Go behind the scenes to learn from Sundance Advisors in our Conversations from the Labs series. This collection of videos will deepen your understanding of all the creative disciplines that are supported through our Labs including Feature Film Directing and Writing, TV Writing, Emerging/Interdisciplinary Media, Documentary, Producing and Film Music.
In this video, three directors—Miguel Arteta, Walter Salles and Randa Haines—share their approaches to breaking down a scene and prepping for shoots. Arteta discusses creating a key image for a climactic scene and shares his process of reverse engineering the shooting plan to build to that moment in a scene from his film Beatriz At Dinner. Salles, sharing a sequence from Central Station, discusses his instinctive approach to shooting. Instead of storyboarding, he begins with a loose breakdown of shots and relies on specific lens choices and the actors’ performances to guide how he captures the action. Next, Haines shares a clip from Children of a Lesser God, describing how the unique needs of the story and the actors dictated every element of the design of the space and the shooting plan. Finally, the directors discuss their approaches to rehearsal and their process for developing a visual language, advising filmmakers to remain open to change and ready to reframe unanticipated obstacles as opportunities that are integral to the filmmaking process.
Other conversations in this ongoing series include those with editors Michelle Tesoro, Joi McMillon, Teri Shropshire & Dylan Tichenor, cinematographers Stephen Goldblatt, Robert Elswit, Brad Young, Charlotte Bruus Christensen, writer/director/producer Kasi Lemmons, writer/director Keith Gordon, writer/director Ira Sachs, writer/director Karyn Kusama and more.
