Rules of Film
Using bubbl.us I created a brainstorm describing the rules of film
There are varying moral compasses around the world aimed at a myriad of different coordinates, but the tenet that seems to point due north is the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This applies even to filmmaking, which tends to create pressure cookers of human interaction where emotions run high and pleasantries reduce to barked orders. At times, filmmakers may feel a bit lost, whether it's with having to deal with a room full of egos or finding your own "esque." Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting) offers great perspective with his "golden rules of moviemaking," which could put even the most lost filmmaker back on course.
While researching what specific rules apply to filmmaking, I decided to continue researching Dany Boyle; a British film director, producer, screenwriter and theatre director. He is mostly famous because of his work on 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, Sunshine. While researching him. I came across his own formation of filmmakings 'Golden Rules' This is the information I've gathered.
My Golden Rules of Filmmaking
1. A DIRECTOR MUST BE A PEOPLE PERSON • Ninety-five percent of your job is handling personnel. People who’ve never done it imagine that it’s some act, like painting a Picasso from a blank canvas, but it’s not like that. Directing is mostly about handling people’s egos, vulnerabilities and moods. It’s all about trying to bring everybody to a boil at the right moment. You’ve got to make sure everyone is in the same film. It sounds stupidly simple, like ‘Of course they’re in the same film!’ But you see films all the time where people are clearly not in the same film together.
2. HIRE TALENTED PEOPLE • My main job as a director will be to hire talented people and get the space right for them to work in. I have a lot of respect for actors when they’re performing, and I expect people to behave. I don’t want to see people reading newspapers behind the camera or whispering or anything like that. During the filming of 11:59 we constantly had this issue, the camera man would be whispering or eating while filming, causing us the have to reshoot many scenes.
3. LEARN TO TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS • Ideally, you make a film up as you go along. I don’t mean that you’re irresponsible and you’ve literally got no idea, but the ideal is that you’ve covered everything—every angle—so that you’re free to do it any of those ways. Even on low-budget films, which our preliminary film 11:59 clearly was, you have financial responsibilities. Should you mess it up, you can still fall back on one of those ways of doing it. You’ve got Plan A to go back to, even though you should always make it with Plan B if you can. That way keeps it fresh for the actors, and for you. We experienced this a few times with 11:59, because there were actors within our group that ended up leaving the course, we had to find substitutes, which obviuously wasn't ideal but we eventually made it work.
4. FILM HAPPENS IN THE MOMENT • What’s extraordinary about film is that you make it on the day, and then it’s like that forever more. On that day, the actor may have broken up with his girlfriend, or gotten into a fight with a friend the night before, so he’s inevitably going to read a scene differently. He’s going to be a different person.Which again was experience with our group, there had been a day where we had to film after school, and just before filming I had gotten in an arguemnt with my girlfriend, therefore coming to the group pissed off, being a different person to what I was the previous day.
5. IF YOUR LAST FILM WAS A SMASH HIT, DON’T PANIC • I have an obsession with the story of Reverse, which is why I want to make it perfect, and after the success of 11:59 it's hard to see how and independent film made by some college students could top that. What, even is perfect? http://www.moviemaker.com/archives/moviemaking/directing/danny-boyle-15-golden-rules-filmmaking/ Make this interactive, reflection.
7. USE YOUR POWER FOR GOOD • You have so much power as director that if you’re any good at all, you should be able to use that to the benefit of everyone. When you're in the shoes, you feel as if you have so much power to shape the movie the way you want. I remember yelling order and Tre and the others whenever they had done something that wasn't with my 'glorious' vision. Being the director gives you a lot of power... and makes the film precious to you, yet, you need know when and how to use that power.
8. DON’T HAVE AN EGO • This can be hard for those individuals who are extremely cocky, as one of my parters. Dany, is. You need to make sure you do not follow this trend and keep your ego a upmost minimum. Your working process—the way you treat people, your belief in people—will ultimately be reflected in the product itself. The means of production are just as important as what you produce. Therefore, even though it may happen now and then, shouting at someone isn't ideal.
9. MAKE THE TEST SCREENING PROCESS WORK FOR YOU • Test screenings are tough. It makes you nervous, exposing the film, but they’re very important and I’ve learned a great deal from using them.
What are you Golden Rules of film? Are they the same as mine? Are they similar? Or are they nothing alike? Either way tell me what your Golden Rules of film are at my twitter, tweet your Golden Rules, however many there are, and tag me at Daishon_Isiah