Martin Villeneuve: How I made an impossible film

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Jelena Jaranović Lektor: Mile Živković

I made a film that was impossible to make,

Napravio sam film koji je bilo nemoguće napraviti,

but I didn't know it was impossible,

ali pošto ja nisam znao da je to nemoguće

and that's how I was able to do it.

ipak sam uspeo.

"Mars et Avril" is a science fiction film.

"Mars i Avril" je naučno-fantastični film.

It's set in Montreal some 50 years in the future.

Smešten je u Montreal, nekih 50 godina u budućnosti.

No one had done that kind of movie in Quebec before

Niko ranije nije napravio ovakav film u Kvebeku

because it's expensive, it's set in the future,

jer je skup, smešten u budućnost,

and it's got tons of visual effects,

ima gomilu vizuelnih efekata

and it's shot on green screen.

i sniman je na zelenoj podlozi.

Yet this is the kind of movie that I wanted to make

Ipak, želeo sam da napravim takav film

ever since I was a kid, really,

još otkad sam bio dete, zaista,

back when I was reading some comic books

dok sam čitao stripove i maštao o tome

and dreaming about what the future might be.

kakva bi budućnost mogla da bude.

When American producers see my film,

Kada američki producenti vide moj film,

they think that I had a big budget to do it,

misle da sam imao veliki budžet za njega,

like 23 million.

poput 23 miliona.

But in fact I had 10 percent of that budget.

U stvari sam imao 10% tog budžeta.

I did "Mars et Avril" for only 2.3 million.

Napravio sam "Mars i Avril" sa 2,3 miliona.

So you might wonder, what's the deal here?

Možda se pitate u čemu je stvar?

How did I do this?

Kako sam uspeo?

Well, it's two things. First, it's time.

Dve stvari su u pitanju. Prva je vreme.

When you don't have money, you must take time,

Kada nemate novac, morate uložiti vreme.

and it took me seven years to do "Mars et Avril."

Trebalo mi je 7 godina da snimim film.

The second aspect is love.

Drugi aspekt je ljubav. Svi sa kojima sam radio

I got tons and tons of generosity from everyone involved.

bili su više nego predusretljivi.

And it seems like every department had nothing,

Izgledalo je kao da nemamo ništa

so they had to rely on our creativity

i da moramo da se oslonimo na našu kreativnost

and turn every problem into an opportunity.

i pretvorimo svaki problem u priliku.

And that brings me to the point of my talk, actually,

I ovo me dovodi do suštine mog govora:

how constraints, big creative constraints, can boost creativity.

kako ograničenja mogu pospešiti kreativnost.

But let me go back in time a bit.

Ali, dozvolite da se vratim malo unazad.

In my early 20s, I did some graphic novels,

U mojim ranim 20-im radio sam neke ilustrovane romane

but they weren't your usual graphic novels.

ali to nisu bili uobičajeni ilustrovani romani.

They were books telling a science fiction story

To su bile knjige koje pričaju naučno-fantastičnu priču

through images and text,

kroz slike i tekst

and most of the actors who are now starring

i mnogi glumci koji danas glume

in the movie adaptation, they were already involved

u filmskim adaptacijama tih romana, već su bili uključeni

in these books portraying characters

u portretizaciju likova u ovim knjigama

into a sort of experimental, theatrical, simplistic way.

na eksperimentalan, teatralni, pojednostavljen način.

And one of these actors is the great stage director

Jedan od tih glumaca je veliki reditelj

and actor Robert Lepage.

i glumac - Robert Lepaž.

And I just love this guy.

Ja jednostavno volim ovog čoveka.

I've been in love with this guy since I was a kid.

Obožavam ga otkad sam bio dete.

His career I admire a lot.

Divim se njegovoj karijeri.

And I wanted this guy to be involved in my crazy project,

I želeo sam da on bude uključen u moj suludi projekat

and he was kind enough to lend his image

i on je bio dovoljno ljubazan da pozajmi svoj izgled

to the character of Eugène Spaak,

liku Uženu Spaku, koji je

who is a cosmologist and artist who seeks relation

kosmolog i umetnik koji traži vezu između

in between time, space, love, music and women.

vremena, prostora, ljubavi, muzike i žena.

And he was a perfect fit for the part,

On se savršeno uklapao u tu ulogu.

and Robert is actually the one who gave me my first chance.

Robert je, zapravo, prvi koji mi je pružio šansu.

He was the one who believed in me

On je verovao u mene i ohrabrio me

and encouraged me to do an adaptation of my books

da svoje knjige adaptiram u film,

into a film, and to write, direct,

da napišem scenario, režiram

and produce the film myself.

i produciram film sam.

And Robert is actually the very first example

Robert je zapravo prvi primer

of how constraints can boost creativity.

kako ograničenja mogu pospešiti kreativnost.

Because this guy is the busiest man on the planet.

Jer on je najzauzetiji čovek na planeti.

I mean, his agenda is booked until 2042,

Hoću reći, ima ugovorene poslove do 2042.

and he's really hard to get,

i zaista je teško doći do njega,

and I wanted him to be in the movie,

a ja sam želeo da bude u mom filmu

to reprise his role in the movie.

da ponovi svoju ulogu.

But the thing is, had I waited

Ali stvar je u tome da ako bih ga čekao do 2042.

for him until 2042, my film wouldn't be

moj film više ne bi bio futuristički

a futuristic film anymore, so I just couldn't do that. Right?

pa nisam mogao to da uradim, zar ne?

But that's kind of a big problem.

Ali to je prilično veliki problem.

How do you get somebody who is too busy

Kako učiniti da neko ko je toliko zauzet

to star in a movie?

glumi i u filmu?

Well, I said as a joke in a production meeting --

Pa, rekao sam kroz šalu na produkcijskom sastanku,

and this is a true story, by the way —

i, usput, ovo je istinita priča,

I said, "Why don't we turn this guy into a hologram?

rekao sam: "Zašto ne pretvorimo ovog lika u hologram?

Because, you know, he is everywhere

Jer, znate, on je svugde i nigde

and nowhere on the planet at the same time,

na planeti u isto vreme.

and he's an illuminated being in my mind,

U mojim mislima on je prosvetljeno biće

and he's in between reality and virtual reality,

između stvarnosti i virtualne realnosti,

so it would make perfect sense

tako da bi imalo tako mnogo smisla

to turn this guy into a hologram."

pretvoriti ga u hologram."

Everybody around the table laughed,

Svi za stolom su se nasmejali,

but the joke was kind of a good solution,

ali šala je bila moguće dobro rešenje

so that's what we ended up doing.

i to je upravo ono što smo na kraju uradili.

Here's how we did it. We shot Robert with six cameras.

Evo i kako. Snimili smo Roberta sa 6 kamera.

He was dressed in green and he was like

Bio je obučen u zeleno i kao da je

in a green aquarium.

bio u zelenom akvarijumu.

Each camera was covering 60 degrees of his head,

Svaka kamera je pokrivala 60 stepeni njegove glave,

so that in post-production we could use

tako da smo u post-produkciji mogli da koristimo

pretty much any angle we needed,

gotovo svaki ugao koji nam je trebao,

and we shot only his head.

a snimali smo samo njegovu glavu.

Six months later there was a guy on set,

Šest mesci kasnije snimali smo čoveka,

a mime portraying the body,

mimičara koji je predstavljao telo

the vehicle for the head.

- prevozno sredstvo za glavu.

And he was wearing a green hood

On je nosio zelenu kapuljaču

so that we could erase the green hood in postproduction

koju smo mogli da uklonimo u post-produkciji

and replace it with Robert Lepage's head.

i zamenimo je Robertovom glavom.

So he became like a renaissance man,

Izgledao je kao čovek iz doba renesanse,

and here's what it looks like in the movie.

a evo kako je izgledao u filmu.

(Music)

(Muzika)

(Video) Robert Lepage: [As usual, Arthur's drawing

(Video) Robert Lepaž: [Kao i obično, Arturovi crteži

didn't account for the technical challenges.

se nisu pozabavili tehničkim izazovima.

I welded the breech, but the valve is still gaping.

Zavario sam zatvarač ali ventil i dalje ne naleže.

I tried to lift the pallets to lower the pressure in the sound box,

Pokušao sam da podignem palete kako bih smanjio pritisak

but I might have hit a heartstring.

u zvučnoj kutiji ali sam možda zakačio zvučnu nit.

It still sounds too low.]

I dalje zvuči previše tiho.]

Jacques Languirand: [That's normal.

Žak Langirand: [To je u redu.

The instrument always ends up resembling its model.]

Instrument uvek na kraju oponaša svoj model.]

(Music)

(Muzika)

Martin Villeneuve: Now these musical instruments

Martin Vilnev: Ovi muzički instrumenti

that you see in this excerpt,

koje ste videli u odlomku

they're my second example of how

predstavljaju drugi primer

constraints can boost creativity,

kako ograničenja mogu poboljšati kreativnost,

because I desperately needed these objects in my movie.

jer su mi očajno bili potrebni ovi predmeti u filmu.

They are objects of desire.

Oni su predmet želje.

They are imaginary musical instruments.

Oni su zamišljeni muzički instrumenti

And they carry a nice story with them.

koji sa sobom nose lepu priču.

Actually, I knew what these things would look like

Zapravo, znao sam kako će oni izgledati,

in my mind for many, many years.

u mojoj glavi, već mnogo, mnogo godina.

But my problem was, I didn't have the money

Ali, problem je bio što nisam imao novca

to pay for them. I couldn't afford them.

da ih platim. Nisam mogao da ih priuštim.

So that's kind of a big problem too.

A to je takođe veliki problem.

How do you get something that you can't afford?

Kako dobiti nešto što ne možeš da priuštiš?

And, you know, I woke up one morning with a pretty good idea.

Ali, jednog jutra sam se probudio sa jako dobrom idejom.

I said, "What if I have somebody else pay for them?"

Rekao sam: "Šta ako ih neko drugi plati?"

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But who on Earth would be interested

Ali koga bi uopšte interesovalo

by seven not-yet-built musical instruments

sedam još nenapravljenih muzičkih instrumenata

inspired by women's bodies?

inspirisanih ženskim telima?

And I thought of Cirque du Soleil in Montreal,

Na pamet mi je pao Sirk de Solei u Montrealu,

because who better to understand the kind of

jer ko bi drugi bolje razumeo tu vrstu

crazy poetry that I wanted to put on screen?

sulude poezije koju sam želeo na ekranu?

So I found my way to Guy Laliberté, Cirque du Soleil's CEO,

Dakle, kontaktirao sam menadžera Sirka, Gija Lalibertija

and I presented my crazy idea to him

i predstavio mu svoju ludu ideju

with sketches like this and visual references,

sa ovakvim skicama i očiglednim prilozima

and something pretty amazing happened.

i nešto prilično neverovatno se dogodilo.

Guy was interested by this idea

Gi je bio zainteresovan za moju ideju

not because I was asking for his money,

ne zato što sam od njega tražio novac,

but because I came to him with a good idea

već zato što sam došao kod njega sa dobrom idejom

in which everybody was happy.

i svi su bili srećni.

It was kind of a perfect triangle

Bio je to savršen trougao

in which the art buyer was happy

u kome je kupac bio srećan

because he got the instruments at a cheaper price,

jer dobija instrumente jeftino

because they weren't even made.

zato što još nisu napravljeni.

He took a leap of faith.

Pokazao je malo vere.

And the artist, Dominique Engel, brilliant guy,

Umetnik, Dominik Engel, izuzetan lik,

he was happy too because he had a dream project

bio je srećan jer je dobio projekat iz snova

to work on for a year.

na kome će raditi godinu dana.

And obviously I was happy because I got the instruments

I, očigledno, ja sam bio srećan jer sam dobio instrumente

in my film for free, which was kind of what I tried to do.

besplatno, što sam, otprilike, i pokušavao da uradim.

So here they are.

I, evo ih.

And my last example of how constraints

Moj posldenji primer kako ograničenja

can boost creativity

mogu da podstaknu kreativnost

comes from the green,

u vezi je sa zelenom bojom.

because this is a weird color, a crazy color,

Ovo je čudna, luda boja

and you need to replace the green screens eventually

i morate zameniti zelene ekrane u nekom trenutku

and you must figure that out sooner rather than later.

i bolje da to shvatite ranije nego kasnije.

And I had, again, pretty much, ideas in my mind

Ja sam u svojoj glavi imao ideju

as to what the world would be,

kako bi svet trebalo da izgleda

but then again I turned to my childhood imagination

ali onda sam se ponovo vratio svojim dečačkim maštanjima

and went to the work of Belgian comic book master

i okrenuo se radu belgijskog strip majstora

François Schuiten in Belgium.

Fransoa Shejtena.

And this guy is another guy I admire a lot,

Ovo je još jedan čovek kome se divim

and I wanted him to be involved in the movie

i želeo sam da bude uključen u film

as a production designer.

kao scenograf.

But people told me, you know, Martin, it's impossible,

Ali ostali su mi rekli: "Znaš, Martine, to je nemoguće.

the guy is too busy and he will say no.

Čovek je prezauzet i odbiće te."

Well, I said, you know what, instead of mimicking his style,

Dobro, rekao sam, umesto što bih oponašao njegov stil,

I might as well call the real guy and ask him,

mogao bih da ga pozovem i pitam.

and I sent him my books,

Poslao sam mu svoje knjige

and he answered that he was interested

i odgovorio je da je zainteresovan

in working on the film with me

da radi na filmu sa mnom

because he could be a big fish in a small aquarium.

jer može da bude velika riba u maloj bari.

In other words, there was space for him to dream with me.

Drugačije rečeno, bilo je prostora za njega da sanja sa mnom.

So here I was with one of my childhood heroes,

I eto me sa jednim od mojih junaka iz detinjstva,

drawing every single frame that's in the film

crtali smo svaki pojedinačni kadar iz filma

to turn that into Montreal in the future.

kako bismo to pretvorili u Montreal iz budućnosti.

And it was an amazing collaboration

Bilo je odlično sarađivati

to work with this great artist whom I admire.

sa izuzetnim umetnikom kojem sam se divio.

But then, you know, eventually you have to turn

Ali, na kraju, morate da pretvorite

all these drawings into reality.

sve te crteže u stvarnost.

So, again, my solution was to aim

I, ponovo, želeo sam

for the best possible artist that I could think of.

najboljeg mogućeg umetnika koji bi mi pao na pamet.

And there's this guy in Montreal, another Quebecois

Pomislio sam na još jednog lika iz Montreala,

called Carlos Monzon, and he's a very good VFX artist.

Karlosa Monzona koji je jako dobar sa vizuelnim efektima.

This guy had been lead compositor on such films

On je bio glavni montažer u filmovima kao što su

as "Avatar" and "Star Trek" and "Transformers,"

"Avatar", "Zvezdane staze" , "Transformersi"

and other unknown projects like this,

i još nekim manje poznatim projektima,

and I knew he was the perfect fit for the job,

tako da sam znao da je on savršen za ovaj posao.

and I had to convince him,

Morao sam da ga ubedim da umesto

and, instead of working on the next Spielberg movie,

da radi na sledećem Spilbergovom filmu

he accepted to work on mine.

prihvati da radi na mom.

Why? Because I offered him a space to dream.

Zašto? Zato što sam mu ponudio prostor da sanja.

So if you don't have money to offer to people,

Dakle, ako nemate da ponudite novac ljudima,

you must strike their imagination with something

morate da zagolicate njihovu maštu sa nečim

as nice as you can think of.

neverovatno dobrim.

So this is what happened on this movie,

To se događalo sa ovim filmom

and that's how it got made,

i tako je snimljen,

and we went to this very nice postproduction company

otišli smo u jako dobru postprodukcijsku kuću,

in Montreal called Vision Globale,

Vision Global u Montrealu,

and they lent their 60 artists to work full time

i oni su nam dali 60 umetnika koji su radili na filmu

for six months to do this crazy film.

puno radno vreme, tokom 6 meseci.

So I want to tell you that, if you have some crazy ideas

Želim da vam kažem da ako imate neke lude ideje

in your mind, and that people tell you

u svojoj glavi, a svi vam govore

that it's impossible to make,

da je nemoguće ostvariti ih,

well, that's an even better reason to want to do it,

pa, to je razlog više da želite da ih ostvarite.

because people have a tendency

Ljudi imaju sklonost da se fokusiraju

to see the problems rather than the final result,

na probleme pre nego na konačan rezultat.

whereas if you start to deal with problems

Ali ako počnete da posmatrate probleme

as being your allies rather than your opponents,

kao svoje saveznike, a ne protivnike,

life will start to dance with you

život će postati mnogo zabavniji

in the most amazing way.

na najčudesniji način.

I have experienced it.

Iskusio sam to.

And you might end up doing some crazy projects,

A možda ćete i vi početi da radite neke nemoguće projekte

and who knows, you might even end up

i, ko zna, možda ćete čak

going to Mars.

završiti na Marsu.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)