Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery with Rian Johnson and Phil Lord (Ep. 390)
Nov 25, 2022
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Director Rian Johnson and fellow director Phil Lord discuss the process of creating 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery', including their inspiration from Agatha Christie novels and 70s/80s movies, the challenge of creating a narrative twist, and the importance of preparation and collaboration in filmmaking.
Rian Johnson emphasizes the importance of staging and blocking in his filmmaking process, drawing inspiration from directors like Spielberg and Welles.
Johnson believes that engaging with nostalgia can hinder capturing the essence of a genre and aims to subvert audience expectations.
Deep dives
Summary of the Podcast
In this podcast episode, director Ryan Johnson discusses his latest film, 'Glass Onion,' a follow-up to the successful movie 'Knives Out.' The film takes place on a lavish Greek island where a group of friends gather for an annual reunion. When one guest ends up dead, everyone becomes a suspect. Johnson shares his process of using notebooks for outlining and planning his projects. He also discusses the importance of engaging with nostalgia and subverting genre expectations. The episode concludes with Johnson talking about his collaborative team and the challenges of shooting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Power of Staging and Blocking
One main aspect Johnson focuses on in his filmmaking process is staging and blocking, inspired by directors like Steven Spielberg and Orson Welles. He emphasizes the importance of staging the actors and creating dynamic frames to keep the scenes alive. Johnson explains that he storyboards his ideas but remains open to collaboration and adjusts the blocking according to the actors' performances. He believes that a strong understanding of the dramatic intent of each scene is essential for effective blocking and successful storytelling.
Engaging with Nostalgia and Subverting Expectations
Johnson explores the challenge of working with beloved genres and properties, such as murder mysteries, while trying to capture the essence of the original source and evoke the same emotions in audiences. He believes that engaging with nostalgia can be an obstacle to achieving this goal. Instead, he aims to subvert expectations and bring the audience back to the pure pleasure of the original experience. Johnson draws inspiration from directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Agatha Christie, who focused on engaging and shaking the audience, rather than creating a filtered nostalgic view.
Director Rian Johnson discusses his new film, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, with fellow director Phil Lord in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, Johnson talks about the movies that influenced the conception of Glass Onion, his process when working with his "family" of filmmaking collaborators, and how nostalgia for a specific genre can be an obstacle to making a film.
The film follows southern detective Benoit Blanc on a billionaire's lavish Greek island at a yearly reunion of a disparate group of friends. When one guest turns up dead, everyone becomes a suspect and must peel away the layers of their motivations, secrets, and lies.
This is a spoiler-free podcast.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2023/January2023/GlassOnion_QnA_1122.aspx
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