Joby Harold: Wake up call
Joby Harold’s nerve-shredding directorial debut, Awake, is based around a simple but terrifying premise – what if you were awake but paralysed during surgery? Even more disturbingly, it’s based on a real phenomenon known as ‘anaesthetic awareness’. The British director is now Hollywood hot property and took time out to talk to us about the origins of the movie and his new fantasy projects.
How was the experience of making your first feature film? Was it ever a daunting prospect?
I found the actual making of the film to be a really fun, positive experience. We had a great crew and some terrific actors, and everyone was very motivated to make the best movie possible. I would say I was less enamoured with the politics of getting a movie made, however. A big part of being a director is dealing with the politics of ego, and there were a lot of egos to contend with at various stages of the process. But that’s par for the course, I believe.
The idea for Awake came out of a real-life experience, is that right?
Awake came out of a real-life experience only in the sense that the genesis of the idea came from a time I was in great pain. I was in a hospital dealing with a kidney stone leaving my kidney, and it was pretty intolerable. Somewhere in the middle of a prolonged screaming session I came up with the idea.
What kind of research did you do into “anaesthetic awareness”, and how realistic do you think the portrayal in Awake is?
We did a fairly large amount of research, consulting with doctors, patients who had experienced anaesthetic awareness, and reading extensively about the phenomenon. I even sat in on an actual heart transplant, which was a fairly extraordinary and humbling experience.
However, Awake is definitely a movie, and it’s a popcorn movie at that, so we were presenting the absolute worst-case scenario of what could happen. That said, we did not make up the stats at the beginning of the movie [“Every year, one in 700 people wake up during surgery”], they were researched, they’re from acknowledged sources. Anaesthetic awareness is a very real phenomenon. And, if the perfect storm happened and the wrong elements came together, this could happen to you.
How was working with Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba?
Working with them was a uniformly positive experience. They’re lovely, down-to-earth people – extremely generous, both as actors and as collaborators. They have both made a name for themselves in big-budget glossy fare, but the reality is they are committed, talented young actors and the tent-pole films shouldn’t exclusively define them. They will continue to do great things.
Do you think it’s easier to direct a film that you’ve written yourself?
I think it’s easier and harder. Easier, in the sense that you know it inside and out and that creates a shorthand. It’s much easier to think on your feet. On the other hand though, you sacrifice objectivity. And that’s where it’s important to surround yourself with smart people you can trust, who you know going in are allied with you creatively.
Were there any particular movies or directors that had a big influence on you?
I was very influenced by Polanski movies at film school – particularly his early stuff. I like the exploration of illusion versus reality and, in its original form, Awake definitely had a lot more of that in it. From a camera point of view, I wanted to try and keep things fairly traditional and shoot clean. I didn’t want the film to ever feel dated or get too fussy. So there was no one director or film who influenced it in that way.
What’s next for you? Are the rumours that you’re adapting Frank Miller’s Ronin true?
I am searching carefully for the right project to direct next. Making a film is a big commitment, and I want to be sure it’s something I really believe in. Until then I have been enjoying writing bigger studio projects. I have been writing an action/horror film for Zack Snyder and WB called Vegas Rising. I am adapting a children’s fantasy book for Universal and Gary Ross called Simon Bloom, which is sort of like Harry Potter, but with Science instead of Magic.
I am indeed in the process of adapting Frank Miller’s Ronin for WB right now. I have actually just finished the first draft and everyone seems very enthused, which is exciting. It’s a fascinating, complex world, and I think it’s going to make one hell of a movie – something audiences really haven’t experienced before. I can’t wait for it to be seen.
Awake is released on region 2 DVD by Icon Home Entertainment on Monday 25th August 2008.
Source
AWAKE
I forgot how good this movie was from when I saw it in theatres. Not at all predictable, centers around one event, and the main character is out cold most of the movie, and yet its just awesome. It is depressing that the writer/director Joby Harold really has no other work or work in progress. Married to a producer, so thats probably how this project happened, but the film had tons of style, a great plot, and kept good pace. Not to mention a strong stable of actors, even the auxillary parts were done by fairly seasoned actors. Its not drawn out like most for theatre films are, its just a really tidy project all around. Source
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AWAKE 
ARMY OF THE DEAD 
RONIN 
SIMON BLOOM 
