FilmmakerIQ.com » Directing

How to Make Sure You’re Ready Before You Walk on the Set

John P. Hess — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:00:19 +0000

As a filmmaker, be it as a producer or director or both, you are like a captain of a ship. Once the production day starts and the ship has left port, everyone will be looking to you for guidance and direction. Nothing will sink your project faster than indecision – an issue that can be mitigated with proper pre-production work.

In the world of independent filmmaking, it’s easy to assume that more money can make any problem go away. But most filmmakers–independent or mainstream—will readily admit that nothing derails a project faster than being unprepared before the production begins.

It’s tempting to think that the $20,000 budget that you’ve scraped together through loans, personal savings and credit cards—and possibly an illegal act here or there—will trump readiness. It’s not true. So many films don’t get made because of poor planning, or just assuming that you can make it up as you go. Granted, it’s much easier to shoot now with digital as opposed to film, but it should be fairly obvious that you can’t just turn on the camera and film until the battery dies. Because the work that you’ve put in during pre-production will help in post, when you’re editing, looping sound, or trying to figure out how the boom ended up in all of those shots.

—Film Slate |Read the Full Article

Francis Ford Coppola On Risk, Money, Craft & Collaboration

John P. Hess — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:10:23 +0000

Ariston Anderson interviews Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather”, “Apocalypse Now”) on how to bridge the gap between distribution and commerce, screenwriting, and directing great actors.

How does an aspiring artist bridge the gap between distribution and commerce?
We have to be very clever about those things. You have to remember that it’s only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five in the morning and write your script.

This idea of Metallica or some rock n’ roll singer being rich, that’s not necessarily going to happen anymore. Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free. Maybe the students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I’m going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money?

In the old days, 200 years ago, if you were a composer, the only way you could make money was to travel with the orchestra and be the conductor, because then you’d be paid as a musician. There was no recording. There were no record royalties. So I would say, “Try to disconnect the idea of cinema with the idea of making a living and money.” Because there are ways around it.

—The 99% | Read the Full Article

Tarantino Directing Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction

Dennis — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:20:15 +0000

In this clip provided by Lions Gate for the Blu-ray release of Pulp Fiction,Tarantino directs Bruce Willis on set; Willis likens Tarantino’s directing to theater work.

Here is another behind the scenes clip of Mia (Uma Thurman) and Vince (John Travolta) dancing in the twist contest.

The Terry Gilliam School of Film: 10 Tips for Directors

John P. Hess — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:42:55 +0000

The visionary director of Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam offers 10 tips for the Directors of today:

1. Growing up is for losers.

As a child, I always drew funny creatures, funny characters. But I think the trick is not to grow up, not to learn to be an adult. And if you can maintain the kind of imagination you all had when you were babies, you would all be wonderful filmmakers. But the world tries to make you grow up, to stop imagining, stop fantasizing, stop playing in your mind. And I’ve worked hard to not let the world educate me.

— Filmmaker Magazine | Read The Full Article

Brad Pitt on Why He Doesn’t Want to Direct

Dennis — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:45:12 +0000

Charlie Rose looks at the film “Moneyball” with director Bennett Miller and actors Brad Pitt & Jonah Hill. Among other topics Pitt discusses why he doesn’t want to direct.

You can watch the full hour long interview here.

Director David Cronenberg on Working with Actors

Dennis — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:35:39 +0000

In this clip from a recent AFI Harold Lloyd Master Seminar, Director David Cronenberg shares his approach to working with actors.

Martin Scorsese Inside The Actors Studio

Dennis — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:45:52 +0000

Academy Award winning director, producer, and occasional actor, Martin Scorsese, is guest ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’, hosted by James Lipton. This is the 6th episode of the 9th season, aired on December 15th, 2002.

The 4 Basic Elements of Visual Grammar

John P. Hess — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:52:19 +0000

In this video from Birth of the Image, the four basic elements of visual language are discussed from: Shot Type, Height Relationship, On Screen direction, and Camera movement.

Trust the Ensemble – Lessons in Directing

John P. Hess — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:00:20 +0000

Conductor Charles Hazlewood talks about the role of trust in musical leadership — then shows how it works, as he conducts the Scottish Ensemble onstage. Yes he’s talking about musical directing, but the leadership lesson here is applicable to all sorts of artistic directing.

Directing Food

Dennis — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:10:35 +0000

Food shots look simple. Plate a scrumptious dish and shoot away right? Not so fast. It takes lots of hard work, dedication, and perfect timing to bring out that perfect wipe-the-drool-off-the-screen shot. Michael Schrom is one of those few “table top directors” who has been able to stand the heat of the kitchen and make a living shooting food.

The New York Times dishes up a profile of Schrom and other artists as well as some of their techniques to make food look absolutely delicious.

Mr. Schrom has the eyeglasses of an architect and the relaxed, contented air of a man highly entertained by his job. On this day, he is filming for a national chain — one that also requested anonymity — capturing what he calls “flavor cues.” In one shot, a stagehand pours chocolate syrup over a sheet of caramel. (You can almost hear a voiceover purring, “Chocolate.”) In another, cream bubbles up in a cup of coffee. In real time, these moments barely register. In slow-motion playbacks, with a digital camera that shoots up to 1,600 frames a second, the images are almost erotic. Which is no accident.

“You’re using the same part of your brain — porn, food,” Mr. Schrom says during a break. “It’s going in the same section; it’s that visual cortex that connects to your most basic senses. What we’re trying to do is be the modern-day Pavlovs and ring your bell with these images.”

He has several food stylists who work in a huge kitchen next to his set. They start with the very same food and recipes used in the restaurants and stores.

In part, this is a truth-in-advertising issue. Everyone knows that in 1970, the Federal Trade Commission settled a complaint against the Campbell Soup Company after its ad agency slipped marbles into a bowl in ads featuring its vegetable soup, apparently to force more veggies to the surface. That put a scare into the industry that endures to this day.

Anything that flatters the food, of course, is fair game, and that includes gimmicks you’re unlikely to find in a fridge. Glue is used to keep spaghetti on forks and pizzas in place. The ice in a beverage might be made of acrylic and cost $500 a cube. The frost coming off a beer could be a silicone gel, mixed with powder and water.

New York Times | Full Article