b) Putting himself in a postion
Damon mentally put himself in a position of an average person on the internet who had no connection with the movie but was really curious about what it was.
However his feeling was it made the movie less interesting to him to hear that it's a prequel rather than not having a clear sense of what it
was.
His anticipated the fact that they
weren't going to openly address the question about what it was or would have to be cagey about it at a certain point and this
would lead to a certain degree of frustration, because that's what he
would have felt as a fan.
c) Idea for Prometheus teaser
Then Ridley thought that it would be great to have a teaser where the word "Prometheus" revealed itself in exactly the way the title Alien revealed itself in the original trailer that movie.
As far as Damon would understand, it would be as if Ridley was saying through this "I'm making this choice for a very specific reason. If you want to continue asking me what this movie’s relationship is with
Alien, why in God’s name do you think I would do that? "
d) TED Talk
The second thing they agreed on was generating viral content that starred and featured the characters from the movie.
They would try to talk to their actors Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender
into doing some stuff that would speak very directly to the prequel
issue.
Damon pitched the idea of the TED talk, which everybody was
responsive to and Ridley was able to convince Guy to do it.
That TED
talk really spoke to the prequel question because it was Peter Weyland, a man with a surname that is very familiar in all of the Alien movies and the audience would find themselves told that he is a part of Prometheus.
This was another way they were showing the audience, as opposed to telling them,
what the relationship between the two movies is.
e) Need for ambiguity
But Lindelof hoped there was enough ambiguity generating some anticipation for what the movie is.
Lindelof hated the feeling every time he saw a trailer in the cinema when it showed so much that it was as if he had just seen the whole movie and he didn't want to do this.
But the other side was that he didn't want to be so vague, precious and pretentious about what they were working on that they built up expectations that they couldn't possibly live up to.
Everyone wants to know what the relationship is
between this Prometheus and Alien.
Source Quotes
- Entertainment Weekly: Okay, so this doesn’t lead to the first scene of Alien, but it does take place before Alien in the same world as Alien?
Damon Lindelof: Correct.
Entertainment Weekly: Thank you. I’ve interviewed Ridley four times about this movie now and every time I get a different answer. How do you feel about all of the speculation about the film on the internet? Does it help the movie or hurt the movie?
Damon Lindelof: I usually just put myself in the position of, let’s say I had nothing to do with this movie, and I was one of the people on the internet who was really curious about what it was, my feeling would be — and this is just me — to hear that it’s a prequel, makes the movie less interesting to me than if I don’t really have a clear sense of what it is. And I anticipated that at a certain point the fact that we weren’t openly addressing that question — or being cagey about that question — would lead to a certain degree of frustration, because that’s what I would be feeling as a fan. That’s when Ridley thought that it would be cool that in the teaser he’d have the word “Prometheus” reveal itself exactly the way the title Alien revealed itself in the original trailer for Alien. This is him saying, I’m making this choice for a very specific reason. If you want to continue asking me what this movie’s relationship is with Alien, why in God’s name do you think I would do that? The second thing is we wanted to generate viral content that starred and featured the characters from the movie. Let’s see if we can talk Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender into doing some stuff that would speak very directly to the prequel issue. So I pitched the idea of the TED talk, which everybody was responsive to and Ridley was able to convince Guy to do. And that TED talk really speaks to the prequel question because it’s Peter Weyland! And Weyland is a name that is very familiar in all of the Alien movies. And we’re going to tell audiences that he is a part of Prometheus. So here’s another way we are showing them, as opposed to telling them, what the relationship between the two movies is. But hopefully with enough ambiguity that you’re generating some anticipation for what the movie is. And I will tell you, the hardest thing to do from the insides of these things is, you and I hate it when you sit in a movie theater and after the trailer, you say, I guess I feel like I just saw the whole movie! So you don’t want to do that. But at the same time, you don’t want to be so vague and precious and pretentious about what you’re working on that you build an expectation that you couldn’t possibly live up to. Everyone wants to know what the relationship is between this movie and Alien. And one could argue that we’ve set ourselves up for an inevitable disappointment. But look who you’re talking to right now. If there is anybody who is known for inevitable disappointment, it’s me. I’m Mr. Inevitable Disappointment! (http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/05/11/damon-lindelof-prometheus-life-after-lost/3/)
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