Simon Reynolds of digital spy interviewed Keanu Reeves for the UK release of Side by SIde. Three cheers for Simon Reynolds. He actually asked some good questions and covered new ground. The interview covered many topics including Keanu’s interviews with George Lucas and Lars von Trier, distribution issues, and the fact that The Matrix would lend itself to being converted to 3D.
With respect to Man of Tai Chi and shooting in digital, Keanu says:
From the budget that I had and from what I was hoping to do, digital would give me more reach. Also, I came up with camera tests and worked with the cinematographer Elliot Davis, and we came up with a combination which looks beautiful and was really suitable for the picture.
When asked which part of directing he liked best, Keanu replied:
“They all have their joys, they really do. The prep was fun, you’re getting in and getting into the mix of collaborating on all of the elements that go into the picture. Location, costume, casting, set design, production design, all of those elements. Storyboarding, there’s a lot of creative and great moments in that for me. Shooting is great. I love actors, I love working with Elliot, and finding the shot, and actors are great – they just make everything better, the surprises that come up, the way that they show you things that you didn’t expect is wonderful. And then editing, making the film. You have some days where you have all of the classic stuff like losing the shots you love, but then the joys of finding the scene and all of those things.”