DGA Monthly

6 8 I D G A M O N T H L Y In Director Rian Johnson's comedic crime-drama, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the latest installment of his Knives Out series, detective Benoit Blanc teams up with an earnest young priest to investigate a perfectly impossible crime when a monsignor turns up dead at a small-town church with a dark history. Johnson discussed the making of the film during Q&As moderated by Directors John Watts in Los Angeles and Celine Song in New York where he spoke about how he approaches the mystery element of each installment of this series. "You have to always remember at every stage of it the mystery part — the whodunnit, all the shiny baubles of clue gathering and reveals of information and twists — that is not going to keep an audience engaged. You have to start and finish with the same basic meat and potatoes building blocks that any movie runs off of. Who is the protagonist? Why do we care about them? What do they want? Why can't they get it? Why do we care that they get it? And then how do they get it in a way you don't expect at the end. You have to lash yourself to the masts to remember that no matter what clever shit you come up with in terms of little reveals and everything, if you don't care about the central character and you're not on a rollercoaster ride as opposed to just solving a crossword puzzle as audience member, none of it is going to matter." Rian Johnson discusses Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery photo by Marcie Revens photo by Shane Karns Photos: Director Rian Johnson with moderators Celine Song in New York on December 7 and John Watts in Los Angeles on December 14. A young film critic aspires to make his first feature in Director Richard Linklater's comedic drama, Nouvelle Vague. In his love letter to the French New Wave, Linklater's film takes us back to 1959 when Jean-Luc Godard and his friends had to overcome all kinds of challenges on the way to making Godard's cinematic masterpiece, Breathless. During a Q&A the making the film moderated by Director Jason Reitman, Linklater spoke about the power to craft cinematic moments. "I think film can do that really well. Intimate little moments… it captures it so beautifully. I think that's the power of the medium. You do a close-up. You see some kid staring at something. You're saying it's important. The Director gets to say what's important just by what you're emphasizing, and the audience goes with it. Where you might miss it in real life if something's happening here, you miss that moment. But we get to choose and emphasize and steer, take the eyes and the spirit somewhere you want to take it for whatever reasons." Richard Linklater discusses Nouvelle Vague photo by Elisa Haber Photo: Directors Richard Linklater and Jason Reitman (moderator) discuss the making of Nouvelle Vague following the Los Angeles DGA screening on November 16. Membership Screenings Q&As listed in alphabetical order by Director. See more detailed descriptions, additional photos & podcasts online at www.dga.org. DGA Screenings Q&As Director Edgar Wright's dystopian action thriller, The Running Man, presents the tale of Ben Richards, a father desperate for money who is convinced by a ruthless producer to enter a game where the contestants must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. But against the odds, Ben's defiance, instincts and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite, as ratings skyrocket, and he becomes a threat to the entire system. Wright discussed the making of the film during Q&As moderated by Directors Christopher McQuarrie in New York and Daniel Scheinert in Los Angeles where he shared his thoughts on the role of VFX vs practical FX in filmmaking. "VFX shouldn't be like a crutch, VFX should be to there to make something that's already good look better. And I think what's going to happen, is there's sort of a laziness that's crept into filmmaking where people just use VFX. I think it's a false economy, you can shoot this stuff for real, and it will end up being cheaper than doing it with digital effects in the long run if it's good. Make sure there's always some element of real photography in the shot." Edgar Wright discusses The Running Man photo by Elisa Haber photo by Marcie Revens Photos: Director Edgar Wright with moderators Daniel Scheinert in Los Angeles on November 9 and Christopher McQuarrie in New York on November 8.

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