Story of movie Much Ado About Nothing 2012 Film :
Much Ado About Nothing is a 2012 black and white American romantic comedy film adapted for the screen, produced, and directed by Joss Whedon, from William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The film stars Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Reed Diamond, Fran Kranz, Sean Maher, and Jillian Morgese.
| Much Ado About Nothing | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joss Whedon |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Joss Whedon |
| Based on | Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Joss Whedon |
| Cinematography | Jay Hunter |
| Edited by |
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Production company | Bellwether Pictures |
| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Early Modern English |
| Box office | $5.3 million |
To create the film, director Whedon established the production studio Bellwether Pictures. The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and had its North American theatrical release on June 21, 2013.
Screenplay
The plot of the film is largely unchanged from that of Shakespeare's original play. Differences include the modern-day setting, switching Conrade's gender, eliminating several minor roles and consolidating others into Leonato's aide, and expanding Ursula's role by giving her a number of Margaret's scenes. In addition, the film attempts to add background to the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick by showing, in an opening scene, a morning after they apparently slept together. Benedick steals away quietly while Beatrice pretends to be asleep.
- Amy Acker as Beatrice, niece of Leonato.
- Alexis Denisof as Benedick, of Padua; companion of Don Pedro.
- Reed Diamond as Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon.
- Nathan Fillion as Dogberry, the constable in charge of Messina's night watch.
- Clark Gregg as Leonato, governor of Messina; Hero's father.
- Fran Kranz as Claudio, of Florence; a count, companion of Don Pedro, friend to Benedick.
- Sean Maher as Don John, "the Bastard Prince," brother of Don Pedro.
- Jillian Morgese as Hero, Leonato's daughter.
- Spencer Treat Clark as Borachio, follower of Don John.
- Riki Lindhome as Conrade, lover of Don John (originally, follower of Don John, a male role).
- Ashley Johnson as Margaret, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero.
- Emma Bates as Ursula, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero.
- Tom Lenk as Verges, the Headborough, Dogberry’s partner
- Nick Kocher as First watchman
- Brian McElhaney as Second watchman
- Joshua Zar as Leonato’s aide
- Paul M. Meston as Friar Francis, a priest.
- Romy Rosemont as The Sexton, the district attorney at Borachio and Conrade's interrogation (originally, the judge of the trial of Borachio, a male role).
Anthony Head was originally intended for the role of Leonato, but was unavailable. Clark Gregg had worked with Whedon on The Avengers at the time, and stepped in to play the part. Most of the cast had worked with Whedon before; Acker and Denisof on Angel; Denisof, Fillion, Lenk and Lindhome on Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Fillion and Maher on Firefly; Acker, Denisof, Diamond, Kranz and Johnson on Dollhouse; Gregg, Denisof, Rosemont, Johnson and Morgese in The Avengers.
Principal photography started mid-October 2011, and took place at Joss Whedon's residence in Santa Monica, California. On the choice of location, he told Studio 360, "First of all, my wife built that house. And I knew from the moment I set foot in it that I would want to film something there. Because it's all in one place, that place informs the mood and the feeling and the look of the picture so much, and I was really already comfortable with that". Whedon and his wife, Kai Cole, produced the film through their studio Bellwether Pictures. It was filmed entirely in a black-and-white palette over a period of 12 days, in conjunction with cinematographer Jay Hunter. Whedon shot it while on a contractual vacation from the post-production of The Avengers. The cast and crew were informed to keep the project a secret until production was finished. They wrapped their last day of filming on October 23, 2011.
Whedon explained his initial interest in the project, saying:
I fixated on this notion that our ideas of romantic love are created for us by the society around us, and then escape from that is grown-up love, is marriage, is mature love, to escape the ideals of love that we’re supposed to follow.
He elaborated on that sentiment, and said "It’s a very cynically romantic text about love, and how we behave, and how we’re expected to behave. It’s a party, but there’s something darker there as well". Inspired by the exposing nature of film, Whedon decided to infuse a recurring motif of sexuality, "...because it’s a visual medium. You can say it or you can show it. There’s an element to it, of debauchery, that was fun for a time but then it was just sort of dark". Whedon's idea to adapt the play for the screen originated from having "Shakespeare readings" at his house with several of his friends, years prior.
Whedon and his director of photography Jay Hunter took advantage of natural lighting in order to make it feel "very found", noting, "Our lighting package rose in the east and set in the west". Using mirrors, glass and windows to shoot through, he explains, " something I’d like to do all the time, but particularly in a movie that’s all about lies, and manipulation and misunderstandings. The more you can warp the frame a little bit, the more it speaks towards what’s going on". The film was shot hand-held, digitally with multiple cameras, often with a RED Epic, and used a Lensbaby Composer with Double Glass lens on a Canon 7D to differentiate certain scenes.
| Much Ado About Nothing: Original Score | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Joss Whedon | |
| Released | June 6, 2013 |
| Genre | Film score |
| Length | 40:41 |
| Label | Bellwether Records |
| Producer | Deborah Lurie |
Whedon composed the score for the film and recruited Deborah Lurie to produce. He arranged music to "Sigh No More" and "Heavily", two songs that William Shakespeare had written into the play. These tracks were performed by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon. Whedon described the experience of making his debut in scoring a film as "terrifying", going on to say that "when I’m terrified, I know I’m having fun". He acknowledged as well that hiring himself to do it resulted from monetary constraints. The soundtrack was released digitally on June 6, 2013.
All tracks written by Joss Whedon, except where noted.
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