We’ve all heard the advice that directors give aspiring filmmakers: get out there and make something. Indeed, if Sean Baker and Steven Soderbergh can shoot films using nothing more than iPhone, so can anybody. Desktop computers are so powerful now that you don’t really need to farm out editing or other post-production work either. Getting your first movie in the can has never been more accessible, so don’t expect anybody to hold your hand. Especially Ridley Scott.
The veteran director rolled by the BAFTA: A Life in Pictures event celebrating his career, and told young moviemakers that there were “no excuses” for not getting off the couch and shooting something.
“There are a lot of them now,” Scott said. “I think they think it’s going to be all fun and parties. When I do a movie I’m shooting by 8:45 a.m. You have to or you’ll never catch up.”
Certainly, the director is known for being one of the most efficient filmmakers in town, and with good reason. There are few who could’ve replaced a key role in “All The Money In The World” mere weeks before it opened, and still make the release date. But Scott has some other advice for young talent too such as sticking to budget (“Film school never teaches you that”), and surprisingly, staying out of the editing bay.
“If you sit in the editing room with the editor every night you’ll drive each other crazy. I shoot. I see rushes. I leave it,” he said. “It’s a good tip.”
In short, Scott advises that you “go out and make a movie this weekend or stop moaning” about the inability to make anything. The power to shoot a film is literally in your hands, and possibly, even in your pocket. [Variety]
