บันทึกการสร้าง Mulan จาก ผู้กำกับ Niki Caro

[ruichun]

28 มีนาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-QC-wWFBto/

Hello All. Today should have been an amazing moment as we released the live action MULAN around the world. So until that day comes, I’ve resolved to share my journey as the director of this iconic story. I hope you enjoy my diary-in-reverse as I look back at at the glorious, and sometimes daunting experience of making the movie. Today I give you the first challenge I set myself. How to tell the story of a village girl who becomes a male soldier, then ultimately a warrior and a legend... This was a photo shoot I did with a single actress. It’s the same young woman in each frame. These were the first images the studio saw of my vision of Mulan. I’ll keep posting these memories until I can share the whole movie with you all. Until then, look after each other and stay safe #mulan #disney #yifei_cc

[ruichun]

4 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-h2YFtlK9M/

Hello All. The words Loyal, Brave, and True have never meant more to me than they do in this time, and I am very moved today to be able to announce that the new release date for our movie is July 24 2020 Once it is again safe to gather, to sit in a movie theatre together and share the experience of of a great story, we will be there. And we can’t wait to share Mulan’s journey with you all. Worldwide. On big screens. #mulan #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

8 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-sXr7_l4kp/

Any movie begins with a vision. It’s the director’s job a) to have that vision and b) to communicate it clearly and effectively. My first task on this movie was to articulate my vision for Mulan in a presentation for the studio. I was given a couple of months and some truly exceptional people to help me, not the least of them the extraordinary Jane Wu @janewushu. Storyboard artist, martial artist, all around badass, and a true modern Mulan, Jane was invaluable in helping me design and articulate some of the most stunning action sequences in the movie. When I look at these boards I see passion and determination - Mulan’s, Jane’s, and my own. FYI these shots are virtually unchanged in the final movie #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #modernmulan

[ruichun]

14 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-7ph58FIPq/

So a number of you have asked for more detail, so I’m going all the way back to the beginning. I met with Disney in December 2016. It was a nail-biting few months before I was told I had the job. That day was March 12 2017. I was in San Francisco, en route to Warsaw, Poland for the premiere of The Zookeeper’s Wife. The hotel I was staying in had a bar. In the bar was a pool. In the pool was a boat. In the boat was a band. Every half hour or so there is a tropical storm, courtesy of special fx thunder and lighting and a light, tropical rain... proving it is indeed a strange and beautiful world, even if all these things feel like from another time. Stay safe everybody. Stay home. More soon x #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #warrior

[ruichun]

16 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_A_oScl9gT/

So yesterday I went all the way back to my original notes from my very first meeting with Disney. They are dated 12/14/16... And although building any movie requires real flexibility, creativity, and openness to new and better ideas, it’s amazing to me how often the earliest instincts make it all the way to the final film. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #warrior

[ruichun]

22 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_QO0b0lKJN/

One of the most important roles on a film of this scale (or any film really) is the Production Designer. Grant Major and I had worked together a number of times before and I really value his eye, his taste, his huge vision, and his gentle manner. Under his direction a team of concept artists started to show us what our big set pieces could look like. These images were created three years ago. A desert garrison and thriving marketplace on the Silk Road that is the location for our first big action sequence. Once again, it amazes me how faithful we kept to the original vision. Three years later you can see the real shots in the trailer. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

23 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_SruIqlpFn/

One of the best things about making this movie were the location scouts to remote places. This is a single day in two different deserts searching for the right location for the desert garrison sequence (see concept art in previous post). NB the outstanding footwear which keeps the sand out of your shoes. In between deserts I managed to do a Skype session with a high school class from New Zealand. They were studying ‘McFarland USA’, a film I made for Disney about a Mexican American high school cross country team. At the time I found it strange and amazing to be northwest China talking to New Zealand school kids about Mexican American field workers in California... Now I think that’s kind of normal. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #warrior

[ruichun]

24 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_VkgisFhs1/

I feel like I shouldn’t continue without honoring the incredible work of the 1998 animation. Much has been discussed about the fact that the live-action Mulan takes a different path. Our intention was to honor not only the beloved animation, but also the original Chinese ballad from the 5th or 6th century. We felt that Mulan’s story should be told in the most epic, emotional, and cinematic way, and that live-action was the perfect canvas for an action adventure movie. Even though the Mulan story has been told countless times over more than a millennia, I was still daunted by the challenge of making something that would be a worthy successor to the animation, and would meet the expectations of a truly passionate audience. I hope audiences can feel the deep love and respect for the animation in the movie we made, and that all those who love her can continue their relationship with this iconic hero in a new way. I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to sharing it - when it is safe to do so. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #warrior

ผู้กำกับเวอร์ชั่นการ์ตูน
pumbaaguy

As someone who has seen the live action Mulan and one of the directors of the animated film, I can honestly and unabashedly say you achieved your goals. You being honor to us all @nikicaro

[ruichun]

25 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_X5aj8lUo-/

A critical piece of casting was finding Mulan’s horse, Black Wind. We were very much guided by the animation for the look, and determined to find the most beautiful horse. This is the undeniably beautiful Dazzle who turned out to be not a very nice horse, actually. I vastly preferred Bobby, the other horse who played Black Wind, who was less glamorous but a lot kinder. Interestingly, horses cannot be alone on set. They need another horse there to reassure them. So whenever we were working with Dazzle, Bobby was off to the side, being reassuring. A prince of a horse in my opinion #mulan #disney @yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #warrior3

[ruichun]

28 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_fno0ul-Y9/

Starting the week strong by introducing cinematographer Mandy Walker @mandywalkerdp. She is a genius, a general, a gifted and gracious collaborator who kicks ass behind the camera and in all aspects of the filmmaking process. I will share a lot more about our collaboration in the coming weeks, but for today it is enough to make the introduction and to say how blessed I was to take this journey with Mandy - and how excited I am to share her work with you all (whenever it is right to do so). Photo courtesy of @jasinboland #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

ผู้กำกับภาพ
mandywalkerdp

What an amazing experience it was. You are a great visionary and collaborator. It was my pleasure to be with you on this journey . Hoping for many more !! Can’t wait for everyone to see Mulan. I am so very proud. Xxxx

[ruichun]

29 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_iH4DLl954/

My first 3 months on Mulan were all about articulating the vision for the movie in a presentation for the studio. These presentations usually involve images on the walls of a room, but I wanted the studio’s first look to reflect the epic scale of the movie to come. I wanted it to be experiential, so we blacked out a huge space, as if entering a museum exhibit. This is the first room. Concept art was presented in parallax on huge screens, following the journey of the story... #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

30 เมษายน
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_kxM-7lvYV/

Rooms 2 + 3 of the Mulan Presentation. Early costume exploration, a maquette of Mulan and Black Wind, and a model of what would become our largest set, a 360 degree interior and partial exterior of Mulan’s village. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

1 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nTJ9FlUDS/

#tbt

#tbt to three years ago when I gave this presentation to the creative team at Disney. They liked it a lot and I was asked to do it again (and then again) for different divisions of the company. Eventually they took pity on me and filmed it so I didn’t have to keep doing it in person. This is just the opening, but I went through the entire story. Took about 30 mins. Top tip - it’s in IGTV so if you turn your phone on it’s side it will be way better #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

1 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_prgbOlbko/

As critical as it is to be able to communicate a director’s vision verbally, it is way more powerful to be able to do it visually. The final part of the presentation was a 10 minute pre-viz of the biggest action sequence in the movie. I knew the studio had questions about how I would handle the epic action sequences. I’d not had the opportunity to work with pre-viz before this, so I seized it. It’s great for trying out different camera moves, action, lenses etc, but I felt that with a little help, it could also convey emotion. I enlisted editor David Coulson, and music editor Robin Whittaker to work their magic on the pre-vized shots. I was so happy with the result. It felt like I was not just seeing, but feeling the movie for the first time. You can see some of these identical shots in the trailer #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

5 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_xrQQSF9LR/

I was blessed and honored to have Bill Kong on our team. He is the genius producer behind the brilliant, inspiring ‘Hero’, ‘House of Flying Daggers’, and the original ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’, and he joined us on Mulan to offer cultural and creative guidance. In our very first conversation he reminded me that I am not Chinese, and should not try to make a Chinese movie. He told me that countless Chinese movies have been made of the Mulan story, but none yet had been made by Disney in live action. He encouraged me to honor the Disney culture as well as honoring the Chinese culture. Looking back, I see this was my first lesson in ‘Loyal, Brave, and True’. I would need to be loyal to the Disney audience, and to the 1998 animation, brave enough to follow my instincts and take the live action version into new territory, and true to the rich history of Chinese culture and the spirit of Mulan. Thank you Bill. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

ฉันได้รับเกียรติอย่างยิ่งที่ได้บิล คง มาร่วมทีม เขาคือโปรดิวเซอร์อัจฉริยะ ผู้อยู่เบื้องหลังหนังแรงบันดาลใจอย่าง ฮีโร่ บ้านมีดบิน และเคราชิ่ง และเขามาร่วมงานมู่หลานกับเราเพื่อให้คำชี้แนะด้านวัฒนธรรม และการสรรค์สร้าง ในการคุยครั้งแรก เขาเตือนฉันว่า ฉันไม่ใช่คนจีน และไม่ควรพยายามทำหนังจีน เขาบอกว่า หนังจีนสร้างมู่หลานมาไม่รู้จักกี่ครั้งแล้ว แต่ดิสนีย์ยังไม่เคยสร้างเป็นหนังคนแสดง เขาให้ฉันเชิดชูวัฒนธรรมดิสนีย์ไปพร้อมๆ กับวัฒนธรรมจีน มองย้อนกลับไป ฉันเห็นว่านี่คือบทเรียนแรกของ "ภัคดี กล้าหาญ ซื่อสัตย์" สำหรับฉัน ฉันต้องภัคดีต่อแฟนๆ ดิสนีย์ และเวอร์ตูน กล้าหาญพอที่จะทำตามสัญชาตญาณและทำเวอร์ชั่นคนแสดงให้ไปในขอบเขตใหม่ๆ และซื่อตรงต่อประวัติศาสตร์ วัฒนธรรม อันเข้มข้นของจีน และจิตวิญญาณของมู่หลาน ขอบคุณ บิล

[ruichun]

6 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_0L0gslvgU/

As inspiring as the great Wuxia movies are, we needed to find our own visual + physical language for Mulan. Here is our earliest test, on the Phantom flex camera (shot at 500 fps and adjusted to 300fps). We were starting to think about how to articulate the idea of ‘chi’. This test taught me a lot. I knew immediately that super slow motion and digital fx were going to be the wrong kind of language for this character. Mulan is not a super hero. She is not ‘magical’. Her power comes from her integrity, her intelligence, her love for her family, and her connection to her own chi. I realized that we would need to express this power more naturally through brilliant but grounded martial arts choreography, lenses that gave us a more subtle chromatic aberration, and an actress who could deliver both physical and emotional power. For all the technological brilliance at our disposal, we were going to pursue old school movie making techniques - in camera, on the ground, with real people expressing real emotion #Mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #warrior

[ruichun]

7 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_2zBShFUS6

It’s hard to overestimate how important costume design is on a movie of this scale and scope. Costume Designer Bina Daigeler @bina_daigeler_costumedesign began with Mulan’s most critical costume. This costume needed to disguise Mulan as a man, but then reveal her as a woman. It needed to take her to war, (armour) but also move with her through martial arts based action choreography. Bina approached the design with her trademark intuition and logic, and her abundant artistry and creativity. The shots of Mulan fighting are some of my favorites in the movie. I see a fearless warrior, but I also see a real woman. I love how Bina’s design reveals the strong, female body. I love how it moves with Yifei - how it’s both tough and flexible. I think Bina created something genuinely iconic, and one of my most cherished dreams is one day seeing a whole tribe of little warrior Mulans on Halloween... #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

7 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_5OO-Vlx_9

#tbt to the movie that started it all. Making Mulan brought me full circle back to Whale Rider. While I joke that Mulan is like Whale Rider on steroids, the two movies have much in common, not the least being two extraordinary lead performances. The character of Paikea was played by the remarkable Keisha Castle-Hughes @kecahu. Keisha was 11 years old when we made this, and was then the youngest person to be nominated in the Best Actress category at the Academy Awards. She was, and is, a warrior - fiercely talented, intelligent, instinctive, generous, and a really good time. Working with her and all our collaborators in New Zealand was one of the most special experiences of my life #Mulan #Disney #keishacastlehughes #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

8 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_7yWBnFs0d/

I’ve been in the Warrior business for some time now, and I know one when I see one. So let’s take a moment to appreciate New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden @jacindaardern. I salute her for showing the world what strong, sane, compassionate leadership leadership looks like. For all but eradicating Covid-19 in New Zealand. For banning assault weapons in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack. For being accessible, honest, and kind both in and out of crisis. She is the embodiment of Loyal, Brave, and True. Here she is visiting us on the set of Mulan in 2018 (photo by @rubybell ). Our costume department was very excited about her visit, and made scones for a morning tea. The Prime Minister’s security detail had to explain that the PM would not eat the scones because she was on official business. Jacinda arrived. She ate the scones. Badass. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue #jacindaardern #badassquotes

[ruichun]

11 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/CADcuK_gNaG/

For those of us who worked so long and hard on MULAN, postponing the release was tough, but necessary, as we all do our best to fight the pandemic. For Mulan herself @yifei_cc this has meant total isolation, alone in quarantine. As we begin to cautiously lift restrictions, here she is on her first day out, masked and distanced, seeing the sun again... Thanks @ninja_tuner for the ride. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue #warrior

[ruichun]

13 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAGb_SfFXhH/

Finding the right actress to play Mulan was the single most important decision we needed to make, so we cast the net wide. It was a global search, open to anyone who wanted to audition. Here are just a few of the thousands who went on tape for us. I was so moved by their love for the character, their sincerity, and excitement. I hope everyone who tried out for Mulan knows that their passion is woven into the fabric of our movie, and that that all played a part in helping me understand and appreciate how beloved and important Mulan is to so many #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

14 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAJBe18AIbQ/

A short clip from Yifei’s first audition scene. Also the first day I met her. She had traveled from Beijing the day before, and had not slept due to the punishing jet lag between China and US time zones. We needed to see her do four scenes, one of which had five pages of dialogue. All in her second language. The audition took 2 hours, and then she went for a physical training session for another 90 mins. She was deeply exhausted, but never asked for a break, was totally focused, committed, and consistently brilliant. I saw the depth of her talent, her physical strength, her artistry and her undeniable spirit. I knew I’d found a partner, a collaborator, and a warrior. We loved her so much we delayed the shoot 6 months to wait for her to become available. Best decision we ever made. #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

15 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/CALYKqAl4To/

I love that so many of you are interested in the audition process, so here’s a special one. It was very early in our search, before we even had a screenplay. This is a scene specifically written for the Mulan auditions by writers Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa. I love how the words pretty much articulate the auditioning process ‘I just need one person to believe in me and that person is you’. We believed so strongly in Xana that we offered her the role of Mulan’s sister Xiu. You are going to LOVE her in this movie, I promise #Mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

16 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAOTT7alNVg/

Casting Mulan’s fellow soldiers was a blast. Here are headshots of Yosan An @yosonosoy, Jun Yu @itsjunyu, Jimmy Wong @jfwong, Chen Tang @chenlovesyall, Doua Moua @douamoua and Vincent Feng. I’m sure they will be appalled to learn that when casting, I was thinking about them like the Spice Girls (!) as I tried to assemble a group with distinctive individual traits - the romantic, the bully, the brute, the baby etc. I think we really nailed it with this bunch of crazy cats, all of whom are individually and collectively brilliant in the movie. And since it has been such a big casting week on my insta, mad love and respect to Casting Director Deb Zane and her lovely associate Dylan Jury. They are the people who tirelessly found (and/or discovered) actors for the huge number of speaking roles in the movie, from mega-stars to unknowns. What a pleasure and a privilege it was to work with them #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue

[ruichun]

19 พฤษภาคม
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAV8vevFDwY/

When you watch a completed film it’s easy to believe that every choice was perfectly planned, and that making the movie was all about just executing those (hopefully) great ideas. Not so. Developing and prepping a movie is a vigorous, fluid, and more organic process than you might expect. Ideas are born and discarded. Sequences prove to be more expensive than budget allows. Locations, however beautiful, can be logistical nightmares. So this week I thought I’d talk about the some of the u-turns, pivots, dead ends, and sequences that never made it. Like this one. This is an early boarded sequence of a fight between Mulan and Xianniang that was originally written to take place in tree tops. To be honest, I was a bit uneasy about the treetops idea, since it was very much the territory of the original ‘Crouching Tiger’ and I wanted our movie to be different. But the boards were cool and at the time I didn’t have a better idea. Boards by @janewushu #mulan #disney #yifei_cc #warrior #loyalbravetrue