Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/618780
22 dga quarterly INDEPENDENT VOICES MIRA NAIR Culture Clash "The first thing I do in rehearsals is cre- ate an environment in which we can all make fools of ourselves. We must take risks and make jokes and feel comfortable, because that's our privilege at that moment before we discover what it is we must shoot. "I've never had the luxury of excess time or money, so I'm very well-planned, and usually there's no scrambling, unless it's weather-related. "We do yoga for an hour and 15 minutes before shooting every morning. It's the first thing on the call sheet. It's completely voluntary, but there are 15 of us hardcore types who will be there wherever we can find space on a location–whether it's a back room or a bar. It irons us out, and creates this atmosphere of calm and focus. There are no tantrums on my sets, no raised voices." TODD HAYNES The Shape-Shifter Haynes made the decision to shoot the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce on 16 mm film, working again with Ed Lach- man, his cinematographer on I'm Not There and Far from Heaven. "Ed was a little nervous about depth of field and getting the best negative information on16 mm, but he was pretty easily persuaded," says Haynes. "The financiers were thrilled be- cause it was cheaper. I liked the idea that it's a classic format that we all studied in the old days, and one that kids don't use much anymore when they're learning their craft. But mostly, it was an intervention against how fast and fine-grained lenses and film stocks have become." DEE REES Not Singing the Blues "I'm interested in characters and re- lationships. That was my approach to telling the [Bessie Smith] story—not to fall into the typical biopic tropes. I wanted to understand why Bessie was the way she was. The thematic idea is that what is very beautiful from afar is often very painful from close up." Bessie was shot digitally, with the Arri Alexa, but working with film during Pariah was a vital education for Rees. "Shooting on film is great because it imparts disci- pline: What do you need to see, so you're not finding it in the camera. When I'm shooting I have the scene in mind, where I'm going to have certain lines. I learned to overlap and to shoot more than I think I need. That was the learning curve. "I like scripts that have a narrative prose feel. For me, a lot of it is about not letting myself be pigeonholed, put in a box: 'Oh, you can only do gay films, teenage films, films about women.' I happen to love women and doing films with women, so that's true. But I also want to expand." "Television has an impact on our lives and the way we see the world that's as meaningful, if not more so, than film. So I find it an important place to direct my imagination." PHOTOS: (LEFT TO RIGHT) BYRON GAMARRO, GARETH CATTERMOLE, MARCIE REVENS