• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Film
  • DVD
  • Editorial
  • About ScreenFish

ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • News
  • OtherFish
  • Podcast
  • Give

Vin Diesel

He Is Groot: 1on1 with Terry Notary

April 27, 2018 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Avengers: Infinity War offers the (penultimate) event of the Avenger universe. When evil overlord, Thanos, threatens to destroy the galaxy in the midst of his hunt for the Infinity Stones, the Avengers must assemble one more time to attempt to save humanity from his violent clutches. Billed as the ‘biggest cross-over event in history’, Infinity War features Iron Man, Black Panther, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr. Strange and more as they share the screen for the first time. However, given the film’s emphasis on special effects and CGI work, there are many people essential to the film that you many not immediately recognize onscreen.

One such actor is performance capture artist, Terry Notary, who plays both Teenage Groot and child of Thanos, Cull Obsidian, in the film. A veteran movement coach, Notary affirms that taking on roles such as these are an incredibly emotional experience that cause the actor to explore the deepest parts of themselves.

“I was in Cirque du Soleil for five years but I was a gymnast at UCLA before that,” he recalls. “I learned this technique of gymnastics, but it wasn’t until I joined the Cirque that I learned how to perform… and what I try to do is take a lot of the same principles that we used at Cirque creating characters and build upon those with techniques that I’ve learned. There’s a sort of balance between the technical aspects of things versus the emotional and everyone has their own emotional blueprint. Everyone is different. Basically, your life is a blueprint of your body is a blueprint of your life. It is a reflection of everything that you’ve been through: all your past traumas, your experiences, your successes, your identity, your sense of self, or who are you, When you have an experience, it marries itself into you. Basically, the work that I do is not movement it but really it’s about life and learning about who you are.”

“What I do, if we start sitting in a chair, is a lot of the sort of Alexander work and I can sort of get a sense of the blocks, tensions, habits that are sort of innate the person. Then, we can start to work through those and identify with what they are, the emotions behind those things so that we become a blank slate.”

With this in mind, Notary recognizes that one of the chief obstacles to an actor’s performance consists of one’s own fear. Still, he also believes that, once we embrace it, fear can also be a powerful motivator.

“People think [they] shouldn’t feel afraid at all, but that’s was quite the opposite,” he explains. “[Whether] you’re an actor, acrobat or athlete, it’s all the same. You have to embrace the fear and, when you embrace it, then you extinguish its power and you can use it as a fuel to propel you into action. You can use fear to widen your peripheral, sharpen your senses, listen, hear, feel and become more alive. Basically, when you fight fear, you empower it and, and it’s the worst enemy of an actor, acrobat or just a normal business person, it doesn’t matter. So, when people think I shouldn’t feel afraid, that’s wrong. Fear is great to have. Fear is energy. Fear is anticipation and the ultimate fuel. When you learn how to stop trying to hide from fear or your real issues, it creates a presence that you have in yourself that is open, aware, vulnerable, and soft with integrity. So, it’s like finding a balance [between] the mind and body.”

For Notary, much of the process of bringing authenticity to his performance comes through one’s ability to relax and open space for creativity instead of pressuring themselves.

“It’s like undoing habitual muscle that’s constantly grabbing [you]. It’s undoing this sort of idea that it needs to be hardworking. We’re trained as human beings that hard work is rewarded. You grimace your face, you tense up where we kind of discouraged [ourselves] from daydreaming and going off into these super creative soft places that are actually more creative and more rewarding. So, it’s kind of like undoing the idea of hard work and embracing the sort of trust that things will unfold in this body in your new state of being that will actually make you more interesting. The mind becomes a guide rather than a boss. You’re actually watching yourself do this and you’re continuing to allow it to happen. That’s the sort of the final step is continuing to allow it to happen and unfold.”

Further, Notary also argues that, part of the process in creating a realistic character stems from one’s ability to recognize the value of mistakes as well.

“I say that we should make tons of mistakes so that we know what it’s not,” he claims. “In the mistakes, you find little gems and go, ‘Whoa, that’s amazing. What did I just do?’ Then, you start discovering these things that are screaming out to come out subconsciously and, all of a sudden, you can start to create beautiful moments with those subconscious things that are trying to speak through you.”

In Avengers: Infinity War, Notary has the unique challenge of playing two wildly different characters on screen. As both Groot and Cull Obsidian, he found himself discovering, not how to play the roles of both hero and villain, but also creating different mannerisms as well. In the end, however, Notary enjoyed the challenge, seeking to learn something about himself as well.

“I love working with that… I don’t see it as strange to play these two very different characters. It’s kind of fun,” he says. “When I put the nametag on for Groot, it’s totally different than when I put the name tag on for Cull Obsidian. They’re totally different creatures. With every character that I play, I try to find something out about myself. I try to always learn about who I am by making the mistakes of the character and trying to figure out who or what it is.”

“Then, I just go on walks on the beach and I’ll just start really tapping into who it is or what it is. For me, Cull had this a voice and intelligence. He had an inner dialogue that was going on. You kind of get a sense that this is not a hulking, brutish crusher without any feeling. He’s actually got a lot of feeling going on, which I think is really fun with that character. Once I found that voice inside, then I had this internal dialogue and I could just be in my own world and play the world, as I thought, through his eyes.”

Given the advancements in both technology and ability in motion capture technology, there has been much discussion in recent years about whether or not these actors should be recognized come awards season. In light of this, Notary feels that, ultimately, the technology does not interfere with the authenticity of the actor’s performance.

“What I tell people when they ask me that question is [that] you should watch the performance without the Ape.,” he contends. “I had scenes with Andy [Serkis] where I said, ‘Holy mama! What was that? Where did that come from?!’ then, you know, I don’t even think they can translate some of that goodness yet within these characters. The grading system—or however they decide—should be viewed on the performance, the actual actors with the camera on. Then, they can watch that performance and ‘OK, I see it. It’s all on camera. It’s all in the shots. It’s all there. We thought it would be great to just watch the movie with just us in our performance capture suits, because I’m sure it’s really interesting. So, my answer to that is absolutely yes. I think that once people feel that someone’s performance is being tweaked or modified, that it’s not a true performance. But I think when you see the performance in its original state, you would change your mind on that.”

Over the years, Notary has been involved with a number of high profile projects, such as Avatar, The Hobbit, and Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy. When asked if there has been anyone who particularly mentored him in his process as an actor, he speaks highly of many of the directors with whom he’s had the privilege to work.

“When [James] Cameron called me up and said he wanted me to come down and read this script called Avatar, I was honored…,” Notary remembers. “He’s a great director because he’s really good at pushing people to become the best that they can be. He expects that. He hired me on the spot when we had our conversation after I read the script. [Avatar] was his baby of 10 years that had all this incredible technology and groundbreaking, cutting edge stuff that was going to happen and he trusted me. I went home and I just started doing research, studying tribes and this and that. I just poured myself into it because of his belief in me. He sort of instilled this sort of belief in myself that I could do it and I owe him a lot for that by actually trusting me.”

“It’s the same with Peter Jackson,” he continues. “I worked with him for two years on the Hobbit trilogy every day and he became a good friend and a mentor. We jumped on the film and we just liked fixing things together. He became like a mentor to me as well and he’s inspired me to direct my first film. There’s been quite a few. Matt Reeves is another. He’s just been really cool friend and you know, I think it’s about like, like if you’re a musician and you hit the gym with good musicians, you become better.”

Avengers: Infinity War is in theatres now.

For full audio of our amazing conversation with Terry, click here.

Filed Under: Film, Interviews, Podcast Tagged With: Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America, Chris Evans, Groot, Guardians of the Galaxy, Infinity War, Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr, Rocket, Vin Diesel

3.17 Fighting the FATE OF THE FURIOUS

April 23, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/6.17-Fate-of-the-Furious.mp3

Breaking box office records, FATE OF THE FURIOUS filled theatres because of it’s (many) big booms and stunts… but is there more to the film?  What keeps us coming back to this franchise, despite the fact that they get more outlandish with each entry.  In a relaxed episode, Steve welcomes back Greg Banik and ScreenFish newbie Julie Levac to explore the world of the FURIOUS franchise.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.17 Fate of the Furious

Thanks Greg and Julie for coming on the show!

Filed Under: Film, Podcast Tagged With: action films, box office records, Charlize Theron, Dwayne Johnson, F. Gary Gray, Fast and the Furious, Fate of the Furious, Helen Mirren, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, Scott Eastwood, The Rock, Tyrese Gibson, Vin Diesel

Furious 7: Relationships Make The Journey Matter

September 15, 2015 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

furious 7 main

 

In 2001, Universal Pictures made a ‘little’ film about street racing called The Fast & The Furious. Fourteen years later, the film series has topped itself in each of the six sequels, providing more eye-popping stunts and spectacularly delivering snapshots of the best action and car chases that all other films seem to be chasing. Boasting a stunning multinational cast, the Fast and Furious franchise truly is one of a kind. But are we overloaded with bigger bangs and crazier stunts? What could the franchise do to keep us engaged?

The short answer? Furious 7 took it to a more personal level.

After the crew led by Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) took down Owen Shaw, Shaw’s brother, Deckard (Jason Statham) went on a bloody, explosive trail of vengeance that began with the death of Han (in the plot of Tokyo Drift). Now, the elder Shaw is pursuing them while they’re recruited to pursue him by shadowy black ops leader Frank Petty (Kurt Russell). This launches the film off in a series of explorations of the past, like Torretto’s interaction with Lucas Black’s Sean Boswell in Tokyo and an attempt to help Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) regain her memories.

While the action is breathtaking and globe-trotting, it’s the internal motivations and struggle of the crew that make the film stand out. It’s not all bad though: Brian Conner (Paul Walker) and Torretto’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster), are trying to settle down and raise a family.

furious7glam

 

But maybe you come for the cast and the explosive stunts, and then you stay because the family dynamic is different. Maybe there’s something about capturing us visually that hooks us, while we want more because we’ve come to care about these characters.

Rock hard Toretto, more compassionate Conner. Willful Lettie, sensitive Mia.

Whether it’s the car chase that ends up with a bus going off of a cliff, the air-jumping of cars out of a cargo plane, the crashing of a race car out of a skyscraper into another, or the hand-to-hand combat that sends a rotating crew of baddies like Statham, Ronda Rousey, and Dijmon Hounsou at our heroes, there’s plenty to visually captivate you.

I’m not sure that Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation topped its opening scene with the plane taking off and a ‘helpless’ Tom Cruise strapped on to the outside. But Furious 7 sets up a string of moments, and one-liners, that keep us strung along to the story. It helps that guys like Diesel and Dwayne Johnson are bigger-than-life (inflated?), but James Wan (who took over for Justin Lin) knows his way around a battle and gave the film a creepier, vengeance-oriented feel.

furious7action

The film still has a good cop/bad cop, buddy film feel to it, even though Walker tragically died in a car accident on November 30, 2013. We know that the relationship between Toretto and Conner, who have both broken the law and crossed the line to doing things their own way, both have a desire to stop evil and protect their family. Their family might be multicultural and wildly broad, but it’s their community and they know it’s their job to support them.

The banter, all-out harassment, and sometimes brutal one upping of each other is hilarious. Those foibles spring out from Diesel and Walker, but they branch out into the relationships they have with Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej Parker (Chris Bridges AKA Ludacris). Brothers at arms, these guys are always breaking rules, but lately, they’ve become the government’s version of the 2015 Dirty Dozen.

furious7walkerdiesel

Whatever you think of the film, it will always be remembered as the ride off into the sunset for Walker. The cast and crew remember him with nods throughout the film, but the ending is ultimately about sending him off in style. It’s a beautiful ending, one that blends reality with fiction, and makes us hope for a better day. It’s certainly weird seeing Walker on screen and knowing he’s not here anymore, but it’s a better way to remember him than as an obituary online.

I doubt Furious 7 has many ‘deep’ moments that we’d all agree on, but the focus on family, on doing what’s right, and on being true to yourself is apparent. If you let this one roll and you find yourself hoping for a better day in heaven for Walker and the rest of us, then you’ve opened the door to faith. Sometimes, we just have to follow our path and proceed on faith.

furious7walker

 

 

Filed Under: DVD, Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: car, Dwayne Johnson, explosions, Fast and the Furious, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker, Ronda Rousey, stunts, The Rock, Tyrese Gibson, Vin Diesel

Primary Sidebar

THE SF NEWS

Get a special look, just for you.

sf podcast

Hot Off the Press

  • Stanleyville: Exposing our Killer Instinct
  • SF Radio 8.25: Mental Health and the Multiverse in EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
  • Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers – Dusting Off these Two Gumshoes
  • GIVEAWAY! Advance Screening of TOP GUN: MAVERICK!
  • Men: Trapped in Man’s World
Find tickets and showtimes on Fandango.

where faith and film are intertwined

film and television carry stories which remind us of the stories God has woven since the beginning of time. come with us on a journey to see where faith and film are intertwined.

Footer

ScreenFish Articles

Stanleyville: Exposing our Killer Instinct

SF Radio 8.25: Mental Health and the Multiverse in EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

  • About ScreenFish
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 · ScreenFish.net · Built by Aaron Lee

Posting....
 

Loading Comments...