Paltrow And Law: 'Sky Captain'

"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is a ground-breaking film that merged the style and stories of the past with the technology of the future.

The Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law collaboration makes its way to video stores next week, so contributor Laurie Hibberd got a chance to talk to the actors about it for The Early Show's Home Theater.

For all intents and purposes, the film is a 1930s comic book brought to life.

"We both felt that we were stepping into the shoes of characters, caricatures that have been well worn, well seasoned in 1930s cinema," Law explains. "There's an innocence as well. It's, like, they're pals who are kind of in love. And are they going to get together? Or do they actually really hate each other?"

Set in a highly stylized vision of New York circa 1939, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is an old-fashioned adventure that harkens back to the cliffhanger movies made during Hollywood's golden era. The film came from the visionary mind of first-time writer/director Kerry Conran.

"This is what I knew," says Paltrow. "I knew that Kerry was incredibly talented; that he was going to do something that was entirely new (whether it would work or not would remain to be seen); that Jude was in it; and that I wanted to do it."

And by signing on, Paltrow was technically working for Law, who was one of the film's producers.

"He is very intimidating," Paltrow quips. "Just kidding. Where I was concerned, he was an actor, first and foremost. I think they had all their producer meetings where I wasn't involved, so I had no idea about that title. It was really with Jude, the actor. But I knew my place. Don't get me wrong."

The film takes the world of make-believe to the next level, not through its story, but by its filmmaking. The actors worked completely in front of blue screens, with every background and most props filled in later through computer-generated imagery, also known as CGI.

Paltrow says, "It was, at times, liberating, exhilarating, bizarre, uncomfortable, boring, torturous, and then, fantastic again. There was a series of days when we were in the cockpit of the airplane, surrounded by blue. And we couldn't get out, which got a little bit tough."

As Paltrow laughs, Law adds, "There were days when it was like being playmates at, like, a friend's house, like pretending the blue box was a car, literally. And there were other days when it's like being in some avant garde, off-off-Broadway play. And other days, when you just felt like you were going to go insane."

Many have suggested this may change the way films are made, but Law isn't so sure.

He says, "It could change elements of filmmaking. I mean, I think the process of CGI and blue screen and the uses of that has been evolving over the last 25, 30 years. I think the process that we tried to learn from the past is that we weren't so limited that all we could do is stand there, look there.

"He enabled us to kind of interact, and do what we wanted, and filled in around that. And those two things, I think could have an effect on this way of filmmaking. But you know, good, solid filmmaking where there's just a script, on location, a camera, some actors, a director... that will never change. And nor should it."

The special edition DVD includes deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary and a gag reel.