ew directors manage to achieve the kind of longevity and success that John
Carpenter has enjoyed over his 25 years as a filmmaker. Universally acclaimed
as one of Hollywood's greatest B-movie directors, Carpenter was the creative
force behind such cult classics as Halloween, Escape from New
York, The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China. The
immense popularity of his films among audiences has earned him wide
recognition, as the title of his last project, the 1998 SF action-adventure
John Carpenter's Vampires, illustrates.
In his latest film, John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, the veteran
director set out to meld two of his favorite genres: science fiction and
westerns. He also employed elements of horror and war films for good
measure. The large, diverse cast includes Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube and
Pam Grier.
Science Fiction Weekly recently talked with Carpenter about his
experiences making Ghosts of Mars (which marks his 20th film as a
director) and what he has learned over the course of his long, prolific
career.
There are elements from many different genres evident in this film. What
were some of your inspirations?
Carpenter: I just love westerns. My favorite western is Rio
Bravo. It's this situation and setup. So I could remake that a
hundred times and be happy. ... The science-fiction aspect is the setting.
That's almost about it. It takes place on Mars. The reason for that is
the color. It's a stylized Mars. It isn't real. You look at pictures of
the Viking Lander—Mars is pink. You're not going to make a pink horror
movie, it's just not going to happen. It's not going to hold up. The
audience is not going to dig it. So we stylized Mars. It gave me a chance
to have a frontier, an Industrial Age frontier with kind of an iron train
moving through a dust storm. And that was an atmospheric thing. That's the
science fiction aspect.
The horror aspect, of course, is this spirit
possession business. That's an ancient deal. Possession has been in almost
every culture. ... That's just another horror version of that, kind of the
revenge of the ancient species, revenge of the primitive species. But then
it gets into a western and actually a war movie. It's more like a war film
than anything else. More like Zulu. Have you ever seen that film?
That's one of my favorite movies. The British are fighting off all these
noble warriors uphill, that kind of thing.
Were you concerned by the recent influx of other Mars movies when you
were making this film?
Carpenter: I think the studio was probably worried about it. But
what are you going to have—Ghosts of Pluto?
For a science-fiction movie, there aren't a lot of elaborate special
effects on the screen. Was that for budgetary reasons?
Carpenter: We have a bunch of effects, but not, of course, as many as
some of the bigger-budget films. We only had about $33 million to make this
movie. We didn't have a whole lot of money for this size of a film. So you
gotta pick your shots. You know what I mean? You gotta make it count where
it happens.
Why did you decide to go with a non-linear rather than a traditional
storytelling arc for this film?
Carpenter: Because we wrote it in a linear way to begin with and it
was flat. It was familiar. The script started with [Joanna Cassidy's
character] touching the wall and out come the spirits. You know what's
happening. It's too familiar a territory for the audience to tread so we
just took everything and moved it around.
As you have for many of your previous films, you wrote the musical score
for Ghosts of Mars. What is your creative process like when writing
music?
Carpenter: That's kind of wrong. I perform my own scores. I can't
write music. I can't read music. It's improvised. It's just improvised
after the movie's cut. It sit down at a synthesizer and start
playing—-supporting the scene.
And what influence did the film's co-star, Ice Cube, have on your
music?
Carpenter: Cube told me, "Look, you gotta work with
ProTools." ProTools is a computer program where you do some basic
tracks—musical tracks—[and] you can see the wave forms. Then you can
double 'em up, you can chop 'em up, you can make all sorts of different
sounds, almost visually. And it truly was amazing. It gives you a lot of
energy. You can transform what you've got into something else.
There have recently been a number of great special-edition DVD releases of
your past films. Is anything new coming out?
Carpenter: Most of them have, I think. I want to do They Live
with Roddy Piper. He and I want to sit down. ... That'd be a hoot. Man, oh
man ... The fun of that would be to hear he and I talk. What a laugh riot
that would be.
Any plans for the DVD for this film?
Carpenter: [Star Natasha Henstridge] and I are going to insult each
other for an hour and a half [laughs].
The actors in this film have all talked about how great it is to work
with you. How do you develop such a good relationship with your cast?
Carpenter: I don't know. I think probably when you're a younger
director starting out, the people you're most afraid of [are] actors.
Because you don't quite know what they're up to. But after a while you kind
of figure it out. This is my 20th movie, and I've been around a while, and
all actors really need is to feel safe. Because it's them on screen. It's
not me. It's them. They have to be in every shot. Like Natasha, for
instance, is in every shot almost. So she needs to feel safe when she does
her scene. If she makes a mistake, I'll catch her.
And it should be a very
relaxed place. That's where you do your best work. I don't know. Some
people have tempestuous relationships. You hear about some of these sets
where people are arguing and pissed off at each other. I couldn't work that
way. It's just not my personality. So I think that's part of it—personality.
How do you do to create that feeling of security on the set?
Carpenter: Well, I direct naked. Works every time.
A lot of your work has a comedic element to it. What inspires the humor
in your films?
Carpenter: One of my favorite directors is Howard Hawks. ... He's
directed in every genre. One of his secrets is to make a movie that starts
out like an adventure or a serious film and then start making it funny in
the middle. You look at El Dorado—it's a movie with John Wayne and
Robert Mitchum—it starts out kind of dead serious and then right in the
middle it starts being really comedic. So it's a way to get the audience
involved in one aspect of it then have a good time in the middle of it.
Do you have a specific audience in mind when you are making a film?
Carpenter: You have an idea of an audience. People watching a
movie. But me specifically? No. I don't think, "Well I'm going to get
this age." ... I haven't really thought about it that way. I know that the
studio examines these things in terms of money only. Now, that's their job.
I'll let them do that. I just do the dirty work.
What are you looking forward to next?
Carpenter: The NBA season's starting up. Man, I can't wait [laughs].
That's all I'm looking forward to right now. Oh, you know, there'll be
another one. ... I have an idea that I'm noodling around with. Nothing
specific. No plans.
You've said this is your 20th film. How has the business changed since
you first started making movies?
Carpenter: It's totally changed and it's never changed. The process
of making films is exactly the same. There's no difference. You've gotta
get up in the middle of the night, stagger onto the set, have a bunch of
coffee ... start directing, you know? You set the lights up. The actors
have a problem, you take care of them. You try to get it done. ... That
whole process has never changed. The audiences and the technology in films
changes. Audiences ... believe that they're more sophisticated now than
they used to be.
But you don't think so?
Carpenter: That's their belief. I don't know. Look, the big issue
for a director truly is survival. You know, I can't tell you how many guys
with a lot of talent—men and women, big directors—gone. Dead and gone.
Flamed out. Can't make a movie anymore. ... It's treacherous. Man, you
make a film that doesn't work with the audience, you're outta here. You
make a mistake, it's that quick. Bang, they cut your head off. It's a rough
damn business. So just to be able to survive, I consider myself really,
extremely lucky. And to be able to work doing things that I really care
about—it's a gift—a gift from heaven, I guess.
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