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Ain't-It-Cool-News has posted some shots from Richard Linklater's take on the Philip K. Dick novel, here: http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=19085

Interestingly, he's utilizing the same technique he did with Waking Life - animating over live-action footage. Looks interesting.

This is my favorite PKD book .... and one of my favorite SF novels (in my top 3). Consequently, I rather dread movie-ization -- by anyone.

MEK

I look forward to this, because, come on, this is Dick and Linklater, but I really wished he didn`t choose to go the way of Waking Life animation, because it has (through many rewatches of WL) overstayed its welcome to me.

Eh, I still really like rotoscoping, both in Waking Life and in Bob Sabiston's original short Snack & Drink. I think it's underused, and a brilliant way to make a futuristic science fiction film without going to the expense of Blade Runner or Chronicles of Riddick. I'd love to see Dune or Ubik or maybe Neuromancer adapted in this way. The Man in the High Castle also might be perfect for this format; shoot in real world locations and give them a fascist bent in postproduction.

Actually, this new Linklater film is now one of my most antecipated films now since I am of the opinion that WL was one of the most amazing films (animated or not) that I have ever seen at the time and still is. And for me, that's the way that computer animation should be heading and not the Shrek, Shark or Robots way.

Go Linklater, go!

Trailer is online now!

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2665143?htv=12

And also here (in QuickTime): http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/ ... lyqt1.html

Everything (almost) you could want to know about the genesis and production of the film is here--

http://scannerdarklymovie.blogspot.com/

--including Linklater's disclosure that he is filming the novel as a "dark comedy," which orientation to the material, along with the intriguing look and tone of the trailer, gives this Dick reader reason for hope.

The blog makes incidental mention of an interesting auction:

A woman named Claudia is auctioning off a collection of 60 letters (186 pages) that surrealist science fiction author Philip K. Dick wrote to her over a span of nearly two decades. The starting bid of the eBay auction is $1,000.

Unfortunately, the completed auction listing is no longer up on eBay.

To digress even further, Dick once defined surrealism as "the juxtaposition of two things or more that would never normally have been juxtaposed," but I always wince a bit whenever he is labeled a "surrealist author."

I'm sorry, but I found the trailer really disappointing. It seems to present two 'visions' of the film, and judging by Linklater's previous animated effort, Waking Life, I assume it will only look like that animation. Let me show you what I mean...

http://www.geocities.com/john_kotsalos/video-esque.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/john_kotsalos/film-esque.jpg

These were taken directly from the QuickTime trailer. I feel the second frame is simply Warner Bros. trying to spice up the film with some added effects of their own. I doubt we will see any of this blowing out and soft focusing in the actual film. It also bothers me that after the 48 second mark, everything seems interlaced. I realize this production was shot on video, but wasn't it on HDTV or at least in 24p DV? From the looks of it, it doesn't seem to be... Why would anyone stay with interlaced digital video when progressive is out there and is well within reach, especially for someone like Linklater?

The beginning of the trailer seems to contain all the flash and excitement of this piece by cherry-picking all the moving-camera shots, adding the cool dark-cloud forming fade-outs on Keanu's face, flash frames, some morph special effects (most likely in the movie), the voice over (probably in the film, but as v.o. or from actual scenes?), and the heavy, creepy sound effects (which would be a surprise if they were in the film).

I really hope this film isn't anchored to a tripod the entire time with a bunch of talking heads. And I have to say it - Robert Downey Jr. has never impressed me, and if he's the "dark comedy" element in this film with lines like "mur--der", then God help this film...

I like Philip K. Dick's work, though I never read this title. I like Keanu's work for the most part, as well as Winona's... I just think they're making this film a lot bigger than it really is... And, again, if it's some interlaced video that's rotoscoped the exact same way as Waking Life, I'll be really disappointed... (The second frame above looks cool, and if they have a mix or a variety including that, then all the better...)

exte wrote:It also bothers me that after the 48 second mark, everything seems interlaced. I realize this production was shot on video, but wasn't it on HDTV or at least in 24p DV? From the looks of it, it doesn't seem to be... Why would anyone stay with interlaced digital video when progressive is out there and is well within reach, especially for someone like Linklater?

Well, obviously what it was shot on doesn't matter, as it's being painted over digitally. What does matter is what the rotoscoping is mastered to. And I don't think that one can judge what it's being mastered to from a compressed internet trailer.
As for whether the film's "anchored to a tripod," I see no reason to suspect this...Linklater's employed enough camera movement in films like Slacker, Dazed & Confused, and Suburbia, and once again, you shouldn't judge the camerawork of an entire film based on a few shots from an early trailer. How on earth can you possibly know that the trailer's "cherry-picking all the moving camera shots"?

you shouldn't judge the camerawork of an entire film based on a few shots from an early trailer.

--especially since, as recently as January '05, the producers were advertising on the blog for animators to complete an intermediate stage of film production. Why not wait until the film is at least completed, let alone exhibited, before judging it?

It is being reported on various movie news sites that the composer they were using has been fired and a new score is to be composed and performed by Radiohead.

link

solaris72 wrote:It is being reported on various movie news sites that the composer they were using has been fired and a new score is to be composed and performed by Radiohead.

link

Fascinating if true. Though Radiohead's working methods are so complex and composing/recording process so long that I have some doubts as to whether or not the band could compose an entire score in the relatively short amount of time that a typical film usually gets scored. I guess if Thom Yorke pulls rank and pushes his own ideas through, or if they hand over the bulk of the actual work of composing to Jonny Greenwood, it's possible. At any rate, I'll be interested to see what comes of this.

And it has now been reported that Radiohead turned down the offer, because they're busy working on their new album.
link

solaris72 wrote:And it has now been reported that Radiohead turned down the offer, because they're busy working on their new album.
link

I can't say I'm surprised. (If you've heard the stories about how difficult it was for them to record one song for the film version of The Avengers, which never came together anyway, you'd probably end up being more surprised that they'd even consider taking on a job like this.) Frankly, while I'd like to see Radiohead do something like this some day, I'm much more keen on them producing a new album.

an excellent interview with Linklater about the movie over at Filmmaker magazine's site: http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/winter ... id_man.php

New trailer:
http://pdl.warnerbros.com/wip/us/med/sc ... qt_700.mov

Fascinating article at Wired Magazine on Scanner's setbacks and delays (with possible spoiler in the lead paragraph).

Well, the film will feature Radiohead music after all, though not a full original score.

Entertainment Weekly wrote:Instead of a full-blown original score, the film will feature music by Radiohead, including a brand-new track from lead singer Thom Yorke's upcoming solo release. Warner Independent is still working out what music will make the cut, and couldn't say if the tracks would be all new or a mix of old and new.

link

Official website is online: http://wip.warnerbros.com/ascannerdarkly/

It has a very cool look and interface...

Saw this movie last night at a preview screening at Brandeis University. It was incredible. The best Philip K. Dick adaptation yet. All the humor, tragedy, and paranoia of the novel was up there on screen. Best of all, the film managed to capture something no other PKD adaptation has managed yet. Some of Dick's best novels feel less like science fiction novels and more like regular fiction that was written in an alternate reality, and this film sort of feels that way as well. The rotoscoping was beautiful (even though it was being projected from a DVD screener); the "scramble suits" in particular were mesmerizing. The technology has come a long way since Waking Life. As for the acting, this is the first movie I've ever seen in which I actually cared about the fate of a character played by Keanu Reeves (more a testament to Linklater's ability to get good performances out of anyone than to Reeves' abilities I think). And the supporting roles were perfectly cast.

Great news. This is my favorite sf novel -- and I've been worrying what might happen to it....

solaris72 wrote:Saw this movie last night at a preview screening at Brandeis University. It was incredible. The best Philip K. Dick adaptation yet. All the humor, tragedy, and paranoia of the novel was up there on screen. Best of all, the film managed to capture something no other PKD adaptation has managed yet. Some of Dick's best novels feel less like science fiction novels and more like regular fiction that was written in an alternate reality, and this film sort of feels that way as well. The rotoscoping was beautiful (even though it was being projected from a DVD screener); the "scramble suits" in particular were mesmerizing. The technology has come a long way since Waking Life. As for the acting, this is the first movie I've ever seen in which I actually cared about the fate of a character played by Keanu Reeves (more a testament to Linklater's ability to get good performances out of anyone than to Reeves' abilities I think). And the supporting roles were perfectly cast.

WOW! Sounds really good!
The best yet, that is a bold statment.
I also love Radiohead so would see the film just for their music anyway.

solaris72 wrote:Saw this movie last night at a preview screening at Brandeis University. It was incredible. The best Philip K. Dick adaptation yet. All the humor, tragedy, and paranoia of the novel was up there on screen..

Wow! Sounds promising... You really think it's a better film than BLADE RUNNER (although not all that much of ELECTRIC SHEEP left in the adaptation, is still a P.K Dick adaptation and one of the greatest films of the 2nd half of the 20th Century, or any century for that matter)?

Now excuse me while I take my morning dose of Can-D. Ah UBIK-- another morning ritual in a convenient aerosol spray.

Oh Schreck must you tempt me into returning a friendly PKD reference. I don't want to succumb the way I did on the Simpsons thread. must...resist...urge...