> INTERVIEWS
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There is so much blood and carnage throughout the movie that shooting in sequence was the only way to protect the set…
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MAKE-UP ARTIST: NICKI LEDERMANN
This industry is full of egos and insecurity. So people skills and a calm and balanced personality are in many ways just as crucial as mastering the craft…
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As a director Paul [Thomas Anderson] maintains an intimate relationship with his actors, to protect this atmosphere he keeps a small set, even those often deemed necessary remain outside…
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It was a strange period to think there were people out there adapting something I’d written and not having a clue what they were like or what their plans for it were…
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Jennifer [Lynch] was clear that there should be a feeling of reality throughout in order for the story to have power…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: TOBY CORBETT
It’s always fun to blow things up and I can’t think of a more appropriate person to be holding the switch other than Sylvester Stallone…
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Tom [Hooper] really had to convince the studio that singing live would work and bring something to the film that would make watching it unique…
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I like the challenge of photographing what is essentially fiction as if it were real…
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COSTUME DESIGNER: ARJUN BHASIN
It was very important to Ang [Lee] that we remain true to the period and also to the milieu of the film…
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To me it doesn’t matter whether it is a studio or an independent film as long as it is something I truly care about…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: DREW BOUGHTON
The chance to do a highly stylised retro-kitch-neo-exploitation genre film was irresistible…
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Chris and Tina are hopefully recognisable British types. Both misfits and downtrodden with a lot of pent up anger…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: DEVORAH HERBERT
My job was to get inside the heads of the characters and interpret their experience of a world which is incredibly brutal but also starkly beautiful…
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DIRECTOR: ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY
During filming, I come to destroy the written word…
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Having Nicolas [Winding Refn] on board was the best guarantee that we were doing something worthwhile…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: ED VERREAUX
The basic idea of Looper was a dystopian future where the structures of our civilisation was still there but almost all progress had stopped with the financial melt-down of 2008…
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It’s never, ever easy to get a green light. When The Lights Went Out was no exception and it took years to get it financed…
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Anton [Corbijn] was surrounded by models and such and he said to me, “I’m not here because of who I am but because of what I do”. I thought that was an interesting way to look at yourself…
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The Sweeney was a major and exciting opportunity to shoot and expose the London of today – cool, sexy, forward thinking and modern…
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Improvisation and working with a small crew in such changeable conditions as Dartmoor’s Wistman Woods was a step back into the very real world of disorder…
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I asked James [Marsh] what he thought the music should have at its heart. He said one word – “betrayal” – and that became the emotional core of the score…
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STORYBOARD ARTIST: ROB MCCALLUM
It’s always nice to see the sequences you came up with making it to the finished film…
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Jo [Nesbø] gave me more or less total freedom. I knew that I needed to make this story my own in order to make the film…
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CINEMATOGRAPHER: RACHEL MORRISON
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What DP wants to hear that 30 pages take place in a room with white walls…
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To have someone like George A. Romero sit and watch your film and tell you how much he enjoyed it afterwards is an absolute buzz…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: YOHEI TANEDA
From the time when I first submitted a concept design for the world of The Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou gave me full trust in designing the city and the cathedral…
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For me, big emotions, if possible, are vital in structuring a documentary. I want to feel a lot, and learn a lot, and I think others do too…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: WILLIAM SANDELL
With Paul [Verhoeven], if you build it, you know he will come and shoot the hell out of it, and then blow it up…
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“Willem Dafoe is The Hunter” was often said to distributors and there was always a slow and thoughtful nod of appreciation and understanding in reply…
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STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JAIMIE TRUEBLOOD
I try to get on projects I would want to go see myself, so when I’m working on them, I’m shooting with an eye towards what would make me say, “holy shit, I gotta go see that movie”…
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It’s very important to me to be able to find roles and projects that aren’t similar to what I’ve just done…
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I do think that with low budget, independent films the production values are often much higher because the people you are working with are so committed, and doing it out of passion…
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CINEMATOGRAPHER: ANDRIJ PAREKH
The script is the backbone of any good film, and if it’s weak, the film will never recover – no matter how strong the acting or camera work…
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We went to Cannes and got an amazing reaction. People have really responded to the film…
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I just followed my nose as a storyteller when writing, imagining what I wanted to see in each moment, regardless of whether that fit a certain template…
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MOTION PICTURE STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER: WILSON WEBB
I am often right next to the film camera, between the director and actors and so it is important that I both blend in and yet be everywhere at the same time…
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PROSTHETICS MAKE-UP DESIGNER: DAVID WHITE
It was clear from the outset director Rupert Sanders wanted real, soulful characters in the dark fantasy world he had created…
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We found Yellow Submarine to be like the pop art of the ‘60s with its flowing brush strokes and brilliant colours. The most difficult task was to make it acceptable for HD without losing the art…
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POSTER ARTIST: BRANDON SCHAEFER
Posters that strive to express an idea or a feeling honestly are what fuel my engine…
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Lets face it, [Werner] Herzog could read the McDonalds menu and be engaging…
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CINEMATOGRAPHER: IGOR MARTINOVIC
The camera needed to be in complete sync with Elizabeth [Olsen] and we often joked that we’re not filming but dancing together…
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We cast Michael [Shannon] first. He read a very early draft, and his interest was really helpful in having people take me seriously, because everyone wants to work with him…
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David [Fincher] is a perfectionist and expects –and gets – the highest standards of expertise from all the participants on set…
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As a documentary filmmaker I follow my nose. If I hear a story that moves me, I want to do a film about it…
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If Wild Bill proves to be the only film I’m ever involved in, at least it was a good one…
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I’ve learned that if I stick to my guns, listen to and honour my own voice, projects tend to be more fulfilling, if not always profitable…
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Initially I was afraid to play the part. But Markus’ [Schleinzer] script was a very intelligent approach to a very difficult topic…
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POSTER ARTIST: GRAHAM HUMPHREYS
Cultural triggers, childhood memories or familiar tropes can all play a part in an individual’s response to an image…
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David Cronenberg was very concerned with props and details, such as the reproduction of the galvanometer, Jung´s measurement device for his psychophysical investigations…
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Transparency is very important to David and myself…
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EDITOR: ZACHARY STUART-PONTIER
I enjoy editing because it’s a lot like putting together a puzzle. All of the pieces have to fit together and you are the person who has to figure out how they should go…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: LAURENCE BENNETT
Working on The Artist was a singularly special experience…
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Alexander Payne trusts me and in our industry that is a gift…
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The book is Sebald’s own consciousness, and I didn’t have to re-create the walk, which gave me great freedom in what I could do…
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Who says you can’t make a film in verse?…
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MOTION PICTURE STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER: LARRY D. HORRICKS
I am always on the look out for creative possibilities beyond what is expected as part of the brief…
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It takes forever with animation and usually my films take around two weeks to shoot, so I had to be very patient…
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VFX PRODUCER: LUCY AINSWORTH-TAYLOR
Money is obviously a factor as there are a lot of productions that would like far more than they can afford…
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I asked Clint Eastwood how I should go about working as a director. I remember him squinting like he was about to ask me if I felt lucky, and saying; ’Just go do it, kid!’ So I did…
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In film, lies often emerge in a climactic scene but I wanted to see what would happen if they were kept hidden…
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I have learned not to please everyone but to follow my intuition and do what I believe is best for the project. After all that’s what I am hired for…
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DIRECTORS: TOM KINGSLEY & WILL SHARPE
We didn’t want to make a this-kind-of-film or that-kind-of-film or even a film-in-the-style-of-anything-in-particular. We just wanted to make a good film…
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You can go places emotionally in a supernatural story that no other genre dares…
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I was never interested in doing a typical “whodunit” movie with The Silence…
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER: GUY HENDRIX DYAS
I know when I agree to take on a project, I’ll be committing a year of my life to it and therefore I’m very selective about what I work on…
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I felt the idea of a woman essentially weaponizing her own body was such an intriguing and unique hook…
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There, for a while, every day it seemed another incredible actor was aboard…
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I got a drunken haircut in New York that Christopher Nolan has never (politely) forgiven me for…
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I’d got to the point where I was considering re-mortgaging my house just to finance my first film…
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Some directors are more hands on with music and others are happy to let the composer take the initiative…
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Pitching is never fun because you have to try to convey an entire film — all the emotions, themes, plot points, surprises and character traits in 20 minutes…
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CINEMATOGRAPHER: NICOLA PECORINI
When I read a script there is one initial question I ask myself – “is this story worth telling?”…
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MOVIE STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER: KIMBERLEY FRENCH
Imagine shooting at -30 on top of a mountain with 70 mile an hour driving snow and wind…
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Initially I read a two page treatment by Duncan (Jones) for Moon, which was quite skeletal. I couldn’t figure out if the concept was very cool or very silly – in science fiction it is often a fine line…
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I started to wonder how much you could abstract classic posters and still retain the identity…
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