Film School Rejects posted a great article from the director of Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont, about some tips the director wants every filmmaker to carry with them. The article doesn’t dive too much into the background of the director but you pick up some tid bits here and there.
Some of my favorites from the article are:
Focus On the Humanity
No matter the genre, movies should find the core emotion and focus on it if they’re to transcend beyond pure entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with spectacle because it can be a fun diversion, but the movies that we tend to remember most can marry spectacle to the human element in a way that crawls into our hearts and minds to set up residence.
and…
Stay Humble
Darabont constantly has people telling him he’s made their favorite movie, but you’d never know it to hear the man speak. His ego is firmly in check along with a few self-deprecating jabs. Maybe it goes back to a time when Gene Siskel wasn’t sure how to pronounce Darabont’s name. Or maybe being nominated for 3 Oscars and never winning (or having a movie nominated for 7 and win exactly 0).
Check out the full article here.
