Shine A Light Press Conference, New York's Palace Hotel, March 31, 2008
Mick Jagger: Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon, New York!
Question: Mr. Scorsese, could you explain why it was important for you to make this film in a small venue in your native Manhattan? To the members of the band: Mick, at one, point says "You've been a great audience." I'm sure you've said that before, and I'm sure you'll say it again. Was this audience special? And if so, why?
Martin Scorsese: The importance of making the film in a smaller venue--for me…. We discussed doing it at a bigger arena and I looked into that, and actually while I was I was trying to prepare for that, I began to realize I'd rather…. I think I'm better suited to try to capture the group on stage, on a small stage--more for the intimacy of the group and the way they play together. The way you see the band work together and work each song, I found that to be interesting, and more than interesting--it's just a compulsion of mine. I love to be able to see that and be able to cut from one image to the other, movement, that sort of thing, but really about the intimacy of the group and how they work together.
Jagger: I can't remember what you asked (laughter) but the audience was a good audience, because I think they really got into the spirit of the movie as well as enjoying being an audience for the band. They were a great audience for the band but also, they were a great audience for the movie.
Keith Richards: They were all cameramen. (laughter)
Scorsese: They enjoyed it, the cameramen liked it.
Question: Keith, did you see anything special about that night?
Richards: The Beacon Theater is special for some reason anyway. It wraps around--especially if you're going to play there for more than one night, and you start to get--the room sort of wraps its arms around you, and every night, it's warmer. It's a great feeling room, and also, this band didn't start off in stadiums (chuckles).
Question: Charlie, do you want to say something about it being a special night?
Charlie Watts: No. (laughter)
Ron Wood: I knew he'd say that.
Question: I understand this is going to be available both on regular screens and also on IMAX and I was wondering how that experience would be different for the fans.
Jagger: It will be very much larger (laughter)…
Wood: The slight imperfections might be revealed. (laughter)
Jagger: The funny thing really is that Marty, after looking at all the options, decided that he wanted to make this small, intimate movie and I said, "Well, the laugh is, Marty, that in the end it's going to be blown up to this huge IMAX thing, so the intimate moment is shown in IMAX." But it looks good in IMAX. We've got both formats, so we're happy with that.
Question (posed by Jennifer Merin): Mr. Scorsese, you’ve accomplished something so unusual in endowing what is essentially a concert film with a strong narrative arc for its central characters, the Stones, who are iconic musicians about whom we think we know everything. Yet in the film, you reintroduce us to them anew, showing us their arc, as well as your own arc as director and the arc of the filmmaking process. It’s fascinating. Were the film's multi-arcs designed during pre-production, or did they become apparent to you while you were shooting, or in the editing room?
Scorsese: That’s a good question. That’s what we hoped for, that arc. We needed them to perform the way they are, we couldn’t put cameras in their way, and yet I wanted to get that arc. I knew that if I got certain cameramen working together, they could find the angles and find the looks and know when to pan to Ronnie on guitar, know when to pan to Keith, know when to stay on Mick and Charlie, and that sort of thing. I was hoping that the cameras in those positions would get those moments, and then using what they got, we constructed the film in the editing.
Question: Why did you choose Marty as the director?
Jagger: He's the best one around. (laughs and whoops)
Question: But what would he do that other directors wouldn't?
Jagger: I can't answer that. I'm embarrassed. He's right here, you know, and not part of the furniture (laughs). He’s a fantastic director and assembled a wonderful crew--and I think he would agree with that. He got fantastic DPs, camera, lighting, everyone working on it, and then was very painstaking on the editing to produce the movie that you see. It's not all in the shooting. It's obviously in the editing, too.
Richards: Also, we didn't choose Marty--Marty chose us.
Scorsese: It was mutual.
