"The Mist"

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In theaters November 21, 2007 - David Drayton and his young son Billy are among a large group of terrified townspeople trapped in a local grocery store by a strange, otherworldly mist. David is the first to realize that there are things lurking in the mist…deadly, horrifying things…creatures not of this world. Survival depends on everybody in the store pulling together…but is that possible, given human nature? As reason crumbles in the face of fear and panic, David begins to wonder what terrifies him more: the monsters in the mist—or the ones inside the store, the human kind, the people that until now had been his friends and neighbors? In this legendary tale of terror from master storyteller Stephen King, the thin veneer of civilization is stripped away, the masks are discarded, and the true horror is revealed as us.

We conference with star director Frank Darabont and stars Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden and Chris Owen.

QUESTION:

To Frank Darabont on taking so long to make another movie:

Well the reason it took a while, you know, well for 20 years of a career I've been primarily a writer for hire. I mean that’s…I've been a screenwriter first and a director on occasion. It’s only quite recently that I decided to reverse that equation and get behind the camera as often as I could, because not getting any younger and I feel like I got some more movies to make.

As far as this project and why Stephen King, I don't know. In all fairness, I think I have a particular love for the man’s work. You know, his voice as an author tends to attract me as a director. You know, the stories that he tells I find particularly compelling, so it seems to be - it seems to have developed into a well that I go back to to draw water again and again. And, you know, luckily he digs what I do with his material, so it seems….looking back on 20 years of a career I had some good success as a writer. No complaint there, but I really started to feel like I hadn’t made enough movies. So I wanted to recommit my efforts in that direction, you know, kind of rededicate my, you know, my desire to put films on screen rather than just service other people’s needs as a writer.

QUESTION:

On finding scripts their excited about:

Marcia Gay Harden:

Sometimes scripts come along that are completely wonderful because they're telling a great story, but for me it’s a lot more about character -- what’s the character arc? What can I do with the character? Because the script is totally the director’s medium and the editor’s medium I think finally, although you’re right -- the genesis is in the (word that the plays the thing), so the fact is the answer - the long and the short is no they don't come along that often that you get really
excited about.

Question:

On what drew them to the script:

Marcia Gay Harden:

Well, Frank Darabont drew me to it.

Frank Darabont:  

Oh you're so sweet.

Marcia Gay Harden:  

No, it’s quite true. I know his work -- Shawshank, Majestic, many others. And I love his work and I love that he tells beyond that which is a little bit scary. He tells a really human story and often the humans are far scarier than the exterior event, so in this case I thought that Frank told a beautiful story.

We - and I like the script. I like Stephen King, but I wasn’t one of the die hard fans. So while I want to say it was Stephen, it was the knowledge of his work and the knowledge of the way he tells the story, but it’s not the thing I typically, you know, lay back on the couch and read.

So it was frank doing Stephen king, you know, that made it even bigger. And then it was the cast. There’s a really wonderful friend of mine in the cast named Andre Braugher. He and I spoke at length about the script, because my thought initially was, “It’s a bug movie and,” you know, “what is that going to be like?” And I spoke to Frank at length about that too, and he really talked a lot about the internal machinations in the store and how the film has a very Lord of the Flies feel, which to me…is like the most terrifying book I ever read when I was a kid. And
the capacity for human beings to be cruel and their ignorance is I think as scary as supernatural forces.

And so talking to Frank, he really made me understand that this is one of the things that he really was going to focus on it and that wasn't - when you get to know Frank, it wasn't just a gesture, a word play to get the actor to do it -- “Yes, yes, yes,” you know, “it’ll be on the human story,“then you go in and you're like, okay, there I was in the background munching on some popcorn,
you know, you know, or the bug ate my hair. That it’s really - he really, really did want to understand what the - how the human element played into it -- how the (unintelligible) people can be, how cruel they can be and whether your community oriented or not.

And then the character’s kind of this religious apocalyptic avid - I won't say freak, but she’s completely interested in the apocalyptic (aspects) of the Bible, which isn’t what makes it scary to me. That’s not really what makes it scary although it’s a little bit scary. But what really made it scary was that she was ultimately destructive with her fear.

And so the religion simply was her character. And so that had to be played for real. Like I couldn’t comment on it, but her fear was the thing that drove her to insanity to a degree, and that was also a fun place to get to.

Chris Owens:
                             
Yes I mean - yes I definitely - I have to start off the same way as this, you know, when I saw that it was Frank, it was just - I'm such a fan boy, you know, it’s ridiculous. It’s one of those, you know, it’s one of those things where it just - when people, you know, I love my movies, but when people ask me what my favorite film is, the easiest answer for me is always Shawshank. For me it was really just like, “Wow,” you know, getting to work with Frank, you know, something I can scratch off my list. It was just, you know, it was very exciting. And when I got to read over, you know, what my poor character gets to…endure there, it was just - it was like,
“You know, this is so far from anything that I've ever done before and,” you know, “would just seem like such a blast,” which is always my problem because I always read something and I'm like, “Wow, this is amazing. This is great,” without ever actually realizing what I'm actually going to have to go through for it.

But yes, it was great. It was just - it was so much fun. And yes, like I said, just a new experience in getting to work with Frank was, you know, was all I needed. I was just - I was so stoked.

Question for Marcia Gay Harden:

On researching the part:

It was fantastic to play this lady. And what I did is I bought this book called The Idiot’s Guide to Revelations.

Because a lot of her speak was Bible speak and so it could be (and so God talked) down to the world and tells you blah, blah - and just - and there's a way that one gets didactic in that speaking. And I wanted it to be as real as it could be and yet she had to say some of the things she had to say. So I bought this book to find out what are the allegory, what are the stories behind it, what does this mean, what does that mean? The four (horsemen) that come up all the
time…so that when I talked about them that I could be real with it.

And then what happened on set was that there were these really, really, really amazing extras, because the set - the easy part was the topsy turvy part by the way. I mean it was just fun to watch all of that go down. It’s like being on a, you know, on a - in a circus in a way. There's a lot going on that you don't understand. But if you just follow directions you’ll be fine.

But they had these great extras on set. There were maybe about 100 of them, and they’re like the Greek chorus in this play - in the film in a way, so when things happen they all have to be right there reacting. And there was - they began to, you know, because we shot in the (unintelligible). It’s a pretty religious place down there anyway, and so they began to kind of respond in some of
the things the character was saying, though they recognized that she was evil and that she was ultimately divisive.

They’re the ones that made it easy is the shortest answer I can say, because I can preach and they were listening and they were praying and they were - hands were in the air and they were crying and some were stamping their feet, you know, and it was just - it was phenomenal.

Question to Frank Darabont:

On the filmmaking style used for “The Mist”:

Marcia Gay Harden:

Well for me as a - just as a filmmaker, it was a completely different style that I wanted to embrace -- a completely different aesthetic than I've done before. And this material lent itself
particularly well to that. And the aesthetic I'm talking about is one that’s very kind of ragged and documentary in feel very in the moment. And that’s a completely different approach for me, you know, versus the films I've made before, which were all very - kind of painstaking and very carefully thought out in advance, and I knew what every camera move wanted to be.

And this was an opportunity to put that - all that technique aside in favor of something completely new and financial for me, which is a much more jazzy style, a much more improvised approach in terms of the camera work, et cetera, which presented I think, a really interesting and ultimately rewarding challenge for the actors, wouldn’t you guys say?

Marcia Gay Harden:  

Oh (unintelligible) it’s three cameras. Did you tell them that?

Frank Darabont:  

No - yes, well we were shooting two cameras all the time, three if I could squeeze the third one in. And those cameras were roving at all times. We had two brilliant, brilliant camera operators - (Billy Gerhart) and (Richie Cantu). And they were like other cast members. They were in there every scene, and the actors knew exactly where those cameras going to - were going to wind up, because we didn't know when we rolled any given take what the cameras were going to do. They
just went in there and felt it. They found it. You know, they found those moments. So it was a different experience I think for the actors. Chris?

Chris Owens:       

I was just going to say, yes it was quite, you know, a tough experience for me as I'm used to only actually acting on my close-ups, so.

Question to Frank Darabont:

On adapting the script:

Frank Darabont:  

My challenge in the past with him is that - like on something like Green Mile for example, I mean that was a - it was published in six volumes but it is fundamentally one very thick, rich, novel. It’s a big piece of work. So my challenge has always been to try and not harm the characters in terms of trimming the narrative down. You’re always trying to like get to the essence of it so you're always trying to cut stuff without mangling it.

With something like The Mist, which is what maybe 115 pages long, the pleasure was I wasn't dealing with unwieldy length for purposes of a movie. It was an - actually an opportunity to get in and, you know, kind of expand on those characters in various ways, rather than worrying so much about length, which then translates of course into running time.

And with a move like this, I did not want to make a two hour and 20 minute movie like Shawshank was, or a there hour move like Green Mile. I think for a movie that has the intentions of being kind of muscular, you know, horrifying movie, you really want to hit under two hours. And I think probably my proudest achievement here is the…

Marcia Gay Harden:  

Right.

Frank Darabont:  

…first time in my life I've done that.

Marcia Gay Harden:

You know, Yes, that’s great, because otherwise people (give out) their disbelief, don't they, when there’s a move- I mean I wonder if the movie that has so much (CGI) and things like that. If it’s too long is there not a point people just go, “Oh no?”

Thomas Jane:

No, because Lord of the Rings was over three ours and everybody loved that. Could have stayed another six hours.

Marcia Gay Harden: Oh that’s true. That’s true.

Question to Marcia Gay Harden:

Since your character is kind of a monster in herself and is creating a lot of human drama at the same time as the drama with these creatures, how did you take on that responsibility of carrying all to of the suspense in the film?

Marcia Gay Harden:

That’s a very interesting question. She - I do agree she’s a kind of a counterpoint to the one side -the hopeful side, the sort of good guy side. And I embraced fear I think.

The responsibility’s in the writing to a degree, but one of the things I wanted to do was not give away in the beginning of the story that she was going to be troubled. I didn't want people thinking there’s - something’s rotten on the state of Denmark the second they saw her.

So working with Frank, we created a person who was a little bit less visually obvious than that which is being written. I think she’s written to be kind of fluorescent yellow (pants), et cetera. And we tried to create someone who might have been able to blend a little bit more in with the normal folks. And nor did I want to blame the fact that she things that it’s the end of the world
because there’s bugs the size of a skyscraper coming out to eat people, because I think if I saw bugs the size of a skyscraper coming out to eat people and nothing was as I thought it would be, I might think it was the need of the world -- that there was something prophetic and horrible happening that’s not so far fetched.

So I didn't want it to be her religion. I wanted it to be more the degree to which she takes the region and then is capable of doing such human acts of cruelty that defy any logic, because ultimately I think the best sense of godliness or whatever is something that is based in some kind of logic.

And so that is what took it on. And, yes she creates mob mentality, and the mob is a very scary thing. And so then the mob takes on the responsibility of that fear. And then I think it’s in the hands of Frank and how they should have shot her, how (unintelligible) comes in on my face or when he cuts to me or when he cuts to someone looking at me thinking what the hell’s going to happen next. Those are the things that ultimately, regardless of what I do up the ante, up the ante,
up the ante, because he’s building the tension every step of the way.

Question to Frank Darabont:

On why his collaborations with Stephen King have all been so successful:

Frank Darabont:  

I think probably because I really love his voice as an author. I think because he tends to – no matter how fundamentally wacky the premise of something like this is, he’s guiding us through the words that writes with character in mind. And that’s the stuff that really gets me excited.

So is, you know, his voice as an author is something that I respond to not just as a reader, but also as a storyteller myself, there’s something that vibes with me in his work and that I'm attracted to. It makes me want to get behind the camera.

And luckily, Steve seems to feel that we make a pretty good match. He’s never minded the liberties that I've taken with his material, but I think he’s also appreciated that even within the liberties that I take, I'm trying to maintain his voice as a writer -- his voice as a storyteller. I'm trying to be as true to his intention as possible.

You know, even if things change, which they often do as - when you’re adapting, because they’re two different languages, you know? Film and written fiction really are two different languages and you have to translate as you go. And sometimes that winds up, you know, shifting things or consolidating things or expanding things

And then of course I have my own ideas that I'll bring to the table but - that his work triggers in me. And he’s never minded that. He’s always been very pleased with the results.

Question for everyone:

On the most valuable lessons and insights from making the film:

Thomas Jane:

Well yes, I think, you know, working on anything you’re obviously - there’s going to be gains, but I got room service, so Frank? I got to go like …I got to go get my hamburger. You want to take this end? I'll be right back.

Frank Darabont:  

I'll take this one. You grab your hamburger.

Frank Darabont:  

Well for - speaking for myself, I - the insights I gained are terrifically valuable just in terms of craft and in terms of what to the approach to what I do. As I've said before, this is in terms of technique, a completely different - not just a different hat but a different set of clothes for me coming into doing things without the - in a more instinctive and kind of ragged way rather than the very painstaking, you know, kid who grew up watching Stanley Kubrick’s films kind of way. You know, so it amazed me really how immediate and in the moment the process can be and
how immediate and in the moment the result on screen can be.

And it’s - it - I think it’s probably like any art form. If you, you know, you spend a part of your life learning the rules and then if you’re, you know, at a certain point I think you can get excited about throwing out those rules so that you know and just throwing paint at the canvas and seeing what happens.

And that this came together as well as it did with a very loose approach thrills me. It excites me and I think it will inform my work in the future as well. I'm not necessarily going to do the same style every time, but it’s a way to plug more into your instinctive flow, if that makes any sense at all.

On The Mist being an inspiration for video games like Half-Life and Silent Hill and if anyresearch was made into those:

Frank Darabont:  

I’d kind of have to take your word for that, because I'm not really - my - I'm not really a video game guy, you know? I don't know…if that’s a sin these days but, you know, I'm usually too busy to notice what’s going on in that world. But honestly, no. Even if I had been aware of any inspiration they’ve drawn from The Mist, I wouldn't have checked it out.

In fact, there’s this audio version of The Mist that they did years and years ago -- like 20 years ago -- and funny enough, Bill Sadler, who’s one of our cast members in this and I've worked with in Green Mile and Shawshank as well, plays Tom Jane’s role on that audio version. Tom, were you aware of that?

Thomas Jane:

That’s awesome. Yes, Bill had told me that. That is so cool. I mean come on -- how cool is that?

Frank Darabont:  

Yes, I know. Somebody gave me this thing 20 years ago and it’s been kicking around. And then for - every so often, somebody will give me like another version of it. Like when CDs were invented, suddenly I'm getting - like getting new versions of it. I've never listened even to that, because…

Thomas Jane:

I haven’t even listened to it either. I'm embarrassed.

Frank Darabont:  

Well I just never wanted to be influenced, because I always knew I had the intention of making this movie. I never wanted to be influenced by anybody else’s work, by anybody else’s interpretation. I wanted to keep it clean for myself. So now that the movie’s done and it’s coming out, I've got that CD and I may listen to it on my press tour just to see what they did. But no, I've been holding off even on that for a long time.

Question to Thomas Jane:

On perhaps directing more:

Thomas Jane:

I don't know, pal. If they ever make - let me make another one after this one, I’ll consider it to be a miracle and I will make one. I'm having the time of my life. I'm loving it. I think it’s a privilege and an honor to be able to direct and act in your own thing. I really do. Took a lot of work. I've always had it in my bones to do it. If - this is my first film.

You might see me the director as on the IMDD) for something called Johnny Nitro but those were little short webisodes that we did. Then we actually (rotoscoped) them and turned them kind of like cartoons, and they’re really cool. But this is a first feature film…

I've done - it’s a noir thriller. It’s called Dark Country…

…and it’s a couple driving through the desert at night and they pick up an accident victim on the road and then it all goes downhill from there. It’s a - very much in the vain of Hitchcock, you know, and the old great and film noirs from the ‘40’s and ‘50’s. That’s heavy influence on this film.

I'm also shooting it stereoscopically, which means we’re shooting it in 3-D. I've got the cameras that no one has used ever in the world. I have cameras built to make this film. Io went to accompany that did T-3 - well T-2 in 3-D with James Cameron and they were doing amusement park stuff and they…

…were (geniuses) and they’d want to get into a motion picture. And these new cameras were invented this year called the S-silicon imaging cameras, and they’re about the size of a pack of cigarettes.

And we strapped two of those suckers together and made the smallest 3-d rig in the world with the dynamic intraocular, which means that you can change the focal - the distance between the cameras as you’re filming so you can get some very dynamic 3-D shots that literally we’ve made - the first day of filming we did two shots that have never been done before in film history. So we already on Day 1 have made film history with Our Country. Very proud of the people that….
…(gotten) together.