Posted on 16 October 2006 by Paul
John August, who I look forward to hearing speak at this week-ends Austin Film Festival had this interesting point of view on the transition from screenwriting to directing: As it turns out, I could care less.
“I think part of being a writer, or an actor, is letting yourself feel things without judgment. A director leads an army into battle; a screenwriter leads characters into danger. They’re vastly different jobs, which require different temperaments. ”
For any storyteller considering directing, or anyone who wonders why it seems nearly all film-makers are assholes this is a must read.
Posted on 07 August 2006 by Paul
I just finished reading the latest post on John August’s blog, “Test Screening The Movie.” It gave me pause to see that such and accomplished and prolific storyteller has the same stresses, anxieties, and problems my collaborators and I are facing on my latest project.Viewing your film with friends, family, and colleagues is great, and it will help you to make your story better. It’ll get you, and I’ll be generous, maybe 60, 70% there, but as he mentions, whether they believe it or not, they are biased. They are your friends, your family, and your colleagues. They WANT to like what you’ve done. They think you’re talented, and have hopes and aspirations for your story or they wouldn’t take the time to watch. So with that bias, how can you ever truly get an honest response? You can’t. That’s why you need, as John August puts it, the trustworthy stranger. This person has no bias. No agenda. Nothing but (hopefully) a purely visceral and honest response to the story and imagery you put before him/her. They become your anonymous collaborator, and they will make your story better.
Sharing your story and your passion with complete strangers, when it’s a work-in-progress is a scary thing and a risky proposition if you’re trying to break new ground, but it can also be the key that makes a good story great. As digital storytellers, how can we get these un-biased screenings? How can we put our work out there for constructive criticism without it being what people perceive to be a completed project? You can’t viably use a service like
YouTube, as you can’t control who sees it and how they are judging it. But you can use internet forums like DVInfo.net, or DVXuser.com. You can explain that what you’re posting is a work in progress and you need honest feedback. You’ll probably get more than you bargained for. I’d love to hear any other trailblazing solutions people might have. Be my new collaborator and help me find a test screening solution.
Posted on 06 June 2006 by Paul
Some people define themselves by their titles as writers or directors or editors or producers. Others like to broaden their scope and take on additional titles to maintain creative control or as often the case in indie films to fill a gap that may be missing. These folks use hyphenates like writer-director. Others take that it even further by combining titles like Producer and Editor into new hip sounding titles like “Preditor.”
Ever increasingly as the tools of our trade become more and more accessible, writers and directors (or writer-directors, or Preditors, or what have you) find themselves picking up the camera and shooting, or buying some inexpensive editing software and cutting their story themselves. They might dabble in creating their own special effects. They might do their own color-correction. Then there are the up and comers who have never even conceived of what Hollywood might consider “film crew” and are comprised only of these jack of all trades people who just get it done. So what do we call these people who can do it all? I call them storytellers.
As I said before, filmmaking is about collaboration with other story-tellers. Whether you wear one hat or many. Whether you tell your story through words, images, wardrobe, or special effects, we’re all there for a common goal: to make a film. So don’t get bogged down by titles. Let your writer try his hand at editing. The edited film is the final re-write after all, and they could bring something new to the table you might not have guessed. Listen to the ideas from your special effects technician. Talk over character with your wardrobe person. Try your own hand at an aspect of filmmaking you’ve never considered. Let everyone cross pollinate their thoughts with the common goal of telling your story, and watch as it blossoms.
I am a storyteller. What do you do?
Posted on 02 June 2006 by Paul
Some people consider filmmaking the art of the Auteur, and while new digital technologies are certainly making it possible for a single person to create a film all on his or her own, I don’t subscribe to the Auteur Theory.Film is a collaborative art. It always has been, always will be. As I filmmaker and story-teller I rely on my collaborators to bring something to the table and help make our art better. Whether it’s a script review, edit notes, shot composition, production design, or of course an actors performance, the collaboration with another mind invariably elevates your material to a higher level. People have ideas and will see things from perspectives and come from places you could never imagine. That is the magic of film-making. Those are the moments that drive me. That surge of adrenaline when a collaborator off-handedly puts something in perspective for you after hours of banging your head against the wall. The spark that keeps you going at 2AM when you’re on take 16 and your actor tries something new and the whole scene comes together. Collaboration is key.
