NOVEL WEB Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 11 Film Directing: 10 Minutes from Beginner to Mastery
Chapter 11 Film Directing: 10 Minutes from Beginner to Mastery
Roger led Ronald into the large room next to the principal's office, with "Detention" written on the door.This is where the public school principal wields the power to leave a few mischievous students after school for punishment.
The two sat at the corner of the conference table.Roger Coleman took a sip of coffee and said slowly:
"Most of the directors who work for me are newcomers in the industry. So every new director, before I direct for the first time, I will talk to them once. I will tell them my directing experience and let them get started quickly."
"Although you are a temporary director who only directs for one day, I will treat you equally and talk to you once."
"In the next 10 minutes, I will tell you about my experience as a director. I have made more than 50 films as a director, and many directors have not made as many as I have in my life."
"The most expensive part of making a movie is the shooting stage. The pre-production and post-editing don't cost much. In the middle of the shooting stage, it costs money every day. So in my opinion, there is only one way to shoot a movie, and that is to shoot quickly. "
"Do you mind if I take some notes?" Ronald asked. After getting Roger's approval, he took out a small notebook and a ballpoint pen from his pocket, and quickly wrote down "Photography, Front and Back, Medium Snapshot" .
"On the set, if you have the opportunity, you have to sit down, because the director needs to stand for a long time and walk a lot. If you have the opportunity, you have to rest, otherwise you will be very tired, which will affect the next day's shooting. This is why the director's chair has a name to prevent Someone else is sitting."
"Look for a chair..." Ronald jotted down in his notebook.
"The most important thing about a movie is the first reel (about 11 minutes) at the beginning, the audience wants to know what happened. The second most important thing is the last reel, the audience wants to know how it ends. Those in the middle don't matter, take whatever you want .”
"One roll is the heaviest..." Ronald remembered again.
"When writing a script, pay attention to focusing on a few main scenes. You can shoot many scenes for each scene, saving money and time. If the scene can use natural light or free light, write more scenes, which can save money. The cost and time of setting up the lights.”
"Concentrate the scene, save light, reduce light..." Ronald looked up after remembering, waiting for the next one.
"Do you know shorthand?" Roger became interested.
"Yes, I took a shorthand correspondence class when I was in grade 10." Ronald replied, "I had a physical problem at that time, and it was difficult to speak. My aunt was afraid that I would not be able to find a job in the future, so she asked me to learn one. Fortunately, I recovered later.”
Roger Coleman looked at his shorthand with interest...
"Don't worry when rehearsing, spend as much time as you need. The time spent in rehearsing will be saved in shooting, and it will be fast if you don't rework."
"Do your best to rehearse..."
“Be confident on set, people on set are always paying attention to what the director is doing, especially at the beginning of filming. Give them clear and specific instructions. As soon as you come in, tell them how the shot is, so they can I will recognize you and give you the greatest support."
"Actually, the technical details of making a movie are not difficult. As a new director, you can master various techniques in about a week, and it can be faster if you are smarter. But the performance of actors is always a big problem, and you need to learn as much as possible. and gain experience.”
Roger talked eloquently, "How to inspire and encourage actors to give full play to their acting skills, and how to control it within the overall framework of the film is the gold standard for distinguishing good directors from bad directors."
"In addition to spending time rehearsing, we also need to communicate with the actors as much as possible. Many mistakes are caused by the lack of mutual understanding between the director and the actors."
"If he's a method actor, you can discuss the highest task with him, what does this role want? What is his motivation?"
"Give the actors the script for tomorrow's shooting in advance. Don't give the script the same day, so there is no time to digest it."
"If the actors have the ability to improvise, they can also improvise. Not every actor can improvise, and there are more comedians. But this is also a matter of the director's style. I mainly follow the script."
"Let the camera move, the camera is the eyes of the audience. Human eyes don't like things that are still. If something stays still on the screen for more than 5 seconds, the human eyes will start to get bored, so let the camera keep moving, or let the There is something new and exciting in the picture.”
"The story line of a low-budget movie is not important. People don't come to see the story, but to see women in bikinis shooting terrorists with machine guns, or a group of high school girls singing and dancing in cool clothes."
"Always trust your DP, if you have a good DP. If he says he got it, he got it, because you can't see it yourself. If your DP doesn't, then Get another one, or do it yourself."
The most suitable light for shooting outdoors is around sunrise and sunset, which is called magic light.But the magic rays are short.Make the most of your time.If you want to take a longer shot, you can find a hillside and shoot the main shot at the foot of the hill first.After sunset, climb to the hillside to chase the light. The higher places have not yet set, so you can take close-up shots on the hillside.Just bring a photographer, a reflector, and the actors to climb the mountain.Because the background can't be seen in close-up shots, it won't go through..."
Roger starts off with his various tips for saving money on low-budget movies, and Ronald writes them off quickly.
"You already know the Hollywood approach. A master shot, two over-the-shoulder shots, then a close-up..."
"Always have a sense of humor. Movies are a very torturous business. There are all kinds of accidents and emergencies. You need to have a good sense of humor in order to find ways to flexibly deal with these things that are not in the shooting plan. trouble here."
Ronald's shorthand is very fast, and he often memorizes it as soon as Roger finishes speaking, and then raises his curious eyes to look at him.
Roger Coleman is a little proud. This may be the happiest time he has ever been a teacher. When he was happy, he couldn't help but talk about things other than director experience.
"If you want to express a certain theme through the film, put it in the background story. Never jump out of the movie directly and let the character speak to promote a certain value. Put him in the subtext, and the audience will subtly influence it. Take it, say it straight up, and the audience will resent your preaching."
"To this day, I have directed and supervised no less than 200 films, and only one has lost money, which is the 'Invader' in 1962. Because I want to promote equality and progressive values too much, I let the protagonist speak directly about black people. Racial equity issues, it's the only movie I've ever lost money on, even though the reviews were good."
"The last one, if you want to be a filmmaker, you must persist, persist and persist. If you want to make a fortune, go to real estate."
"Ah," Ronald complained in his heart, "you have made so many profitable movies, why don't you get rich? I heard that you are a multi-millionaire. But I don't want to make money in the movie industry." , Let's talk about your qualifications first..."
After closing the notebook and putting it in their pockets, the two got up and went out, with Ronald behind him, and turned off the fluorescent light switch.Roger Coleman nodded in satisfaction.
Such a stingy multi-millionaire is really rare.
The real English shorthand method is to omit most vowels. Let me show you an example:
F u cn rd ths msg,
u 2 cn dbl yr incm
w spdwrtng.
(End of this chapter)
Roger led Ronald into the large room next to the principal's office, with "Detention" written on the door.This is where the public school principal wields the power to leave a few mischievous students after school for punishment.
The two sat at the corner of the conference table.Roger Coleman took a sip of coffee and said slowly:
"Most of the directors who work for me are newcomers in the industry. So every new director, before I direct for the first time, I will talk to them once. I will tell them my directing experience and let them get started quickly."
"Although you are a temporary director who only directs for one day, I will treat you equally and talk to you once."
"In the next 10 minutes, I will tell you about my experience as a director. I have made more than 50 films as a director, and many directors have not made as many as I have in my life."
"The most expensive part of making a movie is the shooting stage. The pre-production and post-editing don't cost much. In the middle of the shooting stage, it costs money every day. So in my opinion, there is only one way to shoot a movie, and that is to shoot quickly. "
"Do you mind if I take some notes?" Ronald asked. After getting Roger's approval, he took out a small notebook and a ballpoint pen from his pocket, and quickly wrote down "Photography, Front and Back, Medium Snapshot" .
"On the set, if you have the opportunity, you have to sit down, because the director needs to stand for a long time and walk a lot. If you have the opportunity, you have to rest, otherwise you will be very tired, which will affect the next day's shooting. This is why the director's chair has a name to prevent Someone else is sitting."
"Look for a chair..." Ronald jotted down in his notebook.
"The most important thing about a movie is the first reel (about 11 minutes) at the beginning, the audience wants to know what happened. The second most important thing is the last reel, the audience wants to know how it ends. Those in the middle don't matter, take whatever you want .”
"One roll is the heaviest..." Ronald remembered again.
"When writing a script, pay attention to focusing on a few main scenes. You can shoot many scenes for each scene, saving money and time. If the scene can use natural light or free light, write more scenes, which can save money. The cost and time of setting up the lights.”
"Concentrate the scene, save light, reduce light..." Ronald looked up after remembering, waiting for the next one.
"Do you know shorthand?" Roger became interested.
"Yes, I took a shorthand correspondence class when I was in grade 10." Ronald replied, "I had a physical problem at that time, and it was difficult to speak. My aunt was afraid that I would not be able to find a job in the future, so she asked me to learn one. Fortunately, I recovered later.”
Roger Coleman looked at his shorthand with interest...
"Don't worry when rehearsing, spend as much time as you need. The time spent in rehearsing will be saved in shooting, and it will be fast if you don't rework."
"Do your best to rehearse..."
“Be confident on set, people on set are always paying attention to what the director is doing, especially at the beginning of filming. Give them clear and specific instructions. As soon as you come in, tell them how the shot is, so they can I will recognize you and give you the greatest support."
"Actually, the technical details of making a movie are not difficult. As a new director, you can master various techniques in about a week, and it can be faster if you are smarter. But the performance of actors is always a big problem, and you need to learn as much as possible. and gain experience.”
Roger talked eloquently, "How to inspire and encourage actors to give full play to their acting skills, and how to control it within the overall framework of the film is the gold standard for distinguishing good directors from bad directors."
"In addition to spending time rehearsing, we also need to communicate with the actors as much as possible. Many mistakes are caused by the lack of mutual understanding between the director and the actors."
"If he's a method actor, you can discuss the highest task with him, what does this role want? What is his motivation?"
"Give the actors the script for tomorrow's shooting in advance. Don't give the script the same day, so there is no time to digest it."
"If the actors have the ability to improvise, they can also improvise. Not every actor can improvise, and there are more comedians. But this is also a matter of the director's style. I mainly follow the script."
"Let the camera move, the camera is the eyes of the audience. Human eyes don't like things that are still. If something stays still on the screen for more than 5 seconds, the human eyes will start to get bored, so let the camera keep moving, or let the There is something new and exciting in the picture.”
"The story line of a low-budget movie is not important. People don't come to see the story, but to see women in bikinis shooting terrorists with machine guns, or a group of high school girls singing and dancing in cool clothes."
"Always trust your DP, if you have a good DP. If he says he got it, he got it, because you can't see it yourself. If your DP doesn't, then Get another one, or do it yourself."
The most suitable light for shooting outdoors is around sunrise and sunset, which is called magic light.But the magic rays are short.Make the most of your time.If you want to take a longer shot, you can find a hillside and shoot the main shot at the foot of the hill first.After sunset, climb to the hillside to chase the light. The higher places have not yet set, so you can take close-up shots on the hillside.Just bring a photographer, a reflector, and the actors to climb the mountain.Because the background can't be seen in close-up shots, it won't go through..."
Roger starts off with his various tips for saving money on low-budget movies, and Ronald writes them off quickly.
"You already know the Hollywood approach. A master shot, two over-the-shoulder shots, then a close-up..."
"Always have a sense of humor. Movies are a very torturous business. There are all kinds of accidents and emergencies. You need to have a good sense of humor in order to find ways to flexibly deal with these things that are not in the shooting plan. trouble here."
Ronald's shorthand is very fast, and he often memorizes it as soon as Roger finishes speaking, and then raises his curious eyes to look at him.
Roger Coleman is a little proud. This may be the happiest time he has ever been a teacher. When he was happy, he couldn't help but talk about things other than director experience.
"If you want to express a certain theme through the film, put it in the background story. Never jump out of the movie directly and let the character speak to promote a certain value. Put him in the subtext, and the audience will subtly influence it. Take it, say it straight up, and the audience will resent your preaching."
"To this day, I have directed and supervised no less than 200 films, and only one has lost money, which is the 'Invader' in 1962. Because I want to promote equality and progressive values too much, I let the protagonist speak directly about black people. Racial equity issues, it's the only movie I've ever lost money on, even though the reviews were good."
"The last one, if you want to be a filmmaker, you must persist, persist and persist. If you want to make a fortune, go to real estate."
"Ah," Ronald complained in his heart, "you have made so many profitable movies, why don't you get rich? I heard that you are a multi-millionaire. But I don't want to make money in the movie industry." , Let's talk about your qualifications first..."
After closing the notebook and putting it in their pockets, the two got up and went out, with Ronald behind him, and turned off the fluorescent light switch.Roger Coleman nodded in satisfaction.
Such a stingy multi-millionaire is really rare.
The real English shorthand method is to omit most vowels. Let me show you an example:
F u cn rd ths msg,
u 2 cn dbl yr incm
w spdwrtng.
(End of this chapter)
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