How to shake hands with an Oscar winner?

When I got the confirmation of passes to an advanced screening I was excited. That thunder was stolen by a line in fine print on the passes: After screening, Q&A with the director. Now that came as even a sweeter surprise. I waited long for that day. Drove my car fast so to get the best seat possible. Waited impatiently in line for a glimpse with my phone on video mode. No sign. Still. We get in the auditorium an hour before the screening. A man sitting next to me asks," So you are a fan?" "Absolutely sir," promptness could not have been quicker. "I visited the John Blue canyon in UTAH where Rolston was trapped for 127 hours," he added. "No way, really?", I am more curious. He discussed his experience in the canyon further. We both forget the whole reason we are here for. Suddenly lights in the auditorium get brighter waking us from the conversation. An announcer gives introduction, "Shallow grave is one of the best debuts." A figure in the shadows at the door attempts to stride towards the stage. I see a shirt and an evening jacket. Unkempt hair with glasses. All eyes at that entrance. The figure stops suddenly as the announcer is not finished, " Millions, Sunshine and a little something called Slumdog Millionaire," and crowd erupts in joy. And Danny Boyle continues his previously interrupted stride. We wait breathlessly as Danny gives introduction to 127 Hours. A true story of a trapped canyoneer's attempt of survival. I am getting deaf trying to swallow the moment. "So enjoy," Danny finished. Next 97 minutes were one of the nailbiting, exasperating and exhilarating moments of my life as we watched James Franco puts on the mask of Aron Rolston to the tunes of AR Rahman.

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Q&A with Danny Boyle and Christian Colson (producer of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours)(not exact transcript, relying on notes, a video and memory)

Dallas Film Society (DFS): What a fantastic and breathtaking film it was. I was told that when trapped in the canyon Rolston recorded himself throughtout. Did you see those tapes before making and how much it affected your fimmaking?

Danny Boyle (DB): Yes we saw those and it was just an extraordinary experience. Rolston had showed those tapes to his mum and friends. Never released them. Not that he is shy of publicity. He wrote a book about it. So I thought obviously must be hard to watch. You know how jacked, very very upsetting and extraordinary it must be.

DFS: So how was it?

DB: You know he is trying to protect his mother. Because he thinks the last thing she will be seeing is him dying so (he must have thought) I want to say some descent things. Apologise, you know stuff like that. Incredibly moving. He said he would record a video, go back to it and erase it if he doesn't like it. So that gave us the idea of the talk show host like in some sense Aron is performing in those videos. Trying to be spiritual. We did not use the message verbatim. Bend it a little bit. Push the envelope. Main thing was James (Franco), just extraordinary. Because you know evreybody, including who tells the story knows the ending. Even ones who hear the story knows that he got out. But then there is this guy with a little bit of a video camera recording video, leaving a message and he increasingly thinks he is gonna die. He runs out of water. 24 hours he does not get water and its very scary. Not like carbohydrate loss. Really weird and you have got to be very careful with weigth loss through water. He complained that he was maybe 15 min away from a heart attack. So thats why you see James rubbing his chest in the film. Aron was incredibly generous and ofcourse his mum. We had to clear with his mum to allow ousrselves to not to use directly but use those videos as an inspiration.

Christian Colson (CC): It was an extraordinary story and he experienced something that we all are going to experience one day.

DFS: How important was the book (Between a rock and hard place)?

CC: Danny gave me the book and said it was something for pleasure reading. We did not think that this could be made into a film. There was Rolston's experience in canyon followed by chapters of his entrapment and survival. We chose bits of it that we thought could make a flow of it.

DFS: How did you manage to shoot the survival tricks including liquid intake and the scene where he cuts his hand off?

DB: Well we thought that if Aaron can do it then the audience should be able to watch it. We let James do long takes. Then we went back and edited it. The editing was like here is James, now James and then James again. We had to cut the long takes and yet create a flow out of it.

DFS: Was Rolston present?

DB: Yes. We had this interesting mechanism of James' experience vs Rolston's. I made sure that Aron did not overshadow James. Because this was James in that situation too and it was his experience we filmed.

Audience Member (AM): I saw some shots in the film where it looked like James was holding the camera and sometimes not. How did you keep a balance?

DB: You are right. Sometimes James was holding the camera. At times we used maybe a Canon D7 which can take 12 pictures in a second and the put them together and it just turned out beautiful images of James clicking himself as a character. There also was the handycam that James was shooting himself. We also used the camera we used previously in Slumdog Millionaire. That allows extreme control and precision. And there is this movie that released few weeks ago about a guy inventing Facebook. A genius from east coast has an experience and creates a facebook. Then there was Aron Rolston who filmed himself, in 2003 which is about three years before youtube, so you see how this hidden connection we think that connects together.

AM: You usually leave your thumb print in your films. Like Brian Eno's The ascent in 28 Days Later or the commode dive. In your opinion where did you leave a thumb print in this film?

DB: You as a viewer are more apt to answer that. I usually like to iterate and see how it feels like. Some of those are forced and some of those are unintentional. But if I have to choose then I would say the music.

CC: I would say that the thumbprint was the boldness to go with this story. Although there was success of Slumdog Millionaire the studio was still reluctant. Because they were not sure if they want to fund a story about a man trapped in a cave who cuts off his arm. But this is not about a man trapped in a cave wh cuts off his arm. So yes there was boldness of chosing this story.

AM: What was the most difficult part about making the film?

DB: It is kind of a funny story but when we met James Franco I was like is he stoned? Is this guy for real? But then I was told by one of the executives at Fox Searchlight that this is one of his tricks, allegedly (laughs). I mean look at the guy, he looks stoned all the time. But then he performed these acts extraordinarily. So it seemd bit tough first but turned out fine. He is so lose and comfortable. So was Leo (Dicaprio) during The Beach. British actors are so stiff but the American actors seem relaxed and ready. Watching James I learnt about acting.

AM: How did it feel like when you finished shooting the chopping of prostethic arm?

DB: It was quite a long process. James got through most of the arm to the metal rod that was holding it together. Like Terminator. There were some long takes and it seemed like James was perhaps as close as he could have been to a situation we hopefully don't have to face. We had been to the actual place Aron was trapped. After he was hospitalized it took around 12 people to move that stone and get the arm off. They took some pictures and (phew) those were intense. So when James finished chopping it off he looked at it as if it was his.

AM: Would you like to give any tip to any aspiring filmmakers on how to get into the industry?

DB: Well, there is no door. If I say there is a door in a wall you will be standing there and there will be a line but there is no such door. The industry seems difficult to get into. I thought like that too. Only lunatics sit where I am sitting with my fellow producer. One day you might be sitting here and someone will ask you the same question and then you will remember what I said today.

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Now to end this article I have to mention that Danny and Christian seemed very humble and down to earth. Both of them induldged all of the enthusiasts with signatures and photographs. As for me my heart was still beating from the moment I shook his hand till I reached home.