for maksabem

[somedaybitch]

i was looking for something else and i came across some quotes by Stephen Frears, British director - he's directed 5 women to Oscar nominations. i like this one best, not just because it sounds good but because it's also wickedly true and insightful.

"Well, while you're shooting, you're bringing a story to life. It always goes in slightly unexpected ways. You're trying to make sure everybody's in the same film. John Gielgud always said, 'If you're lucky, you know what film you're in.' You want everyone comfortable with each other, agreeing on circumstances. You're asking actors, indeed, everybody on set, to be intimate, to be a family in a world that's the product of their mutual imagination. You're the patriarch, holding the whole thing together, depending on everyone being collaborative. In editing, you discover what you've got, what you've missed, what you should have done, things you hadn't thought of, holes that need filling. That's why Woody Allen re-shoots. It's done in light of what he's learned, because you make films in the dark, learning as you go. I'm always so curious to see where it's leading. To find out, you must let go, must relinquish control and be open. When I started opening up about 25 years ago, my films got better."

Comments

[kazbaby]

This is beautiful to me, thank you for posting it.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

my pleasure. it's some of the smartest stuff i've ever read on the process.

i guess i could also say that it can be used in defense of television; something that fans should keep in mind. you don't know what you've got until you get to the editing room. plenty of stuff that looks brilliant on paper, tanks in execution and if you're really lucky, you start to recognize that while filming and can compensate for it - Scratch and Sniff anyone? - and plenty of stuff that looks fairly craptastic on paper comes out beautifully filmed. most times, though, you don't have time to fix it and you get what you get.

that the majority of a season of any given quality show is actually quality product is pretty fucking remarkable, and not enough fans get that.