Things I’ve Learned as a MovieMaker

On Working With Comedy

Be serious about it. The characters have to believe
in the situation they are in and play it for real.

On Working With Actors

Give them a lot of freedom. Once I’ve chosen the actors
I love it when they come to me with ideas.

On Becoming A Writer

I think listening to the radio is quite helpful; listening
to stories. When I was a child we used to listen to the radio a
lot. We didn’t have a television. That’s the best way of visualizing.
You are making movies when you listen to a story; you have to create
your visual narrative.

On Giving the Audience What it Wants

I do think there is a craft to writing a certain type
of film. On the whole, I prefer films that have a personal vision;
I’m much more interested in somebody else’s take on life. So, the
idea of giving the audience what it wants… I find very sad. I realize
that marketing has become part of our lives, but I find it sad.
An audience can be drawn into understanding a different view. I
hate the sort of monoculture that is so prevalent in the world.
I want diversity.

On Feeding Your Muse

Film is life and I am an observer by nature. When
I was very young I could spend forever just watching and watching
people, imaging what their lives were. And I traveled a lot, getting
absorbed in completely different cultures. I used to take notes,
keep a journal. I used to be interested to the politics, the customs
and the art of the countries I visited. I would research places
before I visited, but then I would want to lose myself completely
in the background. I a kind of blotting paper and I bring these
pictures with me to film.

On Influences

The person who had the most of influence on me was
Wong Kar-Wai, particularly his early films. I love his kind of freedom
of shooting; a sort of pop style but with a nostalgic yearning.
The freedom—the way he moved the camera, the use of jump cuts—all
that was incredibly liberating.

On the Rules of Directing

There are so many way of making movies, so many styles.
Some people don’t like to plan or work out the choreography of the
shot, some people think it’s the DP, rather than the director, who
does that. There are no rules.