I love movies. I love making movies.
With rare exceptions, I’ve never particularly enjoyed being on a film set. Even compared to the myriad shitty workplace environments that modern life offers, film sets have always felt especially heavy to me.
Marathon hours are the norm, as they are in many industries, but what pushes film sets over the top is the incredible aggressiveness with which people treat each other. I’ve seen that in the restaurant industry as well, but restaurant workers only put up with so much, while film set workers see their lot as “their chance at their passion.” So they put up with much more, to the point of carrying it as a badge of honor.
I heard one time (though I’m not sure that this is 100% true), that Jean Renoir’s 1936 Partie de Campagne was a very chill production process—with long hours, yes, but with a small crew of friends having fun…it almost doubled as a vacation. Ever since then, I’ve tried to model my processes to have a similar feel.
I tell people/myself that skeleton crews are part of how I work due to necessity and/or artistic vision…but if I have to be honest, I just think they’re much more chill, human and sane. Maybe I'm just scared of the "real film set" environment.
What would a true “anti-work” or “anti-job” method of filmmaking look like? Has someone experimented with one yet? With the explosion of less expensive film technology, and so many more ways to configure what a “film set” can look like, we’ll come up with one sooner or later—if we haven’t already.