This article was taken from the May 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
Not every director studied the greats at film school. Joseph Kosinski spent more time with Wren than Welles. "I went to graduate school in New York to get a degree in architecture... but never got my licence." Instead Kosinski, 38, has applied his skills to virtual worlds such as "the Grid" -- the digital setting of *Tron:
Legacy*. Now, in Oblivion, he gets to imagine Earth 60 years after an apocalyptic war.
Oblivion's hero, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise), is a drone repairman near the end of his mission, commuting from a floating command centre to the blighted planet. Among the ruins, Kosinski wanted the half-buried corpses of famous buildings -- the Pentagon, the New York Public Library and the glass-lined avenues of Manhattan -- to be familiar but strange. "That's why I shot in Iceland. It feels like a primordial Earth, with the remnants and icons of the world we know poking through the black sand."
After the green screen of the Grid, Kosinski wanted to make Oblivion real -- not just for the audience, but the actors. His direction emphasised shooting in-camera -- building as much of the final image into the sets as possible. In the futuristic sky-tower scenes, the backgrounds were projected as high-definition video on to reflective screens, instead of later being added digitally -- so the actors see the same views through the windows that the audience sees.
Inevitably, Jack's last weeks on Earth do not go smoothly, but amid the fights and flights Kosinski aims to keep Oblivion's feet on the ground. "I wanted it to take place on Earth, so that people can feel a connection. I think good sci-fi always has something you can relate to. Even
Star Wars has moments on Tatooine which are very Earth-like, then a twist to remind you that it's in a galaxy far, far away."
Obivion is in cinemas from 19 April
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
