing to make movies and especially in the environment now where everybody wants to have some opinion about something that its hard to generate a level of good will or support or curiosity about things and so I would just be curious to see it. I havent seen it, so I cant really comment on it, but you know anything to help with making movies interesting and fun to watch Im down for, for trying different things.

[Everyone thanks Marc for his time.]

Marc Webb: Thanks, guys.