'Rebirth' filmmaker James Whitaker talks to MTV News about documenting Ground Zero devastation and rebuilding for the past decade.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Tami Katzoff
Photo: Getty Images / MTV News
A month after the attacks of September 11, producer and filmmaker James Whitaker visited Ground Zero, where he found, in the midst of the devastation, a tiny glimmer of hope: the hole would eventually be filled; someday, somehow we would rebuild what had been lost and we would experience something of a collective rebirth ourselves.
Thus was born a 10-year documentary effort called "Rebirth," which premieres on Showtime on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
"The film is a combination of the physical and emotional healing of the site over time," Whitaker told MTV News. "It just dawned on me that it would be great to give an audience the sense of going from the dread and anxiety to the sense of hope I felt when I imagined what it would be like."
The doc takes two approaches to capturing that mixture of dread and hope. Whitaker began by setting up three cameras around Ground Zero to take one frame of film every five minutes, 24 hours a day, documenting the evolution of the site and the eventual and ongoing construction of the new One World Trade Center. At the same time, he selected five people deeply affected by the tragedy and followed their stories for a decade.
"I started with the idea of Ground Zero itself and types of people, if you will," he explained. "I was interested in a fireman, for example. I was interested in someone who was on the impact floor and may have survived. A young person who would grow up over the course of the film."
As the effort gathered momentum, officials at the site took notice and gave the filmmaker their support. "Once we got the cameras going, the Port Authority just said, 'Look, we understand the goal here is to record the history of the evolution of the site and we applaud and appreciate it,' " Whitaker recalled. "So we started out with three cameras triangulating the site. Now there are 14 that are in and around and down low in the site in different positions."
As time passed and the site and his subjects began to heal, he found an organic end point for his film. "I think that the people who ended up in the film and were part of the whole process were really special," he said. "In about the fourth or fifth year, I started to notice that the subjects were making a change. They were moving toward a place that felt like ... a place of healing, a different place. It made me come to an understanding, which I said to myself, which was, 'Listen to the film itself, and it will announce its own ending.' And I realized at that point the film was really saying it's ending."
Whitaker added of Sunday's 10-year anniversary, "On September 11, I'll be thinking of the journeys of the wonderful people who participated in my film and how they got to a more healthy and hopeful place."
What will you do to remember 9/11? Share your thoughts below, and visit 911day.org to upload your video response.
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VMA executive producer says Gaga's commitment to her character raises the bar for future performers.
By James Montgomery
Britney Spears and Lady Gaga as Jo Calderone backstage at the 2011 VMAs
Photo: Getty Images
One of the breakout stars of the 2011 Video Music Awards was Jo Calderone, the smoke-spouting, slightly stained mechanic who stormed the big show to deliver a lengthy monologue about his former love Lady Gaga, and then launched into an epic performance of her current hit, "Yoü and I."
And while you may think that Calderone was just Gaga playing dress up, well, you'd be wrong. Because for all intents and purposes, Gaga became Calderone ... diving deep into the character during, after and, rather surprisingly, before the show.
"We had talked to her about the creative [for the performance] a few weeks before the show. We had a call with her, and it became clear that she's going to be Jo," VMA Executive Producer Dave Sirulnick explained.
Why did Lady Gaga go to the VMAs as Jo Calderone?
"She showed up as Jo, rehearsed as Jo ... if you said 'Gaga,' she wouldn't respond. After rehearsals, she comes over, she says to me, 'It's nice to meet you,' and I say to her, 'I know your friend Gaga,' and she says, 'That Gaga, what a bitch!' " Sirulnick recalled. "She did not break character once. She walks in backstage and, in front of a whole bunch of people, went into the men's room. Later, we had all the Young the Giant fans lined up waiting for the band to rehearse their performance, and Jo was walking out of the building to her dressing room and someone yelled 'It's Gaga!' But she didn't respond, just kept on walking, until finally someone yelled, 'Hey, Jo!' and then she turned and waved."
So given all that, it wasn't exactly shocking that the commitment to character continued long after Gaga — er, Calderone — had finished the show-opening performance of "Yoü and I." Jo, of course, not only returned to the stage to help pay tribute to (and kiss) Britney Spears, she also accepted the Best Female Video Moonman for "Born This Way" with an impassioned speech.
What does the LGBT community think of Lady Gaga's transgender act?
But even when she wasn't in the spotlight, Gaga didn't break ... not even for a second.
"Over the years, lots of people have done lots of things, lots of people have worn lots of things, but no one has been that committed, that in character," Sirulnick laughed. "She's smoking in the building, she was holding court in the crowd, you know, Kanye, Katy, Adele, Tony Bennett, they loved it. They respected her commitment and her level of artistry."
And, of course, they couldn't help but be inspired by it too. Because by never wavering, by putting it all out there as Jo Calderone, Gaga raised the bar for her fellow VMA performers, too, and it was up to them to match the heights she achieved.
"For her to go out there and just be so into this character, it was fearless, and you saw a lot of that at the VMAs," Sirulnick said. "Chris Brown was fearless in the way he flew across the stage. Beyoncé was fearless in her amazing vocal performance and what she revealed. Jay and Kanye were fearless in saying 'Here we are, watch us.' Adele was fearless in her performance, doing it in one shot, saying 'I'm going to stand here and put it all on display.' "
The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards have wrapped, but the real action is just getting started! Stick with MTV News for winners, fashion pics, video and behind-the-scenes stories about everything that went down. Visit VMA.MTV.com for the latest.
Related Videos Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1670023/lady-gaga-jo-calderone-vma.jhtml
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