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The Perfect Storm
Transcript of Warner Bros. Virtual Theatre Chat with director Wolfgang Petersen
January 17, 2001

WarnerBros Host:: Welcome to our live chat about "The Perfect Storm" with Director, Wolfgang Petersen. Watch the DVD and get answers to all of your questions about the movie, right here from the Director. Wolfgang will be chatting with us shortly.

This is how it will work: If you have "The Perfect Storm" DVD, a DVD-ROM computer, and of course, an Internet connection you will be able to watch the movie, ask our special guest questions, and follow his responses. If you will be watching the movie with us, be sure to enter the "Theater" through the DVD-ROM menu for online events.

We will send a message to your computer shortly to begin the movie. Don't despair if you don't have all the right equipment. You can still participate in the chat! Please submit your questions throughout the event. If you don't get your question answered right away, keep trying.

WarnerBros Host:: So find a seat, sit back, turn up the volume, and get ready to enjoy "The Perfect Storm" Virtual Theater! And now, we'd like to introduce our very special guest, Wolfgang Petersen!

Wolfgang Petersen: It's good to be here; it's fun, it's exciting.

Crazyguy: What was your favorite part of making this movie?

Wolfgang Petersen: Always when making movies, I don't like pre-production; l like shooting and I love editing!

Baggy: Do you find yourself drawn to water? IE: "Das Boot" and "The Perfect Storm," or is it just a coincidence? Are you a water sign?

Wolfgang Petersen: (laughing) No, I love water, I was born and raised in the northern part of Germany; Emden, which is near the sea, so whenever there are stories about the sea, I'm there.

Badguy: What was the hardest special effect to accomplish? What was the easiest?

Wolfgang Petersen: Um, the easiest was all the fish, because I had nothing to do. I just had to look at it and say "great!" Then the difficult one was the sequence when George Clooney was out on the mast, swinging back and forth. That was extremely difficult and extremely dangerous to shoot.

Frankenstein: I understand that George Clooney is a really hard worker and a fun guy to be around. Was this your experience?

Wolfgang Petersen: Absolutely true. He is a very down to earth guy. He has no 'star' behavior at all. You can do whatever you want; he'll go with you. I love this guy.

Frankenfurter: How long did you film on location, and were there any storms while you were there?

Wolfgang Petersen: Yeah, we were filming about 3 wks in Gloucester, on the east coast in Massachusetts. There was a hurricane named Floyd then coming our way and we were very scared, and we thought the coast would be hit; it just curved and went out to the open sea, so we were lucky.

PolitoFam: Who is the artist and what is the name of the song that is playing on the jukebox in the bar in the early part of the movie after the crew returns from their poor outing? It sounds like a Rod Stewart song, but there was no Rod Stewart listed on the ending credits.

Wolfgang Petersen: The question is correct. Actually there were several songs. The first one we hear was Bruce Springsteen, but later that night it is Rod Stewart, so you're right!

Lola1: How long did It take to make the movie?

Wolfgang Petersen: This was a very big movie, very complicated and it took a long time. Pre-production was about 3 months. Shooting 5 months and so, shooting it took about a year and a half.

Wmbijas: How did you manage to create that huge storm ?

Wolfgang Petersen: For that of course I have to give a lot of credit to ILM, Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco. That is George Lucas' company. They did a lot of computer work. A lot of the water was created by computer, but not everything. We did also create in our special tank on Stage 16. We made a huge wave, and so we combined our real wave with ILM's computer wave.

Plummouse: Did it feel like you were really in this storm?

Wolfgang Petersen: I must tell you, every day when we were shooting in Stage 16, with these gigantic water tanks exploding and with these dozens of wind machines blowing, it was terrifying. You really felt you were in the midst of a natural disaster.

MacTownYa: I would like to know what makes a perfect storm?

Wolfgang Petersen: A perfect storm is the worst possible scenario on Earth that can happen. It's what meteorologists call "perfect," and it really did happen in 1991. Three storm systems, one coming from Canada, one from the South, the Bahamas and one from Sable Island collided. This is sort of a freak situation of nature and it happens maybe once or twice in a century -- and that's what happened in '91.

Nicsnanny: Is it true that Mark W. was exceptionally seasick?

Wolfgang Petersen: Absolute truth. Later on when we come to the scene, we can tell you which scene was worst for him because we had to shoot it about 35 times because he was yellow and green in the face; people were holding him and he needed extra makeup and he actually threw up on George Clooney's shoes! He was sick like a dog. It was terrible to watch, but he was really hanging in there.

Bunny: Did George Clooney ever throw up on set?

Wolfgang Petersen: No, he didn't. He was in a little better shape. In watching Mark, that got to him, because you know that can make you sick just watching. What a great actor John C. Reilly was -- great American character actors, by the way -- wonderful.

MEYRICK: I'm 16 years old and currently studying to become a director, and have been trying to get work experience. They won't hire me because I have no experience, but they won't give me any work experience -- I was just wondering how you got started in your career and how you got to where you are. If you ever need a young trainee director I'm your man! Thanks!

Wolfgang Petersen: Typical problem, chicken and the egg. Too young to have experience. Passion, passion, passion. Hang in there. If they throw you out, come back through the back door, Being a filmmaker is all about passion. You want to be ready to 'kill' to be a filmmaker.

Chatterbox: what was the funniest thing that occurred during the filming -- any funny outtakes?

Wolfgang Petersen: Yeah, I can tell you what's coming soon, but first of all, the funniest thing on the set, actually out at sea. Everyone was seasick, including our photographer, a lady. She was leaning over the railing, George got her camera and he asked someone quickly to photograph him. So he pulled his pants down and had this person photograph his bare ass and they quickly put it back where it was, so she didn't know what was on the film -- so you can imagine when she saw that later!

Chirpy: What was the pre-production and production time of the "Perfect Storm" film Project?

Wolfgang Petersen: Pre production was about 6 months, and filming was about 5 1/2. A long time, but as I said, Iwas well paid.

Electric2k: What do you think of DVD as a format? Do you like to be involved in the preparation?

Wolfgang Petersen: I loved DVD. Actually, "In The Line of Fire" was one of the first DVDs ever. And for a while, "Air Force One" was one of the biggest DVD sellers. So I was early on involved in DVD. And I love it. At home, I have a big screen on the wall and a video projection system, so I can project films with DVD and with my THX digital sound system; it's like being in a theatre. It's wonderful.

TGee111: What is your favorite film you have worked on?

Wolfgang Petersen: Oh, it's hard to tell, because like a lot of film makers say, it's like your children, so it's hard to say. If you push me, "Das Boot," " In the Line of Fire, and "The Perfect Storm."

BarryKatz: Did the actors in the movie have any kind of sailing experience, or training to prepare?

Wolfgang Petersen: George Clooney did about a week of training on the fishing boat, in Gloucester and he did some training in drinking beer and he was very successful in the second one, but not so successful in learning the boat! Other than that, no, there was no need to do that.

ChattingAround-guest: The waves and weather looked torturous! Was anyone injured during filming?

Wolfgang Petersen: Unfortunately yes, we had one bad accident -- with a stunt guy. It was a sequence when George Clooney was on that out-rigger, trying to control the swinging anchor. We had a couple chains that were breaking and he fell down and it really crashed into his head; there was a lot of blood. His forehead was smashed pretty badly. Now comes the unbelievable part of this. They raced him to the hospital. About an hour later, he showed up with stitches all over his forehead and told me he was ready to go back to work.

Bendystraws: How many stunt people were used, and did the guys do a lot of their own stunt stuff?

Wolfgang Petersen: Yes, we had a lot of stunt guys, especially not just for the Andrea Gail boat, but for the Coast Guard scene, but George Clooney did most of the stunts himself and Mark Wahlberg was also physically in great shape, and did most of his stunts himself.

Slappy-guest: Were any of the actors in the movie actually part of the real storm in 1991?

Wolfgang Petersen: Only a few extras were; Bobby Shatford, his brother was in that storm, and he was one of the crew members of the Linda Greenlaw boat.

WarnerBros Host:: Can you tell us about the scene coming up?

Wolfgang Petersen: Now we come to a scene where I'd like to point something out. I'll never forget this scene at night because we did it very fast, but that night, Oscar de la Hoya was fighting on TV and he lost. Look at Wahlberg's body. Normally his body is full of tattoos, they put makeup on it and it gave his body a strange color and later on ILM had to rework his entire body with the computer to get rid of this nasty effect. It's just unbelievable what you can do with a computer. Here�s another example; the scene is already over but, when we had the scene with the little boy in the car, he was crying, but the make-up people put tears on his face, but I saw later on when I saw the film, there were way too many tears, so I told the ILM people to take five tears off his face, and it looked more natural and it's fine.

WarnerBros Host:: Tell us some more about the scenes coming up.

Wolfgang Petersen: We had to fight the tide outside the bar; it was very extreme high water and low water, continuity problems. When the guys walked toward the boat, it was quite high. Later on, when Mark is running toward the boat, it was some hours later, of course, so the boat was I guess 15 feet or 20 feet lower, so I asked ILM to bring the boat back up again and they did it and you don't see a difference. I can tell you exactly when that shot comes.

Lorrie: I am wondering about the noise level of bystanders being problematic during shooting in a town.

Wolfgang Petersen: The town was not noisy at all; if you talk about a noise problem, you should have been on Stage 16. I still can't hear right.

John: How do you visualize a scene, cut by cut? Do you see it play out in your minds eye or do you rely on the script?

Wolfgang Petersen: Well, first of all, it all starts with a script and then the main part for me is to visualize it with storyboards. We put the whole script on storyboards. And later on, with the help of animatics, how we call that, which is done with a computer and pieces together like real film, and that is an enormous help. Then you can correct it until you're happy, before you ever start shooting.

TG: is there anything you would change on the movie today if you could?

Wolfgang Petersen: I hear that question very often. Right after I'm done with a movie, especially when it comes to the DVD, it always comes up. Would you change anything now? And I always say no. I have the final cut (probably most people know what it means), for people who don't know, I have the final okay, which is what people see in the theatre and it's what I want them to see.

Scott: Will there be another DVD version of "The Perfect Storm?" It seems many directors and studios are re-visiting their DVDs and adding many extras to them they did not include when the first version of the DVD was released.

Wolfgang Petersen: Yeah, I answered it already, sort of. The film cut will be the same. I might add scenes which might show why I did not choose these scenes or put in funny scenes like when Mark Wahlberg was throwing up in front of George Clooney, just for the fun of it, but I would not re-cut the movie itself.

WarnerBros Host:: Can you tell us about this scene now? Where was it filmed?

Wolfgang Petersen: That was out on the ocean, water in the background was real. This was actually done on the West Coast. And they were very relaxed, but they were not, really. Mark didn't feel well at all. But this wasn't the bad scene. But he was just okay. The island effects were put into the shot by ILM.

Margot Kidder: It was great to see Karen Allen in the film. Her storyline was almost as exciting. Was that storyline originally longer? It could have almost been a separate film. Very exciting!

Wolfgang Petersen: I felt very bad that I had to cut quite a bit out. Because I loved her so much and I found the story interesting, but for length reasons, I had to trim it. And it's all true.

Elvis: Who were some of the most influential filmmakers in your career, who do you really enjoy watching now, and why?

Wolfgang Petersen: On the American side, John Ford and Howard Hawk, and on the European side, Roman Polanski, Francois Truffaut and David Lean. Nowadays, I don't have heroes like that any more. I like good movies and that's it!

Angelo: On the actor who plays Michael or "Bugsy" -- I had never seen him in a film. What other movie is he in?

Wolfgang Petersen: I saw him in that movie that George Clooney where Tarantino played a part, "From Dusk Till Dawn."

LeoMitchell: What was it like to watch James Horner compose and play the music to the film?

Wolfgang Petersen: Absolutely amazing. He had a 110 piece orchestra for ten days. My favorite part was to be in the music studio. It was magic.

Dit: Are the swordfish they catch real? Where did you get them?

WarnerBros Host:: Please tell us about the fish in the film.

Wolfgang Petersen: All the fish you see in the film, the dead fish and ones that are alive -- they are not real fish. I did not want to kill one fish for a movie. They're all fake. The swordfish are animatronic and the dead fish are just made out of rubber or whatever they use. I think they did a marvelous job. I got so many letters for the film, but not how great the film is, but thanking me for not killing the fish.

BarryKatz: Do you have any sailing experience, or were you in the navy?

Wolfgang Petersen: No, I did not. I was never in the Navy, Army, nothing.

WarnerBros Host:: Have you spent a lot of time on the water?

Wolfgang Petersen: Yes, when you grow up next to the ocean, you spend a lot of time there. My element. The mountains, I have a little problem with -- I like the open water, it's good for your imagination, for your thoughts to fly.

Chirpy: The final tidal wave swallowed the vessel -- was it a model vessel swallowed by a digital tidal wave?

Wolfgang Petersen: For the first time, I think, for a movie like this. We did not use any miniature models, but one. So, in a lot of shots, we used our full Andrea Gail boat on Stage 16, and also we used a computer-generated boat quite often. Where the entire boat was, sometimes including the people on board, done on the computer.

SnowyDawg: Are there any actors that you haven't worked with yet that you'd like to work with?

Wolfgang Petersen: So many established ones, somebody like Mel Gibson or Tom Cruise, but then there are also a lot of beginning ones too. I think America is full of talented actors and actresses.

WarnerBros Host:: Can you speak about what it was like to shoot these night scenes? Did more castmembers get sick in these scenes?

Wolfgang Petersen: Believe it or not, we never shot at night. All the night stuff was done on stage and is an artificial night. The only time we actually shot at night was maybe two nights in Gloucester where we needed the exterior real night.

WarnerBros Host:: Please tell us about this shark scene.

Wolfgang Petersen: The plane is completely done in the computer. The sharks are animatronic. The exterior of the plane is all computer generated.

Poppysleep: Did you have a lot of jobs before you became a director, and if so what were they?

Wolfgang Petersen: I started right after school when I was 19 at a little theatre in Hamburg, Germany. I worked there for 5 years. First, I was an assistant director, and I was very lucky to get that job, then as an actor and then as a director. I talked about passion; you need if you want to become a filmmaker. The director of that theatre felt that I was absolutely crazy about what I wanted to do, so he said, "so you want to direct something, let's see!"

Makin: How do you feel about the chemistry between George and Mark? A lot has been made of it.

Wolfgang Petersen: The chemistry is very good because they like each other a lot. They're like brothers. And that just translates exactly on the screen. It was such a pleasure working with these two guys. We had such fun together. This is the scene where Mark got sick.

WarnerBros Host:: Please tell us some more about this upcoming scene � ugh!

Wolfgang Petersen: This is one of the scariest moments when the hook goes through the hand, because the line pulls you down and there's nothing you can do about it. These guys were very macho-like. They wanted to do most of this themselves.

WarnerBros Host:: Is this water cold?

Wolfgang Petersen: It was all in a tank; it was slightly heated.

KPG55: What do you look for in taking on a film project?

Wolfgang Petersen: I would like to take audiences places where I've never been before. Two examples are the incredible frightening world of being on a submarine, or to take an audience into the storm of a century. When you then have a story with great characters on top of that, characters you care for to relate to, people that make you cry or laugh, that go with the whole emotional range, you have a winner. That's what movies are all about.

PellMell: Do you like to travel when you're not doing films, and what's your favorite travel destination?

Wolfgang Petersen: I don't travel that much because the job has me traveling so much. Usually, not only the shooting process, but also, afterwards, making worldwide traveling tours for promotion, so I then prefer, after that, to stay at home or in my office and work on my next project. Because I panic that probably I will never work again.

WarnerBros Host:: Now this scene -- is it on the sound stage too?

Wolfgang Petersen: The actual ocean again on the West Coast. We waited for a special mood here and we got it.

WarnerBros Host:: Did you hit any choppy weather?

Wolfgang Petersen: All the time. It's always good if you reduce the actual shooting time on the water to a minimum. The biggest problem for us on this production was the seasickness of the crew.

WarnerBros Host:: Lots of Dramamine?

Wolfgang Petersen: Exactly.

Crazyguy: What project are you working on now? What do you have slated for later in the future?

Wolfgang Petersen: I'm working right now on a project called "Endurance." It's a story about the English explorer Ernest Shackleton, who went in 1914 to the Antarctic. The ice crushed his ship and all the 28 people were hopelessly lost for two years, but because of Shackleton's amazing leadership, he brought all 28 people home alive. In this story, they are all alive at the end.

WarnerBros Host:: This concludes our chat with Wolfgang Petersen. Please continue to enjoy the rest of the movie and feel free to chat amongst yourselves.

WarnerBros Host:: Thank you so much for chatting with us Wolfgang Petersen!

Wolfgang Petersen: Yes, it was fun! So, I had a great time with everybody here. The questions were really good. Please continue to watch the movie, while I go out and have a great dinner! Thank you!

WarnerBros Host:: Thank you for joining us for the live chat with Wolfgang Petersen. We hope you enjoyed your experience in the Virtual Theater. We look forward to bringing you more interactive events like this in the future. You will find a transcript of this event posted on www.warnervideo.com and www.warnerbros.com in a couple of days.

WarnerBros Host:: Tonight�s chat has been brought to you by Warner Brothers and Talk City Marketing Group.

Copyright 2001. All rights reserved