 I took a bus from Berlin to Hamburg at 7 am. I arrived at 10:10 am and walked (I love walking through big cities. For me the only way to experience the city.) to the Park Hyatt Hotel. I missed the entrance and I think I walked by twice, before I found the entrance. There were some delivery entrances left and right next to the hotel, and a tree covered the big "Hyatt"-writing. So, I managed to enter the hotel at 10:30 am and didn't know, where to go.
The concierge - or I thought, he was the concierge - told me, that the reception and the lobby are upstairs on the second floor. Well, I went to the elevator and found two round buttons, which looked like wall-ornaments. 'Are these things buttons? Do I make a fool out of myself, if I press them?' I didn't care, Björn is waiting.
He was allowed to go to the photocall and shot some pictures (soon to be seen). He also managed to see Joss Whedon in a pijama and bare-footed, while he waited in the lobby.
I pressed the button and it really was a button. Inside were more of these maybe-maybe-not-buttons, but there was a very, very, very big among them: the one for the lobby, "2"! I entered the lobby and Björn (I never saw him before, we only know each other, because we both work at Slayerverse.) accommodated together with Daniel Räbiger (The guy, who manages the German promotion for "Serenity". Especially the online-promotion.) and one of the Galileo 7 convention organisators (I heard his name hours after meeting him and forgot it immediately. I always forget names. If I'm at a party without knowing 90% of the persons, they will all remember my name by the end of the party and I only remember the names I knew before.) We went to brunch and talked a lot. I left with Björn after some hours, walked around Hamburg, went to the Art Hall (only to buy some postcards, I visited the Art Hall a year ago and wanted to buy the postcards of my favorite paintings again, because I used the postcards, I bought a year ago, already.), remembering earlier visits to Hamburg and I tried to prepare for the interview-junket. Finally we went back to the hotel, I formulated more questions and Björn showed me how to use his camera. I had to tape the interview with the camera. Only audio.
We went to the UIP hostility lounge, one stage above, so it was ridiculous to use the elevator, but I didn't know until the elevator elevated us. I think the hotel doesn't want anyone to take the stairs. I haven't seen stairs for the guests, only fire exists, used by the employees. Uhm... if there is a fire, the employees will know the route and we, the guests, will lose our ways and die in the fire. Or maybe only me. I would be lost in this hotel without Björn. Finding the Hostility Suite (it was the Hospitality Suite, but in the beginning it seemed to be a hostility suite) would have taken 15 minutes without him. He knew the way, because of the photocall.
We arrived at the hostility suite. (A cold silence nearly knocked me out.) I got the press book for the movie, the soundtrack and a long article about "Firefly" and "Serenity", published in the serious and (in Germany) well-known newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". The newspaper called "Firefly" the best sci-fi show ever! Keep in mind, the show never aired in Germany and the DVDs will be released in November. I suffered from headaches, the air was a bit stuffy and I sat next to a smoker, furthermore, I was separated from Björn and the silence.
(The hostility suite changed into the Hospitality Suite) After some time of silence (and changing the seat), I was able to talk to a woman from 20th Century Fox and she gave me a copy of the "Firefly"-DVD box, for reviewing it. I will have to send it back to her, but I can compare the UK and German version now. I was very reliefed, because I was able to start talking with some of the journalists. I even bothered one of them by saying, that the "Serenity"-article of her magazine had some mistakes. (<-there it was again... the hostility suite)Soon, I had to leave Björn behind, only one person per magazine or website. I took my stuff, the camera and followed the others (all except for one were web-reporters). We ended up in a suite with a round table, with 6 or 7 chairs. And while we were sitting down, suddenly, there was someone else... Joss greeted us.
(We were the second to last group. He must have had around 12 interviews already.)
Someone was in the wrong junket interview group:
You are not Arnold Schwarzenegger, right?
Q.:Are you still running for government?
Joss Whedon: Yes, well I led the people...
Q.: Why not?
Joss Whedon: Oh god... anybody ever follows me anywhere, they are doomed.
He asked, if the dictation machines are near enough, because he may mumble.
Journalist 1: OK gentleman, you are first!
Journalist 2: Ladies first, it's usually.
Journalist 1: No, no no no, you are allowed...
JW: All right, eeny meeny miny, ok, go!
Q: Well, let's start with something fluffy! When you got the go to shoot "Serenity", did you press the red button that Alan Tudyk gave you from the set of "Firefly"?,
JW: It's real, I pressed it and it turned out, that it was just a prop and that nobody can hear me, so I had to use the telephone instead. I do have that, in my office, still. But, I think may actually have gone to my drawing, picked it up and pressed it. You know, I forgot about that, but yeah, I think, I acually did... but like I said, totally doesn't work. You totally doesn't install it right. After all that.
JW: Pointed at someone else. Go!
Q.: Me? All right... uhm... One of the first scenes was a very long shot, it was right in the beginning, how many takes...?
JW: Ah, well, it's actually 2 very long shots, because we build the 2.. the top and bottom of the ship next to each other. So we had to hide a cut in there. Uhm, the first half took 30 takes and the second half took 16, uhm, and amazingly enough only two of them were because of camera problems, even though he was walking backwards upstairs for half the shot - the steady-cam operator Michael Moore was so great, it was more about just nuances of performance, long takes like that are terrifiying, because, if they get it right for a while, your stomach just starts to go like this, like what is gonna happen? What is gonna happen? Just make it through, please! And then you know, the last word, 'I know...' there is River 'I know... we're going for a...line?' And you are like "NOOO!" It's just horrible! I hate long takes and you know, I'm addicted to them.
Q.: So why did you do it then?
 A.: I did it because...- and it was in the script, you know, moment for moment, including which wall is gonna fly, so we could bring the camera back - I did it because I wanted to structure the story so that in the beginning, we were in River's world, and very fractured and we never know, where we are, we keep recalibrating and it is very unsettling and when we come to Serenity, I wanted to say, this is home, here we are, this is what it is. Here is the space, I'm showing you the whole space and everybody in it all at once, to connect them, so we understand, this is a real place and everybody in it is connected. We were fractured before and now, we are whole. However much we maybe...you know, falling apart, however tough Mal maybe talking, this is a space you can trust. This is a space that we find River confortable in, and that was sort of the mission statement. Although one person did refer to it as a victory lap.. that was kinda cute.
GO! He pointed at me.
Q.: Uhm.. about the music...
JW: I shouldn't be the only one, who is scared.
I showed him my "nervous t-shirt": I'm pretty damn... nervous.
JW: Oh way, wow, I didn't know, you actually have a shirt that would reply to what I was saying.
The next part is with my music question ( I wanted to ask something else about the music, but find out for yourself, what the final question and his answer is all about.). The following parts will include a Spike-movie question, questions about a sequel, the part with Nathan and Summer and many other things!
I even managed to give him the fan-book, made by you, but I had to fight, to be able to give it to him.
Read it in the following parts! The size and the time between the parts will depend on my time.
Pictures and more parts will follow. Shaxus made some pictures of the screening. It took place at the same evening. The source-link brings them to you.
by roadi.
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