lunes, 13 de diciembre de 2010
The End
The people of France are starting a revolution. Marie Antoinette and the rest of the monarchy to blame for people starving to death. In these final set of films, once again I didn’t want to show violence and scenes that didn’t really relate to the theme of the movie. Here we can see people outside the palace, but detalis will not be shown.It's generally known, that Marie was sent to the Guillotine. She had a horrible end, but in the film I wanted to show a more ambiguous end.She leaves in the carriage with her family, wondering what her future will be...
The country house
The movie is divided in 3 parts. The first part of the film is about Marie Antoinette arriving to Versailles, becoming desperate because she cannot bring a dauphin to the kingdom of France and going a little crazy spending and spending. The Second part is about Marie, finding sort of an inner piece, she has given birth already and with that she thinks she can do everything. And the third part is when France is not happy she is queen and the loss of one of her children.
The Second part of the film is represented with many scenes on the outside. In the country house Louis buys for Marie Antoinette. Here, she spends a lot of time with her daughter and particularly with Count Fersen a guy that travels around and it has said that he had many affairs. The scenes have a lot of light and in most scenes there is a lot of white wardrobe. Also there is water surrounding this place and many animals wondering around .Those four things, water, nature and white represent the purity and the calmness of those days.
The Second part of the film is represented with many scenes on the outside. In the country house Louis buys for Marie Antoinette. Here, she spends a lot of time with her daughter and particularly with Count Fersen a guy that travels around and it has said that he had many affairs. The scenes have a lot of light and in most scenes there is a lot of white wardrobe. Also there is water surrounding this place and many animals wondering around .Those four things, water, nature and white represent the purity and the calmness of those days.
I want CANDY
Marie Antoinette is walking around Versailles and all people around the castle are talking about how she can’t make her husband being stimulated for them to have children. She is holding the need to cry in front of everyone. She arrives to her private room and starts crying. Her face is being seen from up close to emphasize the emotion she is feeling and how sad she is with everything that is happening. It’s not her fault that her husband doesn’t want to sleep with her.
Just after this powerful emotional scene I wanted to portray how she coped with the situation. She basically ate very expensive pastries, bought every piece of cloth she wanted, drank a lot of champagne and she gambled all of the money of the monarchy. I wanted to show a sequence that demonstrated all of it, so with the song I want Candy by Bow Wow Wow I tried to di it. I wanted to create a collage of colors, with food, shoes, dresses, cards and movement.
LET THEM EAT CAKE
In one of the scenes when Marie Antoinette is taking a bath, someone mentions that the people of France are hungry. According to Legend Marie Antoinette said “Qu'ils mangent de la brioche”, which translates to let them eat cake. I adapted this to the script, because I thought it fitted in with the visual part of the film.
The Opera
The opera scenes are used to show how Marie Antoinette was perceived by the public. These two scenes were very difficult to accomplish. As well as before many extras were used to fill in the spaces at the theatre. Dresses have to be reused, from previous scenes for some of the extras. The first Opera scene is going to be at the beginning of the film, where Marie Antoinette has just become the queen of France. After the show finishes she stands up and starts clapping, and it wasn’t a custom to clap after a performance. Everyone stares at her for a short while but then everyone starts clapping too. This means that everyone approves of her as queen and that the reign of France will be in peace.Right before the other opera scene almost at the end of the film there is a series of paintings that could be interpreted as propaganda. They show the Image of Marie Antoinette with a tag line that judges her and tells what the people of France think of the way she’s been with France.
I decided to show these paintings, because I didn’t want any person or direct character to Marie Antoinette to say anything about her. The movie was about the phycology of the character and why she was that why. And if there were negative things about her the movie would lose it meaning. The paintings are a tertiary aspect that would not affect directly to the character.In this Opera scene, Marie Antoinette claps and claps and everyone just stands there starring at her with disapproval, reinforcing the idea that she is a bad queen, who has no interest on anyone but herself.
Towards the end of the film, there is less light and less color. The wardrobes are not shiny and colorful showing how the things in Marie Antoinette’s life are not going according to plan. She is not happy and now everyone hates her.
Rain of color
The Masquerade ball was a very fun part to film. Again we had more than 100 extras. Compared to the wedding this scene was easier to do. It was parties so I just said to everyone, imagine you were at a party at your friend’s house, and forget that is 1763 and just have fun!
The song selected for this scene is a song by a group called Siouxsie and the Banshees and it was released in 1978. The song is called Hong Kong Garden. For the version in the film a special instrumental opening was created.
In most films, the music is added after , but in this case we needed people to be actually dancing and not pretending, so the music was heard all over the place.
The costume choice was different than the wedding. For the first time in the film Marie Antoinette is wearing a black dress, representing that in that place and in that time she is not the queen of France. She escaped from Versailles and sneaked into the ball as a stranger. Other costumes are not pastel as in the wedding; they are more bright and daring, compared to the rest of the film. The camera moves all over the party as it were a guest watching all of the movements at the party.
The song selected for this scene is a song by a group called Siouxsie and the Banshees and it was released in 1978. The song is called Hong Kong Garden. For the version in the film a special instrumental opening was created.
In most films, the music is added after , but in this case we needed people to be actually dancing and not pretending, so the music was heard all over the place.
The costume choice was different than the wedding. For the first time in the film Marie Antoinette is wearing a black dress, representing that in that place and in that time she is not the queen of France. She escaped from Versailles and sneaked into the ball as a stranger. Other costumes are not pastel as in the wedding; they are more bright and daring, compared to the rest of the film. The camera moves all over the party as it were a guest watching all of the movements at the party.
The hand-over
Today we filmed, the first set of scenes, where Marie Antoinette leaves her Austrian home to go to France. With this set of scenes I wanted to represent how she was still a girl taken away from home.
In these two stills, you can see how she is very innocent and childish. In the first one she is playing with the glass on the carriage. And in the second one she get really upset when the woman takes away her dog that she adores.
She arrives with a very simple white dress representing pureness. Her hair is just in her shoulders as a small girl. They take away her clothes arguing that she can’t have anything that belong to a foreign court. When they are done preparing her she is wearing another blue dress, more elaborate and her hair is perfectly done.
In these two stills, you can see how she is very innocent and childish. In the first one she is playing with the glass on the carriage. And in the second one she get really upset when the woman takes away her dog that she adores. She arrives with a very simple white dress representing pureness. Her hair is just in her shoulders as a small girl. They take away her clothes arguing that she can’t have anything that belong to a foreign court. When they are done preparing her she is wearing another blue dress, more elaborate and her hair is perfectly done.
Political Context
Sorry I haven’t written for a while, but I’m really busy with the movie. I’ve never worked in such a complicated set, where every detail REALLY matter. Today I was thinking, as I’ve been thinking for a while, the lack of political context in the film. I mentioned this to my Dad and he said not to worry about that, because I’m doing a personal profile of Marie Antoinette, and she wasn’t involved with politics at all. She just wanted to have a son, but his husband wasn’t really helping in that department. Everyone was judging her in that, and it wasn’t her fault. She was trying to find a way to escape all this mess, and politics wasn’t her escape.
The wedding
We started shooting with the wedding scene. We’ve been filming for the last 10 days. That scene had to be done first because of the number of extras. We decided it was better to do it before. We had more than 50 extras for that scene. It was difficult to coordinate everyone. And it took even more time to put everyone through make up and costume. I have some stills of the wedding that I managed to get yesterday.
It was hard to manage to get a huge group of people to stand in the positions I wanted and the faces I wanted them to make. Basically my main idea was for the faces to express disproval towards Marie Antoinette even in her own wedding. An Austrian outsider that it’s not welcome in France.
In the first still you see the people present at the weeding, looking at Marie Antoinette with curiosity and disapproval. In the second still you can see Marie Antoinette happy, she is wondering what will happen next and she doesn’t discard any possibilities. The light used is very bright for Marie Antoinette, and the rest are more in the shadows, in a dark place. She is the one getting married and becoming the dauphine of France and no someone else.
Here you can see the interesting choice in costume, Yellow dress with a black necklace and a lot of sequence and shiny fabrics. Even the men are wearing light colors and their wigs have a tone that matches their outfit.
Here is the king of France, with his mistress. The Mistress is wearing that blue opaque dress, because no one likes her, she is an outsider to the throne, and that will be represented throughout the film with her choice of wardrobe. 
The fireworks after Marie Antoinette’s and Louis’s Wedding are used represent, the happiness of the alliance between France and Austria. Also the hope for a son and a good monarchy are represented here as well.
It was hard to manage to get a huge group of people to stand in the positions I wanted and the faces I wanted them to make. Basically my main idea was for the faces to express disproval towards Marie Antoinette even in her own wedding. An Austrian outsider that it’s not welcome in France.
In the first still you see the people present at the weeding, looking at Marie Antoinette with curiosity and disapproval. In the second still you can see Marie Antoinette happy, she is wondering what will happen next and she doesn’t discard any possibilities. The light used is very bright for Marie Antoinette, and the rest are more in the shadows, in a dark place. She is the one getting married and becoming the dauphine of France and no someone else.
Here you can see the interesting choice in costume, Yellow dress with a black necklace and a lot of sequence and shiny fabrics. Even the men are wearing light colors and their wigs have a tone that matches their outfit.
Here is the king of France, with his mistress. The Mistress is wearing that blue opaque dress, because no one likes her, she is an outsider to the throne, and that will be represented throughout the film with her choice of wardrobe. 
The fireworks after Marie Antoinette’s and Louis’s Wedding are used represent, the happiness of the alliance between France and Austria. Also the hope for a son and a good monarchy are represented here as well.
ready?
We start filming tomorrow. I really don’t want this film to be a big historical epic. I want to create an impressionistic story that develops as Marie Antoinette grows old and mature. I’m nervous but I’ll try to do my best.
Pinkilishious
Everything is going very well. Yesterday I met with KK Barret our production designer. He is absolutely brilliant. At the beginning when I told him my ideas, he was not very keen on them. I wanted Versailles to be as it was at the time. But of course the place had to be cleared out because the place is a museum. We had to bring all sorts of material to create the place as it was before. The group of people KK hired for this is immense and I wish I knew everyone’s names. There are people working with food, other people working with flowers, others with the furniture etc.
Today I looked at all the food designs. It’s so much work by the chefs and the designers. It really looks amazing. I remember saying that I wanted to show with the film how she spent her money on food, particularly in bakery. I wanted the macaroons to match with the dresses. Creating the most girlish and pinkish thing ever. I took a picture at some of the pastries they showed me today:
Today I looked at all the food designs. It’s so much work by the chefs and the designers. It really looks amazing. I remember saying that I wanted to show with the film how she spent her money on food, particularly in bakery. I wanted the macaroons to match with the dresses. Creating the most girlish and pinkish thing ever. I took a picture at some of the pastries they showed me today:
France
I’m in France now. I’m going to be here for at least 9 weeks. There are two more weeks till we start shooting. Today I met with Milena; she showed me some of the dresses and the costumes. A while ago I suggested that colors like red, blue and white were really boring. I said that colors, like yellow, blue and pink pastel, light green would give a more symbolic and stylish meaning. I told her that she could create something unique and that she didn’t have to follow any sort of traditional path. I even mentioned that men could be wearing light pink as well. She managed to create what I wanted for the costumes. What she showed me, it’s truly art. She mixes bright pink with pastel blue, green with white. The colors of the fabrics look like a revolution in fashion and it looks truly incredible and wild.
I was with Jason and Kirsten today. Jason began to talk and talk about all the books that he was reading about Louis XVI and the French revolution. He went on and on about it. I stood there quiet for a while until he stopped talking. I told him that it was good he was well informed about the situation in France at the time. I reminded him that this was a modern interpretation and that he shouldn’t pay a lot of attention to how Louis XVI actually was. I suggested being a little more himself, even act as if he was a spoiled brat.
Since the beginning Kirsten knew what I wanted. She was well informed as well about the situation. But she knew from the beginning that this wasn’t a conventional story. Of course the film goes around her character. But I told her that she should give a fresher face to Marie. That she shouldn’t do any sort of accent, be a teenager girl, an American girl that is entering a new reality that doesn’t know how to interpret.
I was with Jason and Kirsten today. Jason began to talk and talk about all the books that he was reading about Louis XVI and the French revolution. He went on and on about it. I stood there quiet for a while until he stopped talking. I told him that it was good he was well informed about the situation in France at the time. I reminded him that this was a modern interpretation and that he shouldn’t pay a lot of attention to how Louis XVI actually was. I suggested being a little more himself, even act as if he was a spoiled brat.
Since the beginning Kirsten knew what I wanted. She was well informed as well about the situation. But she knew from the beginning that this wasn’t a conventional story. Of course the film goes around her character. But I told her that she should give a fresher face to Marie. That she shouldn’t do any sort of accent, be a teenager girl, an American girl that is entering a new reality that doesn’t know how to interpret.
Versailles
I can’t believe I’m saying this: We managed to get permission to film in Versailles. We are going to film at exactly the same place the real Marie Antoinette lived. According to one of my producers we accomplished to get permission to film there, because we were the first group of people that wanted to tell the story in the perspective of her and not someone that that was just judging her and giving her bad PR
The cast is almost ready. Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman are starring in the film. My decision for Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI is the following: I think the character is clumsy at times, and that is why the character needs to be somehow funny, and Jason is really good with being funny, that is not really obvious and I think he can accomplish an underground humor that is note very common.
I decided to pick a wide range of nationalities in the film. There mainly American actors, but there are French, British, Italian and even Moroccan. I thought that this represented how Versailles was at the time for Marie Antoinette. There were so many people she had to know, and she felt alienated. If there were people from all over the world in the set, it would give the same sort of atmosphere.
The cast is almost ready. Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman are starring in the film. My decision for Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI is the following: I think the character is clumsy at times, and that is why the character needs to be somehow funny, and Jason is really good with being funny, that is not really obvious and I think he can accomplish an underground humor that is note very common.
I decided to pick a wide range of nationalities in the film. There mainly American actors, but there are French, British, Italian and even Moroccan. I thought that this represented how Versailles was at the time for Marie Antoinette. There were so many people she had to know, and she felt alienated. If there were people from all over the world in the set, it would give the same sort of atmosphere.
starting
Everything is going very quickly. I can’t believe that I already have my producers. My Dad is an executive producer, and thanks to him Fred Ross a good friend of his agreed to be part of the film as well, he is an executive producer as well. He has worked alongside of my Dad in The Godfather and in Apocalypse Now.
I contacted Ross Kats that has worked as a producer in my last film Lost in Translation. He has also worked in great films like Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility and Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Really talented people are working with me, and I’m very lucky.
With the help of my Dad I managed to get in contact with Milena Canonero, a great costume designer that has gone two academy awards for Barry Lyndon ( Directed by Stanley Kubrick) and Chariots of Fire ) Directed by Hugh Hudson. She had done amazing work with many movies, including one of my favorite films: Out of Africa.
When discussing with her the film, I mentioned that I didn’t want anything that was really classic; I imagined something that wasn’t expected for a historical piece. She mentioned that it was going to be challenging, but it would be very interesting to do. And right there she started doing sketches and discussing color and ideas.
For music I had a very clear what I wanted. I hate the idea of only having classical music. The music should reflect what was in Marie Antoinette’s head. I really want the music to be expressive, and the audience notices that is not the traditional historical and Biographical film. My good friend Brian Reitzell also agreed to work with me. We have a similar pattern of thinking when it comes to mixing images with sound. We worked together for Virgin suicides and for Lost in translation. He always manages to read my mind, and he shows me the music that matches perfectly with what I’m thinking.
I contacted Ross Kats that has worked as a producer in my last film Lost in Translation. He has also worked in great films like Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility and Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Really talented people are working with me, and I’m very lucky.
With the help of my Dad I managed to get in contact with Milena Canonero, a great costume designer that has gone two academy awards for Barry Lyndon ( Directed by Stanley Kubrick) and Chariots of Fire ) Directed by Hugh Hudson. She had done amazing work with many movies, including one of my favorite films: Out of Africa.
When discussing with her the film, I mentioned that I didn’t want anything that was really classic; I imagined something that wasn’t expected for a historical piece. She mentioned that it was going to be challenging, but it would be very interesting to do. And right there she started doing sketches and discussing color and ideas.
For music I had a very clear what I wanted. I hate the idea of only having classical music. The music should reflect what was in Marie Antoinette’s head. I really want the music to be expressive, and the audience notices that is not the traditional historical and Biographical film. My good friend Brian Reitzell also agreed to work with me. We have a similar pattern of thinking when it comes to mixing images with sound. We worked together for Virgin suicides and for Lost in translation. He always manages to read my mind, and he shows me the music that matches perfectly with what I’m thinking.
notes
I started writing about Marie Antoinette. My ideas were mainly based on the book by Antonia. I just started with some ideas, but then I began writing a screenplay. I kept writing how I would react to some things if I were 14 years, foreign and complete clueless about politics. How can we react to those sorts of things? That is high school at some point. You have no idea how you are going to manage when you don’t know anyone and you are completely clueless on how things are done when you first go in. I wanted to portray this. As if Marie Antoinette was a modern day teenager, trying to escape. “As If that century was today”
I was visualizing Marie Antoinette’s face and how I could adapt her Austrian looks into my idea of the character that would look modern as well. I had previously worked with Kristen Dunst, and when writing her face came to my head many times. She had this delicate face, very pale that fit perfectly well. The last time I had worked with her in The Virgin Suicides, she studied every word I told her. Another thing is that, she grew up in the Hollywood industry where everyone wants to fit perfectly well. In other words, she will know exactly what I want to transmit with the character.
I went to my Dad, I showed him what I was writing and I told him my general idea, and how I could make a film from what I have. The first thing he said was: Make the film and the story your own. Do whatever you want with it. It’s in your hands to make a unique story that will pop out of the ordinary. He also had interest in participating in the film somehow, but at this point I’m far away of even starting a film. I have to give the screenplay more thought.
I was visualizing Marie Antoinette’s face and how I could adapt her Austrian looks into my idea of the character that would look modern as well. I had previously worked with Kristen Dunst, and when writing her face came to my head many times. She had this delicate face, very pale that fit perfectly well. The last time I had worked with her in The Virgin Suicides, she studied every word I told her. Another thing is that, she grew up in the Hollywood industry where everyone wants to fit perfectly well. In other words, she will know exactly what I want to transmit with the character.
I went to my Dad, I showed him what I was writing and I told him my general idea, and how I could make a film from what I have. The first thing he said was: Make the film and the story your own. Do whatever you want with it. It’s in your hands to make a unique story that will pop out of the ordinary. He also had interest in participating in the film somehow, but at this point I’m far away of even starting a film. I have to give the screenplay more thought.
The Idea
While I was at dinner with a group of friends, I was talking to my good friend Dean Tavoulatis. He was mentioning how interesting he thought were my two movies. How both of them were related. Both of them were about young women who were not really understood. They were finding a way for their lives to have meaning. I was doing that with my two past films. The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. Then, somehow we started talking about historical figures; he started talking about Marie Antoinette, saying that it was related to the topics I used in my previous films. Marie Antoinette the Austrian teenage girl that married the Dauphin of France (Louis XVI) at young age and became the queen of France. Marie Antoinette spent like crazy; she didn’t care about politics and took France to ruin. “For me, Marie Antoinette remained, above all, the symbol of a completely declining life style. He started to describe to me his daily newspaper in details, his particular relation with her husband. He brushed me a portrait of it, in particular on a psychological level, which was quite different from the stereotypes that I had been done.”
Dean was making a point there, and that interested me. I had to see a lot of perspectives in order to understand her. That’s when I started to do some research; I was captivated by her story. Then that’s when I came across Antonia Fraser’s book, Marie Antoinette: The journey. This book is different from anything I’ve read about Marie Antoinette. It gave me the impression as if instead of becoming the queen of France she was just a High School Student that wanted to fit in. No one really understood what she was going through. You have no idea what to do with your life if all of a sudden your queen of a foreign country.
Dean was making a point there, and that interested me. I had to see a lot of perspectives in order to understand her. That’s when I started to do some research; I was captivated by her story. Then that’s when I came across Antonia Fraser’s book, Marie Antoinette: The journey. This book is different from anything I’ve read about Marie Antoinette. It gave me the impression as if instead of becoming the queen of France she was just a High School Student that wanted to fit in. No one really understood what she was going through. You have no idea what to do with your life if all of a sudden your queen of a foreign country.
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