Writing and DP'ing a film

[Guest]

I'm the producer, director, writer, & editor. With each passing project I am getting better at all four jobs. I gave up the DOP role, but I am arrogant enough to believe I could still do it. I did all my own camera drone work on Against The Wild 2 and that yielded some amazing shots. I continue a tradition of operating all my own hand held shots on every shoot. I usually spring this on the operator at the last second. :D

 

Each movie gives the usual shocks to the distributors, the bank, and the insurance company.....what Richard is doing all that? If he goes down, what happens to the production?

 

R,

[Tyler Purcell]

Ok thanks Tyler.. I didnt know that .. have to say I would think that really stinks for the DP.. I don't think those guys had much to learn about the craft .. even from Kubric.. what did the DP,s do.. stand around with a beacon sandwich.. even I wouldn't want to work like that !

Knowing Kubrick, I'm sure his DP's were busy every moment the camera wasn't running. The moment that camera started, I'm sure they were pacing back and forward. It must have been quite stressful... I couldn't deal with it either.

[Mark Dunn]

 

Ok thanks Tyler.. I didnt know that .. have to say I would think that really stinks for the DP.. I don't think those guys had much to learn about the craft .. even from Kubric.. what did the DP,s do.. stand around with a beacon sandwich.. even I wouldn't want to work like that !

I don't know about the bacon sandwich, but there's a story about Ken Adam being so burned out by Kubrick that he found himself on set trying to light a chocolate biscuit.

Kubrick didn't necessary know every technical detail, but he knew what questions to ask and if he said 'let's try this', he knew whereof he spoke.

He also tested everything to the nth. degree- lenses, stocks, everything. That's why his pictures look the way they do. Nothing left to chance. He played chess for money in his youth. He won.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Mark Dunn

[Robin R Probyn]

I don't know about the bacon sandwich, but there's a story about Ken Adam being so burned out by Kubrick that he found himself on set trying to light a chocolate biscuit.

Kubrick didn't necessary know every technical detail, but he knew what questions to ask and if he said 'let's try this', he knew whereof he spoke.

He also tested everything to the nth. degree- lenses, stocks, everything. That's why his pictures look the way they do. Nothing left to chance. He played chess for money in his youth. He won.

 

Lighting a chocolate biscuit !! haha.. I,ll have to use that line somewhere,somehow.. .. a bit off topic but I read a short article about Gilbert Taylor who said on the first Star Wars.. Lucas totally ignored him at all times during the shoot ! ..

[Robert Glenn]

If I ever make a movie I will do almost everything associated with it, because I have no other choice.

 

If I were to somehow get into a hollywood directors chair, then I would 'retire' from all other positions , and just be a director.

 

Outside of the ridiculous nature of hollywood and its inclusive socio-economics, there are lots and lots of professionals that excel at whatever it is that they do, and they all need the work.

[John E Clark]

I don't know about the bacon sandwich, but there's a story about Ken Adam being so burned out by Kubrick that he found himself on set trying to light a chocolate biscuit.

 

Lighting food to look 'appetizing' is difficult... Especially something 'dark' like chocolate...

[Satsuki Murashige]

.. a bit off topic but I read a short article about Gilbert Taylor who said on the first Star Wars.. Lucas totally ignored him at all times during the shoot ! ..

I believe one of the bones of contention was the brown net that Lucas wanted to use on the lens for the Tatooine sequences. Lucas had imagined a diffused 'storybook' look for 'Star Wars' while Taylor preferred crisp images and knew that using a net on a high key scene like the desert day exteriors would cause the image to turn to mush. Lucas prevailed. Of course, 25 years later when the Special Editions and subsequent versions rolled out and Lucas when back to grade 'Star Wars' digitally, he added back more and more contrast to those scenes to make up for the snap that was lost by using the net in the first place! So I guess Taylor was vindicated in the end...

[David Mullen ASC]

I don't think Taylor preferred crisp images in general -- he used diffusion on "The Omen" before and plenty of nets and fogs on "Dracula" a few years later.

 

The story was that 20th Century Fox wanted "Star Wars" to look sharper and after the unit returned to London from Tunisia, Taylor dropped the diffusion. He said it was because he felt that the Death Star should be shot more crisply but Lucas felt he had caved into studio pressure without consulting him.

 

Probably both were right for various reasons and should have found some common ground, i.e. some diffusion that was much lighter than nets. "The Empire Strikes Back" was more lightly and evenly diffused with some light LowCon filters, and the prequels with some ProMist filters -- the trouble with nets is that it's difficult to back off to a lighter grade, and it's very hard to find any net material as mild as the lightest glass filter.

 

Taylor obviously worked well with Polanski, who is a demanding director but perhaps more charming and collaborative, I would guess.

[Guest]

If I were to somehow get into a hollywood directors chair, then I would 'retire' from all other positions , and just be a director.

 

Oh that's no fun.

 

R,

[Robin R Probyn]

The stocking used for Omen was one of his wife,s ! .. who apparently offered it up when they were talking about his problems finding the right look.. whether she was wearing them at the time was unclear ..