THE DIRECTOR IN PREP
Failing to plan is planning to fail.
1. WHY MAKE IT?
Making any movie is ungodly hard. Ask yourself if it’s worth it and what you are making. And don’t say ‘money’ because there are easier ways. Only if your answer can sustain you for two years do you have a chance of holding an audience’s interest for two hours.
2. ASSEMBLING YOUR TEAM
Has the Line Producer worked with different size budgets? Has the DP shot big night exteriors, the AD repeated with the same director? Casting them is as important as the actors. If in doubt, call a director on their resume. There’s honor among thieves.
3. COLLABORATORS
Seek out artists with a strong POV. Being challenged strengthens your own vision. But when you disagree, they must be willing to defer without feeling shut down. It’s a delicate dance when you haven’t worked together. Choose wisely, they’re your new family.
4. COLLABORATORS, PT II
Everyone wants to make a great film but at times their vision is myopic.The Stunt Coordinator thinks it’s an action movie, the Designer thinks it’s Cleopatra. As they compete for a share of the budget, remind them you’re all making the same movie. Yours.
5. PICKING FAVORITES
There’s always someone you can’t live without. Mike Nichols worked with Ann Roth for 36 years. David Rayfiel rewrote all of Sydney Pollack’s movies. What would Bogdanovich have done without Polly Platt? Find someone who makes you better and makes you laugh.
6. THE DP & THE DESIGNER
Establish a visual language. Watch films together, look at paintings, go out for wine-soaked dinners where your imaginations run wild before the crushing reality of time and money descends. The best ideas will survive and make your movie better.
7. THE A.D.
You, the writer, the DP, the Designer and the Costumer have dreamt up a marvelous movie. The AD is the reality police, and he’s made ten more movies than you. So when he says your plan involves trying to capture "a bridge too far," ignore his warning at your peril.
8. THE STORY BOARD ARTIST
Focus on the tough scenes. Let the dialogue scenes happen organically. The boards are a tool for communicating to the crew, but don’t drive everyone crazy trying to replicate them. Entropy always wins. Fortunately, the perfect is the enemy of the good.
9. IN THE VAN
No one likes scouting. The driver gets lost. You know you’ll never get permission to shoot there. Everyone's car sick. Yet in those hours of frustration you and your team will create a common vision. Like it or not, the movie is made in the van.
10.SCHADENFREUDE
Every director knows the struggle, the compromises, and the exquisite sadness of making a film, hit or flop. That’s why when two directors meet they share a knowing look and are inclined to lovingly embrace. They’re not competitors, they’re survivors.
P.S. WORDS TO LIVE BY
“If you don’t know where you’re going you’ll end up somewhere else.” -- Yogi Berra

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More from @EdwardZwick1

3 Aug
A DIRECTOR'S CONFESSIONS
Technique, tricks & trauma
1. HOW DO YOU CAST A MOVIE STAR?
They don’t audition and a polite meeting might be their best performance. Try watching their interviews on YouTube for those moments the presentational mask slips and something authentic is revealed. That’s who’ll show up on set.
2. MEDITATION
Get to the set before everybody else – before the chaos of production begins. Close your eyes. Breathe. In the stillness of an empty sound stage you can do the entire day’s work in a few minutes. Makes the rest of the day feel like post-production.
Read 11 tweets
27 Jul
A SCREENWRITER'S RUMINATIONS
Practices, precepts & prescriptions
1. SENDING YOUR SCRIPT
Who should you let read it before you hit ‘send?’ Do you want criticism or are you only looking for praise? A reader should be able to turn to any page at random and be able to tell whether it’s worth his time. Too harsh? Not if your career depends on it.
2. THE PITCH
Craft a confident false self, a mask behind which The Real You can scream, “Who are you to judge my work ?!” Use the phrase “strong, independent woman” as often as possible even if your movie is about the Bataan death march. Smile! You’ve become Willy Loman.
Read 11 tweets
19 Jul
10 MORE THINGS ABOUT DIRECTING ACTORS
communication, confrontation & confession
1. THE HUMAN FACTOR
Stunts are tedious but a car or a helicopter will do pretty much as you expect. Actors, not so much. They hear music you can’t imagine and their volatility is a gift. Forget your expectations. Open your heart. Let them give you the miracle of themselves.
2. THE EXCHANGE
Actors rip their souls apart and show them to you. The least you can do is try a bit of the same. Doesn’t have to be deep personal confession. But you’ll be amazed just how much you get in return for losing some of your inhibitions and sharing the feels.
Read 12 tweets
6 Jul
THE MOVIE DIRECTOR'S WORKBOOK
Homework, playtime, and prayer
1.THE DIRECTOR’S SCRIPT
Create a new script on the opposite page from the dialogue. Include everything: camera moves, business, blocking. Breaking down of a script is a dress rehearsal in your head, but it’s just an exercise. Nothing is ever as you plan. Always work in pencil.
2. BREAKING DOWN YOUR SCRIPT
Don't accept what the writer gave you even if you’re the writer. Whatever you imagined will be different once it’s on its feet. Your job is to figure it out on the day. No do-overs. Directing begins with preparation and flowers in improvisation
Read 12 tweets
22 Jun
FROM, A SCREENWRITER'S NOTEBOOK
observations, incantations and exhortations Image
1. MAGIC
There’s a time of despair in every first draft. This is a hormonal condition common to all writers. The only remedy is to put it away and take a walk. By morning you'll find it better than you feared. Or not. Perhaps the elves will come overnight and rewrite it.
2. LARCENY
Good artists borrow, great artists steal. Every artist is a thief; some are just sneakier than others. Just as painters learn by imitation you put someone else's work in your own voice until one day you find you actually have a voice. And then someone steals from you.
Read 12 tweets
8 Jun
THE SCREENWRITER'S CRAFT
theory, practice & the marketplace
1. SHAME
How many times do we finish a first draft and realize we’ve accomplished everything except what we most intended? The hardest thing to overcome is our inhibition to reveal what’s personal, yet shame is invariably the thing with which others most identify.
2. SECRETS & LIES
The challenge is finding something of ourselves in each character. Especially the shadow side. We are all criminals and saints. To understand a character, you must first understand his dreams and fears. What are yours?
Read 11 tweets

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