It’s quite possible for kids who watch James Bond movies to dream of being a superspy, dodging danger with the coolest gadgets around. Not for underwater cameraman and director of photography Ian Seabrook! The filmmaker saw 1965’s Thunderball and instead thought, “How did they film these actors underwater?” Mr. Seabrook chased knowledge of aquatic filming and is now one of Hollywood’s go-to-guys when it comes to shooting sequences below the surface.
With massive productions to his credit – such as X2-X-Men United, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and Army of the Dead – Seabrook has undoubtedly made a splash in Tinseltown. His latest work, including Disney’s adventure blockbuster Jungle Cruise and M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller Old.
To celebrate his new projects and honor his past work, Fresh Fiction sat down with Mr. Seabrook for an extended chat. We discuss the creative and collaborative process, shooting with A-list stars in water tanks and oceans, and the joy of capturing the underwater action of the Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt-starring Jungle Cruise.
Enjoy the behind-the-scenes conversation and catch Jungle Cruise in theaters today or on Disney+ with Premier Access (subscription and additional fee required).
What is life if you don’t have a story to tell? Our existence, by its very nature, is a struggle — a quest to find truth and connection, filled with ups and downs and more conflict than we’d care to admit. What would life truly be if we weren’t overcoming obstacles both inside and out, searching for identity, purpose and recognition?
Dallas filmmaker David Lowery’s latest meditative experience, The Green Knight, released by A24, wrestles with these thoughts and illustrates them with a stunning vision. It’s a bold, unsettling and seductively weird spin on the Arthurian legend “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”—which follows Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s nephew, as he journeys to confront the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson), a gigantic tree-like creature and spiritual judge of men.
Co-starring Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris and Kate Dickie, The Green Knight is not your normal cup of medieval tea. While it may feature incredible giants, spirits and a talking fox, the film doesn’t lean into typical, easy-to-digest period storytelling. Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Old Man & the Gun) is a filmmaker that often manipulates conventions, quietly twisting things in a fashion that evokes feelings similar to the work of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. (Watch 1979’s Stalker, and you’ll see what I mean.) Rather than take the shape of a blockbuster caked in battle sequences and standard movie heroics, why not explore cowardice and have audiences looking inward with a mythic morality tale?
One early scene sees Harris’ King Arthur asking his nephew to accompany him and his queen (Dickie) during a Christmas gathering. Sir Gawain, baffled by this request as someone who merely exists in the shadows, joins them at the royal throne. The King invites Gawain to share a tale of himself, to which Gawain shamefully replies, bowing at the King’s knee, “I have none to tell.”
Suddenly, opportunity knocks when the Green Knight enters the great halls to present a confounding test to one of the King’s knights. This mysterious presence strikes fear as the Green Knight’s earthy appearance, colossal ax and sonorous voice could lull Satan to sleep. When none step up, a newly headstrong Gawain aims to add a chapter of nobility to his story by accepting the creature’s game.
The Green Knight enters the King’s hall. Courtesy of A24.
Dev Patel in ‘The Green Knight’.’ Courtesy of A24.
Dev Patel, left, and Joel Edgerton in ‘The Green Knight.’ Courtesy of A24.
Alicia Vikander, left, and Dev Patel in ‘The Green Knight.’ Courtesy of A24.
Dev Patel in ‘The Green Knight’.’ Courtesy of A24.
Gawain is challenged to land a blow on the Green Knight. However, the Knight is also then allowed to return that same blow one year later. Confused by the Knight’s Obi-Wan-like lack of combat, Gawain heartily beheads him. To great shock (as featured in the trailer), the Knight’s headless body rises to grab his noggin and walks away guffawing—a sure indication of Gawain’s impending doom.
While the townsfolk spread tales of Gawain’s courage, even putting on puppet shows at the village square, the King’s nephew spends the next year questioning what the encounter meant and what fate lies ahead. Is Gawain as fearless as everyone paints him, or will his next brush with the Knight smear dirt upon the story he so desperately wants for himself?
The film’s two best scenes, next to the film’s final 15 minutes (which, for the most part, uses only imagery to bring its heavy narrative themes home), feature conversations about defining nobility and if courage makes a king. One happens with Gawain’s favored consort (Vikander), and the other with Edgerton’s rough-hewn Lord character, who our protagonist meets along the journey. These sequences examine honesty and honor in a way that causes the viewer to grapple with thoughts of legacy and ambition and become curious about their cost. Of course, we all make sacrifices, both big and small, but who or what are we genuinely doing it for?
The Green Knight is overflowing with curious, well-inked text located between the lines. Some will recognize the film’s beauty quickly, while others may dismiss it as weird nonsense or acknowledge it later. So, allow it to nestle in your brain and expand your mind. Through its ambiguous vision and gorgeous cinematography (by the gifted Andrew Droz Palermo), Lowery’s film is thoughtful and spiritually fulfilling—one to ponder for years to come.
Mark Ronson and Dave Grohl in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Vernon Reid and Mark Ronson in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Mark Ronson in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Denzel Curry and Mark Ronson in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
David Toop in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Mark Ronson in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Andy Taylor in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Mark Ronson in “Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Preston Barta // Features Editor
In the new, six-part documentary series Watch the Sound, Oscar and Grammy Award-winning music producer and artist Mark Ronson dissects the process and evolution of sound creation. He sets the stage by declaring how obsessed he is with how things sound.
“Whenever someone sits down to play me a song. I’m already thinking about the sound,” Ronson says, in the series premiere episode.
The Apple TV+ series sees Ronson chatting with various musical talents and audio pioneers as they discuss their sonic achievements. How did Paul McCartney make the seagull sounds on the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows?” How does Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker drop electronic-rock beats that sound like they are rolling through a vacuum in space? Is voice manipulation technology the death of “real” music, or is it a peek into the future?
Watch the Sound examines the intersection of technology and music innovation through deep conversations with artists like Questlove, Dave Grohl, T-Pain, the Beastie Boys’ AdRock and Mike D, Charli XCX, King Princess, DJ Premier and Gary Numan. Each episode is hosted by Ronson and explores different, groundbreaking techniques and aspects of sound, including auto-tune, sampling, reverb, synthesizers, drum machines and distortion.
Fresh Fiction recently sat down with Ronson to briefly discuss his series and what we can learn from these unique approaches.
Watch all six chapters of Watch the Sound on Friday, exclusively on Apple TV+. Episodes run for about 35 minutes each.
VIVO is a vibrant, electric musical adventure that features a soundtrack as diverse in its sound as the artistry of the animation displayed, combining 3D and a small sampling of 2D segments. Director Kirk DeMicco’s tale centered on an exotic kinkajou traveling from Cuba to Florida to restore his owner’s lost legacy is filled with charm, pathos and exuberance. It’s a dazzling, immersive world inhabited by well-drawn characters and their heartfelt struggles.
On any given day in a bustling plaza in Havana, Cuba, Andrés (voiced by Juan de Marcos) enraptures and enthralls the crowd with catchy tunes and his magnetic, musically-inclined kinkajou Vivo (voiced by Lin-Manuel Miranda). The dynamic duo are united within the notes and chords of their clave rhythms through a long-standing friendship formed when Andrés rescued and named Vivo. They share the perfect life together until a letter arrives from Andrés’ first musical partner/ unrequited lost love, Marta Sandaval (voiced by Gloria Estefan), beckoning him to see her final concert in Miami. As Andrés prepares for a second chance, much to Vivo’s chagrin, tragedy strikes, causing Vivo to answer the hero’s call and continue Andrés’ journey on his own.
With orders to deliver Andrés’ final song to Marta, Vivo hitches a ride with an unwitting soul: Andrés cherubic, purple-haired, non-conformist niece Gabi (voiced by Ynairaly Simo). She’s everything Vivo isn’t: clumsy, unruly and with no discernable sense of rhythm despite moving the beat of her own drum. Their worlds are aesthetically captured differently: Vivo is classically grounded with warm and welcoming lighting, and Gabi’s color palette and design are far more modern, girly and imaginative. In “My Own Drum,” we glimpse into her mind where stuffed animals become as big as Thanksgiving Day parade balloons and ghosts of her deceased pets awaken with the sound of her recorder played off-key.
Yet, Gabi instantly connects to Vivo’s plight as she too has recently lost someone she loves – her father. She’s been having a hard time fitting in with kids her own age, something her mother Rosa (voiced by Zoe Saldana) frets about in addition to being at her wit’s end with her headstrong daughter. As the pair head from Key West to Miami on a hope and a prayer (and with the aforementioned sheet music), their road trip adventure leads their unlikely friendship to finally get in sync.
From the musical stylings provided by Miranda and longtime collaborator Alex Lacamoire, to the stage-inspired story supplied by DeMicco and co-screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes (IN THE HEIGHTS), the filmmakers hit notes of melancholy and poignancy with deft skill and craftsmanship. There are no villains. There are only obstacles that need to be pushed through. Unlike many of its ilk, it doesn’t hand-wave at the more emotional moments, spending an appropriate amount of time for those to land and ring true. Same goes for the more uplifting and humorous overtones. Though the song placement follows a predictable path, the eclectic sound stylings – which include reggaeton, salsa, warasa, rumba and rap – blend perfectly, cohering in catchy melodies and lyrics that propel story and character dynamics. Themes revolving around courage, heritage, and embracing your quirks aren’t exactly new concepts, but are subtly reawakened in this narrative context, reinforcing the humorous, heart-filled hero’s journey.
That’s not to say this gem isn’t free from flaws. While it’s funny when the head of the Sand Dollars, an eco-conscious group Gabi is forced to join, lectures their teacher on his use of plastic bags and gas-guzzling, most of their shenanigans don’t work. The reasons why the Sand Dollars obsessively tail Gabi and Vivo smack of contrivance. It stalls when Vivo and Gabi find themselves trekking through the Everglades, where the two meet more characters like two lovelorn spoonbills (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry and Nicole Byer), who get a song, and slippery, slinky snake Lutador (voiced by Michael Rooker). They do serve a purpose to reinforce themes about bravery and selfless altruism, but also divert from the momentum of the mission at hand.
There’s a lot of irreverence to pick things up again, from the tough bus driver (whose “not on my watch” becomes the film’s long-running gag) to the sly dig at Jimmy Buffet when the score parodies his patented sound as Vivo walks through town admiring the synthetic flamingos. The signature sonic identity and the interconnected, eye-popping visuals give the picture an undeniable, compelling strength. It’s sweetly satisfying in all the right ways.
