Q&A in Baltimore 07.10.11

[Chocolover]

James McTeigue, Luke Evans and Mark RedFeld speaks during a Q&A discussion before laying a wreath on the grave of Edgar Allan Poe on the 162nd anniversary of his death at Westminster Hall on October 7, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland.

There's an audio file for download here.

I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Director James McTeigue and actor Luke Evans regarding their upcoming film The Raven. McTeigue is best known for directing V for Vendetta but he also directed Ninja Assassin and worked as the first assistant director on all three films in The Matrix trilogy. Luke Evans is starring in the upcoming adaptation of the Three Musketeers but is known for his role as Apollo in Clash of the Titans.

The Raven is a fictional account of the final days of Edgar Allen Poe’s life. In the film there is a madman on the loose committing murders and using the writings of Edgar Allen Poe as his motivation. In the film, Poe, played by John Cusack, is forced to team up with the young detective inspector played by Luke Evans.

As one might imagine, the film would have been difficult to film in Baltimore, since so much here has changed since the 1840s when Poe lived. This necessitated finding an alternate location for the film, McTeigue chose Budapest for the filming saying

“we did not film in Baltimore because 1849 Baltimore where the film was set obviously doesn’t exist anymore …so we actually filmed in Budapest which in some ways was kind of liberating because there’s lots of architecture which was very similar. Through some visual effects, map paintings, and that, we were able to make it feel like Baltimore.”

He also said it’s great to be here in Baltimore now. Luke Evans feels the connection we Baltimoreans share with Edgar Allen Poe thinking “My god, imagine if he’s walked these streets once!” From speaking with these two, it’s apparent that they had a lot of fun making this film and tried their best to recreate 1840s Baltimore, they actually edited together the streets of Budapest with some images of the Harbor and other Baltimore landmarks to create a spitting image of Charm City back before the Civil War.
Listen to the full audio to find out more about what James McTeigue and Luke Evans had to say about The Raven and what it’s like to finally visit Poe’s final resting place at the Westminster Hall in Baltimore City.-Will

I was able to record a tv coverage from the event. Please give credit if you upload it to your own channel. Thanks



Screencaps by me. Please give credit if you repost them elsewhere. Thanks.