Will Ferrell graduates from 'Old School' to pre-school
By Brian Betz
Director Jon Favreau ("Swingers," "Made") and actor Will Ferrell ("Night at the Roxbury," "Old School") collaborated for the first time in this year's holiday film, Elf.
"We kind of complemented each other," said Ferrell. "You know, the type of films he's known for are a lot different thematically than this. And I was always worried about making it as funny as it could be and Jon was always worried that we told the story in the right way."
Coming off the R-rated "Old School," Ferrell had to tackle a role within a PG-rated movie suitable for all ages. After Ferrell was signed on, Favreau was similarly asked to direct this film that didn't seem to fit his style. The more hip, 18-25 age group movies such as "Swingers," didn't make "Elf" an obvious move for the 37 year-old director/actor.
"Part of it is being older, not being the edgy young guy anymore," admitted Favreau. "My whole generation of filmmakers is slowly becoming part of the mainstream." At the same time, Favreau's interests have changed with age.
"What made us independent filmmakers is following what's interesting to us," continued Favreau. "And right now, having kids, and being in my late 30s, my interests lie in things my kids want to see and most of the stuff I want to see, my kids want to see. And so when I make movies for my generation it's easier to do it with a movie like "Elf" than to do it with a movie geared toward kids or young adults. Things like "Fast and the Furious" just don't speak to me."
For Ferrell, the prospect of making a PG-rated movie that both kids and adults would find funny was a welcome challenge. "What attracted Jon Favreau and myself to this movie was just to see if we could, you know, pull this off," said Ferrell.
Set to hit theaters Friday, "Elf" will be one of the most anticipated holiday movies this winter. With roughly a $34 million budget, according to Favreau (as compared to $250,000 for "Swingers"), the director tried to be as ambitious as possible with the funds provided.
"I wanted the North Pole to look like the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer animated specials," said Favreau.
Favreau accomplished this by using stop motion animation, which made the movements of the creatures seen at the North Pole appear choppy.
In sarcastic Will Ferrell fashion, the actor joked around when asked if the old Rudolph specials were his favorite.
"I liked Jinxy the Christmas salamander," said Ferrell. "That was, well, that was only on once. Uh, and immediately taken off the air due to vulgarity."
To make Ferrell's character Buddy appear larger than the other elves, Favreau used what's known as force perspective, a technique that director Peter Jackson mastered in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Ferrell acted out the North Pole scenes on a small set, while the other elf-actors performed on a relatively larger set.
"The whole time I didn't know what Bob Newhart looked like," Ferrell said of the actor who played Papa Elf. "I had to look at a tennis ball, a tennis ball on a stand."
Newhart was one of the actors who Favreau sought to carry out his vision. "I don't like actors who look like they're enjoying the comedy too much," said Favreau. "I like it when they're dead serious about the comedy. And I don't like it when characters say lines that they know are funny. I like it when you can turn off the sound and you feel like you're watching a drama. And that's why Bob Newhart is great and Ed Asner is great and Will Ferrell was never winking through the role. He was always dead set on that reality."
Similar to a live taping of Saturday Night Live, Ferrell was often allowed to improvise in Elf. "The pattern is to do the scene as written and then once you've gotten a couple good takes you can start to fiddle around with it," explained Ferrell. "There's a scene when I'm talking to Artie Lang, the mall Santa Claus, and Jon [Favreau] just let the camera roll and I just kept coming up with stuff like 'You sit on a throne of lies' or 'You smell like beef and cheese.'"
In the end, Favreau was able to balance Ferrell's humor with his overall vision. "The biggest challenges were creative because I was hired to do a silly Will Ferrell comedy," said Favreau. "My aspirations were to always make a Christmas movie that had a heart to it...I wanted it to be something that was just as funny as anything out there, but was appropriate for children too."
Mission accomplished.
Contact Brian Betz at (408) 554-4852 or at bbetz@scu.edu