tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post749174406424310828..comments2024-03-09T06:25:45.105-06:00Comments on uninflected images juxtaposed: Why Writing About Directing Is Tough...wcdixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06511429457006302795noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-35635243050279009052007-10-01T19:22:00.000-06:002007-10-01T19:22:00.000-06:00Lots of good questions, Don...I'll try to weave in...Lots of good questions, Don...I'll try to weave into some future posts.wcdixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06511429457006302795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-91048516735915575942007-10-01T09:31:00.000-06:002007-10-01T09:31:00.000-06:00one more thought on Bill's question -- I'd be inte...one more thought on Bill's question -- I'd be interested in hearing from some film directors as to how much the REAL WORLD of the program budget impacts their interpretation of the script ?? Writers can create all sorts of dreamscapes..but some poor soul has to cost them out -- then I assume it's the director who has to change -:<BR/><BR/>w/s -- BALL OF FIRE ENVELOPES FLEEING CROWD<BR/><BR/>into -:<BR/><BR/>mc/up -- MAN SHOUTS "Run for your life"<BR/><BR/>c/up -- FEET RUNNING THROUGH FRAME.<BR/><BR/>:)<BR/><BR/>So, how much time DO directors spend on the financials rather than the creative ???<BR/><BR/>dy"The Book of Don"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16018703743469634410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-1211999731264721672007-09-30T17:24:00.000-06:002007-09-30T17:24:00.000-06:00Hey Bill Cunningham....re: your question - as a do...Hey Bill Cunningham....re: your question - as a doc director I can't really answer with the credibility of Will or some of the other dudes who post here...but I'd hazard a guess that scripts which call for WIDE SHOTS OF CROWDS make producers' blood run cold<BR/><BR/>Tres expensive. Yes ??<BR/><BR/>I used to direct episodes of TOP COPS for a New York prodco back in the early 90s...and I'd always shoot the "crowd" shots in compression. Then cut a way fast.<BR/><BR/>I rarely had the budget to do an actual shot with more than 8 or 10 people in it."The Book of Don"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16018703743469634410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-75043569806457281302007-09-28T17:32:00.000-06:002007-09-28T17:32:00.000-06:00I found the techie stuff interesting, and back whe...I found the techie stuff interesting, and back when I was a kid I would have eaten all that up if it was available. When you are young you don't even know where to put the camera, let alone knowing what every movement or angle or trick can do in terms of controling the story.<BR/><BR/>I have respect for those directing skills. If people don't find it interesting, they don't have to read. <BR/><BR/>This is a screenwriting and directing blog. If you have knowledge about where to place the camera and how to tell the story, Mr Dixon, I want to read it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-82923544020891672522007-09-28T12:46:00.000-06:002007-09-28T12:46:00.000-06:00Hey...some questions!Keep 'em coming and I'll work...Hey...some questions!<BR/><BR/>Keep 'em coming and I'll work some answers into whatever I end up throwing together.wcdixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06511429457006302795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-61070272911911909982007-09-28T09:40:00.000-06:002007-09-28T09:40:00.000-06:00Anyone still reading? I know I'm supposed to be in...<I>Anyone still reading? I know I'm supposed to be into this stuff and my eyes were starting to glaze over...</I><BR/><BR/><BR/>Yeah, mine, too. I'm a regular reader of Greg's blog -- and I know that, as a producer, I really should pay more attention to this kind of thing -- but when he started to write about the technical aspects of the work he was doing as a director...my brain started to melt and I went "Whatevs!"Kelly J. Crawfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17616846693843517335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-77387030759352157202007-09-28T09:14:00.000-06:002007-09-28T09:14:00.000-06:00Here's a subject you can pick over from the direct...Here's a subject you can pick over from the director perspective:<BR/><BR/>What sort of stuff in scripts really get your blood boiling? Stuff that really makes you ask,"How the hell am I supposed to shoot that?" or "WTF?"<BR/><BR/>What are the mistakes, missteps we all make that drive directors into a frenzy?Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07137025404327426886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-16343057448073584622007-09-27T23:16:00.000-06:002007-09-27T23:16:00.000-06:00Hey Will, I've often wondered, how does a guest di...Hey Will, I've often wondered, how does a guest director on a TV show handle the actors? <BR/><BR/>How do you approach a situation where an actor obviously comfortable in their role isn't "bringing it" for a scene? Or for that matter, TV or Feature?<BR/><BR/>How do you make sure you're giving the actor playable directions on set? (Assuming anything talked about before hand is somehow not working) And that you're getting good performances.<BR/><BR/>You'd think recognizing a bad performance wouldn't be THAT difficult, and yet, so many movies and tv programs show otherwise. I'm just curious.Tim Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14715221121948727262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-46094186409078449382007-09-27T22:05:00.000-06:002007-09-27T22:05:00.000-06:00I hear you, Don...sure, sometimes I've gone hand h...I hear you, Don...sure, sometimes I've gone hand held because the story/scene warranted it, but 9 times out of 10 the camera came off the sticks because we were late in the day, losing the light, and there wasn't any chance in hell that production was going to push the scene to the next day. So no time and no budget definitely played a factor...and it's funny, the only people that have tried to shoot me have been execs from Fox.<BR/><BR/>Go figure.wcdixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06511429457006302795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27956160.post-80722368013757613912007-09-27T21:02:00.000-06:002007-09-27T21:02:00.000-06:00as a documentary director I must admit to feeling ...as a documentary director I must admit to feeling a sense of irritated smugness (if that makes sense) at all the "movie" directors who suddenly are discovering the documentary "look" - which, of course - does not exist. I've directed probably 100 hours of network docs for everyone from ESPN to the BBC to Fox (don't hate me) - and if some of my pieces had a visceral rawness to them it was either because I had NO BUDGET...NO TIME...or some asshole was trying to shoot me. Take my word for it the shaky-handi cam look sucks. And there's not a doc director I know who wouldn't trade his PD-170 for a Panasonic - 900 Digi-beta (with steadi-cam) in a milli-sec if given the choice."The Book of Don"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16018703743469634410noreply@blogger.com