Sam Weisman: A Wolf in Directors Clothing
Written by a Sheep in Wolfs Clothing (Susan H. Davis)
Last week I traveled down to Woods Hole to hear Sam Weisman speak about
directing. Three hours there and back, from the north shore, through Bourne
bridge traffic.
"This better be good", I thought.
Honestly, I was open to anything. Why else would I be there, stuck in
traffic, sucking in fumes? Under the guise of a producer to hear a
director¹s point of view, I wanted to hear why a "Hollywood² or studio
director would come back to his roots to settle here in Ma.
Disclaimer- All information into the writers mind is subjective and diffused
through a myriad of lenses, so my apologies upfront, Sam, as I had my
selective filter on, but here were the things that stuck in my mind:
Sam on basics: Sam started the workshop by recapping what a director
does on set- Directing 101. The main ideas being that the basics are ever
changing, wavering a bit here and there depending on the size of the
production. Hidden in the technical details were personal anecdotes, gems of
Sam¹s personal experiences. These were what I wanted to hear, what I had
come for, for even though one can find the technical details of directing in
a book, the life experiences of one who spent years in the trenches are, to
me, what's invaluable.
Sam on actors: The director has to understand how to get the best acting
out of the actor. Even if this means cheating the actor into believing the
cameras are turned off as the film rolls away capturing the perfect moment,
unbeknownst to the actor.
The purer the actor is the one who at least tries, take after take.
The bigger the celebrity is the one who repeatedly says 'No' to trying out
the director¹s suggestions.
The best actors are the ones that state the positive when requesting
changes. The best way to get the best performances are to get the best
actors, and according to Sam, the best world is where the director has the
pleasure of being the audience, as the actor does his/her magic.
Sam on the Assistant Producer/or the UPM: Often hired by the Line
Producer or studio, the 1st Assistant Producer helps to control the money,
who in turn controls the director. Try to hire your own, if you can.
Sam on diffusing the negative: The director has to be a psychologist,
friend, father, mother, dictator, etc., all these things on set. The
director has to eliminate the negative as quickly as possible between
essential creative crewmembers by cutting to the quick. If problems get
debated five minutes or more per take, or hour, one loses an hour or two a
day for shooting.
Sam on unruly outsiders on location, who are disturbing the shoot: Let's
just say that after a myriad of tries to get folks to shut up who insisted
on blabbing through a shoot, (but who had every right to be next door to the
shooting location because they owned the property, but were paid already for
the inconvenience), sometimes one has to fake a commotion to get the unruly
bastards taken away by the NYC cops on location. Guts. For this Sam gets the
ŒWolf in Director¹s Clothing¹ award.
What I came away from this workshop with was that one of the successful
traits of a good director is someone who can diffuse a negative situation
immediately, thinking on his/her toes...for time is money, and time is
creative energy spent, rarely to be regained, or regained at quite an
expense. At the end of the workshop Sam was concerned that he was being too
negative, maybe because his experiences were tainted with overcoming the
daily problems and pitfalls of directing. On the contrary, the reality of
overcoming the minutiae as positively as possible under the ever-changing
daily landscape of filming shows the ability to be flexible, and more
importantly to get the job done at all costs. Thanks, Sam, for the reality
check. Isn¹t that why I was there? There is nothing sugar coated about a day
of hard work, and much to be learned from his experiences. And why was I
there under the guise of producer? Because I was the sheep in wolfs
clothing...a first time producer, learning to build up guts. Why did Sam
move back east? He answered this right up front..."to have a better life".
With all the benefits for filmmakers in the MA. film industry right now, and
all the amazing talent, locales, and crew, I couldn't agree more.
Written by Susan H. Davis
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