What kinds of films do YOU want to make?

[Boone Hudgins]

I want to make dry, witty movies combining irony and pure sentiment, tending to showcase the humor in what we see as bad situations. Ultimately studying characters and their relationships with each other, but along the way mixing genres together to come up with interesting takes on things we think we've seen before. I also would like to make intelligent films with mature subjects that don't alienate the family by including gratuitous adult content.

 

Like David Mullen, and other influences of mine, I'd like to work with a very deliberate, controlled camera. Precise composition and camera movement and long takes are very pleasing to me, as are very wide lenses and reletively high stops. Semi-expressionistic design and lighting, visualizing internal conflicts simultaneously with the external, is something I'd hope to be able to do, in a kind of "theatrical realism."

 

I find the ability to speak artistically both through word and picture to be very intriguing, and finding a balance between the two is quite fun.

[Jason Debus]

I started down this path to make quality Sci-Fi, in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris. To me there is a great void of these types of films, they always have to have some sort of chase or massive explosions these days.

 

To me, good Sci-Fi takes a 'future concept' and explores the moral and intellectual implications. For example, 'The Island' has great ideas behind it, but it just ends up in a chase. Same goes for 'Minority Report' (although the 'pre-crime' idea had potential, they just had to put an extended chase scene in). 'I-Robot', another example of a good idea that could have been handled better.

 

Here are some examples of what I consider quality Sci-Fi (besides 2001 & Solaris):

 

Gattaca

Blade Runner

Alien (this is almost more of a horror/monster movie though)

A Clockwork Orange

Dune

12 Monkeys

Videodrome

Contact

AI

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. :)

Edited August 8, 2005 by Jason Debus

[Gordon Highland]

i'd like to do something that was shot entirely from first-person POV. I've heard this has been done before, but I haven't seen it personally. Kind of like "The Continental" on SNL with Christopher Walken, but serious. Maybe in the end we cut away and reveal that the protagonist is a Steadicam operator. . . :lol:

 

But seriously, I just want a visceral, physical reaction from the audience. How about a movie that is actually scary and doens't have to be PG-13? The Exorcist was on last night, and I just couldn't turn away until 3:30 am (and then TRYING to sleep, not to mention the emotional wrenching from Six Feet Under just before). Something that people can't just go about their business afterward; they have to get pie and coffee and decompress and discuss.

 

i guess if vomiting is a visceral reaction, modern country music really moves me, too.

[Andy O'Neil]

Major Influences of Mine:

 

"The Thin Red Line"

"2001"

"Alien"

"Kramer vs. Kramer"

"The Conversation"

"Cries and Whispers"

 

I want to make something dark, peppered with off humor, something intriguing without taking myself too seriously.

 

The dreams I remember most usually have something to do with water and the fear of what's in it.

 

One scene that I have in mind involves a soldier's discovery of a beached blue whale. I have a fixation for repressed feelings and memories. A beached whale, this mammoth creature that should be in the water but isn't, in fact it's decaying on a beach, really freaks me out. It's the ultimate symbol of repression for me. I didn't figure that out until recently.

[Sean Azze]

My top two favorite films are "Memento" and the "Back to the Future" trilogy. (for me, BTTF I, II, and III is just a 6 hour film broken up into 3 parts.)

 

I feel the thing these two films have in common is that they are terribly clever. They both have a concept that makes you nod in approval and think to yourself "Why, these bastards are really brilliant."

 

So, I'd like to make films that are quite clever. Films that revolve around ideas that are novel and original, yet never forgetting to make them personal. Should I have a hyper real situation taking place, I still want to feature charcters who are real. Who don't sound scripted. I'd encourage my actors to flub their lines - because after all, people in real life stumble over their words all the time. If something totally surreal happened to one of my characters, I would want him to be profoundly affected by it - cope with it, react like a real person - not just pick up a shotgun and start spewing clever catch phrases.

 

Also, my main characters would often be minorities. I find that Hollywood is oversaturated with white casts. Too often films that offer great black roles usually directly deal with the black experience, or feature a historical figure that is black. "Ray" would have starred Tom Cruise if the producers thought they could get away with it. I'd like to make suspense, fantasy, or sci-fi films where the main character is a minority, yet doesn't have to spend the majority of the film being reminded that he is a minority.

[Adam Frisch FSF]

One scene that I have in mind involves a soldier's discovery of a beached blue whale. I have a fixation for repressed feelings and memories. A beached whale, this mammoth creature that should be in the water but isn't, in fact it's decaying on a beach, really freaks me out. It's the ultimate symbol of repression for me. I didn't figure that out until recently.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's a good scene - I can see it in front of me. You should do it at some point. Also very brave of you to post it here on an open forum where anyone could steal it...

:P

[Nate Downes]

Also, my main characters would often be minorities.  I find that Hollywood is oversaturated with white casts.  Too often films that offer great black roles usually directly deal with the black experience, or feature a historical figure that is black.  "Ray" would have starred Tom Cruise if the producers thought they could get away with it.  I'd like to make suspense, fantasy, or sci-fi films where the main character is a minority, yet doesn't have to spend the majority of the film being reminded that he is a minority.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Agreed there, but I tend to like twisting that a bit, minorities that appear to be majorities, and vice-versa. The black kid is the closeted Christian while the apparent WASP is actually a practictioner of ancient Celtic beliefs.

 

I have one feature I've optioned where there is no white cast at all, it takes place in africa, all the characters are africans, would be a sin against filmmaking itself to put a white face in front of the camera.

[Guest Roman]

I?d like to make a film where each character?s POV is shown differently. Up to the point of being mismatched completely, if you know what I mean. Even the colors in each POV should play differently. I just can?t buy that some extraordinary beautiful women (Angelina Jolie, Adriana Lima?) sees the world in the same colors as we mortals do :)

[Ger Leonard]

I enjoy a wide range of film and music but when it comes to my writing and directing, just like most of the best in music it has to come from the soul with integrity and passion.

 

As in music, much of the films currently lauded lack true character... manufactured simply for the radio and the multiplex..to appease market forces.... to numb and degrade rather than enlighten..

 

It is also unfortunately true that many of the films lauded as personal are nothing but self indulgent excercises in pleasing festival judges/peers..

 

It seems sad that many individual artists with new distinctive voices flounder after their debut outing in a desparate attempt to get signed to a major label/ studio.... and all too often lose themselves in the shouted cliches and noise..

 

I do not wish to make films to emulate films but to communicate with people and life...,

films that dont merely wish to escape but rather to embrace life..

 

i would rather be in a musician that writes and creates their own music, their own sound, rather than be in some cover/ rip off band trying to cash in with recycled watered down versions of other people's past glories..

[Chris Keth]

I don't know... I just really hate that type of glorified violence. It's such a cop out.

 

When I walk into a movie theater I don't want to be grossed out for no reason. It's not like I can't take it (I wish I had a weaker stomach), it's just that it's a pointless waste of time. If I want to see people chopping other people's heads off I'll turn on CNN. I'm sure the Bigley family in London got a kick out that scene with Lucy Liu chopping that guy's head off!

 

Seriously though, if there was one thing, anything, that made Kill Bill a good film I must have missed it.

 

Oh wait... :o !!!

 

Everyone says it's a cool, 'original' film... so I guess that means it has to be cool after all. That blood spurting everywhere... and that scene where Uma kills like 100 bad guys! That was f-----g awesome!

 

<grunt, grunt! beat chest!>

 

Now where's that damn banana?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Then don't go see violent films. I liked Kill Bill. It was entertaining, period. I won't pretend it's not overly violent, it was. That's why it's entertaining. It's outrageous in every sense. He wanted to make a genre film, so he took every wild crazy thing he could from the samurai and other martial arts flicks he likes and put them all into one completely off-the-wall movie. It's fun, don't be so damn oversensitive about it. You're not forced to watch it.

[Boone Hudgins]

One scene that I have in mind involves a soldier's discovery of a beached blue whale. I have a fixation for repressed feelings and memories. A beached whale, this mammoth creature that should be in the water but isn't, in fact it's decaying on a beach, really freaks me out. It's the ultimate symbol of repression for me. I didn't figure that out until recently.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interesting. I've had an idea for a while of a story told on the backdrop of a beached whale that eventually is blown apart by dynamite; an event that actually occured in Florence, Oregon in the 1970s.

[Mike Lary]

I'd like to work on the kind of films that aren't created solely for mass appeal, even if they are accessible to a large audience. Audiences are too eager to make excuses for films as long as they fit within the acceptable formulas, cliches, and unrealism associated with modern Hollywood films. It would be nice to work with people who hold filmmaking to a higher standard and work outside of that safety net.

 

In a perfect world, every film would be as beautiful as Barry Lyndon :blink: and stylistically unique to it's own story, based on a story written by a real writer, in accordance with Kurosawa's philosophy of making films accessible on two levels, respectful of real-world physics (or clearly established fictional physics within the framework of the story), and devoid of unmotivated violence, gore or profanity. Of course, original scores by Angelo Badalamenti would be nice, too. :D

Edited August 10, 2005 by MikeL

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Then don't go see violent films. I liked Kill Bill. It was entertaining, period. I won't pretend it's not overly violent, it was. That's why it's entertaining. It's outrageous in every sense. He wanted to make a genre film, so he took every wild crazy thing he could from the samurai and other martial arts flicks he likes and put them all into one completely off-the-wall movie. It's fun, don't be so damn oversensitive about it. You're not forced to watch it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thing is, most violent films are good. I loved all Die Hards and Terminators. But atleast those films had a bit of story behind them, and the violence came second. But in Kill Bill the violence comes first, then the story line.

 

Well, everyone has their own opinions.

[Jonathan Spear]

""That's why it's entertaining. It's outrageous in every sense. He wanted to make a genre film, so he took every wild crazy thing he could from the samurai and other martial arts flicks he likes and put them all into one completely off-the-wall movie. It's fun, don't be so damn oversensitive about it. You're not forced to watch it.

""

 

Your average "Kill Bil" review. Damn sheeple.

 

 

...and what's so "fun" about the much violence?

 

If you (our entire generation for that matter) weren't so desensitized to violence, a movie like Kill Bill would make you Gigli your pants.

 

Violence is fun, huh?

 

Go enlist.

 

www.army.com

Edited August 10, 2005 by TSM

[Keith Mottram]

I really dont know what everyone is going on about Kill Bill isn't violent, 'I Spit On Your Grave' is violent, 'Canibal Ferox' is violent, 'New York Ripper' is violent...etc etc. Kill Bill is just a fun for all the family cartoon- a live action Tex Avery picture! I dont know people these days blah blah.

 

Keith

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

I really dont know what everyone is going on about Kill Bill isn't violent, 'I Spit On Your Grave' is violent, 'Canibal Ferox' is violent, 'New York Ripper' is violent...etc etc. Kill Bill is just a fun for all the family cartoon- a live action Tex Avery picture!  I dont know people these days blah blah.

 

Keith

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh yeh... a guy getting bitten in the face by a snake, a women getting her eyes ripped out of their sockets, limbs being cut off and blood squirting everywhere. Not violent?

 

My whole point about Tarantino is the fact that he seems to think that if you pump a movie full of action and sex it will be a great movie. I know people have their opinions, but I can't stand the way people admire him for it.

 

I'd like to see Tarantino come up with a really strong script. But, no that's too hard. Just cover it up by cutting a few peoples heads off, that?ll make up for it.

 

It's just action without the story. Die Hard has story AND a cool bit of violence to motivate it.

 

Fair enough if you like Tarantino?s films, then that?s your choice. But I really don?t see how you can call him a, ?great? film maker. I honestly think, give a teenager $200 million and he/she could create something better.

[Michael Struthers]

Kill Bill is impressive in many ways, mostly in the utter confidence that T. has. I'd be more impressed if he showed he could make something that WASN'T genre, just to show he doesn't copy absolutely everything.

[Jason Debus]

But I really don?t see how you can call him a, ?great? film maker. I honestly think, give a teenager $200 million and he/she could create something better.

For the most part, directors who have a Palme d'Or under their belt are considered great filmmakers.

[Sean Azze]

I'd like to see Tarantino come up with a really strong script. But, no that's too hard. Just cover it up by cutting a few peoples heads off, that?ll make up for it.

 

I'd have to say you are ignoring Tarantino's masterpiece "Pulp Fiction" when you make the above statement. If you think of how well that film is directed, and the meaning conveyed from the differing stories, you probably wouldn't have such an aversion towards QT's work.

 

For example, if you recall the speech at the end of the film where Jules tells Vincent he's done with the life, and is ready to "walk the earth, like Kane in Kung Fu" there's quite a moral there. Jules' entire outlook is changed after he and Vincent exit the gang's aprtment unscathed after being bombarded with bullets. Vincent takes it lightly. By the sheer fact that the film is told in nonsequential order, you have to watch it a second time and focus on the scene where Vincent gets killed by Butch to truly appreciate the gravity and irony of Jules' words.

 

I didn't think the dialouge in Kill Bill was as catchy and fun to listen to as the stuff in Tarantino's other films, but Bill's "superman speech" is very creative and insightful in a quirky, pop culture sort of way. You don't find those little literary gems in crap like John Carpenters last couple of movies, or the awful slasher flicks with Paris Hlton and the latest scream queen.

 

QT's star may be a little bloated, but give the guy credit. He is an original voice, in spite of his constant homages to other genres. He puts his spin on things, and its refreshing stuff. I'll never get over the "Like a Virgin" interpretation speech at the head of Reservoir Dogs. It takes a warped mind to think of that stuff! The geniuses of this world are usually borderline crazy.

[John Allardice]

My whole point about Tarantino is the fact that he seems to think that if you pump a movie full of action and sex it will be a great movie. I know people have their opinions, but I can't stand the way people admire him for it.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I cant help the feeling that you're missing the point, people don't admire him for the violence in his movies, most of his acclaim comes from the somewhat unique voice that he, and therefore his characters, have. Definitely unrealistic, but unique.

 

Dismissing violence in films as lazy filmaking is actually just lazy reviewing. If you can't see the difference betwen an eighties slasher pic & 'Kill Bill', maybe you need to watch a few more thousand movies before considering embarking on a directing track.

 

I'd hate to hear what you think of Sam Peckinpah.

 

John Allardice

Digital Domain

[Mariano Nante]

Thing is, most violent films are good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Hahahahhahahaha :D

 

 

Anyway, I want to make methaphysical movies, full of metaphores and secret meanings. I want to make films where I can include my philosophical beliefs, but without giving away any answers. I love it when movies are thought provoking and leave you with lots of questions. I'm not that concerned about who will understand and like my movies; I just believe in making a work of art for itself. Of course, I will try to make them appealing and entertaining, and I hope the audience will like them, but given that everybody seems to preferr Terminator to Dreams... I know my chances are slim.

 

Yeah, I know, call me an idealist. I'm sure I will die of starvation, but, hopefully, I will have created something worth watching.

[Jason M Silverman]

It seems to me there are three threads running through this topic:

1) What films inspire me to go into filmmaking?

Though they may seem cliche, I love Citizen Kane and Casablanca, I never tire of watching them. Or pretty much all of Hitchcock's films.. who can deny the sense of premonition and then terror when Grant is watching the biplane? And I have to agree with the comment earlier on Bergman--who else can pull off a film version of the book of Revelation and make it philosophically and religiously profound? (not the makers of Left Behind...) And of course, there is Buston Keaton... not so much adored anymore, but still genious.

 

2) What kind of films do I wish to make? In general I love the noir genre, but I hope to someday make a silent movie as well, and even a musical--but a musical where the music is a 'character' rather than an interuption to the action in what is now called a musical.. kinda like Niel Jordan's Angel. And of course, before I die, I want to direct a Bond movie :)

 

3) Violence in Films, ala Tarantino? I'd Agree that Taratino is nothing more than an adolescent who's watched too many films rather than living a real life and is quite skilled at copying others and witty dialogue. If he'd write a plot which could opperate without relying on fake blood, i might have more respect. And, I feel there is an ethical element involved whenever death and violence is portrayed positively-- if as an audience member i feel happy or amused by a human's suffering, there is an ethical problem...

 

jason

[Challenge]

My passion are ancient/medieval movies (sometimes Greek mythological), and World War II movies. I think World War II movies require immense skill to master because of the coloring. If you ever notice in Saving Private Ryan, whenever a major fight/battle is about to come up, the colors are all dull, and the characters' faces are all pale. It was excellently done.

 

And another film I admire is Gladiator. It was made soo well.

[Paul Bruening]

hey all,

 

I'm with Mariano. Maybe we can split the rent on a cardboard box under a bridge. The movie industry is so dominated by keeping people asleep with delusions that satisfy missing elements in their lives, like victory, romance, and action. It seems such a waste just to entertain people when movies are such a powerful vehicle of communication. When I say, powerful, I don't mean Triumph of the Will powerful. I mean helping people grow through the vicarious experience we can offer them. The veiwer transfers so completely with the hero in a well made movie. Is catharsis, alone, enough of a goal for we movie makers? Is Rambo killing hundreds of Latin-Americans really so great? Collectively, we all set the standards for what movies mean. It wouldn't kill us to raise those standards.

 

Just a thought.

[Mariano Nante]

Well said, Paul.

 

 

"Maybe we can split the rent on a cardboard box under a bridge."

 

Sounds great! The only thing is, I snore a lot...