1 00:00:03,170 --> 00:00:06,340 [Music] 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,960 in the last maybe decade six seven 8 3 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,640 years I've begun a process of uh 4 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,560 collecting not just a style book but 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:24,920 also a research 6 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:29,679 reel I'll I'll find everything around a 7 00:00:29,679 --> 00:00:31,640 subject that I possibly can or I'll send 8 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,480 a researcher out to do the same thing 9 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,719 and we build a reel they could be scenes 10 00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:40,559 from movies they could be documentaries 11 00:00:40,559 --> 00:00:43,600 they could be TV interviews they could 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,840 they could be still photographs um I'll 13 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,199 ask the various department heads 14 00:00:49,199 --> 00:00:52,680 wardrobe production design props to take 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:54,760 their best research photos and put them 16 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,840 on the walls very often I put them on 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,760 the walls near where the kitchen is in 18 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,760 the the production office um and because 19 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,479 you know or the bathroom or both so that 20 00:01:05,479 --> 00:01:07,320 nobody can walk to the kitchen or the 21 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,439 bathroom without kind of um immersing 22 00:01:10,439 --> 00:01:12,680 themselves in the possibilities for this 23 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,600 story it's a discussion point and very 24 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:17,400 often the production designer will be 25 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:19,799 walking down the hall I'll crisscross 26 00:01:19,799 --> 00:01:21,920 with him or her and we'll stop and say 27 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,400 oh look at this and it's a it's a scene 28 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,159 that somehow might answer a question as 29 00:01:27,159 --> 00:01:29,320 to how we might approach a particular 30 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:31,600 scene and then very o very often the 31 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:33,280 next question is I wonder how they did 32 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,159 that or I wonder how we could do that 33 00:01:36,159 --> 00:01:38,079 and that starts another level of 34 00:01:38,079 --> 00:01:39,880 research if we don't you know 35 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:41,200 automatically know through our own 36 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,960 experience of what kind of set we would 37 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:46,159 need to build what kind of environment 38 00:01:46,159 --> 00:01:48,520 we might need what sort of uh camera 39 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,719 work was going on there was it uh you 40 00:01:50,719 --> 00:01:52,840 know what was the camera speed what was 41 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:54,719 the stock that was being used if it was 42 00:01:54,719 --> 00:01:57,399 film um what was done in the DI if it 43 00:01:57,399 --> 00:01:59,920 was digital um you know how much of that 44 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:02,640 is computer generated uh or real in 45 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,840 camera effects how could we do it how 46 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,399 can we relate that to the problems that 47 00:02:07,399 --> 00:02:10,039 we want to solve creatively and a lot of 48 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:11,720 great conversations come out of it and 49 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,519 it gets back to that idea of everyone 50 00:02:14,519 --> 00:02:16,080 slowly but 51 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,080 surely pulling in the same direction and 52 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,959 as that happens during 53 00:02:22,959 --> 00:02:24,920 pre-production as you have this 54 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:27,640 conversation about the script about the 55 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:30,319 locations about the casting about what 56 00:02:30,319 --> 00:02:33,040 they might look like about the schedule 57 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:33,920 all of 58 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:36,560 it provides the director an opportunity 59 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,400 to say 60 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:40,920 yes that works for our 61 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:44,159 story or maybe be convinced by somebody 62 00:02:44,159 --> 00:02:46,280 that there's another way of looking at a 63 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:47,680 scene that the director hadn't thought 64 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:49,720 of and everybody agrees suddenly now 65 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:50,840 everybody's pulling in the same 66 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,879 direction what happens then 67 00:02:53,879 --> 00:02:57,280 is the the the quality of the questions 68 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,440 and suggestions that come a director's 69 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,239 way just it you know exponentially 70 00:03:02,239 --> 00:03:03,879 improves because there's a 71 00:03:03,879 --> 00:03:06,080 cohesiveness about it there's a shared 72 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,120 point of view there's a there's a 73 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:10,440 there's a sort of a group intellect at 74 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:13,760 work um and um it doesn't supersede the 75 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:18,080 director's Vision it only reinforces it 76 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,680 um and broadens it and uh it's very 77 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,959 exciting but a lot of it comes back to 78 00:03:24,959 --> 00:03:27,239 problemsolving research which feels kind 79 00:03:27,239 --> 00:03:30,280 of mechanical and ultimately 80 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,720 stimulates a creative 81 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:37,250 [Music] 82 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:39,760 conversation when I 83 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,799 directed Robert dairo in Backdraft which 84 00:03:43,799 --> 00:03:46,799 was fiction but I wanted the the 85 00:03:46,799 --> 00:03:48,319 environment to be as realistic and 86 00:03:48,319 --> 00:03:50,599 authentic as it could be I'd never 87 00:03:50,599 --> 00:03:53,720 really been exposed to thorough 88 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:55,400 arduous uh 89 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,760 research just hadn't hadn't grown up 90 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,280 with it and 91 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,200 Robert dairo came in playing a fire 92 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,680 investigator it was only a four-week 93 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,280 role for him it was it was almost a 94 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,959 cameo um' been very well paid we were 95 00:04:09,959 --> 00:04:13,000 delighted thrilled to have Robert dairo 96 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,680 in our movie I was working hard on that 97 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,519 screenplay the logistics were 98 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:19,759 challenging and even dangerous you know 99 00:04:19,759 --> 00:04:22,120 the the the the fire was a huge threat 100 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:26,840 in fact uh to all of us and Robert dairo 101 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:29,560 was very unusual in my mind in terms of 102 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,039 the way he approached his role and um it 103 00:04:33,039 --> 00:04:35,440 took place in Chicago he's a New Yorker 104 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:37,560 he wanted to meet some fire 105 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,680 investigators 106 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,400 he he met three meanwhile we were riding 107 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:44,759 around on fire trucks and kind of 108 00:04:44,759 --> 00:04:46,840 getting a general sense of it he was 109 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,320 drilling down and he he had he had one 110 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,400 fire investigator read all the lines and 111 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:54,960 and also analyze whether they were 112 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,000 authentic or not and there were some 113 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,520 some areas where we' made some mistakes 114 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,080 and we we fixed those 115 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:03,199 another one had a cocky attitude and 116 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:05,199 kind of a sense of humor another one had 117 00:05:05,199 --> 00:05:07,919 a very particular sound uh kind of an 118 00:05:07,919 --> 00:05:10,280 accent and a way of 119 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:13,600 standing and I couldn't quite follow 120 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,120 what Robert Dair was doing but I trusted 121 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,720 it and on day one when we were shooting 122 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,919 I realized that he wasn't just creating 123 00:05:22,919 --> 00:05:24,479 he wasn't just counting on himself as 124 00:05:24,479 --> 00:05:27,560 some sort of you know um 125 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,639 conjurer he was basically a mirror and 126 00:05:31,639 --> 00:05:34,039 he had used this this research even in 127 00:05:34,039 --> 00:05:37,759 this supporting role to give the 128 00:05:37,759 --> 00:05:41,000 audience um sense of the truth as he 129 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,360 chose to interpret it he was more 130 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,120 interpreter than he was conjurer or 131 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,440 Creator but he took the posture and the 132 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:52,280 sound from one guy the attitude of 133 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:55,240 another the meticulous nature of the 134 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,720 third fire investigator and you know and 135 00:05:57,720 --> 00:05:59,199 sort of ran it through the Robert dairo 136 00:05:59,199 --> 00:06:00,160 filter 137 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,919 and it you know and it rang true for him 138 00:06:02,919 --> 00:06:04,880 and worked very well for the the movie 139 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,440 and was very very detailed and specific 140 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,759 and at that point in my career I I was 141 00:06:10,759 --> 00:06:12,680 afraid of doing a story based on real 142 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,319 events but a few years later when I was 143 00:06:15,319 --> 00:06:18,599 doing Apollo 13 I really thought a lot 144 00:06:18,599 --> 00:06:22,720 about Robert dairo and how much 145 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,560 creativity was generated out of that 146 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:28,400 research that the creativity was his 147 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,880 interpretation and and I thought that 148 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,400 could be applied to directing any story 149 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,880 fact or fiction but certainly one based 150 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,240 on real events and I threw myself into 151 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,919 that kind of meticulous research I 152 00:06:41,919 --> 00:06:44,560 encouraged the actors to on Apollo 13 it 153 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,880 changed the script it changed the way I 154 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,400 shot scenes it changed the dialogue and 155 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,759 it and I think it it it made it a movie 156 00:06:52,759 --> 00:06:54,919 that really resonates with audiences and 157 00:06:54,919 --> 00:06:57,400 I began to understand how on 158 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,680 a on a on a subtle 159 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,160 level that that kind of attention to 160 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,720 detail really really matters to to movie 161 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,599 goers and um and perhaps that's not 162 00:07:08,599 --> 00:07:09,960 something that I've learned back in 163 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,919 Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show you 164 00:07:11,919 --> 00:07:14,639 know uh that's that may be you know 165 00:07:14,639 --> 00:07:15,919 that's that's a a much more 166 00:07:15,919 --> 00:07:17,879 sophisticated and thorough way of 167 00:07:17,879 --> 00:07:20,919 looking at tell telling the story it 168 00:07:20,919 --> 00:07:24,680 again it doesn't supersede inspiration 169 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,199 excitement emotion you know it's very 170 00:07:28,199 --> 00:07:31,560 emotional medium but it reinforces all 171 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,240 that if it's done and done well so I've 172 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,280 come to really appreciate the value of 173 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,840 uh of of deep 174 00:07:45,039 --> 00:07:47,800 research research offers so many 175 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,560 suggestions um uh you know you learn a 176 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,199 lot about the characters so you have a 177 00:07:52,199 --> 00:07:56,919 lot to offer actors um you uh details 178 00:07:56,919 --> 00:07:59,080 that you know that become very very 179 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,879 specific they also suggest ways of 180 00:08:01,879 --> 00:08:04,840 shooting scenes you know like um the 181 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,720 idea of maybe um using details let's say 182 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,840 you're doing a period piece and um you 183 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,400 you do a little bit of research and you 184 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,240 begin to understand the way phones 185 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,960 worked in say 1905 it's quite different 186 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,599 um and suddenly that's a possibility for 187 00:08:22,599 --> 00:08:27,000 audiences in in in 2017 to find 188 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,680 something amusing well that that could 189 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,080 that could skew a scene if you decide to 190 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,760 begin say on an insert of a phone and 191 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:36,279 the way they have to answer it and it's 192 00:08:36,279 --> 00:08:38,959 a party line or something like that 193 00:08:38,959 --> 00:08:41,599 launches a scene in a way that's very 194 00:08:41,599 --> 00:08:43,200 unexpected and let's say there's 195 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:44,480 eventually supposed to be a dramatic 196 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:46,440 turn in that scene well if you can begin 197 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,600 it with a little bit of of organic humor 198 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,720 and then suddenly you know shift into a 199 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,120 dramatic moment well you've you've 200 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,440 changed the Dynamics of that scene and 201 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:58,959 it's a little more surprising and 202 00:08:58,959 --> 00:09:00,680 therefore a little more engrossing and 203 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:02,800 where did that come from it came out of 204 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:04,560 research and fascination with something 205 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:08,079 like a telephone and that is endless 206 00:09:08,079 --> 00:09:10,920 that's what preparation is all about 207 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:15,040 preparation is about broadening your 208 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,000 understanding of the 209 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,160 things the factors that can influence 210 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,079 the story and broaden the possibilities 211 00:09:23,079 --> 00:09:26,519 of that story