{"id":2646,"date":"2015-07-14T23:03:41","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T23:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/"},"modified":"2015-07-14T23:03:41","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T23:03:41","slug":"the-new-old-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Old West"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jorge Ignacio Castillo \/ Prairie Dog Magazine<\/em><\/p>\n

Once the most straightforward movie genre, the western has been getting a face-lift lately. Outside of Quentin Tarantino\u2019s Django Unchained<\/em>, the most interesting approaches have come mostly from overseas: The Proposition<\/em>, The Salvation<\/em>, and now, Slow West<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a surrealist, off-kilter quality to Slow West<\/em> that\u2019s similar to Jim Jarmusch\u2019s\u00a0Dead Man<\/em>. The film follows the adventures of one Jay Cavendish (an all-grown-up Kodi Smit-McPhee, Let Me In<\/em>), a young Scottish man travelling across America in search of the woman he loved and lost. All Jay knows about surviving the inhospitable and violent region comes from flimsy pamphlets that happen to be wrong most of the time.<\/p>\n

Enter Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender), a bodyguard for hire who recently split from a gang of bounty hunters. The starry-eyed Cavendish and the weary Selleck enter a reluctant partnership that\u2019s bound to change both of them, whether they like it or not.<\/p>\n

The ending features maybe the funniest moment I\u2019ve seen in a non-comedic film. It\u2019s a perfect cap for an unabashedly pessimistic yet oddly endearing flick.<\/p>\n

Scottish director John Maclean cooks up some original imagery that sets Slow West\u00a0<\/em>apart; it doesn\u2019t hurt that Maclean chose New Zealand to stand in for Colorado. The result is rather stunning and emphasizes the otherworldly feel of the movie.<\/p>\n

I had the chance to speak with Maclean at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Clad in socks and sandals, the filmmaker makes it clear he\u2019s willing to work hard. Maclean storyboarded every shot, which allowed smooth sailing throughout production, although he might tweak the process a bit in the future, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next film I make I\u2019d do the same again, but not rely on storyboards so heavily. Otherwise you lose the spontaneity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the rest of our conversation.<\/p>\n

Can you pinpoint the exact moment you came up with the idea for Slow West<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes. I read about or saw a picture of a cowboy standing in a wheat field. It struck me as strange \u2014 I\u2019d never thought of a cowboy in that setting.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of original visuals, especially for a western. Did you always have them in mind or did you come up with them during production?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was lucky enough to have Michael Fassbender come on board in the beginning. Through the years I was writing the script, I\u2019d get the odd day to hang out with Michael and riff, [and] we reached the point in which we were trying to one-up each other. The final visual gag came from those encounters and strengthened the whole tragedy.<\/p>\n

How long was the shoot?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Six weeks in New Zealand and one week in Scotland. It sounds like a lot, but we worked hard \u2014 there was no hanging about. Our last day was mayhem trying to get all the shots done.<\/p>\n

Did you allow yourself many takes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. The storyboards dictate where the camera goes. I don\u2019t block or do coverage, I just get the shot that\u2019s needed in maybe one or two takes. We shot on digital, but I told everybody to pretend we were shooting on film. I didn\u2019t want to go to the editing suite with hours and hours of shooting and having to construct the story all over again. In a way, choice is an enemy. Michael likes that style; it\u2019s very fast.<\/p>\n

How do you direct actors? Are you very specific about what you want or do you give them leeway?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With people like Michael and Kodi \u2014 both experienced actors \u2014 I didn\u2019t want to tell them what to do. Either they like the action and the dialogue or, if it\u2019s not working, they would try different versions and perhaps circle back to the page. There wasn\u2019t much improvisation since the script was very tight.<\/p>\n

You made two shorts with Fassbender early on in his career. Was he attached to Slow West<\/em> before he became \u201cThe\u201d Michael Fassbender?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was doing Tarantino\u2019s Inglourious Basterds<\/em> at the time. Everybody in the industry knew he was up-and-coming and very in-demand. He was very gracious and took a leap of faith.<\/p>\n

I understand that your initial intention was to film in Colorado. However, New Zealand gives the movie a feeling of surrealism. Was that your intention?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t the intention, and it became an interesting byproduct that people liked. It adds a fairy-tale, dream-like quality to it. I knew Colorado very well and I picked places that matched my impression of the place. It was only afterwards I realized it added another element to the off-kilter nature of the project.<\/p>\n

What do you like about westerns?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone who likes or makes westerns has their own take. The western clich\u00e9s are so well-established; it\u2019s easy to play with preconceptions. Also, you can mix it up with other genres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jorge Ignacio Castillo \/ Prairie Dog Magazine Once the most straightforward movie genre, the western has been getting a face-lift lately. Outside of Quentin Tarantino\u2019s Django Unchained, the most interesting approaches have come mostly from overseas: The Proposition, The Salvation, and now, Slow West. There\u2019s a surrealist, off-kilter quality to Slow West that\u2019s similar to … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe New Old West - Thunderbird Entertainment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The New Old West - Thunderbird Entertainment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jorge Ignacio Castillo \/ Prairie Dog Magazine Once the most straightforward movie genre, the western has been getting a face-lift lately. Outside of Quentin Tarantino\u2019s Django Unchained, the most interesting approaches have come mostly from overseas: The Proposition, The Salvation, and now, Slow West. There\u2019s a surrealist, off-kilter quality to Slow West that\u2019s similar to … Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Thunderbird Entertainment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-14T23:03:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/social-share.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"633\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gearbox_admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gearbox_admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/\",\"name\":\"The New Old West - Thunderbird Entertainment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-14T23:03:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-14T23:03:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/41eb8208032d7ee9602156e61d6f6c41\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The New Old West\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/\",\"name\":\"Thunderbird Entertainment\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/41eb8208032d7ee9602156e61d6f6c41\",\"name\":\"Gearbox_admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/239363dc97071e1a4eb9d0cc6971f646?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/239363dc97071e1a4eb9d0cc6971f646?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gearbox_admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/author\/gearbox_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The New Old West - Thunderbird Entertainment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The New Old West - Thunderbird Entertainment","og_description":"Jorge Ignacio Castillo \/ Prairie Dog Magazine Once the most straightforward movie genre, the western has been getting a face-lift lately. Outside of Quentin Tarantino\u2019s Django Unchained, the most interesting approaches have come mostly from overseas: The Proposition, The Salvation, and now, Slow West. There\u2019s a surrealist, off-kilter quality to Slow West that\u2019s similar to … Continued","og_url":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/","og_site_name":"Thunderbird Entertainment","article_published_time":"2015-07-14T23:03:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":633,"url":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/social-share.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gearbox_admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gearbox_admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/","url":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/","name":"The New Old West - Thunderbird Entertainment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-07-14T23:03:41+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-14T23:03:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/41eb8208032d7ee9602156e61d6f6c41"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2015\/07\/14\/the-new-old-west\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The New Old West"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/","name":"Thunderbird Entertainment","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/41eb8208032d7ee9602156e61d6f6c41","name":"Gearbox_admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/239363dc97071e1a4eb9d0cc6971f646?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/239363dc97071e1a4eb9d0cc6971f646?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gearbox_admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/thunderbird.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/author\/gearbox_admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}