Les Miserables - In Production/Post Production

[jo]

Thanks!

This is the scene where Valjean, wearing the uniform of a National Guard for disguise, joins the student/citizen rebels.

Jo

[jo]

I did not notice it myself - someone on another board ( IMDB) pointed this out -- check out the pale gold words at the lower right hand corner.

Seen on the new posters - but you need very powerful eyesight or a super magnifying glass -- the MPAA rating!

"PG-13, for Suggestive and Sexual Material, Violence and Thematic Elements."

Jo

[jo]

The LA Times writes about more about singing in Les Miserables --

www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-sneaks-les-miserables-20121104,0,5503621.story

In the moment on 'Les Misérables'
For his film adaptation of the musical, director Tom Hooper was all about the power of emotion. Instead of lip-syncing, the actors were recorded live on set.

By Oliver Gettell
November 3, 2012, 10:23 a.m.

For director Tom Hooper, his Oscar-winning "The King's Speech" was all about the power of the spoken word. For his new film, an adaptation of the long-running musical "Les Misérables," it's all about tying song to the power of emotion.

Unlike traditional musicals, in which the vocal performances are recorded in a studio and then played back for the actors to lip sync to while filming — sometimes months later — Hooper wanted to film the actors singing live on set while they were in the moment of each scene.

"I've often found musicals on film a little hard to accept because there's a sort of slightly strange falseness that comes with people singing to playback," he said on the phone from London. "However well they do the lip-sync, you know there's something unreal about it.

"When you record songs in a studio beforehand, people sound the same wherever they are [in the film] — whether they're outside, inside, in a big hall, in a small room."

In order to record all the singing from stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway live, Hooper had an on-set pianist accompany them over wireless earpieces, which allowed the actors to tune into the music while still generating clean vocal tracks. After the vocals were recorded by a combination of skillful boom operators and cleverly hidden microphones, a full orchestra was enlisted to re-create the score, which replaced the piano track in the final mix.

The process was technically complex and an unusual approach, but it greatly expanded the dramatic opportunities for Hooper and his cast, allowing the actors the emotional intimacy created on set rather than the vocal proficiency achieved in a sterile studio setting. The actors could speed or slow the tempo of their singing, speak or whisper, take a pause, and play off one another in real time.

"Acting is all about the pure language of the present tense," Hooper said. "When Annie [Hathaway, who plays Fantine] is singing 'I Dreamed a Dream,' if she needs to take a tenth of a second to have a thought before she sings it, or to have an emotion before she sings a line, she can take it."

Like the theatrical production by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg [itself based on the Victor Hugo novel], "Les Misérables" is fully sung, with no traditional dialogue.

Musical director Stephen Brooker, who also supervises the London stage show, said the cast went through extensive preparation for the film, including months of work with voice coaches and nine weeks of rehearsal. The actors brought their own vocal qualities to the roles.

As the noble ex-convict and protagonist Jean Valjean, Jackman's sound is "very muscular," Brooker said, and reflective of his extensive musical theater experience. "It's pingy at the top end, it's got energy."

Crowe, who plays Valjean's nemesis, the dogged Inspector Javert, has a background in rock music and an edgier sound, "a dark baritone," Brooker said. Hathaway, a trained singer whose mother once played Fantine in a national tour, conveys "a real sense of fragility."

A major concern regarding the live approach was ensuring that the actors stayed in singing shape. Brooker said he did his best to monitor the cast's vocal health and work load, though he recalled some "brilliant, crazy nights," such as when "Hugh Jackman was up to his ears in mud in an estuary in Kent, still singing at 2 o'clock in the morning."

Jackman survived the ordeal, voice intact. In the end, Hooper said, none of the obstacles proved insurmountable, and the results were worth the challenge.

"Singing unlocks something in actors that's different," he said. "I think I can safely say that you'll see something different from all of them that you've never seen on film before."

I am not familiar with the term "PINGY" in singing. A Musical Theatre dictionary/reference defined the word as :

Pingy- adjective- The fantastic result of ultra-forward mask placement. The term is derived from the resonant sound and sped of a person's vibrato. Imagine a pinball being tossed around a pinball machine at fast pace: that's pingy. (We get extra points for making you want to listen to Tommy)
Her belt is so pingy, her placement can cut diamonds.



***********************************************

"As the noble ex-convict and protagonist Jean Valjean, Jackman's sound is "very muscular," Brooker said, and reflective of his extensive musical theater experience. "It's pingy at the top end, it's got energy."

Hugh can sing very powerfully but at the same time you know he has the legit voice of a stage musical theatre actor.


"A major concern regarding the live approach was ensuring that the actors stayed in singing shape. Brooker said he did his best to monitor the cast's vocal health and work load, though he recalled some "brilliant, crazy nights," such as when "Hugh Jackman was up to his ears in mud in an estuary in Kent, still singing at 2 o'clock in the morning."

Jackman survived the ordeal, voice intact. In the end, Hooper said, none of the obstacles proved insurmountable, and the results were worth the challenge. "[/b]

More than ever I am very excited to see the trek through the sewers! And he has to carry a wounded Marius through this ordeal. This must be the most physically difficult scene he has had to perform in the movie.

Jo

[Jamie]

"Pingy" and "forward placement" are a good thing www.vocalrelease.com/singingbasics.html …

[jo]

Sue/Birchie posted this video link from Australian TV of a brief interview with Hugh on the Advocacies thread --

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eBb_YrG0tI

It looks like they will be completing Les Miserables only after two weeks! Whew!!

The special screenings for award bodies start Thanksgiving weekend! And then premieres and other screenings follow.

Can't wait for the first real buzz on the movie and on Hugh's performance !!!!

Jo

[birchie]

Nov 4, 2012 10:45:04 GMT -5 jo said:

Sue/Birchie posted this video link from Australian TV of a brief interview with Hugh on the Advocacies thread --

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eBb_YrG0tI

It looks like they will be completing Les Miserables only after two weeks! Whew!!

The special screenings for award bodies start Thanksgiving weekend! And then premieres and other screenings follow.

Can't wait for the first real buzz on the movie and on Hugh's performance !!!!

Jo

Thanks for reposting the link here Jo. Oops, I should have thought of doing that. :-[

It thought that was great news too! He's certainly going to be a busy boy in the coming weeks. Can't wait for the reports of the screenings to start coming in.
Sue

[nevaeh777]

Great find Sue! Very interesting and exciting news! Can't wait!

[jo]

What is interesting is that they are still doing last-minute ADRs, based on tweets of cast members being asked to come back for this kind of work.

Hooper must be a real perfectionist

Jo

[birchie]

Nov 4, 2012 18:36:30 GMT -5 jo said:

What is interesting is that they are still doing last-minute ADRs, based on tweets of cast members being asked to come back for this kind of work.

Hooper must be a real perfectionist

Jo

We'll hopefully be the beneficiaries of that perfectionism very soon.

[jo]

When the waiting gets to be so despairing ( I get to see it only three weeks after you folks in the USA have appreciated the Les Miserables perfection!) - I think back of a year ago ;D

Things have really moved so fast, in that context

Jo

[jo]

Great video featuring Hugh and Deb, talking about their social advocacies, Les Mis, and the damage to their home.

au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/31040560/



Re Les Mis --

*It was a very hard project for him to do ( meaning perhaps the physical demands, the acting demands, and the singing demands) but he loved it

*It was gruelling but fantastic

*Deb teased him about the "decayed teeth" he had to put on, I guess, as he aged as Valjean!


Jo

[njr]

Nov 4, 2012 21:53:49 GMT -5 jo said:

Great video featuring Hugh and Deb, talking about their social advocacies, Les Mis, and the damage to their home.

au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/31040560/



Re Les Mis --

*It was a very hard project for him to do ( meaning perhaps the physical demands, the acting demands, and the singing demands) but he loved it

*It was gruelling but fantastic

*Deb teased him about the "decayed teeth" he had to put on, I guess, as he aged as Valjean!


Jo

I thought the bad teeth would be in the beginning part when he is a prisoner.

Nancy

[jo]

Probably not, because he would have been wearing false teeth in practically the rest of the movie because the scenes showing Hugh as Monsieur le Maire seemed like he had his real teeth - it would have been hard for him to sing ...More likely they used the prostethics to show that he has aged

Jo

[mamaleh]

Didn't Deb describe them as awful or horrible 'green teeth" that were "not attractive."? That would suggest his years as an abused prisoner, wouldn't it?

Ellen

[jo]

I thought "decayed teeth" meant they were breaking down - not just discolored. If that is the case, then maybe it was what she might have been referring to. In which case Valjean did not need to have them replaced with false teeth.

Did you see the new photo on the Les Miserables Facebook Page where they display the false teeth for sale during that time? I can't imagine fitting them on Valjean/Hugh - LOL!

www.facebook.com/LesMisMovie#!/photo.php?fbid=507072155978245&set=a.393822420636553.98609.291963720822424&type=1&theater . This is the entry posted on Nov 1.

Jo

[jo]

Talking about the issue of "teeth" and how's this for realism on the part of Hooper --

Other than the inclusion of a scene where Fantine sells her back teeth, they have also added lyrics to the singing of Lovely Ladies.

There is one part where the fake teeth seller sings in counterpoint with the singing of the Lovely Ladies.

Jo

[Jamie]

Just saw a 30 second commercial on MSNBC. Can't find on line yet, but it is new for "Christmas Day" release.

[birchie]

Nov 5, 2012 17:53:01 GMT -5 jo said:

Talking about the issue of "teeth" and how's this for realism on the part of Hooper --

Other than the inclusion of a scene where Fantine sells her back teeth, they have also added lyrics to the singing of Lovely Ladies.

There is one part where the fake teeth seller sings in counterpoint with the singing of the Lovely Ladies.

Jo

I like that they have expanded her descent but I can't picture the whole new singing tooth guy yet.

As for Hugh's aging teeth-I was also trying to find the video where Hugh showed that prosthetic. I looked through my saved videos and couldn't find it. I'm thinking it may have been one I couldn't save for some reason. Anyone else remember it? I think it was near the end of an interview and he put in the prosthetic with some typical Hugh humor. Also, he was dressed as the older JVJ in that interview bit.
Sue

[mamaleh]

I'm wondering whether the aging teeth are the same as the green teeth. Well, I'm sure whatever Hugh wears in the dental region, they'll be charming chompers.

Ellen

[rmtndew]

I'm glad they went with prosthetic teeth because one of the things I found distracting about 'Australia' was how white and straight and perfect the Drover's teeth were. They look lovely on Hugh but it didn't make sense considering his character lived in the Outback.

- Alicia

[jo]

Hugh and Amanda enjoyed working together as father and daughter, but it seems they also tried to make the working relationship more fun --

www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012....jackman#slide=1

>>>In Les Mis she plays the adopted daughter of Hugh Jackman. Is it true, I ask, that nobody has a bad word to say about him? “There is nothing bad to say about Hugh. He isn’t human. I bet you anything he’s got some kind of superhuman capabilities, beyond just being just the kindest, gentlest soul I’ve come across.” Plus, she says, he has a wildly inappropriate sense of humour, which she shares. Together they invented alternative story lines that transformed their characters’ tender relationship into something altogether less innocent, like the old Renault “Papa!” and “Nicole!” ads gone wild. “We sexualized everything as much as we could. It was really funny, the moments we could find . . . It’s like every movie has another version, another satirical version of itself.”<<<

I am reposting this from "What they say about Hugh" - this must be how some actors try to make their acting seem fresh, after take after take after take ;D


Jo

[jo]

Colm interview (with some references to working with Hugh and on a film set) --

toronto.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interviews-Colm-Wilkinson-on-his-Christmas-Concerts-the-Les-Miserables-Film-and-more-20121120-page2

>>>What was it like working on the Les Miserables feature film?

I’ve done some film and tv work before, I think The Tudors for example was a great thing for me to do because it helped me get familiar with the technical requirements of working on a movie. All the waiting that you have to do and the methodology that goes into this discipline is very different to someone who is in theatre.

I’m used to walking out on a stage, starting from that moment and going through my whole journey in a two hour period. I stay in that zone and that place. A film is more stop and start and you do different scenes out of sequence so it becomes a lot more challenging. The Bishop’s role is not huge but it was very gratifying to be welcomed by these big time Hollywood actors who seemed genuinely delighted to have me there. I have a lot of respect for them, this is a difficult process with early mornings on strange locations and it is very repetitive. The thing I had to be most aware of was the way I would project. In theatre you project a lot but in movies you can’t do that because of all the close up shots. I learned a lot about how to handle a camera and how much to emote. I would love to do more of it.

We’ve heard a lot about how the actors are all singing live – is that true? What was it like?

It is true and the first time it’s ever been done. It’s extremely difficult because you only have this tiny earpiece and you’re singing to an electric piano in strange locations and often inclement weather. You don’t have the track that they would normally have, they were matching the track to what we did after the fact. So Hugh Jackman had to sing the Prologue to just a tiny electric piano – and I can’t even imagine that. For me you need that weight of the orchestra behind you for that song, it gives you a lift and a blanket and something to coast on. Hearing a tinkly piano that sounds like it’s miles away is very different, and Hugh has my total admiration. It’s unbelievable the discipline and work ethic they all have.

Did you give any of the film stars singing tips?

Not really – obviously Hugh Jackman and I worked together more than the others, but they didn’t need vocal coaching from me. Instead the experience was a bit of coming full circle for me, because the Bishop hands the candlesticks to Valjean at the beginning of the movie and sets him off on his journey, and now I get to send Hugh off on his own journey. It’s a great way to pass the torch and end my association with Les Miserables.<<<




It highlights that someone without acting and film-making experience would have found it extremely difficult to portray the role of Valjean. Hooper and the producers were extremely lucky to have a Hugh Jackman who was fully interested in the movie musical right at the beginning and was fully focused on the role during filming!

[jo]

Remember this

[rmtndew]

- Alicia

[birchie]

I absolutely love that picture! I was just about to post it, you beat me! ;D