Typically, whenever you're envisioning how you're going to shoot something, you have a location or a set that you're going to build, and it's going to be built to specifications.
The amount of coordination it takes to shoot a television show is mind-numbing. There are so many things that have to be exactly right to create the correct environment for a single shot, let alone a whole scene or the full episode.
Another mistake a director can make is not to be prepared, so you get there on the day to shoot the scene, and they don't know how it should be blocked, and they're not clear on how they want to do a scene.
I'm not an actor that tends to care. I don't ask 'Is this a close up? Is this a master? Is this a wide? What are you doing? If I look up and notice the camera I go 'Oh, it's a big one today, must be an IMAX.' And that's kinda it for me because it doesn't affect what I'm doing.
You talk about what a director, he was smart. He said, Turn the camera on!
A single prop that does not look real to an audience can louse you up. The same is true of the smallest flaw in setting up the motivation in a story line.
We shot 'Party Girl' on film, and I remember being told, 'We need to get this in two takes because we don't have a lot of film in the mag right now!'
Zhang Yimou is an artist. Sometimes we did only two or three shots a day because we were waiting for the sun.
No, I'm at full height, I'm in the studio, I can actually catch actors by the eye, it's fantastic.
Directing seems like a logical progression for me, although I would never put myself in a film of mine. How can you? Putting on make-up while you're trying to concentrate on setting up the next shot? No, no.
Working on a film, the setup for an action sequence takes a long time, and we need to shoot the scene many times to get different angles.
I rely upon the directors to fill me in before a shot.
With sex scenes and intense scenes, in general, a lot of it is preparation before the scenes happen, so that you don't have to worry about it on set.
It's hard to keep the energy and the emotion of the scene when they're installing a massive green screen behind you.
