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'Steve Jobs' defined through product launches

Bryan Alexander
USA TODAY
Michael Fassbender takes the stage as Steve Jobs in 'Steve Jobs.'

Steve Jobs had a major introduction issue before he could show off Apple's personal computer to the world in 1984: His Macintosh wasn't saying "Hello" when it turned on.

"That was very important to Steve that this be the first computer to introduce itself," says Steve Jobs screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. "It's another piece of evidence he wanted to give this machine a personality, so that this machine could be liked."

The glitch was key for Sorkin, providing a powerful vehicle for telling the story of the game-changing Jobs, through the chaotic scenes before three major product launches: the Macintosh (1984), the NeXT computer (1988) and the iMac (1998).

Michael Fassbender portrays 'poorly made' Steve Jobs

"This is the way to get to the guy," says director Danny Boyle. "Before the launch is such a great place for drama; everyone is under so much pressure. And Steve Jobs introduced these product launches to the world."

The Apple products highlighted in Steve Jobs (which opens across the nation through Oct. 23) aren't the overwhelming successes burned into the national memory, such as a black turtleneck-clad Jobs showing off the iPod or presenting the iPhone.

Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg), Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) and Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) deal with a non-greeting Macintosh in 'Steve Jobs.'

Boyle preferred to show failure as well.

"It's been hit after hit after hit," says Boyle. "One of the things that Steve Jobs did was to make sure people forgot the misses. He was an expert in public relations and a storyteller. So it's good to be reminded of those. "

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1984 Macintosh launch: Sorkin opened the film with this event because Jobs at the time was denying paternity of his 5-year-old daughter, Lisa, a key player in the film. Plus, the Macintosh was inherently Jobs. "That was the first machine out of Apple that Steve felt complete ownership of," Sorkin says. "This was his."

The scenes were shot in the Flint Center in Cupertino, Calif., the same location the Macintosh actually launched with several original audience members serving as extras.

'Steve Jobs' director Danny Boyle (from left), actor Michael Fassbender and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

Between scenes, Fassbender recalls watching a children's orchestra rehearse in the auditorium, repeating the same musical phrase until perfected — highly appropriate for playing the demanding Jobs, who saw his role as conducting the orchestra.

"Watching that lent quite nicely to Steve Jobs' obsessive way of working," says Fassbender. "That moment really stuck with me as I was watching from the balcony."

1988 NeXT launch: The critically praised Macintosh was a sales failure and Jobs was subsequently fired from Apple. Boyle shot the launch of Job's new company's NeXT computer in San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House. Fassbender found the operatic setting fitting. "I really enjoyed that part of it — in particular, the revenge aspect, which is what's going on there," he says.

1998 iMac launch: Signs of Apple's rise were apparent before the unveiling of the culture-changing iMac. But in the film, the pre-launch is dominated by Jobs' personal relationships exploding.

"The film leaves him where he takes personal responsibility for the success, which he wasn't shy about doing, but also some of the damage he's caused as well," says Boyle.

The string of professional hits which followed and Jobs' death in 2011 aren't addressed in the film.

"The rest of the story," says Boyle. "That is for other people to tell."

Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) with Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) in 'Steve Jobs.'
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