On Monday we were proud to host a special screening of Marriage Story, followed by a Q&A with director Noah Baumbach. Our moderator for the evening was Noah’s friend and collaborator Wes Anderson.
In a wide-ranging Q&A, Wes grilled Noah on casting the film, how he used rehearsal to coax incredible performances from his actors, working with Randy Newman on the score, his strategy behind camera movement and more.
Tonight! We’re very excited to bring our members a special screening of @MarriageStory followed by a Q&A with director Noah Baumbach #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory pic.twitter.com/tUw3MZV0xO
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
And the moderator for the Q&A? Just the one and only Wes Anderson! Follow us later this evening for live-tweets from this unique discussion between two amazing filmmakers #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Our screening of @MarriageStory is about to begin. Join us afterwards when Wes Anderson will be speaking to the film’s director, Noah Baumbach #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory pic.twitter.com/JJL5cdGPbu
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Wow, that was the incredible @MarriageStory. Our Q&A with director Noah Baumbach in conversation with Wes Anderson is about to begin #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Wow, that was the incredible @MarriageStory. Our Q&A with director Noah Baumbach in conversation with Wes Anderson is about to begin #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Wes starts by paying tribute to Noah and their friendship. They explain that when they first met they both took out identical notebooks to make a note at the same moment, and that was when they knew they would be friends #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah discusses a couple of moments of physical comedy. Wes says he knows how difficult it can be to block and frame actions like those #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah explains that you find things like that in rehearsal but it can be so difficult to recreate on set. But that’s where actors like Adam Driver come in - he does everything he can to make it work #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
They rehearsed the whole movie, and for certain scenes they went to the actual filming locations to rehearse in situ #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
A lot of Adam’s character’s physicality is based on deflection. He’s always doing things around the set rather than focusing and dealing with what’s being said #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Whereas Scarlett’s character follows him around - which encapsulates their married relationship #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
But when you want movement like that you have to rehearse it carefully #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
The scenes are so intense you can’t come in at the middle of them. So you rehearse them as one long scene #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah thought about cutting away but it wasn’t as impactful when filmed that way #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Speaking about writing the film, Noah explains that by the time the story got to script stage he knew exactly how he wanted it to begin and end #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
There was a long process before it was a script where he didn’t know that though #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
The film was shot on 35mm, which Noah hasn’t done since Greenberg. It was also handheld, which he used to give the story intimacy and make it feel very present #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Wes invites the audience to ask questions so that he’s not just asking questions for himself #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
One of members asks if any of film was improvised. Noah says that it wasn’t, but he takes it as a compliment that people think it might be #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
That’s the kind of dialogue he aims for and that’s what he aims to get out of rehearsals and the way he works with actors #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
However at the same time bits of the film are incredibly stylised - the scenes with people talking over one another are almost set up like a screwball comedy #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
#DUKmarriage #MarriageStory pic.twitter.com/hDBBPtEFm9
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah is talking about his personal experience of divorce, both as an adult and as a child when his parents got divorced #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah interviewed a number of people about their divorces, including, in some cases, both parties in a relationship #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
He also spoke to Adam and Scarlett speculatively about the project and what they’d want to bring to it #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Adam Driver really wanted to play a theatre director, so that was an idea he brought to the project and that Noah incorporated #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
It’s called Marriage Story rather than Divorce Story because it’s the story of the marriage and the ongoing relationship beyond that - how you go on loving each other despite everything #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Wes says he didn’t want to anyway, but the film really, really makes him not want to get divorced. Noah: “The movie gets divorced so you don’t have to” #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
But what he really wanted to explore is the idea of whether a marriage is a failure just because it ends #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah acknowledges that the film does shift to Charlie’s point of view at a specific point, but then brings it back to both. You realise that it’s wrong to take anyone’s side #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
And while there are other characters, you only meet them in the company of one or both of the two main characters #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Wes asks about Randy Newman’s score. Noah explains that he loves the way the music comes in and out. It doesn’t underscore the scenes, it reacts to them and sometimes you’re very aware of it and at other times it disappears #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah sent Randy the script and the following day he sent back some cues recorded on his iPhone #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
He did the same thing for Noah’s last film, The Meyerowitz Stories. And in both instances those sketched cues ended up becoming major parts of the finished score #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Noah: one of the great parts of our jobs as directors is that you get the chance to work with people like Randy Newman that you grew up loving - and then you get to tell them not to do it like that! #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
Wes ends by again praising the film and the whole amazing cast #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
A huge, huge thank you to Noah Baumbach for sharing his film with us, and to Wes Anderson for moderating our Q&A #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
And make sure you watch @MarriageStory on @NetflixFilm as soon as it becomes available on December 6th #DUKmarriage #MarriageStory
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) October 7, 2019
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