Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1097515
DGA QUARTERLY 39 PHOTOS: (TOP) EVERETT; (BOTTOM) 20TH CENTURY FOX Q: So you opted for back-to-back shooting, which is still not for the faint of heart. J: It's more physically and emotionally demanding than people realize. The sheer force of will it takes to translate a story to the screen of this scale is stag- gering. I've gone gray from the experience. There's a story someone told us once, where a young filmmak- er asked Spielberg, "I'm gonna do my first big movie, can I get some advice?" And Spielberg said, "Yeah, get a trainer." Q: Physical caretaking aside, what ensures a success- ful experience in a back-to-back shoot? J: Focus and discipline. It's having enough time to prep the material, and you have to be efficient. Q: How much prep time did you have? A: We were in Atlanta for six months of prep [for both films]. J: But we were in Los Angeles before that for eight months. What's interesting is, having done televi- sion for 10 years, we hit one point where we had three shows on the air at the same time, all on the Paramount lot, producing all of them, directing, so when showrunners convert from television to film, they've had that training. You think of J.J. [Abrams], [Joss] Whedon, [Judd] Apatow. We can handle a large amount of volume, and we have efficient systems in place, because we were forced to during our work in television. We always say to young filmmakers, if you want to be a carpenter, you have to build a lot of tables. You want to be a filmmaker? Go shoot. TV af- fords you that opportunity more than anything. Q: With movies of this size, how does communication with your key crew work? J: Everything has to be a Vulcan mind meld. A: It's imperative you walk through everything to- gether over and over again. J: And that storytelling remains consistent. First of all, it's putting everything in the script that you're thinking, so when they read it, they know exactly what's on your mind. Second, you hold regular meet- ings with your key crew: your AD, cinematographer, second unit director, VFX supervisor—your consor- tium of generals. A: We use a lot of visual examples, because a lot can be lost in words. Visuals tend to convey a more specif- ic idea. You can't have seven conversations every day with different people about different things. Visuals are a great shorthand, they get to the idea quicker than words sometimes. J: And those visual references can be helpful in pre- production, production and post. If we're creating a CG world, in pre-production we'll have concept artists go through an iterative process where we get them to what we're looking for. We then bring in our DP, who lights it in concept art. We bring in the pro- duction designer, who then works with the DP in the concept art. You bring that to set, and you use it as a guide for lighting, for actors understanding what uni- verse they're in, and then we pass that to the myriad of VFX houses that are working on the film. Now there's consistency through [it all]. Q: Comic books earned their reputation with distinct graphic storytelling. Movies create their own unique aesthetic movement. How do you approach merging the two? J: Our shot-making is really organic. We never shoot the storyboards and previs, and it's kind of a joke on set with us. We use the storyboards and previs to communicate the storytelling of the action, but on the day it's impossible for the camera to capture the exact same shot a computer did in a digital format. So "TV just aligned creatively with where our brains were at. We wanted to do risky material. We realized the indie scene from the '90s was turning into [television] in the 2000s." —JOE RUSSO