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Tagline: An epic of epic epicness.
Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). A bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob-omb, the 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams...literally. The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him. Genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright ("Hot Fuzz," "Shaun of the Dead") tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker's quest to power up with love in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."
Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It's getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart's ass--and now is back in town--to the teenage distraction he's trying to shake when Ramona rollerblades into his world, love hasn't been easy. He soon discovers, however, his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes controls her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor. As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues' gallery from her past--from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsomely identical twins. And if he hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.
Production Information
We’ll get to the notes in a minute. But first, a word from our director / producer/co-writer, EDGAR WRIGHT: “I first heard of Scott Pilgrim in 2004 when BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY’s recently released first volume was pressed into my hands. Given that my previous work has strived to mix up the mundane with the insane, I was hooked immediately. I loved Bryan’s use of manga and video-game iconography to depict the emotions of these young characters.
“Adapting these books was a gift, as they are not only funny, charming and relatable, but have increasingly crazy diversions into the fantastical. To be able to do romance, comedy, action and fantasy in the same feature was an intriguing challenge. “The best way to describe the world of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is that it’s a normal world of a normal young man, filtered through his overactive imagination. Bryan Lee O’Malley describes Scott as ‘the hero of the movie in his own head.’ My goal is to make that very movie.
“The emotions and interactions throughout the film are infused with the mass media that this generation has grown up with—not just in music, film and animation, but in over 30 years of video games. Our characters’ life experiences are completely governed by the enormous amount of time they’ve spent with their Nintendo consoles. For the twentysomething characters in the film, the incidental music for ‘Zelda’ is as resonant as nursery rhymes.
“In the world of Scott Pilgrim, minor disagreements are resolved in mortal combat. Our hero is thrown into a world of pain when he dates the girl of his dreams. The mysterious Ramona Flowers has something of a hex on her where her seven evil exes challenge her new boyfriend to a series of duels to the death. Many people have jumped through many hoops to pursue someone unobtainable. Scott must literally fight for his new relationship if he wants it to survive.
“The increasingly crazy events of the film are almost the result of wild exaggeration. When teens or twentysomethings describe the events of a night out, they are usually blown out of all proportion. My take on the fights in the film is that they are hugely amplified versions of events. Someone might gossip about the ‘huge fight’ that broke out the night before. And here we see the huge version of that fight.
“The fight sequences in Scott Pilgrim play out like big production numbers. In our film, people break out into fights the same way they explode into a song and dance number in a musical. When the emotion is too great to convey in mere words, characters in a musical will sing out. In Scott Pilgrim, they throw down.
“The film is set in a world of first apartments, crappy bands, thrift stores and coffee shops that we all know and love. It covers young love, loud music and big emotions. We see the world through a cast of young people who have a lot to give and a lot to learn. Oh, and people totally explode into coins.”
About the Production
Producer Marc Platt was introduced to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series when his colleagues Jared LeBoff and Adam Siegel brought O’Malley’s first “Scott Pilgrim” book to his attention in 2004. “I was immediately struck by the buoyancy and vibrancy of the material and how it seemed to capture a moment in time and a generation of characters that were relatable,” Platt recalls. “They’re living in this world that is part comic book, part ninja, part kung fu, part anime, part manga. Yet, at the heart of it are these appealing, accessible kids that you recognize, who have accessible and emotional journeys.”
Platt found the characters in O’Malley’s comics so relatable that he believed they would translate well on film. He notes: “I was moved by the angst of Scott Pilgrim, his romantic yearnings for the girl of his dreams. He has to overcome challenges in order to get where he wants to go.”
Soon after they had seen Edgar Wright’s first feature-length film, Shaun of the Dead, LeBoff and Siegel suggested to Platt that the genre-fusing filmmaker direct the material the team had optioned. Platt acknowledges: “I recognized immediately that the sensibility Edgar would apply to this material was a combustible combination. The moment he said he was interested, the excitement that I had over the source material quadrupled. He works harder than any filmmaker I know, and the work paid off because it’s a complex film where everything has to dovetail into the next piece. Edgar has thought about every piece so it fits perfectly. He is meticulous in his preparation, inspires fun and loves the characters and the material.”
Co-writer/director Wright learned of the property in 2004 when O’Malley’s first book, Oni Press’ “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life,” was given to him by LeBoff and Siegel at an L.A. preview screening of Shaun of the Dead. “It had only just been released, and these two enterprising fellows said it was perfect material for me,” Wright says. “The book then sat in my bag for at least a month of the Shaun U.S. press tour before I finally read the now-battered copy on a flight. I was thoroughly enjoying it from the first page but then was utterly hooked by the time it came to the scene where Scott Pilgrim receives a written warning of his impending death by e-mail. Even before I’d finished the first volume, I was trying to imagine how it could work as live action.”
Wright was impressed not only by the story, but by the video-game and manga iconography that O’Malley used to underscore the extreme emotions and melodrama the characters experience. He continues: “It actually reminded me of the TV series I did with Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes called Spaced. I had longed to do something that took the magical realism of that show even further. I was excited to take on the challenge of bringing the books to life and some of the more insane action sequences to the big screen. I’ve always strived in my career to make comedy visually interesting, and this adaptation was the great chance to let my imagination run wild.”
Joining Wright in his latest endeavor would be his longtime producer Nira Park. The head of Big Talk Productions entered into her fourth collaboration with Wright on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. “Edgar and I have worked together since the television series Spaced. To see the growth he’s achieved from that show to his acclaimed efforts as director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz has been astonishing. All of our projects have been labors of love, and Scott is the culmination of that partnership.”
Music of Scott Pilgrim
Throughout the history of comics and graphic novels, musical references have been a big part of the medium. So is the case with O’Malley’s books, as Scott’s band takes on other bands in music battles. O’Malley notes: “It’s a tradition in comics, way back to ‘The Archies.’”
As he constructed the film, the director knew that the soundtrack of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World should reflect the universe in which Scott and his friends live, as well as speak to a generation that has grown up gaming. Wright offers: “I am a huge music fan, so the idea of blowing people back into their seats with the soundtrack appealed to me immensely.”
Bacall remembers when he and Wright discussed how to approach the musical performances. He states: “Edgar initially commented that most ‘live’ music in movies kind of sucks. We were coming up with gags to get around hearing the bands play until Edgar went out and got some of the most amazing musicians in the world to create original songs perfectly pitched for the film.”
To accomplish the task of choosing and producing the talent, Wright and the producers turned to prolific music producer Nigel Godrich. Having collaborated with such giants as Radiohead and Paul McCartney, Godrich was intimately familiar with the sounds that Wright wanted for the action-comedy. One of Godrich’s most successful collaborators, Beck, would provide the sounds for Sex Bob-omb.
Beck, who contributed all of Sex Bob-omb’s tracks, worked with Godrich and Wright to create songs that showcase the band’s growing skills as the story unfolds. When we are first introduced to the band, they are finding their footing. Naturally, Stephen Stills’ vocals are a little shaky (as are his skills on the lead guitar). As the group confronts each challenge—from facing off against Crash and the Boys to the epic battle against the Katayanagi twins—the music becomes more confident and powerful.
Canadian alternative indie rock band BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (fronted by KEVIN DREW) contributed the songs for the film’s band Crash and the Boys. Named after the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game “Crash ’n the Boys: Street Challenge,” the band boasts 10-year-old drummer Trasha (played by ABIGAIL CHU), a young prodigy who would prefer to not see another girl drummer (ahem, Kim Pine) steal her thunder.
Fellow countrymen METRIC performed its song “Black Sheep” for The Clash at Demonhead (led by Scott’s own evil ex, Envy Adams). Fronted by lead singer EMILY HAINES, the Toronto-based quartet creates a haunting song that seduces Scott back into Envy’s world. While Knives and Julie are both obsessed by the power of Envy’s vocals for The Clash at Demonhead, Scott knows that falling for her comes at a big price. Interestingly enough, the name for this band is based on another NES game, “Clash at Demonhead.” DAN THE AUTOMATOR contributed the music for Matthew Patel’s (and his Demon Hipster Chicks) Bollywood sequence, as well as the sounds for Knives and Scott’s other passion, the game “Ninja Ninja Revolution.” Finally, the cult Japanese artist CORNELIUS (led by KEIGO OYAMADA) contributed instrumentals for the Katayanagi twins’ face-off against Sex Bob-omb.
To ensure that Sex Bob-omb, Crash and the Boys, The Clash at Demonhead and the Katayanagi twins looked and performed as if they were actual bands, Sloan front man Chris Murphy was brought on as the musical performance supervisor.
Stunts of the Film
It was important to Wright that the actors did a good portion of their own fighting and that stunt teams supplemented that work. He felt that it added to the authenticity of the piece. Additionally, the cameras were set at quite wide angles, so there was simply no cheating it in a number of the key sequences. For his fights, Wright once again relied upon his childhood for ideas. He offers: “I wanted to draw inspiration from the same sources as Bryan, as I too have grown up with video games, Japanese animation and kung fu seared onto my brain.”
Part of Jackie Chan’s and Jet Li’s legendary teams would lead the cast in learning to defy gravity. “The fight sequences in Scott Pilgrim are designed to dazzle; they combine the fantastic fight choreography of Brad Allan [also second-unit director] and fellow fight coordinator PENG ZHANG, with kaleidoscopic animation special effects,” Wright says. “We struggled to come up with a snappy description of the unique action sequences in the film; at one point ‘fightsical’ was bandied around to describe the musical aspect to the action. We also described the John Hughes’ coming-of-age comedy mixed with brutal kung fu as ‘Hughes fu.’” He pauses…“It looked better written down then it did said aloud.”
Cera, Winstead, Schwartzman and Whitman began training in Los Angeles in January 2009, before the April shoot began. From cardio work that included many pushups and endless running, as well as stunt and kung fu training, it was intense, to say the least. All agree it was a bonding experience working alongside the incredible martial artist Zhang as they learned how to throw punches and kicks, as well as to perform the necessary flips and tumbles and to master their various weapons (while on wires).
Fight trainer and stunt coordinator Allan started with the talent by simply getting them into fighting shape and increasing their stamina. Cera learned to perform a lot of his fighting and swordplay. He remembers: “I learned there is lot of trust involved because you’re literally depending on the guy who’s holding the rope. They had us doing all kinds of things that my body has absolutely no capability or desire to do and that I will probably never do again, but it was amazing. I’m planning on just sitting around and never doing another push-up for the rest of my life.”
Determined to keep up, Wright worked out with the actors every day in Toronto; the cast would train up to five or six hours a day to learn the moves taught in the boot camp run by Li’s and Chan’s trainers. Winstead recalls that Wright did many of the tough workouts right alongside them. “He got to feel our pain,” she says, but she admits the process brought her “an amazing sense of accomplishment.”
Like many performers, Schwartzman had long wanted to fight in a film but never had the chance. He offers of the experience: “It was a thrill to be able to just devote myself to learning how to sword fight. But it was hard to fight Michael. I love the guy.” One of Gideon’s sparring partners, Knives Chau herself, Ellen Wong, was more than ready for the training sessions in which she would face off against Gideon and Ramona. She says: “Who wouldn’t be excited about running up the wall and flipping back, doing a 360 in the air? It was just cool.”
Locations and Design
As the books are set in Toronto and because the city has the infrastructure in place to host a film the size of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the decision to shoot there was obvious. Many of Toronto’s haunts that are given center stage in O’Malley’s books were sure to be recognized in the film. These include Casa Loma, Honest Ed’s, Lee’s Palace, Pizza Pizza and Second Cup—places O’Malley says “are ubiquitous in Toronto. I have a soft spot for them.”
As Wright and production designer Marcus Rowland developed the look of the action-comedy, they knew they wanted to celebrate the Ontario city. It wasn’t simply bringing lines from the novels into the movie that interested them. “I wanted to represent Bryan’s artwork as much as possible, but also use the real locations that he used as reference for his books,” Wright comments. “In several key scenes, we shot the actual houses, libraries, parks and music venues that Bryan took photos of in 2003.”
Rowland adds: “We embraced all that’s great about the flavor and texture of Toronto itself. It’s known as one of the most multicultural cities in North America, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was shot at the real locations where Bryan drew the pictures.”
The designer explains that he used a multitude of colors to reflect the emotion of the story, down to the color of the swords that Scott and Gideon use to duel. O’Malley marvels: “Marcus did an incredible job bringing the comic universe to the screen, right down to the last detail of each character’s apartment. One of the craziest moments for me was when I walked on the set of Wallace’s apartment. It was as though it had jumped off the comic-book page.”
On stages in Toronto, Rowland created the apartments of Wallace and Scott, as well as Ramona’s one-bedroom. O’Malley adds: “They are just as I visualized them, only more real. It’s a little strange.”
For her part, Ramona Flowers felt right at home. Laughs Winstead: “It was like we were really there. All the places they’ve built, the clubs they’ve built…it doesn’t feel like we were on a set at all. I wanted to just move into my apartment. It felt so authentic.”
Setups and Camera Work
Cinematographer Bill Pope, known for his stunning camera work in blockbusters from Spider-Man 2 to The Matrix series, first met with Wright when the director was in Los Angeles to publicize Hot Fuzz. It would take a few years before the two men would work together, and Pope was keen to join Wright for this production. “This is absolutely what Edgar was meant to do,” the DP compliments. “His enthusiasm is catching.”
For Pope, the hook of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was a strong one. “I read the script and realized that I’ve never seen this movie before,” he offers. “It was incredibly fresh and a phenomenal step up, but also a mammoth piece of work—so much so that a three-day test shoot was done months before the movie was to film, just to prove that all of the graphics, speed, wires and blue screens, irony and self-reflection would work.”
The camera style is busy, to say the least. Pope explains: “There are a huge number of shots because the movie has so many characters woven together, is influenced by fast-paced video games and moves forward by means of the edit. The camera is always moving—whip pans, dollies, cranes, zooms, snap zooms, snap zooms with whip pans off. There is no scene without all these mannerisms, and the speed and pacing is critical.”
Visual Effects
Instead of the typical, technical 3-D previsualization done for many films, the previz for Scott Pilgrim was created in homage to the graphic style of O’Malley’s novels, with additional animated elements inserted to round it out. During the pitching phase of the project, a black-and-white animatic was designed to give the look and feel of the first fight, the one in which Scott Pilgrim faces off against Matthew Patel.
With panels taken straight from the pages of the books, Scott Pilgrim was designed by blending a mixture of references to Japanese anime and video games from multiple eras. This allowed for a concept piece that illustrated the energy Wright wanted for his live-action. Before the project was green-lit, this animatic became the basis for a live-action test to convince the studio the film was feasible.
As the project moved into full production, U.K.-based VFX company DOUBLE NEGATIVE—with additional work from Toronto-based digital studio MR. X—created similar animatics for the remaining fight sequences, performances and other parts of the film that would benefit from bringing the comics to life. The majority of Mr. X’s work involved cleanup and simplification of practical locations, as well as adding stylized snow.
Once preproduction began, the entire film was storyboarded by Oscar Wright in the style of the novels. Wright was responsible for crafting the film’s concept art and graphics. Wherever possible, exact panels from the books were duplicated to set up shots, and then coverage was filled in to flesh them out for the film version. The visuals were always imagined by asking a simple question: Is this something that Bryan would have drawn?
Each day of shooting, the storyboards were distributed to the crew, who used the panels to compose the live-action shots. The production design and art direction were underpinned with the constant focus on graphic simplification in line with the comic artwork, which flowed through every element of the design—including sets, wardrobe and props.
Because of practical considerations, it wasn’t always possible to maintain this look through the art department alone; naturally, VFX became heavily involved… especially on location. Though the film is shot in Toronto, the teams had to extend a good deal of the location shots to achieve the hyper real look Wright wanted (e.g., as Scott and Ramona walk through snow to the swings). As it was impossible to blanket an entire street with perfect-looking snow in the middle of the summer, much of the team’s work involved simplifying the look of practical locations and dressing them in the wintry style of the film.
For the VFX crews, the hero text graphics (once animated) became a favorite part of the production. On set, the teams would overlay a simple static graphic on the video-assist so shots could be composed. Once they were rendered, it was exciting to see memorable copy from O’Malley’s novels burned across the screen.
Approximately six months before preproduction began, production designer Rowland began prescouting locations. Because O’Malley drew a fair number of his exterior panels while looking at the actual locations that inspired him (e.g., Wallace’s apartment, Wychwood Library, Goodwill, Stephen Stills’ place, Ramona’s apartment, the house in which Scott grew up and Knives’ high school), the team was fortunate enough to use the actual locales described in the books.
VFX team members accompanied Rowland and took still photographs that precisely matched the angle and composition of the panels in the books. From there, they put together a package that showed each of the locations with various levels of simplification—ranging from the photographs by themselves to looks that precisely matched O’Malley’s style.
 Production notes provided by Universal Pictures. |
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Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World
