| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
 Posted - 02/02/2007 : 12:29:32 AM
|
I would tend to agree, it was the studio interference line I was picking up on. It's pretty widely acknowledged that the very best Star Wars movies were more collaborative in nature- from having co-writers, both credited and uncredited, to a really good producer in Gary Kurtz, to Gloria's editing to actually hiring another director in Irvin Kirshner. I gather there is a lot of dissent as to how much the guy who did RotJ (forget his name) really directed and how much was Lucas himself.
But none of that was interference or meddling I don't think, it was good old fashioned filmmaking, finding the right people and getting the job done. The question to me is, when are films improved by the studio basically saying "Jeeze- get away from that!! Good grief, we gotta fix this!" And then actually hiring people and doing it while the director screams bloody murder.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 02/02/2007 12:30:07 AM |
 |
|
|
BradH812
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1294 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2007 : 06:42:13 AM
|
In addition to collaberation, I'd say that Star Wars benefitted from having time and budget limits. Lucas was FORCED to work within some confines. When you have a gifted filmmaker working with strict limits, the movie often ends up much better than it would if you gave the director a blank check and an open schedule (most of Spielberg's best work had a limited budget — or some other limit). And Lucas was a gifted filmmaker, at the time.
When he started work on The Phantom Menace, Lucas was 20 years out of directing, and he had no one who could say no to him. Ditto that for the last two movies. And it shows. |
|
|
|
nshumate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
464 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2007 : 07:27:01 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by zombiewhacker
If Ladd didn't like what he was seeing (or more accurately, what he was foreseeing) he could have dropped the anvil on Lucas anytime he wanted. This, of course, was not the case with the new trilogy.
I would just like to point out that anvil-dropping is more a Warner Bros. thing, not a Fox thing. Didn't you ever watch The Animaniacs?
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com |
|
|
|
Prankster
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
727 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2007 : 12:44:45 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Sardu
But none of that was interference or meddling I don't think, it was good old fashioned filmmaking, finding the right people and getting the job done. The question to me is, when are films improved by the studio basically saying "Jeeze- get away from that!! Good grief, we gotta fix this!" And then actually hiring people and doing it while the director screams bloody murder.
Yes, that's right. There's a difference between a talented group of collaborators and "studio interference". The director still needs credit for the former for acting as team leader. Film is always a highly collaborative medium, so a true "vision" from a single person is rare, but that doesn't mean there isn't still a single person managing the flow of ideas. I mean, if nothing else, he's got to have the talent to distinguish between everyone else's good and bad ideas.
And don't forget there's a distinction between a producer and a group of studio suits, too. Even if a director or creative team has to leave, the producer is still in charge and able to use his judgement to bring in a replacement--as happened all the time under the old studio system, where the producer was the "vision" guy, not the director. But when the bean counters get involved, all that happens is that a movie becomes more "marketable", not "better".
---
Check out my online comics at [URL]http://www.phantasmictales.com[/URL]! |
|
|
|
RossM
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2007 : 09:42:16 AM
|
There is also a practical element in movies that doesnt exist in novels, at least to the same extent. The films have budget and rigid time deadlines. A director may want to film a scene on a train but renting a train may be simply out of the production's budget. It may be critical to get a movie out by Christmas but filming the director's "vision" may put it beyond its optimum opening date. Thus the eveil Hollywood suits must compromise the directors and writers "vision" for straight out business reasons.
rossM |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Forum Locked
Topic Locked