Philip Atwell

I read that you did your best to keep the violence as real as possible, what did that bring to the film?
The violence, it feels a little more realistic as to how it would happen on the street. I thought that would be something different and a little more visceral if we were able to make you feel like some of the stuff you saw on screen really hurt, and that these people were really getting hurt and it was not just done for effect.

Did any films in particular set the blood and guts bar for you?
I’m sure there are several films I could lend to in terms of you know…like Black Hawk Down and Gladiator, some of the fight sequences there were pretty intense. I did look at a lot of martial arts films again, but they had their basis in a lot of stuff I didn’t want to do in terms of a lot of the wirework and over exaggerated fighting techniques.

Did you grow up on kung fu flicks?
Yeah totally, big fan growing up, Bruce Lee was an idol in that world. I loved the stuff that John Woo did before he was brought to America, The Killer and Hard Boiled and all those films. And I was a huge Jet Li fan. The opportunity to work with Jet was not an opportunity I was going to pass up.

What did you take from creating hip-hop videos that translated into filming War?
Interestingly enough I never really looked at…because the music is hip-hop they say you made a hip-hop video, but a lot of the videos I’ve made usually have more of a story to them. They weren’t really performance-based. Though the idea for me was always working on developing a narrative that told a story with some kind of meaning behind what we were doing regardless of what the music was saying. I just think the video world was a great platform to start in and help with the storytelling aspects of what’s required in a feature film.

How heavily does hip-hop music factor into the movie’s soundtrack?
Quite the opposite; the movie was scored by Brian Tyler and we went to London to work with the London Symphony Orchestra. It’s way more filmic and a lot less music cues than one would suspect. There are a few songs but being true to what this film is, this film doesn’t lend itself to hip-hop and hip-hop doesn’t really lend itself to this particular film. I was able to connect with a few friends in the hip-hop world and they did deliver music but they didn’t deliver hip-hop music, they delivered music appropriate for the film. I used an M.I.A. track. There are a few cues from Dr. Dre, there’s a cue from the RZA, and I think I have something from Space Cowboy. We went all around the board. And all that is just kind of combined and wound up into a really hot score with one of the best orchestras on the planet.

How did you originally get into directing?
The truth is, people, because of MTV and names that go on videos, I kind of got known for being a director. But I produced far more videos than I ever directed. It was one opportunity that I was looking for a director and was running out of time. It was suggested, “Why don’t you do the video?” I felt like it was well within my abilities but it was just something different for me. I usually played the guy in the background that made the videos look good and let the directors take a lot of the credit. So my very first video was Eminem’s “My Name Is.” And that kind of launched me from producing to people looking at me like, “Oh, this guy is a director.”

Did you immediately look at yourself as a director then and there?
I looked at myself as a creative producer still at that point. And that video went on to get nominated for best direction at MTV, video of the year and all these other things. I took that to mean that it was a good collaborative effort but it didn’t mean I was a director yet. I guess I spent the next several years, and up until now, really hone in on what being a director for me is. There are a lot of directors where you can watch a music video or a commercial or a film and you can spot their signature. If you watch a Michael Bay movie, you know it’s a Michael Bay film. Personally I feel like I’m still in that discovery stage of trying to pinpoint and identify what my voice is going to be to the film community besides going out and wanting to do a great job. In the video world, my claim to fame was that I didn’t want any two videos to look alike.

How hard was that?
I don’t really think it was difficult from the aspect of the creativity and all the people I got to work with. It’s very easy to manipulate or change a look or feeling in a music video because there are so many of them. It’s about having totally separate crews…just different people that you work with brings a different feel.

What’s the tougher, working with high-powered actors or high-powered musicians?
The people that are in the business, and this is for both the film and the music industries, generally in my experience so far…you labeled them as high powered, but the bigger the stars the more they can really show you this is not their first time and they’re really just about the work. Which is what I’m about. So it really breaks down to people trying their best to get the best thing on screen. I’m not one that deals with drama. I just let people be themselves. I’m only interested in the work.

You made videos for 50 Cent, Snoop, Dr. Dre…how did end up working with Marilyn Manson on “Tainted Love”?
Believe it or not that was one of my favorite videos. He approached me and asked me if I would be interested in working with him. It was one of those same scenarios, I didn’t have to think twice about whether to work with him or not, he’s just one of those great artists.

What’s up next?
I’m just looking. I haven’t really committed to anything yet. It’s interesting because I’m at point where I don’t want to define myself by one or two projects so it’s kind of interesting to try and choose something that might be a little bit more of a departure from what I just did or take it up a notch and go to a different level. I’m reading   and hopefully something will fit.

Last question, he orders up a bottle of the Silver Bullet in the commercial but does Dr. Dre really drink Coors Light?
Yeah right.

Check out the trailer at www.warthefilm.com