David Condolora

Sage Spielberg.

Cinema hasn’t defined Steven Spielberg’s career; his career has defined cinema.

The DGA recently hosted a tribute event for the legendary director, with Michael Apted moderating a panel consisting of J.J. Abrams and James Cameron reminiscieng over his influence. It was a fascinating discussion by an absolute powerhouse of talent. Fortunately for all, it’s available for viewing here (just click the first thumbnail on the top left).

If you can spare the time, watch the whole thing. It’s better than any lecture you’ll hear in film school.

If you can’t spare the time, here are a few moments from the event that are still swirling in my brain. May they happily traverse yours as well.

The doorway into science fiction for the average person is through family bonds. If you don’t have the human part of the story, the wondrous won’t work.

— James Cameron

My first thought was how helpful this quote was for me, as I’m in the thick of writing a sci-fi feature. But secondly, I realized how true this is for Christians trying to write faith-centered films. So often Christian films are so focused on message that they forget the characters and relationships, which are really why we go see movies in the first place. If you want to reach a broad (secular) audience, then you’re going to have to get the human part of the story in place before they’ll ever pay attention to the message of faith you’re trying to communicate.

The script pretty much has to speak to me and has to say ‘This is what I need from you to make me better than I am’ - but not much better. Because I don’t think any of us can be that much better than the screenplays or teleplays that we work on. We just can’t. We can be a little bit better, but we can’t be much better. We need great writing to make us look real good.

— Steven Spielberg

I’m going to be reusing this quote in a later post on the importance of screenwriting, and how if we really want to make a difference in the world of cinema, we need to be great screenwriters. As Spielberg said, the director can only make the movie a little bit better. If the script isn’t there, neither is the film.

What I don’t like about the Avid is I don’t have time to take a walk. I have to take forced walks to think because it’s just too fast. You literally ask for something and it’s done for you right while you wait. I really like to be able to give my editor a bunch of changes and then get up and walk for half an hour while he’s physically cutting, and taping, or clipping. My anticipation is building, I’m thinking about my movie, I’m thinking about “Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have told him to make that cut.” Every decision takes man hours to achieve and that meant that there’s a craft, there’s a physical craft, when you’re actually…cutting your fingers, bleeding, literally bleeding with that buck splicer. I miss that, that kind of time out to think about your movie and take walks around the lot.

— Steven Spielberg

Spielberg and his editor Michael Kahn are probably the only team that still literally cuts their films. In fact, Spielberg’s upcoming film War Horse is his first to be cut digitally, and he makes some good observations here about the benefits of limitations. When decisions have real ramifications (in this case, the amount of time it takes to try a cut), we tend to make them more carefully. We might even make better decisions.

I love the idea of embracing limitations, because they so often give you the added incentive you need to think creatively. And in the case of Spielberg cutting on film, limitations give him the time he needs to really consider his movie in a quiet setting. That kind of thought is something all too rare.

Michael Apted: What are you most proud of?
Steven Spielberg: In my work, or in my life.
Michael Apted: Either.
Steven Spielberg: My kids. My marriage. You know. That’s…that’s way up here.

This really impressed me. I know firsthand (in a small way) how difficult it can be to have a family in this industry. The fact that Spielberg places so much importance on his family takes him out of the ranks of simply great talents and places him in the far smaller group of great people.

That’s worth looking up to.