Take the landing sequence in the beginning of the film. He wanted fog. “Everyone” told him not to have fog on the planetoid, because there would be no atmosphere on a rock that small. He said he wanted it anyway because without it, the models didn’t look so convincing. He wanted turbulence in the bridge during the landing sequence. Again, “everyone” said, there would be no atmosphere, so you don’t need to show the turbulence. Nevertheless, he had crewmen get under the chairs and wobble them just out of camera reach. He said the actors didn’t like it, and “everyone” was rolling their eyes and saying it was never going to work, never going to look good on film. Everyone said the engines wouldn’t glow like that in a vacuum, the science was all wrong, and yada yada yada. He said, “Oh, shut up,” confident that what he wanted would look good, and all else be damned.
Then, he goes on to state what I believe is great advice for any would-be director:
“You’ve just gotta stick to your guns. Every step you make, everybody’s a Doubting Thomas. But that’s where you gotta earn your way. I just wonder how many people fall by the wayside because they can’t push their point home, and therefore don’t quite get what they want.
Nobody respects you later for having been a nice guy and giving up. You gotta get it. You have to get it NOW. Because you’re gonna wear what you got. You can be very unpopular on the route. But if you’re right, all is forgiven.”
7 comments:
Except at some places, where strong opinions and thin skins don't mix. At places like that, sticking to your guns gets you in trouble. Been there, done that.
Nice quote from a guy who gets it.
You know what a British friend of mine said to me once? If you haven't gotten yourself fired by thirty, you've lived too safe a life. I've always been charmed by that bravery.
I guess it's different being the director of a film. I can see your average pixel jockey getting told to shut up or get out. Anyone else farther down the ladder for that matter. Still, it's nice to hear the stories of a director standing up to The Crowd, and getting a nice film out of it.
Here's to being the windshield, and not the fly. Thanks for the note.
I think persistence for vision is true within reason. I admire people who fight for what they belive in, but still, I think it's important to be reasonable at the same time. Cimino's Heavens Gate comes into my mind where things went out of hand. But perhaps we are then talking about obsession and not persistence.
Great quotes from both men, but, as long as you get fired for the right reasons.
Back to Ridley, It is indeed exactly like this, the director has and should battle away twenty four seven to get it done his way. And yes, it only really applies to the director...he is after all in charge of the entire project...BUT...at the same time this gets me onto somthing else...it’s a very interesting thing you’ve raised here at this moment in time, which brings me over / points me at the latest thing with Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski on the new Indiana Jones film. It varies greatly between Directors how much each one is HANDS ON on the camera work...some are very hands on, Luc Besson, Stanely Kubrick (RIP) and probably Michael Bay...they really get involved with the camera and are seen to actually wield it on their shoulders (well, I only really out of those three saw documentary footage of one doing that, and that was Luc Besson)...It's mainly because they started off as a photographer and had a good eye for composition. But some cant take a photo at all, and so HAVE to give 100% control to the cinematographer. This is where you cross into the territory of some cinematographers having a agenda and some not. The not so hands onto the camera director can indeed run into trouble when this happens.
Interesting. Funny how different directors have their preferences. Ridley Scott went on to say in that interview that unless you're looking through the eyepiece on the camera, you can't be sure you're getting what you want. He goes on to recognize that the video feedback technology is much better than it used to be, but that he still prefers to see it through the actual lens.
He in fact had Brian Johnson, who I think directed the special effects shots in Star Wars, doing all the spaceship effects in Alien. Scott reportedly was dissatisfied with what he was seeing on the dailies, ultimately re-shooting many shots himself. Several people in the supplemental materials on the Alien DVD suggested that Ridley was perhaps intentionally finding tiny things wrong with the footage so he could go in and re-shoot it himself. His preference for seeing the shots himself through the eyepiece would seem to support it.
I have to say, this story made him come off as very unlikeable, and that would be consistent with his previous assertion that you can be very unliked on the way to getting a great film, but if you're right, all is forgiven. That may be true but I wonder when I hear certain members of the team talking about him now, whether all is indeed forgiven.
It’s such a complicated thing isn’t it?...and totally fascinating. I have a fascination with psychology and when I see misunderstandings in my own life, I always feel the urge to write it all down to try and explain what is going on, in perhaps the vain hope that somebody might read it and begin to understand.
Your also making me want to buy the quadrilogy set even more now Steve...lol. I don’t have any of the Alien films on DVD yet. I’ve never heard a Scott commentary, but love listening to commentaries very much so too. Just no income to buy more DVDs.
I reckon the more skills a director has the better, but your right, he’s not going to be popular at all, because it must put severe pressure on the situation around him, everybody is wanting to put their mark on it, some people have agendas, and some don’t seem to realise that ultimately it’s the directors vision, but IF the director has a really large array of skills and is really VERY good at a lot of things then perhaps your going to create THEE most stressful of situations. People want to feel like they’re being useful, and so Ridely is taking that away from them...but I would HOPE that they realise later on that its LOOKS all the more better for it. But art is subjective, they may not, but hopefully they do.
You will certainly enjoy the extras DVD with Blade Runner: The Final Cut. The whole development cycle of the movie is talked about from different perspectives.
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