As a director of a film, what is the most important thing besides ability?
power.
Don't laugh, if the staff on the set doesn't listen to him, you can't stop the actor's big-name behavior, and even in the face of some of the investor's extradote behavior, you can't say no.
Then basically don't think about making any good movies.
For example, the world-famous director James Cameron, he has also encountered this kind of thing.
In 1979, Fox Pictures' horror film Alien was so successful that its producer, David Giller, wanted to hit the iron while it was hot and rushed to launch a sequel.
However, due to the disagreement of Fox's senior management at that time, this matter has been pushed forward.
Fast forward to the early '80s, when David proposed the project to the top again, with the full support of Alan Ladd Jr, then president of Fox.
However, the good times did not last long, and soon Alan Ladd Jr left Fox, and the new Fox executives were completely uninterested in the Alien sequel, saying: "The profits of the previous Alien were not enough to support the launch of the sequel. ”
Of course, everyone knows that this is a lie, 1979's "Alien" production cost only $10 million, the North American box office of 80 million, the global box office of 100 million, such achievements have been very explosive.
To that end, David joined forces with several other producers to file a lawsuit against Fox over alien profits.
By 1983, the lawsuit was closed, Fox's top brass had changed again, and the new executives were more optimistic about the sequel to "Alien", so they handed it over to David.
In this case, "Alien 2" was officially approved and promoted.
David and others began to find the right writer and director for Alien 2, and James Cameron was filming Terminator, and the development director recommended the young director to David after getting the script for Cameron's Terminator.
David at the time, after reading the script, thought that Cameron really had great potential, so he invited him to write the script for Alien 2.
At the same time, since "Terminator" has not yet been filmed, David plans to see how the film will be when it is released.
If you can, let Cameron take over the directorship.
If not, just let him be a screenwriter or buy his script.
Of course, as you know, 1984's Terminator was a huge success around the world.
Cameron naturally became the director of Alien 2.
But when the project started, there was a problem.
Alien 1 is a horror film, so does Alien 2 want to continue the style of the previous game? Or is it a different approach?
Cameron's choice was the latter.
But the cost of making a sci-fi movie and a horror movie is not a grade, which means that the budget will increase a lot.
At the same time, the actress of the first heroine Ripley, Sigourney Weaver, was in a contract dispute with Fox at the time, and the top asked Cameron to delete all the scenes in the script.
But Cameron believes that not only can the scene not be deleted, but Also Ripley's actor can only be played by Weaver.
Not long after his debut, he dared to intimidate capital, and Cameron was also domineering enough.
However, the heavens seemed to deliberately want to give this famous director more experience.
After solving the casting problem, there is a bigger trouble.
The crew on set didn't listen to Cameron at all.
The filming location is the famous Pinewood Studios in the Uk, in other words, the staff is mostly British.
The British employees of this factory have a very interesting feature.
lazy.
No matter how busy they are every day, they must go to drink afternoon tea when they arrive, and even go to the bar after lunch.
Cameron was originally a fierce director, and his idea was to work 14 hours a day, and then everyone would get the job done as soon as possible, and then they would do whatever they wanted.
However, no one listened to him.
The studio staff even laughed at him, you are only in your early 30s, you don't have enough filming experience, what ability is here to command us.
Because "The Terminator" was not released in the UK at that time, Cameron watched, oh you don't believe it is that I am incompetent, right, let you still say this after watching "The Terminator"?
So he held a screening, but few employees at the factory went to see it.
After becoming famous, Cameron recalled that year, still said:
"The pinewood studios' employees are lazy and arrogant. I know that young people who are engaged in art inevitably have shortcomings, but to a large extent, we despise them, and they despise us. ”
At that time, some people also suggested that Cameron compromise with the employees, but Cameron directly refused.
Finally, after Cameron fired some assistants and director of photography, things boiled to the top.
All the employees of Pinewood Studios joined forces to strike, and everyone said that if you Don't roll a day, cameron, we won't go to work for a day.
This is not okay, if you do this, the movie really can't be filmed.
To this end, Cameron swallowed his breath and explained to the employees well: "I know you have opinions about me, but then the work cannot be carried out, that is not good for everyone, after all, we all take people's money to do things." ”
After this, the filming of the film returned to normal, and Cameron endured until the shooting was completed, and he once again gathered all the staff and told them:
“this has been a long and difficult shoot, fraught by many problems. but the one thing that kept me going, through it all, was the certain knowledge that one day i would drive out the gate of pinewood and never come back, and that you sorry bastards would still be here.”
"It was a long and tough shoot and it was full of problems. But there is one thing that keeps me going, because after all this, I know that one day I will walk out of the gates of the pine forest and never come back, and you poor bastards deserve to stay here for the rest of your life. ”
The final result is also known.
Alien 2 was a global success, and Cameron continued to move forward to make classic films such as The Abyss, Terminator 2, and Titanic.
He really never returned to the Pinewood Studios because he was already a famous director and had the power to choose for himself.
It was also from this film that Cameron's title of "Tyrant on set" was passed on.
However, compared to the so-called tyrant, Lao Sai sees a director who really wants to make a good movie.