All language subtitles for 108 - Collaboration Part 2

Apollo 13 was

a project that it was easy to fall in love with

we all became very passionate about about it

one of the real champions of

of this of of the

very similar to the honesty

the seeking the truth in the story was Tom Hanks

who loved the space program

initial screenplay was very entertaining

but there were some

some some situations

some scenes where things were

um you know

sort of combined

slightly exaggerated for drama and um

Tom would always say

why are we doing that

is that really what happened

and I actually wrote on the cover of my script finally

um to tell the truth

just show it

because I began to trust that

and it was really the first time that I developed that

that's that trust in in

in the in the

in the ideas

um and and it's the first

first time I worked on a story

it was based on real events

but again one of the great triangles was in fact

Dave Scott who was a

an Apollo veteran and an ex commander

and who's our technical advisor

Tom Hanks and myself

city simply sitting with transcripts and

you know in

Tom wanted to understand as a as a

as a commander

you know what these various procedures might mean

and we wind up getting so much suspense

and gaining so much drama

simply by going through a process that began as a

sort of a technical understanding of a procedure

and wound up turning into

um you know

a character moment

a moment of decision

a moment of suspense

that I was able to identify and do something with

that would inform the camera work

would inform the editing

um but it would come out of these

these quiet

Three Way you know

conversations that were more informational and creative

and yet I think every conversation you have on

you know around the problem solving

of a movie or television show

is ultimately a creative conversation

it was an important moment

where I really availed myself of some

some relationships that I was lucky enough to have

as a director

um and I was timid about it at first but I was

I was going into a beautiful mind

it was the most serious movie um

that I'd made at that point in my career and um

um and I and I

I I done a lot of rehearsing and preparing of movies

I love to stage

I love to rehearse ahead of time

but generally were lighter movies um

or you know

or a little more action oriented

and wasn't so much about mining these deep

psychological minefields you know

and these troubles

and setting the stage for triumphs that were

you know supposed to be monumental

for the character and for the audience

but in fact

we're small

small things and um

we're about to begin rehearsals and I

I decided that I would

I would call on some people I really admired

who I knew just enough to be able to to

to send a call out

um it kind of a haha

kind of a SOS of sorts

and it was Martin Scorsese

Mike Nichols

um and Sidney Lamette

and there are three directors who are

whose dramatic work I admired you know

and I knew them well enough to call

and they had three very different ideas for me

in terms of going into this rehearsal period

um you know

I said how do you approach it

Mike Nichols said I try to

in addition to working out the problems of the script

and you know

into testing the material

I try to build a bridge between the

the actor and the character

and I want to talk about it enough

so that I understand what that bridge is like

so that at 3 o'clock in the morning

on some bitter cold night

if I feel like they're missing a moment

I might be able to

remind them of a conversation we had in rehearsal

or push a button in some way that reconnects them

and bridges them to that character

so that what they give is organic

you know Mike was a tremendous you know

stage and theater director

as well as film and television

that was really insightful

I'd never heard anyone describe it that way

um he said I

sometimes I don't care

if we never get around to actually reading this

script you know I

I just wanna build that bridge

sitting in the mat was um

much more about preparation

he of course

wanted to explore it

I wanted to hear what the actors thought

there's a lot of trust there um

and sitting on that

also wanted to make sure

that it was technically prepared

that it that

that it was meticulously marked out

that camera positions were selected

so that when the actor came in

not only could the production work very

very efficiently

the actors would be liberated of that concern

that pressure

cause the production was moving um

you know so swiftly

um but um the

all they had to think about was the

was the performance and

and he also did very few takes

which I thought was interesting

some of these things

I chose to borrow

others you know

not so much

but I thought it was very

very interesting

scorsese was um

used a lot of improvisation he said

and a lot of

of of character exploration

but he also said something that I really related to

that kind of surprised me

which is he said

he wanted to make sure that there were no barriers

that there were no roadblocks

that if a scene troubled an actor

he wanted to know about it ahead of time um

and so that the big problems could be solved

in pre production

and the shooting could just be all about

maximizing the ideas that they'd

more or less all um

agreed upon

and you know

three different headlines

but all very much adding up to the

to the same thing

use this period

to go beyond

understanding the material

and preparing

professionally

to execute it

and you know

really roll up your sleeves

and expose yourself to it

both as a professional

and as an artist

and you know

I really that was a

that was a remarkable day

a singular day

in my experience

as a director

and I you know

I've always

always appreciated having that

having that conversation

sometimes it would just be easier to say no

let's put the camera here

and you stand over there and say the line

sometimes you have to do that

you know cause the sun is coming

is going down

but again I always feel that

in a spirit of a collaborative environment

that when you do have to simply decide

people are far more accepting

but sometimes it's exhausting

uh when you've basically opened up the channels

of collaboration and expression

and you're in this role as kind of editor in chief

of a lot of ideas it that

that alone will never really make the movie work

you must decide

you have to ultimately be the last word

you have to

it's not directing by consensus

that never you know

that never works

I never feel like that's what I'm

I'm ever advocating or doing

it's it's trying to

you know mine

the creative

um brain power um

and um and and and

and you know

and artistic instincts of the people I'm working with

to just to elevate my set of choices

and then make those decisions

but sometimes

sometimes it can be very difficult

and sometimes it can be offensive to people

um and of course um

one of the things that I love about

about this career is it not only um

generates a kind of a lifetime of

of exploration

and understanding the world and the way it works

because you know

that's ultimately what storytelling is all about

is sharing aspects of the human experience

in particular ways and

and to you know

to try to reach an audience

and that's thrilling

and you learn a lot doing it

but equally as fascinating

maybe even more fascinating

uh is is the array of individuals that you work with

because nothing draws a more desperate group of

um you know

highly motivated

very talented

um very interesting people

but from all walks of life

all sensibilities

um you know

all cultures and

and all personalities

and there's a lot of pressure

you put them all in a pressure

in a pressure cooker

it's another reason I like to create

an environment where it's as much fun as it can be

but it cannot always be fun

and I cannot always be the one who's making it pleasant

in fact often

I'm the one making it very unpleasant

um but I I try to apply

you know um

a sense of logic

like we all

we all want the same thing

a great moment

a great scene

a great movie

this is what it takes right

and when things get difficult

those are the kinds of conversations

that I'm able to have

and most of the time

you know they lead to a good result

sometimes you know

having been an actor

I know what people say about the director

I'm back in the makeup trailer

I'm sure I'm not immune to you know

all those modelings and all that head shaking but

but you know

I do love that collaboration

when it comes to collaboration um

around your project

I would say try to keep the kind of mental

emotional equilibrium so that you can

you know you're open and you hear everybody

but ultimately

you listen to yourself

you know really look yourself in the mirror

but listen to yourself because it

these projects are not

are not made by committees

yes you want to take into account

the comments and the ideas that are coming at you

but you you

you have to run them through your filter

and vitally important to have

the strength and the confidence to do that