For those interested in an ordinary biopic about Steve Jobs, most people will be shocked when they see Danny Boyles' latest film.

The new movie is structured in three acts and revolves around three launches, one in 1984, one in 1988 and another in 1997. The basic structure was created by writer Aaron Sorkin, who noted at the New York Film Festival that he did not want to create a by-the-books biopic based on Jobs. He said, "I wondered ... if there was a way to dramatize ... some of the points of friction in Steve's life and dramatize them in this way, with ... three real time scenes. Real time of course is 30 minutes for you the audience is the same as 30 minutes for the character on screen."

Having written "The Social Network" and "Moneyball" in more conventional narratives, Sorkin thought this would never get financed. "I didn't think that there was a chance that the studio would let me do that. But they did."

Director Boyle added that this structure helped him creatively. "We wanted to make the three sections as different as possible. We sort of emphasized everything to do with that so we did this weird thing where we rehearsed. ... And then we sort of ran it through."

To differentiate the three acts, he also chose different formats to shoot on. He said, "We used 16mm for the first act because it felt like the early days and he pretty much thought himself as the rebel. So the homemade feel of 16mm, which is more and more distant from us. Then we used 35mm for the second act and then we use the Alexa, which is the brutal HD thing."

He also noted that it also applied to the music as he used three different scores from composer Daniel Pemberton and noted that the costume designers and set decorators were meticulous in creating the environments.

Boyle was also not concerned about being incredibly accurate with every detail of his life. He was more interested in creating the essence of Jobs and as a result was also not concerned with casting an actor who looked exactly liked Jobs.

Boyle continued, "What was interesting was this tension because a lot of what was known about him is through his public launches. And what was wonderful about Aaron's idea was that there was this public sense. And you have all been told that it's set in three launches so your mind immediately goes to those images on YouTube. He's always behind the scenes and that's a wonderful metaphor for him being behind what you might understand. So it was beneath the surface."

He added, "We were always insistent that it wasn't about looking alike ... physical mannerisms. They weren't the driving force behind it. It's Shakespearean really. ... We're shooting the man really and his relationships."

Michael Fassbender, who was also at the junket, noted that he did not look anything like Jobs. "Obviously I don't look anything like Steve Jobs. That was the first thing I said to Danny. I said 'Christian Bale looks a lot more like Steve.' He was like, 'I'm not really interested in that. I sort of want to get the energy and the essence of the man.'"

Fassbender noted that it was not until the final act when he put the black turtle neck, the glasses and the new balance shoes that he finally felt like Steve Jobs. "Just as we finished I was like 'okay I get it now.' It just sort of came together. It happened organically."

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