Spielberg on Spielberg

Jim Brennan said:
Aside from a few interesting anecdotes, I found it to be fluff. Entertaining, but not much more.
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I would agree. It was entertaining but nothing really telling. I would love to have him disect several of his favorite scenes or films.

The most interesting comment of the night was the points bet he made with Lucas.
 
Sure we'd love to hear about his lighting decisions, lens choices, editing workflow, mics, shot selection, etc... but I think this is the best we'll ever get.

I enjoyed it a lot.
 
bballplaya283 said:
Sure we'd love to hear about his lighting decisions, lens choices, editing workflow, mics, shot selection, etc... but I think this is the best we'll ever get.

I enjoyed it a lot.
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The only way you'll ever hear about that is if you talk to him yourself. Most people would be bored out of their minds if they sat through 90 minutes of just tech talk and stuff like that.

..there should be a channel dedicated to tech stuff who interview the pros
 
bballplaya283 said:
Sure we'd love to hear about his lighting decisions, lens choices, editing workflow, mics, shot selection, etc... but I think this is the best we'll ever get.

I enjoyed it a lot.
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I doubt he makes many of these selections. He works with people that get paid a lot of money to make these decisions. He, as a director, does what a director SHOULD do - focus on the story and how it's told. All the technical details shouldn't really be the focus of the director.
 
For example...

You're making a film about an East German family and how they're dealing with the fall of the Berlin Wall about 17 years ago...

East German Mother: This is amazing. My family has struggled for years with all these issues. There were days where we didn't even eat food because we couldn't afford it. My son was shot as he was scaling that wall before it came down.

99% of the members here: So do I shoot that in 24p or 24pa? What shutter speed should I use?

Umm... yeah...
 
bballplaya283 said:
Sure we'd love to hear about his lighting decisions, lens choices, editing workflow, mics, shot selection, etc... but I think this is the best we'll ever get.

I enjoyed it a lot.
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I thought I heard once that he was planning on writing an autobiography at some point. Hopefully if he does that we'll get more information of that type.
 
Jim Brennan said:
Aside from a few interesting anecdotes, I found it to be fluff. Entertaining, but not much more.
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i've seen a number of raw Spielberg interviews to know that's all you'll get out of him these days. generally, anytime an interviewer asks him something remotely interesting he pulls this "huh? what? i don't understand the question" bs. after the interviewer rephrases its... "no, no, move on. it's a bad question."
 
tommyinla said:
I doubt he makes many of these selections. He works with people that get paid a lot of money to make these decisions. He, as a director, does what a director SHOULD do - focus on the story and how it's told. All the technical details shouldn't really be the focus of the director.
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I'm sure he has plenty to say about lighting decisions and lens selection I'd love to hear about. Maybe not editing workflow and mic selectioin, but to think he has no input on the technical decisions would be foolish. He has worked with several cinematographers over the years, and that has not really changed the quality of many of his films (unlike, say, John Carpenter, who has sucked since Dean Cundey left his team), so it's clear we're seeing his visual viewpoint on screen. He's not Rodriguez or Soderbergh, but I guarantee you he knows what every light and every lens on the set can do for him.
 
He plays a mean Wii too.
spielberg_shiggy_wiitennis.jpg
 
Batutta said:
I'm sure he has plenty to say about lighting decisions and lens selection I'd love to hear about. Maybe not editing workflow and mic selectioin, but to think he has no input on the technical decisions would be foolish. He has worked with several cinematographers over the years, and that has not really changed the quality of many of his films (unlike, say, John Carpenter, who has sucked since Dean Cundey left his team), so it's clear we're seeing his visual viewpoint on screen. He's not Rodriguez or Soderbergh, but I guarantee you he knows what every light and every lens on the set can do for him.
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Yes, but he works with his cinematographer, who knows what the hell he's doing. What would be nice if they somehow had a discussion with him and one of the cinematographers he's worked with in the past. That might interest the more technical people.
 
Batutta said:
I'm sure he has plenty to say about lighting decisions and lens selection I'd love to hear about. Maybe not editing workflow and mic selectioin, but to think he has no input on the technical decisions would be foolish. He has worked with several cinematographers over the years, and that has not really changed the quality of many of his films (unlike, say, John Carpenter, who has sucked since Dean Cundey left his team), so it's clear we're seeing his visual viewpoint on screen. He's not Rodriguez or Soderbergh, but I guarantee you he knows what every light and every lens on the set can do for him.
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He's pretty much used Janusz Kaminski as his DP since Schindler's List. Definitely a variety of looks to his films. If you really want detail into the photography, I highly recommend picking up a copy of an American Cinematographer magazine featuring one of his films.
 
tommyinla said:
Yes, but he works with his cinematographer, who knows what the hell he's doing. What would be nice if they somehow had a discussion with him and one of the cinematographers he's worked with in the past. That might interest the more technical people.
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I'd love that.

I'm also probably going to start getting American Cinematographer.
 
cinealma said:
He's pretty much used Janusz Kaminski as his DP since Schindler's List. Definitely a variety of looks to his films. If you really want detail into the photography, I highly recommend picking up a copy of an American Cinematographer magazine featuring one of his films.
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Yeah, and I actually wished he'd move on as I'd like a bit more variety. Janusz's monochromatic, edge lit and diffused look doesn't fit every project, and I'd hate it if Indiana Jones looked like War of the Worlds . Early in his career he worked with Vilmos Zsigmond, Douglas Slocombe, Dean Cundey, Allen Daviau.
 
bballplaya283 said:
I'd love that.

I'm also probably going to start getting American Cinematographer.
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That's a great idea man... American Cinematographer is a great source for those that are / want to be DPs. And get the book too... although the book seems to be geared more to film and not video.

Batutta said:
Yeah, and I actually wished he'd move on as I'd like a bit more variety. Janusz's monochromatic, edge lit and diffused look doesn't fit every project, and I'd hate it if Indiana Jones looked like War of the Worlds . Early in his career he worked with Vilmos Zsigmond, Douglas Slocombe, Dean Cundey, Allen Daviau.
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I'd like to see him team up with someone who had more of the "old school" look. Make the film look modern but also have the classic look of the 80s film stock and style.
 
Yeah, I hope Janusz does something a little more traditional with Indy IV. I'm not saying I don't dig his work, but it's Indy.
It'd be nice to get some Peter Jackson-ish extras on any of Spielberg's films. The extras on his dvd's tend to be a little on the light side, not unlike this special.
 
I wasn't looking for technical stuff (I'm in the minority on these boards, as I view the tech stuff as a means to an end...most of it gives me a headache). But i was looking for more meat, more inspiration, more history. There wasn't anything there that you wouldn't see on his A&E Biography or the extra's on his DVDs.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I felt like I was watching entertainment tonight after a while.
 
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