Shooting the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer logo. A dangerous set-up, especially when you need to have a lion roar in your face on queue. The iconic logo must have been a great opener for early talkies, convincing skeptics in the first seconds of a screening that sound is a viable option for movies. The fierce roar has translated all the way to the present. It is remains a surprisingly old-fashioned logo, having never changed in concept since its creation a century ago.
He is known today is the most illusive director in the business who hasn’t given an interview or made a pubic appearance in 30 years. Yet you can see a young Terrence Malick in a brief speaking role in Badlands. A role supposed to go to another actor who abruptly didn’t show for his shoot day, forcing the shy director to step in front of the camera. That actor should be kicking himself today.
Terrence Malick in Badlands
(Source: litzapalooza)
Jeff Goldblum. Living Legend.
I have a dream… and that is for more of this man, more often.
Bushnell Keeler, the father of my friend Toby, always had this expression: ‘If you want to get one hour of good painting in, you have to have four hours of uninterrupted time.’
And that’s basically true.
People have often said to me, “why not do it the way Hitchcock did and just suggest things?” and first of all I say, “have you ever seen ‘Frenzy’?” because I think Hitchcock’s reticence to show stuff really had more to do with the temper of the times and the censorship of the times than it did with his own demons.
I have to show things because I am showing things that people could not imagine.
Kurosawa’s own hand-painted watercolour storyboards for Kagemusha (1980) painted in exuberant detail during the lengthy development hell on the project to “keep him sane”. Many of these paintings are in the personal collections of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, who helped fund and executive produced the late-era Kurosawa masterpiece.
Below the image is a comparison shot of the same scene in the final film. A great attention to detail and consistency can be seen between Kurosawa’s vision and execution.
We may be impressed by the visual effect, but we aren’t impressed by the achievement. Watching these silent films, we feel a kind of awe, because we see that the sets are really there, and really that size.
Shooting is never a pleasant experience for me. The only enjoyable aspect is working with people you care for. Sometimes, there’s also a magical moment when something unexpected happens, and that’s gratifying, but only for a few seconds. The torture start again straightaway! THe shoot is the phase I enjoy least. I much prefer editing. That’s when everything takes shape, even though depression is just around the corner when things don’t work.
Television has brought back murder into the home - where it belongs.
