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August 29, 2008

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The Signal: A Collaboration in Three Parts

Three young directors who took Sundance by storm with their experiment in cinematic collaboration share the spotlight once again with an essay on the process

by Dan Bush, David Bruckner and Jacob Gentry | Published February 22, 2008

(Page 2)

Part II: Production
The Three Governing Branches—Believability, Inevitability and Contradiction—Work it Out
by Jacob Gentry
The production of The Signal was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of and, in this way, strangely exhilarating. We told the story through the eyes of three main characters in three separate sections called “transmissions,” each with a different director and a different cinematic vision for the disparate perspectives. We were three directors each developing our own short stories that together would form one linear feature film. This was no anthology, mind you. No, our movie had to appear seamless to the audience so as not to distract them from the horrifying journey of the main characters.

In this way, we were kind of like Voltron (the lions, not the vehicles.) Dave, Dan and I each had our own mechanical lion ship to pilot, but in the end we had to come together to form a giant sword-wielding warrior robot. This approach forced us to keep each other at the top of our games. We were the three branches of government with a system of checks and balances, forming the believability, inevitability and contradiction branches.

For the actual shooting of The Signal we had an extremely accelerated schedule. There was just not enough time for each of us to have our own shoot. (Due to some story crossover, we would sometimes even have to switch out directors within the same camera setup). All three of us photographed the movie, so while one of us ran the camera another would direct and the third would be at craft services talking about Goldfish crackers or the fundamental differences between gummy bears and gummy worms.

With all the potential for catastrophe in our attempt at being adventurous, we actually got along fantastically. I think that is due in part to our commitment to the overall story and our unyielding desire to put ego aside and just make a good movie. The play is the thing. It taught me a tremendous lesson about the truly collaborative nature of moviemaking and that the best idea should always win, no matter who came up with it.

The Signal was an experiment in trying to create a fresh and original movie experience by utilizing the individual talents of three unique independent directors. Hopefully the end result will be three times as good because of it. 

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MovieMaker Magazine

Magazine cover: Summer 2007This story was published in the Summer 2007 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:

Moviemaking in Three Parts

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