Watched by Matt on April 14 2010:
“Up in the Air” director Jason Reitman is talking about directing in this clip from KPCS, but a lot of his advice (put actors in the room and see what happens, plans can be a waste of time because you don’t know what you need until you edit, the “perfect science” approach taught in grad school ignores the chaos of reality, etc.) applies to creating a product or business too. Also, interesting to hear how he filmed/edited the entire airport security scene from “Up in the Air” on a camcorder first and then brought in the real crew to recreate it.
Related: Stanley Kubrick quotes [SvN]
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4 comments so far
Justin Reese 14 Apr 10
There are of course exceptions, but I’ve found that to be terribly true, especially when filming (don’t laugh) videos of our toddler. We’ve made a few dramatic shorts with him, and there is no sense in pre-planning more than a loose plot, because you won’t get him to hit his mark. (Amateur.)
Better to know sort of what you want, let the camera roll, and write the story details in editing.
That is not universally applicable, but there was a tremendous freedom in letting detailed plans go and working with reality instead.
Justin Reese 14 Apr 10
Yes I just compared videos of my toddler to Jason’s work. Deal, Reitman. DEAL .
Eric 14 Apr 10
Lucas spliced the falcon/tie dogfight in the first SW from WWII footage before turning it over to the tech guys as a template. It’s a really good way to define and refine the creative into a model that can be followed by the crew.
As for actors in a room, it will depend. I imagine that writing dialog for Robin Williams is difficult, but wind him up and let him go and it may be just what you need. These people still need direction, but scripting them too much would often be wasting their talent.
Craig Fratrik 14 Apr 10
Posted 17 minutes before. A relevant cartoon.
Comments are closed