#StoryOfTheDay...Walking on the Moon with the King: Colin Chilvers in the direction of the short film '' Smooth Criminal '' by #MichaelJackson
The title of Colin Chilvers' book, The Faith That Man Can Fly [in Portuguese, The Faith That Man Can Fly ] refers to the 1978 film Superman , for which he received a visual effects Oscar. But, as one interviewer said, "many toy commercials ... have made Chilvers one of the greatest artists in the world"
My interest in Chilvers' memoirs resulted from the fact that he directed Smooth Criminal for Michael Jackson's 1988 feature Moonwalker . This project, according to Chilvers, started out as a regular music video, but as Jackson continued to contribute ideas during the development of the script, “the project became more and more ambitious”. Over time, “Smooth Criminal” grew to become a 40-minute music and dance performance with special effects.
Chilvers describes the project as "an environment full of creativity where Michael's imagination wandered". Different members of the team were responsible for aspects of the project, but according to Chilvers, "Michael gave the final say." If he wanted to change or add something, he did it, even if he needed to convey his idea to his manager, Frank Dileo.
As a Jackson fan who knows everything about Smooth Criminal , I was interested in reading Chilvers' story about the genesis of this project.
Michael, who loved the movie Back to the Future with his traveling DeLorean, wanted his video to show him transforming into a car, a robot and a spaceship; "Like a comic book adventure coming to life," recalls Chilvers.
Kevin Pike, head of Back to the Future special effects , recommended that Jackson contact Chilvers to record the video. Michael had already tried to work with some film directors he liked, but they were involved in other projects. "Many of the top Hollywood directors were hired two years in advance," explains Chilvers.
One of the most interesting aspects of Chilvers' story is his insight into the way Michael worked on a project. This method was used by his cinematographic idol Charlie Chaplin: he filmed, watched the footage and took notes, and then remade it several times until he was satisfied with the scene.
"Michael always changed his mind and asked for things that were not in the original plans," recalls Chilvers. "After watching our filming, we figured out how to make the scenes even more spectacular."
Of course, this is completely contrary to the way of working in Hollywood, which is often associated with time and budget constraints. But Chilvers understood that this was Michael's idea, and the money for the project came from him. The first meetings between the director and the star took place at the Jackson family home in Encino.
Chilvers talks about these encounters and Michael's behavior around people he didn't know well. Despite being a dynamic artist and owner of the stage, outside of it he was shy and cautious, preferring to avoid conflicts. However, Chilvers found that as soon as you met him, he became open and relaxed.
Eventually Moonwalker, including Smooth Criminal, hit theaters in Europe and South America in late 1988, when the King of Pop was still on his Bad World Tour.
In North America, the film was released immediately on video. Chilvers admits that he was “disappointed to say the least” , as the shift from cinemas to the home video market generally meant that the film was not of sufficient quality to be shown on the big screen, “but this was definitely not the case for Moonwalker or Smooth Criminal. ''
Chilvers says he still doesn't know why that happened. However, working with a superstar like Michael Jackson gave him a big boost in his career.
“Thanks to this experience, I continued to make films for television and to produce episodes from various series” .
Shortly after the completion of the Smooth Criminal project, the director never had contact with Michael Jackson again. "This is the reality of working with the king of pop ," he says.
The chapter on Smooth Criminal , aptly titled Walking on the Moon with the King [in Portuguese, Walking on the Moon with the King ] is just a page of the book of 266 pages. However, as Chilvers talks about it "first hand" , without resorting to tabloids, his memories have a particular value.
The chapter ends with the sadness the director felt after Jackson's passing.
“The world will never have the opportunity to enjoy Michael Jackson's new songs, and I will never have the opportunity to share another moment of laughter and fun with him. Participating in the documentary Bad 25th Anniversary (2012) by Spike Lee gave me back a sense of pride for the work we did together ”.
