{"id":79664,"date":"2013-09-30T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=79664"},"modified":"2013-09-30T11:42:10","modified_gmt":"2013-09-30T16:42:10","slug":"torn-exclusive-qa-with-andy-serkis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2013\/09\/30\/79664-torn-exclusive-qa-with-andy-serkis\/","title":{"rendered":"TORn exclusive – Q&A with Andy Serkis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BFI<\/a>As promised in this post last week, TORn is delighted to bring you this exclusive Q&A with our favourite specialist in performance capture, Gollum himself, Mr Andy Serkis!<\/p>\n

Serkis\u00a0was giving the press\u00a0Q&A specifically to talk about The Bone Season<\/em><\/a>, the new book for which he and his team at The Imaginarium<\/a>\u00a0have obtained the film rights.\u00a0 This first novel\u00a0in a new fantasy series is a real page turner, and has great potential for the big screen – and Serkis was clearly excited to tell us about it!\u00a0 He also talks about other upcoming projects,\u00a0how working with Peter Jackson has influenced his career, and, in response to the questions put to him specifically by TORn, he leaves us with a tantalizing remark about Gollum and The Hobbit<\/em>…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is it about The Bone Season<\/em>\u00a0that compelled you to include it in The Imaginarium Studio’s very first slate of films?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We first came across the manuscript at the London Book Fair and immediately fell in love with the scope, the scale and the exceptional detail of the world Samantha Shannon had created. It\u2019s a really compelling story with such a great central character \u2013 we all immediately saw its potential as a fantastic feature film.<\/p>\n

Have you met author Samantha Shannon?\u00a0How involved will she be in the film’s production?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes of course \u2013 she\u2019s a delightful, incredibly intelligent person. She\u2019s very warm and a passionate storyteller – dedicated beyond belief. We\u2019re working very closely with her on all aspects of bringing the world of the book to the screen. We\u2019ve been involving her with all the early concept artwork that we\u2019re beginning to put together. Obviously it\u2019s her world so we want to make sure we bring it to life in the way that she wants.<\/p>\n

Can you tell us about how the creative process for adapting a story like The Bone Season<\/em> begins?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It begins with knowing the story you want to tell. There are thousands of stories contained within the world that Samantha has created – we have to be very disciplined about opening up the world in a way that will lead us on to further investigation in the rest of the series. We need to find the emotional heart of the story; the relationships; the tension; the suspense and the drive; and of course working closely with Samantha is going to make it much easier.<\/p>\n

At this very early stage it\u2019s about finding the right writer and the right approach to telling the story. Hand in hand with developing the screenplay, it\u2019s also about developing the visual world and bringing that to life; finding the right visual effects team who understand Samantha\u2019s concepts.<\/p>\n

You have been part of bringing some of the world’s most famous and well-loved fantasy worlds to contemporary audiences. Which of your experiences across film, tv, stage and video games would you say has been most helpful in preparing you to produce The Bone Season<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It would be impossible to single out any one single experience, it\u2019s an accumulation of all my experiences to date, but obviously having worked on The Lord of the Rings<\/em> and Tolkien\u2019s extraordinary world with Peter Jackson is incredibly useful. Peter basically gave me the opportunity to work on a lot of extraordinary characters in a lot of extraordinary worlds, and has opened up my eyes to a genre that I knew very little about before.<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/a>Will performance capture come mostly into play when portraying Shannon’s ‘Rephaim’ race [the dominant alien race in the story] on screen in The Bone Season<\/em>? Can you give us any insight into how you’d like these characters to appear?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re in very early stages of designing how we want to portray these characters, and are exploring a variety of avenues to bring these characters to life. We\u2019re certainly not tied to any one production technique at this early stage.<\/p>\n

George Orwell’s Animal Farm<\/em> is the other film on your inaugural slate. What can you tell us about this project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re extraordinarily excited about Animal Farm<\/em>. We have been working on the methodology this year, the development of the characters and the story. We\u2019re working with a wonderful character designer and very pleased with how the animals are developing as visual characters.<\/p>\n

In terms of story, we\u2019re remaining very truthful to the original book; however we are relocating the setting as if Orwell were writing in the present day – we\u2019ve been working very closely with the Orwell estate on this.<\/p>\n

Your talents are very varied! If you could only do one thing for the rest of your career, which would you choose (stage\/tv\/film\/video game roles, voice roles, director or producer)?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mountain Climber.<\/p>\n

greendragon from TORn asks:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having read The Bone Season<\/em>, I would guess that this book is going to be a big hit, and it seems like a sure fire bet for a successful film.\u00a0 What would you say, however, makes it stand apart from the other successful ‘Young Adult’ series such as Twilight<\/em> and The Hunger Games<\/em>?\u00a0 What do you see as this writer’s own particular touch?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just a YA series. Like [the book’s publishers] Bloomsbury, we think it has huge crossover potential. It\u2019s beautifully written and appeals to the young and old alike.<\/p>\n

I think what sets The Bone Season<\/em> apart from books in similar genres is the epic vision Samantha has for the world she\u2019s created \u2013 it\u2019s immensely rich and detailed. She\u2019s fearless in her subject matter and being able to envision the various ethereal worlds she\u2019s created.<\/p>\n

GD: TheOneRing.net’s readers are excited to see what films come out of The Imaginarium. Is there one particular story above all others, which you’ve always wanted to see on the big screen, and which motion capture and technological advances now make it possible to film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m passionate about all the stories we\u2019re developing, but the one I\u2019m most excited about right now is Animal Farm<\/em>. I\u2019ve wanted to make a performance capture adaptation of this book for a long time now, and it\u2019s so exciting to see this become a reality.<\/p>\n

\"gollumface\"<\/a>GD: We couldn’t let this go without a question about Gollum!\u00a0 So, I wondered – how will Gollum stay with you, going forward?\u00a0 What parts of Gollum are intrinsically part of you?\u00a0 And – if I may sneak in another half to that question – can we hope that we might have another tiny glimpse of Gollum to look forward to? Any chance we might just see him in any future scenes of The Hobbit<\/em> movies?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think for good or bad Gollum is intrinsically linked to my everyday existence in some way, shape or form. Luckily he\u2019s a character that I love!<\/p>\n

What\u2019s great about playing these characters in Performance Capture is the fact that the characters are what are left behind. For Gollum to have meant so much to so many people is actually the great reward for me.<\/p>\n

Re: The Hobbit <\/em>– I have no control over that and do not know, but I always say \u201cnever say never\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

There you have it!\u00a0 TORn message boarders have been speculating that Gollum might just be seen leaving the Misty Mountains at the very end of the last Hobbit<\/em>\u00a0movie – and Andy Serkis\u00a0doesn’t rule out the idea…. Grist for the rumour mill!\u00a0 One thing that is certain, however, is that we’ll be seeing plenty more from Serkis\u00a0in future; and we can’t wait to see whatever The Imaginarium produces!<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, if you’re intrigued about The Bone Season,\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0you can buy the novel by clicking below; or check out the official facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[Click here to order a copy of The Bone Season<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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