[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: Is there a “Filmmaker’s Almanac?”
John Schimke, Filmmaker/Screenwriter: Man, if there is, I want to read it.
Is there anything an equivalent to it? I don’t know.
There’s some books on filmmaking that I absolutely love.
For me, Judith Weston’s Directing Actors book is like an almanac for me. I always reread it before going onto set.
Then writing down action verbs in my script to help actors come up with action verbs to help elicit emotions that you’re looking for on set.
If you’re interested in directing, because half of directing, I mean, 80% of directing is working with your actors, blocking and doing adjustments.
Having action verbs, you definitely get a better result from giving an action verb than an adjective.
Film Courage: Sorry…Can you explain? Can you give me one?
John: Oh, yeah. Like, you know, it’s like you guys have a scene and you’re angry, but instead of being like,
“Oh, can you know, can you be more angry or more mad or can you yell louder?”
Instead of things like that, you can give an adjustment like:
“I want you to knife him or agitate him.”
Then it allows, from Judith Weston‘s mind which I’m sure somebody could probably reiterate this better than me, but the thing is it’s being able to understand something physically in the scene allows you to materialize it better than just like an adjective.
Listen, it’s not like you use an action verb and all of a sudden you’re going to magically get what you want, but you also start creating a language of how you’re communicating with your actor.
A lot of times this always happens. You’re like:
“Oh, we’re going to do all this rehearsal and we’re going to figure out the character before we roll on day one.”
Then none of it happens. We’re all there and we’re rolling on day one and we’re like,
“Okay, let’s figure out this character…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
An AFI Directing alum, John Schimke is an accomplished writer/director whose work spans the realms of both film and television. As the lead editor and producer of the Emmy Award-winning TV series Red Table Talk, Schimke has demonstrated a keen ability to shape impactful, emotionally resonant stories for a global audience.
In the world of independent film, Schimke gained critical acclaim with Don’t Tell Larry, which had its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival and went on to win Best Picture and Audience Choice at the Pasadena International Film Festival.
John’s inspiration to develop Where the Wind Blows into a feature film was deeply personal, sparked by a meaningful gift from his mother. She gave him the book and suggested it would make a great movie—a sentiment that continues to drive the project forward. Years later Ashley Elaine read the script and immediately green lit the film with her production company, AE Productions, INC.
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New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
