STACK NZ Nov #68

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Sound bites

MAKE UP YOUR MIND Pete Docter on bringing the mind of a child to life in Inside Out.

Ryan Reynolds couldn’t think of anything worse than doing what his character in the thriller Self/ less does: signing up for a second life in another body. “To live forever would be kind of awful. It raises all kinds of questions: for some people it raises a theological argument, for some it’s a moral issue, for some people it sounds awesome. I remember when we were scouting some locations for the movie we met a couple of billionaires in New York because we were interested in borrowing their penthouse for Ben Kingsley’s character. Everyone of them said ‘is that possible?’ You just think ‘wow, you would do that wouldn’t you’.” Self/less is out on November 25

withdrawn, prompting Docter to wonder what was going on inside her mind. He duly came up with

P ete Docter, the Oscar-winning director of animated blockbusters such as Monsters Inc and Up , admits that he loves working with made-up environments. So it’s no surprise to discover that visualising the inner workings of the mind of an 11 year old was irresistible to the writer and director of the latest Disney smash Inside Ou t. “Places like Monstropolis are fun to create because they let us look at our own world in a different way, and take advantage of what we can do with animation,” he says. “But we have to keep ourselves in check – if you do something too far out, it’s easy to confuse people. So, when I came up with the idea for a film set inside the mind, it was exciting because we could visualize locations like long-term memory, the subconscious, abstract thought, dream production – concepts

the idea of representing the emotions that govern our lives as real characters, all of whom are working 24/7 inside

the brain to keep their host happy. In Inside Out , the mind in question belongs to Riley, an ordinary 11-year-old, whose mind is thrown into turmoil when Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) – the emotion that has always ruled supreme – and Sadness (Phyllis Miller) are inadvertently swept into the far reaches of her brain. The main message of Inside Out is that both happiness and sadness are part and parcel of growing up. “The people that really mean something deeply are those that I have cried with, experienced fear with,” Docter explains. “It’s all the aspects of emotions that bond us together. It became a story about Joy being stuck with Sadness, who she does not

that are already familiar to people. Inside Out gives us a chance to take the audience to a world that everyone knows about but no one has ever been to before. The story was inspired by part by his experiences with his own daughter Ellie, who provided the voice of her namesake in Up . At the time, Ellie was a lot like her spirited screen alter ego, but had since become quieter and more

understand at all in the beginning. But as she learns what Sadness brings to the table, by the end she realises that sadness is crucial to a valuable life.” Inside Out is out on November 4

For those who haven’t seen the film, tell us a little bit about it? The Ground We Won is a 100% authentic documentary that follows a year in the life of a rural NZ rugby team. It’s a film about what makes Kiwi guys tick in this ‘work hard, play hard’ culture of ours. We gather you and Miriam were not exactly big rugby fans going in? Yes, we’d probably be described by our country friends as ‘arty-townies’. We both grew up in the city and simply didn’t understand why rugby was such an important part of New Zealand identity. We wanted to dive in deep to understand why the game is so important to so many people here - happy to report we both get it now! Why Reporoa? We were looking for a rural rugby team

we felt was true to this world. Men have been playing rugby and farming this land for generations. It also helps to set the film apart from all the images of rugby and farming you see on TV - we wanted the film to be seen as a timeless classic - and fortunately, it has been received this way. Were you tempted to return to Reporoa to watch the Rugby World Cup? We miss living in Reporoa and all the wisecracks from the sidelines when watching a rugby game. We’re now back in Auckland, but we’re feeling extremely proud of the Reporoa born and bred Sam Cane! Actually, if you watch the sidelines in The Ground We Won closely, you’ll glimpse Sam Cane supporting Reporoa’s home team’s final. The Ground We Won is out on November 18

made up of farmers and we wanted to find a team who embraced all the rituals and traditions of a rugby season. We found the Reporoa Rugby Club and never looked back; they were salt of the earth, hard working farmers with brilliant, bawdy humour – perfect! Were the locals initially a bit suspicious about the film? Everyone was surprisingly un-suspicious actually! Like most places, Reporoa is proud of their rugby club and the guys were happy to share with us what was important to them both on the rugby field and in their daily lives. It’s a warm hearted and generous community all round. Why did you opt to shoot in black and white? I wanted the film to have a timeless feel - to reflect the deep sense of tradition that

Documentary filmmaker Chris Pryor on delving into the world of grassroots rugby in the acclaimed Chris Pryor

homegrown feature The GroundWeWon .

NOVEMBER 2015

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