Chapter 5 Personal Expression and Studio Production 207At fi lm school in the early 1990s, students learned their craft by shooting
on 16mm cameras and editing on fl atbeds. Th ere were no digital non-
linear editing systems. In the fi rst year, everyone was expected to shoot
in black and white, and the fi lms were silent. Frustrated at fi rst that
I was still working without sound, I began to realize that the key to
cinema is visual language. And slowly, deliberately, I started to learn its
vocabulary and rules. It was a second epiphany for me, like uncovering
some long-hidden mystery.
It was during this period of intense discovery that I began to make my
fi rst feature fi lm, La Ciudad. I was inspired in part by the Italian fi lms
made right aft er WWII, the so-called neo-realist fi lms – Paisan, Bicycle
Th ieves, La Terra Trema. Th ese were fi lms that seemed to refl ect life as
it was really lived, but with a lyrical voice. Unlike many contemporary
‘realistic’ fi lms that were using a gritty, handheld style, the neo-realist
fi lms were eloquent, the choice of images—deliberate, striking, even
poetic. I know that as I struggled to fi nd an articulate language in my
own fi lm, the images from these masterpieces were hanging above me
like golden signposts.Q
In screenwriting, do you develop how the visuals will communicate
the story?A
It is tempting, when writing a screenplay, to think in images, and to
some extent it’s necessary to “see” the fi lm as you’re writing. But the
essential task of the screenwriter is not to visualize the fi lm but to
understand and control the dynamics of the story itself. Th e craft of
writing a screenplay is separate and distinct from the craft of directing
a fi lm.Q
What has been your experience of the collaborative nature of
fi lmmaking?A
All fi lmmaking is collaborative, and this makes it one of the most complex
and powerful of the arts. Many of us know that Av at a r was made by
James Cameron, but we should also know that he was assisted by a crew
of more than ten thousand. I think the most important experience for
young fi lmmakers is to learn as many aspects of the craft as possible – to
understand the unique challenges of the writer, the cinematographer,
the gaff er, the sound recordist, the actor, the editor. A composer must
learn each of the instruments before composing for an orchestra.Visit the textbook website to read the entire interview with David
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