For all of this and more, check out the full conversation below.
I’m going to recommend it to a lot more people.
I even told my sister about it this morning and how she needs to watch it.
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JOACHIM RNNING: I love it.Young Woman and the Seawas a true passion project for everyone involved.
So, that’s great.
I have a ton of questions about that, but I like throwing some curveballs at the beginning.
Image by Jefferson Chacon
What has surprised you about directing in Hollywood over the last number of years?
Because obviously, you started in Norway.
RNNING: Oh, big question.
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While making films in Hollywood, you have people for everything it’s possible for you to.
Its constantly being carried forward.
He’s such a filmmakers producer, and it was just like, You have to just step up.
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It’s just around the clock.
It’s like there’s no break.
A script is never done.
You keep on writing.
You sit at lunch, dinner everything is work.
Even through editing, post-production, reshoots.
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It just never ends until the movie is released.
That’s also a luxury to have because you get so many chances to make the movie better.
So, the work ethic is amazing, and that’s been a very inspiring journey for me.
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Why Isn’t Disney Using AI?
How do you view AI and its impact in Hollywood?
I like the theme.
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We are not allowed to.
But I know that people use it on other productions and things like that.
There are probably also script tools that you’re free to get ideas from.
But maybe I’m just a little old-school.
I also want to know if I’m watching a movie that was written by AI.
I kind of want to know.
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Maybe it’s less interesting.
But it’s such a big question, honestly.
One of the reasons I was asking is because I’ve heard from people what they’re nervous about.
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RNNING: Right now, with the big studio movies, it’s not happening.
That’s not how it is.
So, that’s also part of the reason why we’re not using it.
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I don’t think any of the big studios are using it.
That’s actually a very good point.
I hadn’t thought about that.
Studios love to own things.
RNNING: Yeah, definitely.
I’m not an ocean person, but clearly, you are.
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RNNING: [Laughs] I grew up by the ocean, so it reminds me of home.
To me, it’s home.
I grew up on boats and sailing and being by the ocean.
It’s an inspiring place, and I have that in me.
I have a love of the ocean in me.
So, I think it’s a rewarding part.
The story of competitive swimmer Gertrude Ederle, who, in 1926, was the first woman to ever swim across the English Channel.
There is a massive difference.
RNNING: I think so, too.
I’ve made a couple of them.
And I think maybe that’s also a reaction to that.
By the way, I think most people understand the pros and cons.
RNNING: Yeah, and I’m so grateful that I’m able to do both.
Like withTron, that’s all inside a computer.
What was it that caused this film to be so difficult to get made?
Is it just because these kinds of films are, in general, hard to get made?
RNNING: It’s all of the above.
In many ways, it changed women’s sports forever.
I feel any movie that I get made feels like a miracle.
With anything, you feel like, Oh, we’re actually in pre-production on this project?
Oh, we’re actually shooting this project?
It always feels like that.
There was a window, and they took it, and they said yes, and off we went.
So, we got our little moment in the sun.
Again, you did a very good job with this material.
Where am I going to dramatize the events?
Where can I take liberties?
RNNING: You’re right.
We’re squeezing a long story into a two-hour window.
I’ve done a couple of biopics in my career.Kon-Tikiwas one of them.
Again, it helps to focus on certain events in the subject’s life.
So, for instance, withKon-Tiki, it was the balsa wood raft.
It didn’t take the whole of Thor Heyerdahls life, and the same with Trudy here.
We have some childhood stuff, and then we focus on the channel swim.
Then, if you have to change a lot of things, maybe the story is not worth telling.
Honestly, we didn’t have to dramatize this story very much.
I think it’s a very rare story.
I’m always fascinated by the editing process because it’s where it all comes together.
What did you learn from those early screenings that impacted the finished film?
At the end of the day, we only had one test screening.
You hear people crying, and you feel like, Okay, this is good.
They do it right.
So, that was something that we learned We should prolong this moment.
As she touches the sand on the other side, people on the beach start clapping.
We should wait with that and then have them start clapping.
When we did that, you get that reaction you had.
The audience gets time to react the way you want it.
Its like, Let’s share that moment that everybody is looking for in these kinds of movies.
Ridley stars as Trudy Ederle - one of history’s most important athletes.
Did you end up with a lot of deleted scenes?
My wonderful editor on this movie, Una [Ni Dhonghaile], is so masterful.
Obviously, when you do the big movies, likeTron, I don’t think about that at all.
I just keep on shooting.
RNNING: She was swimming for her life, figuratively and literally.
She was fighting for something she believed in.
So, she was just different.
And she was the best film partner.
I’m also talking specifically about Trudy and what she did 100 years ago.
RNNING: I’m just baffled that I didn’t know this story before I read the script.
Everybody I talked to and pitched it to before we made the movie, nobody had heard of her.
Except for in the swimming circles, nobody else heard of her.
It was so amazing to bring her back from history.
How much are you always figuring out in the moment how you want to shoot something?
Can you take me a little bit through your process?
RNNING: On this movie, I storyboarded everything.
It also comes to when you have a script.
When you have a great script like this, that means that you’re free to actuallyplan.
You do the script.
You do the script for a year before you kick off shooting it.
Like, How can we be with her?
How can we be doing this?
But I do plan everything.
Even on the big movies, I did draw.
So, everybody knows what they’re going to do.
Now, I hope, at least, it’s more of a collaboration.
The crazy thing is there’s just no right way.
It’s just it’s crazy because there’s no scientific way of doing it.
Then it just comes from making films and just continuing to do it.
Obviously, the point of view of the scene, like, where do you want to linger?
It’s like I feel something, and I venture to make it not abstract anymore.
So, it’s an intuitive process, I think.
It’s crazy because there are so many ways and they’re all good.
RNNING: It also changes a little bit with the DP and how he or she works.
You attempt to create some general rules.
So, it can change.
I totally get what youre saying.
“There were always moments where you think, am I gonna be okay?”
Which shot or sequence inYoung Woman and the Seawas the back-breaker?
It was freezing, and we had 1,000 people in costumes.
Where do we park, and how do we walk in here with footsteps in the sand?
That was an overwhelming feeling.
You get a couple of those nights.
So, that was mine.
So, you put extra pressure on yourself, and you dig into it.
For people who don’t realize, heisTron.
What was his involvement in this new movie?
RNNING: He’s obviously the godfather of this franchise.
We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t because of him.
So, I’ve been just picking his brain throughout the whole process.
It’s just fascinating.
I’m going to tell you the craziest fucking thing.
When they went up for best VFX, they lost because they said the computers did all the work.
That just tells you how far we’ve come.
RNNING: We might have the same dilemma with AI.
By the way, it shouldn’t be.
Tron: Ares in IMAX Is the Ultimate Cinematic Experience
I love the IMAX format.
I think your movie is in IMAX.
Do you know what you’re doing yet?
RNNING: I shot for IMAX.
I had two monitors on set.
So, it’s important to honor both formats, I feel.
So, I have both formats.
The whole movie is shot to fit both formats.
It’s a VFX budget issue.
You add 10, 15, 20% to the work, even in the simplest of things.
But I did frame everything for 1:9, and then I shot everything in the 1:9 format.
So, were ready.
RNNING: Especially for a movie likeTron, it’s the ultimate cinematic experience.
When you step into the Grid, itlendsitself to that format.
It’s amazing to look at, and the sound and the Dolby Atmos, and the combination.
I also thinkTronis known to be at the forefront of technology.
Are you aiming for a 3D release withTron?
Because that’s the kind of movie that could benefit from 3D.
RNNING: I don’t know if we are doing that.
I think so, but I’m the last to know.
So you didn’t shoot on set with 3D.
It would be in post-production?
It’s one of the few things that I’d be willing to see in 3D.
Where are you in the editing process?
RNNING: [Laughs] I’m right here.
It’s a long journey.
So, we’re going to be doing that until summer.
I’m not even halfway through.
They’re going to remember, What was it like when I saw it on opening day?
That’s all they care about.
I’m not telling my personal story here.
I’m telling a big emotional action piece.
So, I just want everything to work and to be great.
So, it’s very much like, at this point, you open up the floodgates here.
There are notes coming in from everywhere.
Whats Evan Peters Relationship to Cillian Murphys Character?
I am curious how Evan Peters is related to Cillian Murphy.
What can you tease about that, if anything?
RNNING: I can’t say much.
You probably know that he’s a Dillinger.
I was wondering what the relation is, but I’ll leave it alone.
RNNING: Yeah, I’ve told you too much already.
I love that soundtrack.
I’ve listened to it 1,000 times.
It’s, in many ways, a masterpiece visually.
it’s possible for you to hang any scene on the wall.
So, I felt Nine Inch Nails because this is important.
The whole process of getting them on board wasn’t that lengthy.
They really wanted to do it.
We’re just thrilled to be having them.
I love sitting with them in their rock and roll part of Brentwood, working on this movie.
It’s just amazing.
It’s pinch-my-arm amazing.
Young Woman and the Seais available to stream on Disney+.
