Sit Down with J.J. Abrams
I was determined to get to Apple SOHO early as I knew there would be a crowd waiting for J.J. Abrams. I got there about half hour before noon, but there was already a line formed in front of the store. Fortunately the line wasn't too bad as I ended up right in front of a post office behind Apple SOHO store. (Bonus discovery!) People were passing by us, asking if Apple is launching new product, but people in the line mostly answered that they were waiting for a keynote speaker. I guess people didn't want to invite more crowd to the presentation. :)
A cameraman with Sony HDCAM camera recorded us entering the store and the whole presentation. Unfortunately, I didn't come early enough to secure a seat for the presentation. I was short 5, 6 people before getting a seat. His 15" monitor took a seat by itself. There were about 50 more people behind me and formed lines around the area.
The light went dark and this lady (I forgot who she was) welcomed us and introduced J.J. He came out from the backdoor but he was promptly held off to run MI3 trailer. Bad move as he was forced to watch MI3 trailer--I'm sure he has seen in millions times, with us. Finally, the trailer ended, and he took the stage with numerous flashes around the audience, including yours truly, and claps. He had a little problem with mic initially and quickly quipped, "It's not a Mac mic." He had us from there.
He began the presentation as a professed Apple/Mac head and warned us to leave since he was there to promote how great Apple products are. He professed he's a geek that goes back to Commodore 64 days during his college days and he trips over technical progressed Apple made in last few years, especially Final Cut Pro, iChat, Shake, and Garage Band. He uses Final Draft to write all his scripts and goes over with his writers via iChat instantly. Now, he can even edit anywhere with FCP on Mac laptop, and show to his editors instead of talking about it. He also learned few special effects using Shake with ILM crew and compare the program to playing Sudoku. He felt that he was empowered to be creative with these tools without time or money constraint. He talked about his TV experience as he raced to finish an episode of Alias for Superbowl Sunday. He talked non-stop for an half hour, with great humor that enamored everyone in the crowd. I can see why he's one of the hottest talent in Hollywood now.
Next, he moved on to his new debut film, MI3. He professed he loved first two films, and wanted to bring something his own to the series. He lavished his praise to his star/producer Tom Cruise, as Tom gave him almost total creative control to get this film made. Tom waited a year so that J.J. can work on Lost and J.J. hasn't worked on the 2nd season of Lost because of MI3. His theme for the movie was extraordinary vs. mundane daily life like his hit TV series Alias and it shows. He mentioned he always thought of his idol Steven Spielberg during the film production.
Finally, there was a QA session, but none of them were note worthy. He had no preference if a movie is made in film or HD as long as it tells great story about great characters. For the final question, a young Indian girl asked about becoming a director, and he apologized that he really have no clear answer as you can only keep practice directing, making movies, in the same vein that a writer to keep writing. That concluded his presentation and he promptly left with his entourage. It was refreshing to meet a young, hot, Hollywood director whose candor and enthusiasm met with great success. I wished the best of him and his future endeavor and headed home, invigorated to work on my own projects.
p.s. Since this entry has been more than a week late, there are many things that are lost in my short-term memory. Some of the leftovers from my notes read:
- make the best of what you got
- equal opportunity sadist (?)
- toss the DVD
- people and storyteller
- Logic Pro 7
- Success begets success
posted by Calvin C. CHOI at
3:16 AM
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