Project Greenlight...anyone?

Anyone watching the second season of this show? I love this show. I just can't get enough of it. Of course...they are focusing on all the bad things happening. It was fun watching the casting process. All the great actors are like "PASS!". Even still...they seem to have come away with a pretty good cast. Watching the two directors find their way is quite compelling...always trying to be firm in their own decisions but having to bow to the higher-ups at Mirimax. They want to cast this person but Mirimax comes along and says..."no...we want this person...make an offer". Then, the directors are basically trying to re-write the script without the script writer. They finally got their cast and script now(which I've read the screenplay...it's an okay story but I wasn't "wowed"; could be good, though(seems like a 50 minute movie on paper)). The part where Chris(the producer I think) was sitting in a chair during a meeting and the chair buckled into bits and pieces had me laughing pretty damn hard.

This coming Sunday's show they begin filming and the clips show the directors re-writing scenes without the knowledge of the writer. Should be good.

I just find this to be a great show. Ben and Matt deserve credit. Not only does it find talent but it makes for an interesting look into the movie-making process with newbies at the helm. Obviously, the way they edit the Greenlight episodes to focus on the turmoil makes it more interesting. Plus, you get to see the end result yourself. It surprises me that any famous actors would even want to be in these movies.

Just looking for other PG addicts. Any here?

Surf

 

I can see that . He seems to rely so much on first impressions. Him and his buddy don't speak up when they should speak up...like was said before. They just sit there and act like their thinking real hard. That one time they were casting that nice looking female for the Mom role(I guess Sharon)...the impression was just complete silence. Noone said anything and she was sitting there going "hmm....wtf?". It was like watching the movie "Scanners" where your waiting for someone's head to explode...lol. Then, the male actors for the Dad role came in and acted some lines. Efram is like..."I don't want to have to micro-manage any actors" or something regarding Chris Cole. Hmmm....maybe the actors don't want to micro-manage the newbie directors? Efram...the director who thinks he is in control and has it all figured out but doesn't really have a clue. Example of that...the first time the entire cast sat down and did a read-through of the script...Efram was like "Some of the actors were just reading their lines". Well...duh! What about the time the directors were so adamant about getting Kathleen Quinlan for the Mom role and Mirimax said make the offer to this other actress. The directors would not back down on wanting Kathleen until the bitter end at which point Chris said "We can get some new directors then"...lol. The offer was made to the actress Mirimax wanted and she passed. So, they ended up getting Kathleen anyway.

If I had to sum up the directors, then I would say they just don't know where the lines are. They don't have a feel for when they should be in charge versus another area being in charge. The part about them wanting to direct and edit is a good example of how they don't get that they can't do everything like they could in their little home movies. The same thing with the writer who wanted to be the editor as well. The directors don't understand when to speak up versus when to bite their tongue. They seem to lack respect for the other areas to some degree, e.g. we will re-write the script on our own. All of this can be expected to some degree. The real fun starts watching them deal with issues during filming...like sticking to timelines for shooting, how they coordinate and work with others, etc. . From the previews, it seems they get off to a bad start because they just start re-writing scenes without the writer's involvement and cross a line.

It would make for a very boring show if a newbie director came in and had everything all under control and figured out. It would also probably be a miracle. We will see how it goes.

 

Buck, I tend to agree with you. It seems like a good publicity move. Hell, even if the movie bombs(which is almost a given), then just the fact that they were good sports about it knowing what they are going into makes high marks for them in my book.

I feel kind of bad, though, for the father actor(the guy who I really like in Shawshank Redemption). He basically signed on at the last minute so there was not really any time for him to get to know the other actors(i.e. to establish a rapport or chemistry).

What I couldn't believe is how they scheduled the hospital scenes as the first scenes. Those are the most emotional scenes in the whole movie and occur toward the end. They should have saved those scenes for shooting anytime but the first day. Oh man what a major f*ck-up that was. Chris(the producer) should have known better when they were setting up the shoot list. Instead, he is always there to b**** when things go wrong. So, what happened? Well, given it was the first day of shooting, they were very rushed. Of course, you have to work the kinks out in the early going. They basically did every shot in one take with little to no rehearsal. Shia(or whatever the kid/main actor's name is) had a really emotional scene where he emerges from his secluded shell and breaks down crying about how his father is going to die of stomach cancer. This...the father...he could never bond with before. So, they basically kept telling him to get ready for this emotional scene and it kept getting delayed. Finally, they shoot in and all they have time for is one take...ONE LOUSY TAKE. Talking about pressure on the actors. I saw the father figure staring out the window as if saying to himself, "What the hell did I get myself into? I should have never taken this job". Let's face it...the dialogue sucks and one take shots with little to no rehearsals do not exactly yield great acting performances. That part the crew were griping about how when the kid broke down and was hugging his Mom...good old dying Dad comes over and embraces the two of them in a three person bear hug. Ah...what a Halmark moment? Problem is...it is beyond sappy. It was an improvised moment and they didn't shoot any alternate scenes to go with. So, unless they re-do some scenes later...their stuck with a lot of first takes which will hurt the overall film.

Also, these director guys...I hate the ways these guys work. All they care about is themselves and what they want. They seem to be purposely blowing off the rest of the crew...even the writer. Their just doing what they want only for Chris to lecture them later about how their messing up. All they can do is nod and agree...yet they seem to do it all over again later. In my opinion, they are a bunch of selfish b*stard directors who could care less about anyone else. I think they totally hate the writer but they continually screw her over so all she can do is b**** at them about how she is continually left out. They don't communicate well with others. They better understand that closed directing is a fast road to nowhere. I don't like either of them. They seem to lack good common sense and just do what they want. So far...if they don't like something, then they just change it without collaborating with anyone. Nice job there fellas.

Surf

 

It is pretty funny. If those director guys had their way, then they would have re-written the entire script their way a long time ago. But, since the process doesn't work that way, watching them try to screw the writer over every week is funny stuff.

The writer doesn't have a clue what she should be doing on the set. I can certainly understand that because the directors certainly are not involving her. She is the ultimate spectator.

I hope they work it out on next week's show so she can be more involved in the decision-making.

From what I have seen of the writer and the directors, they almost seem to have some kind of hidden layer of hatred for each other. These are people that would have nothing to talk about if they didn't have the movie in common. I don't really like any of them from what I've seen. Their a bunch of squirm-sucking, back-stabbing, spineless wannabes. LOL. I personally don't understand why everyone liked this script. It's okay but what is so good about it? If this is the best script out of several hundred contestants, then there must be a bunch of bad writers out there. The script lacks depth in my opinion. The characters have obvious backgrounds with little depth. Their almost relying on the professional actors to mold the background of the characters but their kind of grasping at straws. There aren't really any plot twists to speak of. It almost reminds me of "The Wonder Years Gone Bad".

Surf