10 directing tips from Sam Raimi, the director of the most expensive film in cinema history*

Sam Raimi, the director of The Evil Dead and Spider-Man, recently talked to the CBC host of The Hour, George Stroumboulopoulos about his new blockbuster, Spider-Man 3.

For a man who just completed what will be reportedly * the most expensive film ever made (when advertising is factored in), Raimi is also one of the most down to earth, and honest individuals in Hollywood. Clearly, he's dealing with a lot of stress (wouldn't you be?) but, he had several very useful and basic principles of directing that every filmmaker, amateur or professional should consider.

10 things you can learn from Sam Raimi:

1. Know your characters: Know what the character is. Know who they are. Know what they want.

2. Obligatory moments: You have an obligation to your audience to resolve the tensions, set-up and questions you create when telling your story. Failing to do so will alienate them.

3. Be true to your material: You have a responsibility when adapting your material (either comic book or novel) to preserve what is unique about the material, and not change it just because of ego, or for the sake of change itself.

4. Children need role models: When your character is a hero, or role model to children, you have a responsibility to make a responsible individual on screen and make sure that character is worthy of admiration.

5. The essence of a moment is truth: Understanding your actor and your character will help you find the essence of a moment, moments of truth which you should always strive to get.

6. Find something real and you'll find your audience: If you can find those moments of truth your audience will connect with you - not even consciously, but they will be with the character and your film. You will fail more than you succeed at this, but you should keep trying to find those moments of truth because they make everything work. Getting to those moments will be more awkward and hard to get, if you don't have a close bond with your actor.

7. Know your subject matter: The most frightening thing as a director is working with new characters and finding out what they are. Until you completely understand your characters you will be out of your comfort zone. When you you understand them, you will know how to direct them.

8. Keep it simple: Thinking about studio expectations (or your own) will only terrify you, just focus on the characters.

9. Directing is stressful; get used to it: The problems you have on a small set, are just the same as a big one: you will lay awake at night rethinking every moment until complete neurosis. You will never become less insecure (Sam Raimi has made 15 pictures, and he still worries) But, you will become more confident if you know your subject matter and are comfortable with your actors.

10. Look the part: Finally, always wear a suit when you direct. Alfred Hitchcock wore a suit and expected his people to do likewise. Making a film involves being able to command authority. Sam Raimi, being a gentleman (and a fan of Hitchcock) has always viewed wearing a suit and tie on set, as a sign of respect. You should to.


Strombo interview with Sam Raimi (Mac users may have to download a QuickTime codec - instructions on the CBC site)

One plus one equals three: Even Hollywood doesn't get it right all the time

What's wrong with this formula?

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, two on the most successful pop culture inspired independent filmmakers, want to go off and make two films, and combine them into a "double-feature" concept called Grindhouse. Collectively they make a 3 1/2 hour ode to b-film thrillers and 70s exploitation cinema, complete with fake trailers, missing reels and scratches. They give it a postmodern feminist edge and throw in Bruce Willis and Nic Cage to boot.

Rodriguez's first half is called Planet Terror, where the entire alien world is enveloped in fear, and a gun legged woman has to save everyone from a zombie army. Quentin's half is beautifully named Death Proof. It stars John Carpenter favorite Kurt Russell, as a demented serial killer called "Stuntman Mike" who has "Death Proofed" his 1971 Chevy Nova and hunts down and kills women with it. It's part slasher film, part homage to the great Monte Hellman and Richard C. Safarian's Vanishing Point (1971).

The producers then go about and release it on Easter weekend.

It makes a little less than $12 million. It opens in fourth place behind light weight films Blades of Glory, Meet The Robinsons and Are We Done Yet? Why? Because Easter weekend is a time to spend with your family, and not in a 3 hour gorefest with Grandma. The people want to see lightweight comedies with their family.

Now, a $12 million take would sound alright if the double feature didn't cost between $53-$67 million to make, and at least $30 million was spent on advertising. Of course, very little of that advertising was spent where its core audience was: surfing online. Just one month before 300 broke records for a March release with an opening weekend box office total of $70 million, driven primarily by strong word of mouth from Ain't It Cool News and solid web presence on myspace.

Grindhouse seems like a marketing no brainer. One of the fake trailers in between Planet Terror and Death Proof is amusingly named Werewolf Women of the SS and directed by Rob Zombie. Where else would the audience be for that film if not for the web?



Considering that the producers are the legendary Bob and Harvey Weinstein, it's surprising that they would misjudge a film this badly - a Quentin Tarantino film no less. This is the man who gave us Pulp Fiction, a major factor in the Weinstein's former company, Miramax Films rise to almost United Artists heights of success during the 1990s.

But web hype doesn't necessarily translate to big box office numbers. Snakes On A Plane played well below estimates considering that the film was circulating gossip for more than a full year before the release of the film. Savvy use of podcasts by Filmspotting fanned the flames, and by then the buzz was so high for that film that the filmmakers re-shot to accommodate the wishes of their web audience. In the end, the filmmakers could only disappoint once the audience saw what a hackneyed concept it actually was.

With such a capricious audience these days perhaps the Weinstein's thought that good old fashioned TV spots for Grindhouse were the right thing to do. The film did extremely well with test audiences, but it seems viewers were confused to what Grindhouse actually was. Harvey Weinstein is quoted in the New York Post as saying:

"I don't think people understood what we were doing. The audience didn't get the idea that it is two movies for the price of one. I don't understand the math, but I want to accommodate the audience."

IMDB is reporting that people were walking out after Planet Terror, the first of the two features ended. The question to ask is: were they just confused, or did they just not like Robert Rodriguez's half of the film? Most reviewers are saying Tarantino's Death Proof was by far the stronger of the two pictures.

Next weekend seven new films open and that will also take a chunk out of Grindhouse profits, and with sequels to Spiderman, Shrek and Pirates of The Caribbean due out all within May, there is very little time left before the audience forgets all about this little experiment.

So, how do Bob and Harvey make back their money?

The solution to this problem is apparently to recut and repackage Grindhouse, and release each film independently.

So much for the authentic grind house double-bill.

And those missing reels in each film? Well, they contained the sex scenes. Sure everyone loves meta-filmmaking these days, but what's a pastiche homage to seventies exploitation film without the sex? And even with the "missing reels" the film clocked in at 3 hours and 12 minutes - long enough to keep people home and theatres from maximizing its rotation. But, since they shot the scenes they can easily splice them back in. The Weinstein Co. will release them fresh and new and this way Planet Terror and Death Proof can be exploited to make a buck like true grind house movies.

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Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily has an interesting article on the situation at the link below:
What Went So Wrong With Grindhouse?

Canadian pulp star? Short opens for Tarantino and Rodriguez

Hobo With A Shotgun, a $150 dollar, one minute-59 second short film by Dartmouth N.S. filmmaker Jason Eisener, plays before the new Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez double feature, Grindhouse. Eisener won an online competition with his trailer for a non-existent movie that was sponsored by Ain't It Cool News, and the Austin SXSW film festival.

Via CBC News