The
best education in film is to make one. I would advise any neophyte
director to try to make a film by himself. A three-minute short will
teach him a lot. I know that all the things I did at the beginning
were, in microcosm, the things I'm doing now as a director and
producer. There are a lot of noncreative aspects to filmmaking which
have to be overcome, and you will experience them all when you make
even the simplest film: business, organization, taxes, etc., etc. It
is rare to be able to have an uncluttered, artistic environment when
you make a film, and being able to accept this is essential.
The
point to stress is that anyone seriously interested in making a film
should find as much money as he can as quickly as he can and go out
and do it. And this is no longer as difficult as it once was. When I
began making movies as an independent in the early 1950s I received a
fair amount of publicity because I was something of a freak in an
industry dominated by a handful of huge studios. Everyone was amazed
that it could be done at all. But anyone can make a movie who has a
little knowledge of cameras and tape recorders, a lot of ambition and
-- hopefully -- talent. It's gotten down to the pencil and paper
level. We're really on the threshold of a revolutionary new era in
film.
