The Man in The High Castle Premier Screening - 9/11/15
Nov 10, 2015 18:34:59 GMT
Post by lovethemanrs on Nov 10, 2015 18:34:59 GMT
Thanks to a draw for tickets via Twitter I was able to attend (with Jamolivej) the screening of Episode 2 of The Man in the High Castle held by Amazon. The original venue was due to be The Imperial War Museum, but this was changed the day before the screening to the venue below:
Amazon's The Man in The High Castle Screening- Soho Hotel, London - 9th November 2015
Our first impression as we entered the hotel, was...nice, really nice.
We checked in with the organisers and were sent into a reception area.
As you can see, when we first arrived there were not many people about, but this room was heaving (and extremely loud) towards the start of the event.
Drinks and canapes were freely available to all the guests. The staff were very generous.
At 8pm we went into the screening room and it was just like a mini cinema - approximately 150 seats. The side walls were draped, one side representing the Japanese flag, the other, the American flag. Below the screen was a wall of sandbags interspersed with munitions boxes.
The screen showed the following:
This section of it looked particularly impressive:
To the left of the screen - projected onto drapes were the following:
A brief intoduction was delivered and we were then treated to a screening of Episode 2. Seeing it on such a large screen was fantastic as was the sound system. Two scenes in particular really stood out. The scene where John Smith is caught up in the car gun fight and the flowing water of the dam. It's a pity that all of the episodes could not be shown in this fashion as it was amazing.
After the screening there was a Q&A session.
Present: Rupert Evans (Frank), Frank Spotnitz, Alexa Davalos (Juliana) and Luke Kleintank (Joe) - Also Russell Morris from Amazon Video and the interviewer Benji Wilson.
Image: © Splash News/Splash News/Corbis
Image: © Splash News/Splash News/Corbis
Apologies if Rupert Evans looks like his head is bandaged - The panel sat in front of the screen so were projected upon!
Benji Wilson (the interviewer) started off with questions to each member of the panel and then guests were invited to ask questions.
Although Rufus did not attend (he was never on the list to attend), it was both entertaining and informative and Rufus was mentioned on several occasions. He was mentioned in the context of his character being a loving husband and father, contrasted with his occupation*.
Luke Kleintank also remarked that he and Rufus had had discussions on the roles of playing Nazis.
Rupert Evans was questioned on his preparation for the 'jail scenes'. Enough said about that!!!
One person asked if the TV series stuck close to the book. The answer to that seemed to be that they had left a lot out (with a view that it could be utilised in the future) - Endless possibilities! It was also noted that they had put a lot extra in - one of which, as we know is the character of John Smith. * Frank Spotnitz highlighted the fact that the writers wanted to 'humanise' some of the characters. The prime example given being John Smith in that, an evil person can do good things! Does that person believe that what they are doing is evil or are they just doing what they think is right in the given situation. Frank Spotnitz said he realised that this concept might offend, but it needed to be discussed.
There was talk about how expensive the series was to produce. Someone asked why the mainstream companies (e.g in the UK BBC and ITV) did not pick up the show. Frank Spotnitz stated that they were never given an actual reason why it was turned down, but he felt it was either to do with the cost or the subject matter (or indeed both).
Well can't think of much else to report, but I am sure Jamolivej will let you know if she remembers anything I have missed.
Image: © Splash News/Splash News/Corbis
An excellent evening out, thanks to Amazon, Denofgeek, Corbis and the staff at the Soho Hotel.