September 7, 2009

Crack That Whip

Drew Barrymore has a movie coming out this fall called “Whip It".  Curse her.  Now every time I see the title, from newspaper ad to trailer, my subliminal Devo cover band will don their red hats and crack that… well, you know.

I hate when this happens.  My daughter recently found a book at the library called “If I were Your Mother”.  I’m sure few others even know the Bon Jovi song of the same title that entered my head each time the book was read.  It’s not as bad as Whip It, but it certainly wasn’t “Wanted Dead or Alive”.

Ob la di, ob la da, life goes on, right?

This interview with Drew Barrymore from Film Independent is a quick, interesting read.  In it, Ms. Barrymore alludes to the fact that she doesn’t watch the monitor while she’s directing, but rather watches the live action.  I can appreciate her desire to be ‘in the movie’ but how do you know what the movie is going to look like if you’re not aware of the framing?  I’m completely opposite from the actor-cum-director – when I’m directing a scene, I’m glued to the monitor.  I have to know exactly what the camera is picking up or I feel I’m not doing my job as a director.

Is my way better than Ms. Barrymore’s?  Of course not.  Just a personal preference.  I wonder where the majority of directors fall on this topic…

2 comments:

Lance said...

Personally I prefer to be glued to the monitor the entire time too, but depending on whether or not we actually HAVE a monitor, it may or may not be feasible for every shot. In that case I put a lot of trust in my DP. But in cases where I can't watch the monitor I almost always want playback immediately afterward...

Interesting fact, I believe that Alfred Hitchcock was never near the camera/monitor, he was always very far away...he just knew how it would turn out in his head I guess.

How do you handle it when you're acting and directing though, Justen? Do you ask for playback on all the shots?

MN 2 Hollywood said...

Luckily I've always had someone else on set with me that I trusted enough with scenes in which I was acting. Of course I'd check the playback from time to time, and when possible, I would line the monitor up with my eyeline so I could watch the take as it unfolded.

How the actor/directors who work with film do it, I don't know. I can't imagine waiting for dailies before taking a look at some of the more intricate takes from the day. That's one of the small benefits of not being able to afford film I guess. ;)