James Cullen Bressack, Filmmaker: And then every single page I'll write in the same color.
Film Courage: What's the job of a movie director?
James: That's a deep question. I think we've kind of talked about it throughout this whole interview
but but it's working with actors it's shot listing the script with the DP it's like really working
with all of the Departments and getting the best out of everybody while moving towards an overall
vision of the film and then the story and keeping the story intact keeping the story you're trying
to tell both visually both both creatively and on a deeper meaning in a deeper sense all together
as one and having the actors be on board for that once you're hired as a director what are
you looking for with the screenplay what's your process how do you look at it I to look
for I scripts that have flawed characters that are that are trying to achieve something great
and I scripts that have villains that believe that they are
in the right because I think that's interesting to have those types of conversations with actors and
and dig into that and get into that psychology of of well why does this person believe that they're
right when they're obviously the bad guy right so everybody believes that they're the hero of their
own story so finding that mentality and having those conversations where you might be talking to
the good guy the guy the actor who's playing the good guy and you're you're completely justified
in this and that then you're talking the actor that's playing the bad guy and go look this is
how you feel because this guy has wronged you and blah blah blah so you getting into that psychology
that's interesting so I think I start thinking of that but also if I'm reading a script and I
don't start seeing the movie when I'm reading it I don't I know I'm not connecting with it
I have to read it and if I'm reading it and I'm I start seeing shots that I want to do and going oh
wow this and this if that's not happening then it just it just means that I'm not connecting with it
interesting will you give it at least another pass to see did I miss something no yeah if I'm
not connecting with it there it just means that it's it's just it's not not connecting with the
material I have to start seeing it and going oh that would be fun to if I find myself going
well how would I shoot that then it means I want to shoot that that's but if I'm looking
at that going well that's stupid and going here it doesn't it means I'm not connecting with it
which is interesting because a lot of the the script's really important to me because I was
raised by a writer and a lot of the scripts I did early on in my career I wrote myself
and a lot of times I do tweaks on the scripts that I'm directing that I didn't write I'll tweak out
dialogue or I'll do a little director's password type stuff on my own but I haven't really fully
written scripts anymore myself since my dad passed away really it's been much harder to
will myself to to do that because a lot of what was really fun about writing scripts was being
able to talk to him about what I was writing and if I would hit some writer's block I'd call him
and he'd talk things out with me on the phone and then I'd keep going so it's it's definitely been
hard plus I was writing a script with him right before he passed away and I didn't finish it and
I promised him I would and so I still haven't done that so it feels weird thinking about
other stories until that one's done so I don't know at some point I'll write something again
so James you brought some cool stuff here you have some scripts yeah yeah so I do color-coded notes
for each department so and then I also here I'll show you well look at the hot seat one real quick
so well this I have my shot list in here as well but then what I do and I draw little overhead maps
of where I want the blocking to be for each little location so you see little overhead things in here
with with now we're actually able to print out what the actual overhead of the the location is
now which is pretty cool so I don't have to draw it by hand fully but then I'll do this so it'll be
actor hair makeup art props FX Camera lighting wardrobe and then every single page I'll write
in the same color of what my thoughts are for for each thing so I it's every page of the whole
script I pre-direct all of it and kind of come up with thoughts and ideas throughout all of
it and then that was the most recent one because apparently I didn't discover until the last one
that I could have Whatchamacallit a pens that were made in that color so what I would do is
just write it out and then use a highlighter to highlight it before and then I would put little
colored tabs on every single page and where are the tabs the tabs would color would correspond
with the color coding so I'd go okay if I see a green tab this is when I'm in the with effects
this is what I got to talk to them about go to the green tab Pages or if I'm okay this is the
yellow tab Pages or for art go to all the yellow tab pages to talk to them about that so it's and
then still see look there's the evolution look at the little little overhead blocking maps
that I was drawing but I was having to draw the location whereas over here I was able to
oh print out an overhead of the location didn't have to draw it
I thought that was pretty cool very cool but yes every page is color coded with different
notes for every department and did you start doing this from the beginning or was it because
you knew that in the moment knowing this certain color you could flip to it no matter how much
chaos was around you I started doing that yeah it was from a trial and error because I so much
so often I'd be I'd come on to set and I'd be I want to tell you what was I talking about
I'll be right back and then I'd leave right but what I what I started doing is Okay so this and
I'd talk to them right so I started I started to write down notes for myself so that if I forgot
what I was trying to say it would be there or if I was if I was jumbled up or you're moving fast and
because you call cut and you're okay well I got to talk to the DP about this I got to talk to this
actor about this got attacked that actor about that I gotta talk to this so you just refer back
to okay well this is what we were thinking great I have my notes it's all in a thing great that's
all stuff that before even being in the moment I told myself a week ago that I wanted to do so
I'm Okay cool so that brings it back that brings us where it is you're shooting a lot of the time
out of order too so it reminds you okay this is what you felt was important about this scene this
is what was this is the emotion you needed to get out of this scene this is what needed to happen
with art for this scene that you felt was really important right this is what you needed the camera
really do for this scene that would get that emotion great we're all there we're all in
the same place we understand it so it just brings you back to what that goal was and it's all stuff
that you've gone over with the actors with the DP with the production designer with the costume
designer with the makeup artist before making the movie you did that in pre-production so it's it's
just gently reminding people of the conversations you've had and and looking for stuff and and it's
just pre-planning for everything so you have an eventuality of maybe something isn't there maybe
the chalkboard isn't there so you can go okay that wasn't that important to me this was so let's move
to this next piece of what this would be how many group meetings do you usually have before filming
with who each department each department you hopefully a lot the more the better hopefully as
many as possible do you do a script read with all ever a table read with all the actors or sometimes
if you're lucky enough to have all the actors available but mostly because that's the one thing
that could be great to always do that because sometimes people will say something and on the day
you're just adjusting words because they're that doesn't really make as much sense if this person's
saying this or this this might on the page read normal but when somebody says it you're that's
not how people talk and it's not the fault of the actor's performance it's the fault of the words on
the page so you want to change some of the words because a perfect example is maybe somebody's
saying I am very mad at you because of this right and that's their line and it's it seems cheesy but
it could easily just be changed ah off right go yourself or or leave me alone right but it gives
you the same emotion that you needed right so maybe you're just man they wouldn't be saying
that they'd say this in this moment right so then you're changing it or maybe it's just as simple as
I'm pissed at you because of yada yada and you're just chop that off I'm pissed at you right
get rid of the yada yada so sometimes it just yeah message taken yeah it's good you're right
because maybe it's too formal and it's overwritten yeah it's too stiff and somebody wouldn't say that
exactly but you sometimes it looks normal on the page but you need to hear people say it before
you're oh that doesn't sound right what do you think about directors though that they're so stiff
with the script they won't there's no you have to say the line I can't have you deviate from it
that's not me I think that's I think I'm I'm a very strong believer of say
the gist of the line as long as you say kind of what the intention of the line was make it
your own as long as it doesn't throw off what the actor across from you is doing
and as long as they're aware of what you're going to do that's how I feel however I always say this
I also I'm a firm believer as far as wardrobe goes it's I might talk with a costume designer
about what I want the actor to wear but then I to let the actor make their decisions from there and
let them do everything and what they and what they don't and and stuff and shape it and I'm
very very giving in that sense towards the actor because I feel personally that the wardrobe that
the actor puts on is is the first thing they do to become that character and so I don't want to
dictate if I've talked to them about how we feel about the character and we're on the same page I
don't want to dictate to them what they what they they feel this person would be wearing
for their shoes if a certain shoe is how they feel is the emotion of what this person is or
the jacket that they wear usually what I say is it's more of a as long as you're not coming in a
clown costume I'm I'm usually cool with what the person wants to wear because I feel I've
talked more in emotion and color palette and let them just kind of go from there.