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Perfect Strangers
First-time writer-director relies on his instincts to make The Strangers
(Page 2)
Finding your cast is about finding the right person to help you create a true character. It is about finding someone who can help the words on the paper come alive. You are not looking for a mate for life, just someone who can dance to the next song. I think the search helped teach me to talk about movies with artists, and to start connecting to people with my ideas. Soon, you learn to get over the hesitation of referring to Liv Tyler as simply “Liv.” You learn that actors are people like you. You learn that they are looking to you to help them do a great job (even if you are not famous).
Holy shit. They’re nervous, too.
Within a few weeks I had cast my movie and was headed across the country. In truth, I had no idea what I was getting into. I hadn’t even realized I wouldn’t be back for five months; I had to send for more clothes. (It turns out winters in the east are much different than the ones in Los Angeles or Austin.) But soon I started to realize that you just have to dive in. There was no coming home—I was here until the end.
Just don’t get fired.
Did you know that they don’t pay first-time directors until two weeks into production? Nothing says confidence like your boss holding your paycheck until the shoot is a third of the way finished.
I remember walking around during my first location scout, moving around the yard of some home, trying to decide if the space felt right. (You can spend hours looking at the window frames, debating on whether the mailbox should be painted blue or red. I chose black.) I moved away from the pack to study some angle I had inside my head for a shot. When I turned I realized that everyone had followed me; that the crew was there, all with 10 times more experience, watching for what I would say. I can’t explain the shock I felt at that moment. I was in charge. I was the one they took direction from. It was me who had to have an answer to the questions.
Questions. Questions are the key to what a director does. You are like a machine, being driven from place to place. Your life is simplified: Your food is brought in, your clothes are cleaned, your calls are answered, all so that you have time to think and respond to the hundreds of questions you deal with every day.
I once spent an hour looking at silverware arrangements. Not only does silverware never show up in the film, but in the end, I feel like I would have chosen a different set today than I did back then.
That was one of the biggest lessons that I was forced to learn: How to be the President, the General, the Director. You walk into a room and the attention of those present falls to you. You scream, you laugh, you cry and the energy of everyone is instantly affected. You are the leader and I had to teach myself how to manage my team in a way that they could all come together. There was nothing in the books I had studied over the years before production that could have helped me. No, you have to learn to own the title.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by TLS on 6/01/08 at 6:53 am
Encouraging and inspiring article.
- Comment by Vancouver Wedding on 6/07/08 at 11:17 pm
Is the movie any good? I want to see it!
- Comment by C.A.C. on 6/10/08 at 7:15 pm
I heard the story wasn’t that great, but then again, who are my friends to say such things really! Anywho, great article! Hope to see more like these in the future!
- Comment by Free computer games on 10/02/08 at 6:13 pm
Thanks, where can I find more information about this?
- Comment by Giro Ionos on 10/28/08 at 10:33 pm
I liked the movie. Frankly, not the best, but a lot better than the majority of movies in its genre.
- Comment by Kiory on 11/12/08 at 11:42 am
heeforex
- Comment by Fogex Guidance on 12/16/08 at 4:34 am
I heard the story wasn’t that great, but then again, who are my friends to say such things really! Anywho, great article! Hope to see more like these in the future!
This story was published in the Future of Moviemaking 2008 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
Strange World
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