Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Revelation

In the past I've worn many hats on my film productions. I've always directed, produced, art directed and coordinated. At times I've operated the camera as well. There have been occasions where I've done the lighting in addition to that. After the fact, in post, I've always done my own cutting except in one or two occasions. Only once, actually -- the second time I fired the editior after seeing his cut.
By doing nothing but directing this time I was able to concentrate fully on the task at hand - understanding what the actors needed to be prepared to experience the given circumstances truthfully as if it were reality, as well as how to compose those frames to best tell the story.
I could simply tell Greg that I wanted to force perspective in some shots or open up the frame on others and leave the camera configuration to him. I had to decide what lenses I wanted, the rest was up to him and his assistants.
I worked hard with Justin on acquiring the weapons and the uniforms, but once procured Justin took over and handled every detail. He even hand-painted a camo pattern on the helmet covers to match the uniforms with fabric dye. I did have to drive out to Scapoose the night before our first day to pick up our M16s, but it was worth it in order to get actual weapons rather than plastic replicas. Justin would have done that for me, but they belong to a friend of my boss' at Gearhead, so it was better that I went.
Neil, Jeff and Zach handled all of the dirty work of bringing everybody together and feeding them. My wife usually handles catering and craft services. I know she was grateful to have that off her hands. Neil handled the film stock order, the camera order and the rest of the equipment orders.
I had to answer some questions and make a few calls. We had a couple of meetings every day all last week. I had to hand over my American Express card and some cash. I did that very happily, however.
With such dedicated support I was able to go over things in my mind about the script and finalize preparation with Joey and Heath.
In the past I've done a lot of directing and AS IF improvisations on set. I thought that was directing. And it is. Just not in such volume. This time out I discovered that by focusing on directing I didn't have to do as much directing. By just being focused on the actors on set, they were able to feel their way through each set up knowing I was there. I gave them some notes and some as ifs, but I was able to sit back and trust them as they were able to drop in and trust themselves and me. I simply reminded them where they were before each set up. (We shot this thing way out of sequence for logistical reasons) Then I sat back and watched what they did on our rehearsal for camera. No more than a word or two was needed after that in most instances.
When Joey needed to cry and break down I reminded him that it's not about trying to cry, especially for a man in front of other men. I asked him if he wanted to cry in front of Greg and the camera crew. Of course not, he replied. Then don't, I told him. I stood on the other side of a black floppy to give Joey his privacy and isolation and watched him on the clamshell. I didn't say anything to him aside from directing his attempts to step forward. I was crying with him. For me, it was a combination of pride, empathy and exposure. In order for a director to ask an actor to get naked, he better be willing to get naked himself. On cut I hugged Joey and told him we got it, he didn't have to do it again. He walked away and Greg told me the worst thing I could hear at that point - we have to go again. So I brought Joey back, I'm crying right now just thinking about it. He had released it all on the first take, so I had to pull it out of him. I had to shame him from the other side of the black curtain. It hurt like hell while we we're doing it. We got what we needed. Apparently we were working within the bounds of directing rather than manipulation or exploitation, because after calling cut and a hug, I felt clean.
Anyway, the biggest lesson I got from this weekend was that by focusing the bulk of my attention on directing, I didn't have to do as much directing.

Your,
Signore Direttore

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

wonderful. thanks