Kevin Smith launches Indie distribution

[Brice Ansel]

Well of course the "Average joe" doesn't see a movie because of the director but a directors name still has clout especially when it comes to getting movies made some big name actors will only come aboard a film if a handful of directors they approve of are attached to the project.
Box office is only part of the equation.

You are right. A good script can also be a factor of decision when big name are involve.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

The technology already exists today if a director wants to do everything himself -- as some people have proved. It's existed for years. The reason directors collaborate with talented cinematographers, production designers, costume designers, editors, colorists, etc. has very little to do with not being able to handle the technology involved and mostly to do with realizing that many of these pursuits involve a lifetime of artistic development on their own. For every single film that a director typically makes, these people have probably worked on ten or twenty films. I myself in twenty years have photographed over 35 features and two TV series. That's a level of experience that directors like to draw on, just as I draw on the experience of my gaffer, key grip, electricians, grips, camera assistants, etc. all of whom have more experience in their particular field than I do. Sure, I could learn all of their jobs but I will never be as experienced as they are, and probably not as talented either.

Being able to collaborate with another person with specialized skill and more experience in a specific area is not a weakness of the filmmaking system, it's a strength. If a director writes a western, sure, he could figure out how to wrangle horses himself but likely he will find someone who is really good with horses. He could try to direct and handle all of the gun props himself and figure out the stunts himself, but for safety reasons, he'd be better off finding an expert in guns and stunts. Otherwise a director would have to limit his imagination in order to only tell stories where he is already an expert in every aspect involved in its telling.

 

[Bill Anderson]

"Collaboration": And yet over-collaborating is quite destructive to the creative act, and there are many examples of that in cinema.

This new technology offers us much in the way of fine tuning our collaborative requirements.

"Money" doesn't fix everything. And genius is most vulnerable to money.

Much experimenting and risk taking will follow - but there will be blood ( :

 

[Billy Barber]

Why limit it to DP'ing and editing? Why aren't directors also building their own sets and sewing their own costumes? Why aren't they holding the mic boom and mixing at the same time? Why aren't they parking the trucks? And what's with not cooking for the crew? Jeez, what slackers!

It's funny, in the TV series I've been writing and producing the last two years I also did everything that David just listed. Looking back on it, the only thing I feel really good about was my truck parking.

 

[Bryce O]

Exactly "Monsters" was for me a good warning NOT to go that route. WHile I respect him very much for all that he was able to archive in this movie, I could see the problems with this approach on screen and in the BTS.

I dunno, I saw Monsters with a few people and they really liked it... story wise and all. They thought it had a very real feel to it, as did I. Also, Gareth Edwards is just one of the first of the few do-it-all directors. Think about 5 years forward when computers and CGI get even faster and easier... although, to do decent CGI you still have to be an artist, of course.

 

[Steve Das]

Exactly "Monsters" was for me a good warning NOT to go that route.
WHile I respect him very much for all that he was able to archive in this movie, I could see the problems with this approach on screen and in the BTS.

Haven't seen the movie myself...anyone want jump in with the problems on "Monsters" related to the single person movie.
Maybe he just didn't have enough people to bounce ideas off of...hence he limited himself too much ?

 

[Bill Anderson]

Much has changed since Tarkovsky perfectly defined his collaborative requirements, which were relatively spartan, and not exactly adopted or even celebrated by the industry as a whole. And yet even though these great changes in todays technology MUST be reassessed to meet our needs, the purpose of our needs should differ very little from Tarkovsky's. I feel that these recent "changes" are for the better, because we need not give anything up, there is no loss, every method and approach of the past is still open to us; from slow, contemplative, Tarkovsky like assessments and executions, to the quickening street rhythm of cinema vérité, nothing needs to be discarded. We now have even more opportunities to expose ourselves for what we are, from genius to fraud.

Anyway, that's what I am running on.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Monsters is barely the beginning. But it is far from a failure a far as the spartan collaborative end of things go. I believe it benefited in many ways from the approach, and if there were failures, it is a bit too early to say whether they were inherent to the approach, or the artist. But I take my hat off to the lad.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

There have always been every size of film production, from one-man (look at Ross McElwee S16 docs for example) to ultra large. I don't see that changing - there are people who want to do everything themselves, and there are people who don't. I spent the first decade of my life as a filmmaker doing everything myself when making short films. The people who want to do everything themselves are finding it easier today, that's all. But there is no evidence that the film industry as a whole is going to go to one-man operations. Different types of scripts and budget require different sizes of crew - if you want to actually film a dozen period cowboys chasing a period train (not fake it with CGI), that's going to require a different scale of organization than shooting someone alone in their apartment. There are some types of jobs that need more hands to accomplish in a timely manner. And that doesn't even go into the other issue of creative collaboration - for those that aren't interested in doing that, they don't have to do it, but those that do, will continue to do so despite changes in technology.

It's not like I'm suggesting an either-or scenario, that either movies have to be made with big crews and key collaborators, or by one-man operations -- there is a wide range between the two that happen, and will continue to happen.

 

[Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock]

Haven't seen the movie myself...anyone want jump in with the problems on "Monsters" related to the single person movie.
Maybe he just didn't have enough people to bounce ideas off of...hence he limited himself too much ?

Well, I dont really want to critizise his work here on the forum since I have a lot of respect for him. Go watch the movie (and the BTS) and see for yourself. It is definitly worth it.

 

[Bill Anderson]

"The people who want to do everything themselves are finding it easier today, that's all".

That's the crux of the matter. And it is an earth-shaking thing in this industry - its shock will be felt in every genre from now till doomsday.

But I agree, it is not the only way. And I dig orchestras and quartets alike.

 

[Tim Hole]

Gareth is definitely one of the good guys. Who spent so many years getting caught up in doing effects for people and decided to take an opportunity to make a film with a few people and use his abilities with FX to sell his story. Every production has issues and I sure at times he thought he bit off more than he could chew but he sold his idea to the audience and for the size of the budget its obviously a success. I don't think Gareth particularly wanted to be a do it all director, it is just the case that it was the only way to get the film made. It worked. It is a wonderful low budget film has a few technical issues but nothing that really deters from its story. The boy did good. Now for his next piece it will be massive and will involve a massive crew - if he still is doing Godzilla that is.