Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/49492
OUTLOOK DIRECTORS THREATS: "For me, exhibition is still the biggest hurdle for every single filmmaker. Nothing depresses you more than if you happen to be in the middle of the country and you go, 'Let me see how Hangover 2 is playing in the local theater, and the picture's dim and the sound's terrible. One of the biggest problems that needs to be addressed is the difference in audio volume between movies and commercials, Theaters want to play commercials — great, I get it — but commer- cials don't have to follow the dB rules of movies. You can't play a movie too loud, but commercials don't have that rule, and what inevitably happens is that some guy complains that the commercials are too loud — and they are too loud! But they then turn it down and leave the movie sound too low. It makes me crazy! I see it all the time. If com- mercials had to adhere to the same rules, then it would all be fine. That really needs changing." OUTLOOK FOR 2012: "People are always predicting the end of Hollywood and movies, but I'm not a pessimist at all. Everyone goes on about digital downloads and piracy and how the movie business is going to go the way of the music business, which just got obliterated by downloads. But I can't remember ever listening to an album with 400 other people in a room. When I got a new CD, I'd run home, sit in my room and listen to it alone. But movies have never been that way for me. They're such a crowd experience, especially comedies, and I still think they're such a destination experience for so many people on the weekend. So I don't think it faces the same problems of music because of home exhibition or piracy. I'm not saying it's not an issue. But movies will always be a communal event." JONATHAN LIEBESMAN Director Battle: Los Angeles, Darkness Falls, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning The South African director, whose '02 debut Dark- ness Falls got Michael Bay's attention — and the gig of directing the hit prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, destroyed LA — and con- quered the global box office ($200 million) with his epic sci-fi extravaganza Battle: Los Angeles. STRENGTHS: "You get to discover the story with a level of detail you could never achieve by just exploring the script or shooting the actor; when you see the performances put together with the visual storytelling, it brings a whole new level of mean- ing to the material and enables you to make a refined edit of the story." WEAKNESSES: "It becomes so easy to over- think the simple things and 22 Post • December 2011 lose your overall vision for the film by getting caught up on the minu- tiae. It's hard not to second-guess your instincts, but you just need to keep your head down and refine without undermining your initial intentions." OPPORTUNITIES: "Post production can get to a point where the feedback from people can elevate the material immediately — the creative team can have an idea, and as long as you have the footage, you can change the story entirely and add new levels where they didn't exist." THREATS: "As a counterpoint, you also open yourself up to people's opinions and it becomes a slippery slope to having too many cooks. It also becomes dangerous when a sequence that has always excited you loses its spark and becomes boring after watching it so many times. Nothing has changed with the material, but you see some- thing every day and you become inured to its charm." OUTLOOK FOR 2012: "I'm really looking forward to the chal- lenge of making a 3D movie; the 3D in the first Clash of the Titans was criticized, and I'm excited for the opportunity to not only do 3D right but to push the boundaries." JOHN CARPENTER Director The Ward, Halloween franchise, The Fog and Escape From New York. Over the past four decades, the veteran director- producer-writer-actor-editor-composer has thrilled, chilled and scared the pants off audiences worldwide with such films as the Halloween franchise, The Fog, Escape From New York, Village of the Damned, Christine, The Thing and most recently, The Ward. STRENGTHS: "You can restructure, improve and perfect the film you're trying to make. After the craziness of the shoot, post is this oasis of calm where you gradually select and build your material into the film you had in your head." Jonathan Liebesman's Battle: Los Angeles. www.postmagazine.com