When Less is More in Filmmaking
I sent out some random movie news to all my usual people not too long before reading this item (see below after comments) from imdb.com about Robert Rodriguez. I'm a big fan of his work and I love his approach to filmmaking. He's one of the most creative guys out there and is able to produce great flicks for a fraction of what other directors require. Check out his Ten Minute Film/Flick School segments on the DVDs of his Mariachi series (El Mariachi, Desperado, & Once Upon a Time in Mexico). While I may not totally agree with his 'Film is dead' statement, he's probably the only director out there right now who really knows how to utilize filming digitally...forget the new "Star Wars" movies but do check out "28 Days Later" to see another director's approach to 'filming' with DV. I kid you not, I saw plenty of dailies for "Sin City" where it was just actors in a green room following marks on the floor and the rest of the environment was added in later and the movie looks AMAZING. I have so much respect for Rodriguez (and Miramax/Dimension films, of course) that I decided to post the aforementioned article from imdb:
When Less is More in Filmmaking
By keeping his film budgets relatively low, director Robert Rodriguez indicated with a touch of irony today (Wednesday), he has been allowed greater freedom than directors who work with bloated budgets. Appearing at a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival where his latest film, Sin City, is competing for the Palme d'Or, Rodriguez commented that a low budget also "makes you more creative." Moreover, he told reporters, it also has allowed him to get his film projects approved quickly. Sin City was approved within minutes by former Miramax chiefs Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, he said. (Made for $45 million, it has taken in $73 million domestically.) Making his films in Austin, TX (he is wearing a cowboy hat at Cannes), he also indicated, has allowed him to remain "under the radar" and keep studio executives at arms' length. He added that the liberty that he had been granted by the Weinsteins had been "extraordinary" and expressed no concern about their departure from Disney to form a separate company. "Disney was their bank," Rodriguez said. "Now, they're going to get another bank." He suggested that he plans to make his next film for the Weinsteins. "I'm going to follow them wherever they go," he said.
When Less is More in Filmmaking
By keeping his film budgets relatively low, director Robert Rodriguez indicated with a touch of irony today (Wednesday), he has been allowed greater freedom than directors who work with bloated budgets. Appearing at a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival where his latest film, Sin City, is competing for the Palme d'Or, Rodriguez commented that a low budget also "makes you more creative." Moreover, he told reporters, it also has allowed him to get his film projects approved quickly. Sin City was approved within minutes by former Miramax chiefs Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, he said. (Made for $45 million, it has taken in $73 million domestically.) Making his films in Austin, TX (he is wearing a cowboy hat at Cannes), he also indicated, has allowed him to remain "under the radar" and keep studio executives at arms' length. He added that the liberty that he had been granted by the Weinsteins had been "extraordinary" and expressed no concern about their departure from Disney to form a separate company. "Disney was their bank," Rodriguez said. "Now, they're going to get another bank." He suggested that he plans to make his next film for the Weinsteins. "I'm going to follow them wherever they go," he said.
posted by Scott at 11:19 AM
3 Comments:
Pretty cool! I hope to see more great stuff from Rodriguez!
The problem I see here is that it seems like Scott is more into the idea of making movies. If you're on a tight budget, it makes you creative and inventive. How do you make a film where you pay your actors with chicken because your budget is practically non-existant? First, you get your family to be the actors. Work on the rest from there.
Raza, however, is looking at everything from the viewpoint of the audience (which is totally understandable.) Let's take Star Wars Episode III for example. Visually it was stunning. In terms of the action and special effects, you could see where the money went. The plot (in this case,) was really good, but the acting was a bit over-dramatic. (However, in the case of Star Wars, it may be intentional.) I can see how the non-geek can see Episode III and think that the acting was less than stellar. That's what the big budget is for!
However, if you have a vested an interest in filmmaking, then the inventive solutions that some directors have come up with are quite amazing. The problem is that most people don't even realize it. (How many people knew that some of the T-1000 fight scenes in Terminator 2 had a guy in a mylar suit instead of using CGI?)
Interesting that you mention Princess Mononoke, Raza, as it too was distributed by Miramax! I don't recall having to do any edits for the film when we delivered it to the network that ordered it, I think we just had to have it varisped and definitely had to shorten the end credits. It did quite well overseas where it grossed over $150 million and considering that it was only released in 129 theatres domestically, it did quite well in the states with a little less than two and a half mil.
And yes, I am 'guilty' of paying my family in chicken to act in my flicks.
Post a Comment
<< Home