Part of the journey of creating this film is to find out what it is we have made. We went through a test screening process to become more objective and to better understand this, after the fact.
One thing I now see more clearly is that the film is a reflection of the process by which it was developed. It will not look like a film developed using the linear 'waterfall' method of moviemaking: script development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution. Our film story process began with a desire to express a common type of experience both Andre and I shared: a breakdown of a worldview resulting in a new understanding of Self. So we wrote a story outline. Expanded the outline. Wrote some scene dialogue. Rehearsed a sequence of scenes with actors. Revised the dialogue. Shot some scenes where the dialogue was enhanced again by the actors. Wrote more dialogue. etc. The process was iterative. The result is a film with naturalistic dialogue and an eclectic tone. We mixed together a little of Alexander Payne's About Schmidt and some of Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies with a dab of David Lynch's Twin Peaks.
If the film is about making a name for myself as a director, will I succeed? If the film is about making money, will I connect with people's entertainment expectations? Too much evaluation creates a fear of missing the mark. What I was taught was that I needed to throw the mark away and move freely on the set.
No comments:
Post a Comment