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| Forums > Film-making > evolution, film style |
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haverfilms
at 09:42, 7 Dec 2005
Posts: 7
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evolution, film style
Sally,
First let me say how nice it is that you offer this forum to converse... a thrill to be able to write directly to those who inspire... and inspire you have. With every film you make we can look anew at things which have never been put to screen before in ways never put to screen before with ideas never put to screen before.
Now with filmmaking being only a hundred year old art form you might think this experience would be commonplace, but guess again. It seems that it is the rare filmmaker who tries and rarer yet is one who dares and then the piece works... honestly Sally, I read in your blog where you wish you were faster and had more ideas committed to screen but, wow, each one is a masterwork and YES is no exception. You are the modern filmmaker I most admire and I could go on, but let me save room for a question...
I watched YES on DVD as a part of my research and inspiration for beginning pre-production on my 3rd feature. When I read that you filmed it on such a low budget I was shocked and delighted to see what can be done. How were you able to maintain such amazing control of color palette and art direction detail and wind up getting so much value onto the screen? I would have guessed it was a 10 million dollar budget... Also did you ever consider HD at this budget point and why super 16? How long was your pre-production?
Any thoughts you have for me on these issues will greatly help me in my current planning..
Mary Haverstick
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sally potter
at 01:56, 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 193
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PREPARATION
Thank you for your comforting words about my output.
In answer to your questions, my experience of so-called 'production values' on the screen is that they have less to do with budget than with imagination: in other words it is how you use what you have - and even what you dont have - with flexibility that counts, not how much you have to spend. Another key is how you use preparation time. The official pre-production time for YES was about 8 weeks, but in reality the preparation was as long as the script development itself, even though a full team was on board only for the last weeks of that process. I believe strongly in the value of tests, so we did as many as possible...for example the different camera speeds, colour stock tests, costume, design, hair and makeup tests, so that the look of the film was able to evolve before the madness of the shoot. We also tested various guages and cameras and settled on super-16mm because of the physical flexibilty it offered combined with the inherent beauty of the grain structure. But the decision was also driven by the budget. Having slashed the budget in half several times over, in the end it was simply what we could afford.
I also take a lot of photographs during development, and build up what i call an 'image bank', this helps the dialogue with the heads of department. And of course choosing your colleagues carefully, and building a relationship with each and every one of them, means that levels of motivation are high in the collaboration. I was blessed to work with brilliant and incredibly hard-working people behind the camera, each of whom greatly contributed to the look of the film.
The final colour in YES was also shaped in post-production. I worked day in and day out with the wonderful team in Paris (Digimages) generating a 35mm negative digitally which pushed certain parts of the spectrum forward and held others back.
I hope this helps. And I wish you a challenging and thrilling ride with your film. Good luck.
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