George Lucas In love and indie boy goes mainstreamgreenspun.com : LUSENET : No Extra Day : One Thread |
Dunno if you've seen George Lucas in Love, it's a Shakespeare in love + Lucas spoof, the plot is not important to my question here, so just read on. Anyway, the director of the aforementioned short has been chosen by Ron Howard/Nickelodeon films to direct How to Eat Fried Worms, a full on studio kids movie production.My question is this: Lets say you had a vision, a mission from god, so you sold several body parts, your pet dog and the neighbors kids and made a low budget film. You maybe filmed on 16mm or digital, you edited using a magnifying glass, safety scissors (stolen from the neighbors kids before you sold them) and scotch tape (or in the case of digital your PC (unless in some fucked up gift o' the magi moment you sold your PC to pay for the camera, in which case you can poignantly sit in the corner and think about how screwed you are)). After completion of your masterpiece, it is submitted somewhere, seen by people who like it. Then you get a big(-ish) money offer to direct something. How hard would it be to know what the fuck to do with all the real movie shit that you never learned because you never had access to them?
-- hot hot monkey love (yousuf@itscaketimebaby.com), October 25, 2000
I think that those are the best directors. They appreciate it more. I've talked the three or four guys who were the product of film school up in Vancouver. I'd rather talk to an unschooled indie filmmaker any day.If you were to equate it to a war, film school guys are the ones who went to college and jump into the military as an officer. They are put in charge of a group of guys who have been fighting the war for the past few years. These people don't respect him because he really has no practical knowledge. He knows nothing about the actual process, just abstracts. He also hasnBt had any real battle experience. A real indie filmmaker would be that tough-assed sergeant covered with battle scars, chewing on a cigar while kicking your ass.
But I might be a little jaded.
I donBt think itBs the technical aspects that make a good director; it's your ability to hold the production together. Being able to problem-solve like a mad motherfucker and still keep things moving toward what you want. It's a serious pressure cooker. If you made it through an indie film then I'd say you've suffered the acid test for filmmaking. Past there you are still dealing with the same problems, just on a bigger scale, with more crew and cash. The DP, the Line Producer, the Gaffer, and the Sound Man are going to keep you abreast of any problems and give you viable choices no matter what the size of the shoot or the quality of the equipment. How you direct the story and cast doesnBt change that much. As long as you keep your head it really wouldnBt be that different. IBm just making educated guesses though. Hopefully I can tell you for sure when I make my next one.
I think having the money there solves the biggest problems for the film, big or small.
I'm glad he's getting work. I loved that short.
-- Michael Fitts (michael@noextraday.com), October 26, 2000.