|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
" With a film like The Poppa Squeeze Affair, there's a lot of drama, action,
pace, jokey violence scenes and hand-held action sequences. I set Tony Maroni in the opening scene sitting
passively with a woman, chatting her up so that this would contrast with his violent character in the rest of
the film.
After the intro has kicked in and when we have seen the too sides of Tony's character,
we get the impression that he's basically a debt collector, who is prepared to change
the rules when a woman is around. These rules definitely do not apply to
anybody else in the film of a male origin. This helps to make the character more
interesting.
I think that if you are making a film inspired by your favourite type of film, this
does not mean that you cannot make changes to it. If this film is going to be a
high octane gangster flick, it does not mean that you cannot film the opening
scene of him with his granny. This kind of unusual scene will endear you to
people.
If you take chances and put a character from a Martin Scorcese type of film
and style in a totally different situation, like buying eggs and bacon from Kwik
Save, this can make an impression on the perceptions of people. It also
brings them closer to the character before you even get rolling.
So sometimes pre-scenes and pre-title sequences can really help. If your
title sequence is going to be really quick, really pacey, but your actual
pre-scene is this laid back affair of somebody having a cup of tea, then
you've got the two interesting extremes to the film already.
This is a really good way to get people hooked into your film. They won't
feel let down later on if he's round at his man's house watching neighbours,
because you have already established the style of the film that you are
about to show. " |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
" Improvisation is a very strong feature in all of the films with Shane's World
because you are on a low budget, you shoot using a lot of sequences for cover,
and you film from different angles. Getting people to go over and over things is
really difficult and you very rarely use real actors. In Shane's World, 90% of the
actors are not real actors.
We can all find characters with something to offer. If you go to visit your parents,
your one kind of person is sat with his girlfriend, your other kind of person is out
with his mates. We are all chameleons in every day life. If you throw yourself
into a situation where somebody just turns up at the doorstep and tries to sell
you something, we respond to that.
We act every single day of our life. However, one thing that seems to stop
people is when they turn the camera on. They think they've got to do something
funny or clever, which comes across as contrived. What they should do is just
improvise in a scene which they don't know is coming up. That's the secret of
improvisation.
You have to let people respond as people. So, if somebody comes and grabs
me, I am going to try to stop them from grabbing me. You don't want to ever put
people in a position where their safety is in danger, but at the same time, if
somebody does not quite know what's going to happen, they are going to
respond as humans, before they respond as actors.
It's your job to make people feel relaxed in the first place. But the beauty of
improvisation is that you can tell one person what you want them to do in the
scene and the other person can have no idea what's coming, so they are
always going to respond as it is actually unfolding.
You only start acting when you know you've got a line to deliver next.
Improvisation is the key to that and can actually separate you from a lot of
other film-makers in the country. The industry is so hung up on developing
scripts, that somebody who comes along with an improvisational piece may
get to the top of the queue, just because it has an energy about it that a lot of
short films and feature films don't seem to have at the moment. "
|
|
|
|
|
|
