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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
There's no underestimating the power of the detail of real locations, whether you build it or go there. The amount of subtle information that people can absorb, from anything from the quality of light to the detail in the background, has an incredibly powerful impact on performance and on the audience.
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Killer Movie, Killer Moviemaking
Writer-director Patty Jenkins on Monster
Writer-director Patty Jenkins has hit the ground running with her first feature, the widely acclaimed, Monster, a riveting and dark love story detailing serial killer Aileen Wuornos' tragic descent into obsession and murder. Jenkins, who initially studied painting at the Cooper Union in New York City, fell in love with movies while attending an experimental film course between painting classes. After graduation, she went to Los Angeles and soon earned a union card as a first assistant camera operator.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If you want something fast, ask for it on an apple box. You can get an apple box faster than anything else on a set, maybe faster than anything anywhere in the world.
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Appetite for Self-Destruction
David Duchovny writes and directs House of D
We first noticed David Duchovny's sardonic tone, quick wit and immense talent back in 1993 with a then little-known sci-fi show called The X Files. Now, Duchovny puts his extensive resume to work with House of D, his debut film as a writer-director.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
When you're doing something for the first time, go in with a real concrete plan and take the time before you jump in there and start filming to map out what it is you want to do and why. So that whenever anyone asks you-whether it's an actor or a producer or a cameraman-'why are we putting the camera here' or something else, you always have an answer.
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Crossing the Line
Writer-director Matthew Ryan Hoge on The United States of Leland
Finding success as a first-time writer-director is hard—unless you have Kevin Spacey in your camp. With only two indie features under his belt (and both of them incomplete), writer-director Matthew Ryan Hoge was able to persuade Spacey and his Trigger Street production company of his talent and desire to step behind the camera on the very personal The United States of Leland.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Nothing matters but the characters and the acting. As a production designer, I would put so much effort into making the set perfect and then I would watch some movies I had done and realize none of it mattered. There are a lot of films with great sets, but we don't care to watch them if the story and the characters aren't compelling.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
You're told in film school that in order to direct an actor properly, more important than directing is the ability to write a scene in which the actor will feel comfortable, with dialogue which makes sense. Then put this actor in the right set, with the right clothes, with the right partner--and pick the right actors. (laughs) If all those elements have been carefully prepared, you have nothing to do but enjoy.
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It’s All About Pleasure
Jean-Jacques Annaud returns to theaters with Two Brothers
After a three-year absence, French moviemaker Jean-Jacques Annaud is back--returning to theaters this summer with Two Brothers, a sort of spiritual companion to his acclaimed international hit, The Bear. Always ready to go where no moviemaker has gone before, Annaud speaks with us about his latest project, the HD technology and why he finds beauty in the most unlikely places.
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Even Sweeter the Second Time Around
With her new film, Lords of Dogtown, Catherine Hardwicke shows the success of Thirteen was no fluke
Catherine Hardwicke’s first film, Thirteen, won her the 2003 directing award at Sundance. But her “overnight success” was actually 15 years in the making. Now she’s back with the Lords of Dogtown, another film about troubled teens set in and around Venice, California with a bigger budget to handle—and a reputation to live up to.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Don't let anyone else steer the direction of your film, your vision and your creativity. Let your own voice do the talking.
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Weighty Subject Benefits from Humor
Morgan Spurlock on his engaging, enlightening Super Size Me
McDonald’s is by now surely tired of hearing the name Morgan Spurlock. But moviegoers everywhere are eating up his new documentary, Super Size Me, in which Spurlock commits to a diet of three square Mickey D meals a day—for 30 days. Here, Spurlock offers up his dieting tips and talks about how one person can make a difference.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Break down the ego and create from truth. You need to tear yourself down and create from a clean place where nothing is certain and vision can grow. When you let your ego interfere your only hindering your art and limiting yourself in your abilities.
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Everything Comes Together
For Marc Forster, it's still all about telling stories
Five years ago, a little film called Monster’s Ball snuck into theaters and changed the landscape of contemporary independent film, propelling its director, Marc Forster, straight onto the Hollywood A-List. As he prepares for Stranger than Fiction and The Kite Runner and the DVD release of his latest film, Stay, Forster speaks with MM about his indie breakthrough.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If you've got good, unique stories to tell, and you stick to your guns and keep telling them with whatever resources you've got and just don't go away, eventually people will start listening.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
You need to have a very specific vision of what you are aiming for. But you have to simultaneously retain an openness to allow serendipity to creep in.
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Original Voice, Weirdly Poetic
Writer-director Rian Johnson redefines film noir with Brick
As the winner of last year’s Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision, writer-director Rian Johnson’s feature film debut, Brick, can easily be added to that lofty list of truly unique voices in cinema. MM spoke with Johnson about the language of film, the Sundance experience and being happy that his film is not for everyone.
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Extraordinary People
Writer-director Bronwen Hughes gets real with Stander
After trying her hand at kid’s films (Harriet the Spy) and romantic comedies (Forces of Nature), Steven Spielberg protégé Bronwen Hughes now has a number of true stories on her development slate, the first of which will be this August’s Stander, starring Thomas Jane. Like Hughes herself, the character at the center of her latest picture is not easily definable: Andre Stander was a celebrated cop who also happened to be one of the country’s most notorious bank robbers. In an interview with MM, Hughes spoke about that memorable meeting with Spielberg and why for her, interesting real people beat interesting fictional characters any day.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
When a script is ready, I commit to it. That's one of the problems with me. I usually develop my own material, and it takes a while, so therefore I am not directing as much as other people. And it's frustrating. You want to be working as much as possible, but I can only do the things I get passionate about.
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Batman and Kramer
The writer-director behind The Cooler arrives on the scene
Wayne Kramer is making his moviemaking
dreams a reality. After two indie features-Blazeland (which he calls "an
epic of misfortune unto itself") and Crossing Over-Wayne Kramer
is making a name (and career) for himself with The Cooler, a gritty
tale of the Las Vegas underworld starring William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin,
Maria Bello and Ron Livingston. On the eve of the film's release, Kramer
spoke with MM about his goals as a moviemaker, being a
collaborator and what it's like to go up against Alec Baldwin.
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The Power of “Warts and All” Moviemaking
Taylor Hackford takes on Ray Charles and Jamie Foxx
Early Oscar buzz may be the Holy Grail for most directors, but Taylor Hackford isn’t your average Hollywood helmer. Working in and out of the system for more than 25 years now, he’s more concerned with knowing that audiences will finally get to see Ray, a film 15 years in the making.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Trust your script. It's easy to fall in love with something that's "set funny." Trust the document that made you want to make the film, even if you wrote it yourself.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Say something that isn't just a platitude; something that really is meaningful.
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Second Chances
Writer-director Laurie Collyer explores her past in Sherrybaby
After coping with the loss of childhood friends from overdoses and prison, writer-director Laurie Collyer let out her aggression the only way she knew how-through movies. Gaining recognition for her gritty documentary Nuyorican Dream in 1999, Collyer quickly began work on her first screenplay, Sherrybaby, to explore the deep-seeded issues of her past.
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In True Indie Fashion
Editor-turned-director Curtiss Clayton strikes out on his own with Daniel "Lemony Snicket" Handler's script, Rick
You'd think that after 20 years in the business, making movies would only get easier. But as editor-turned-director Curtiss Clayton discovered with his directorial debut, the dark dramedy Rick, all the experience in the world cannot protect you from The Laws of Indie Moviemaking.
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Make Them Laugh-Then Make Them Think
Director Jason Reitman says Thank You For Smoking
Since its premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, Jason Reitman’s Thank You For Smoking has been acquiring the kind of overwhelming buzz that is often associated with great moviemaking success stories. MM recently spoke with Reitman about perseverance, his father Ivan’s good name and the harsh reality check that is IMDB.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I found that when you think you're done editing you can always cut out another 20 minutes (as long as your film is not 90 minutes when you first get that feeling).
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Auteur Seeks Complex Character
Writer-Director David Jacobson tackles complex characters in Down in the Valley
First gaining attention with 2002’s Dahmer, a brilliant character study depicting the life of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, writer-director David Jacobson secured his position as a new and important voice in independent cinema with three Independent Spirit Award nominations. Now, with Down in the Valley, Jacobson is crossing character lines once again. Jacobson spoke with MM about working why test screenings do more harm than good and the joy that lies in writing characters that cannot be easily pinned down.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Soundstages are more reliable than Mother Nature.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If you can shed your ego and get other people to help you, you all benefit more in the end. I think that could be applied to anything in life. But the good thing as the director is that you get so much of the credit in the end anyway.
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Master of the Universe
Director Frank Coraci has the world in the palm of his hand
Curtiz and Bogart. Kurosawa and Mifune. Herzog and Kinski. Scorsese and De Niro. Coraci and Sandler? College buddies Frank Coraci and Adam Sandler may not be aiming to make the next Casablanca, but there’s no denying the magic that exists in their collaborations. Of the five feature films that Coraci has directed, Sandler has starred in three of them—including The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy—and together they’ve brought in close to a half billion dollars at the box office.
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The Color of Forbidden Fruit
Chen Kaige lights up the screen with The Promise
Longtime fans of Asian cinema might be jarred by director Chen Kaige's radical stylistic turn with The Promise. But they shouldn't be surprised. Having endured China's Cultural Revolution during his youth, the director is no stranger to abrupt cultural shifts, violent social upheaval and the need for adaptation.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
If you want to learn what kind of a filmmaker you are then trust your artistic instincts first, commercial instincts second and parents' instincts last. If you want to make a lot of money, reverse these.
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The Director who Defies Audience Expectations
An Interview with Brad Anderson
Leave it to writer/director Brad Anderson to defy audience expectations. Though he's often been pigeonholed as 'the romantic-comedy guy' following the success of his first two features, The Darien Gap (1995) and his breakthrough hit, Next Stop Wonderland (1998), he's changing that rep with his latest two films. First up is the psychological thriller Session 9, followed closely by the romance with a sci-fi twist, Happy Accidents. Here, Anderson talks with MM about his conscious decision to cross genres and why he's looking forward to making a studio film.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
I like to direct each scene knowing it's part of a much bigger fabric.
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