If you’re a fan of Edgar Wright and wish he could teach you how he makes movies—or if you’re an aspiring filmmaker who wants to learn from a great filmmaker—then I have great news, now you can! Because Wright and the BBC have teamed up for a new BBC Maestro course where he will teach you his approach to making movies.
COLLIDER: I know that you are a perfectionist with everything you do, so what ended up being the hardest part of doing this teaching course? WRIGHT: It's very intensive doing it. It was fun, and the BBC team were fantastic, but you're lecturing, and it's a lot of work, and I didn't think there'd be too many takes of things, because also it wants to feel natural. There's close to seven hours of stuff or something like that.
WRIGHT: It's finding that balance of... When I made a film when I was 20, it's sort of completely powered by this boundless energy, but also this naivety, because you are naive in that you think that nothing can go wrong. I think when you're older, you're well aware of every pitfall, and that can maybe, for some people, feel like that is insurmountable, and so I think the thing with this is that you don't have to start... You could start directing at any age.
A living filmmaker, I think probably somebody who does something completely different to what I do. I'd love to see how Mike Leigh makes a movie, because I think that that process…or Ken Loach. People that approach things from a more improvised, devised standpoint.
What's the biggest hidden cost? That's a tricky one to answer. I think, in a way, one of the things that's interesting is that with technology moving in the way that it's doing, I think it'll probably have a revolution in some ways.
WRIGHT: I guess to keep the crew happy and stuff, good catering is a good idea. It's not something... I'd rather eat less on a set, but that's just me, but I'm not going to begrudge the crew. You're right. Keeping the crew happy generally through long hours is a good idea.WRIGHT: No, location scouting is fun. It's actually the thing where you're on the kind of the beat.
WRIGHT: Absolutely. I talk about this in the course, you're creating kind of magic onset, and I think you're actually sort creating enthusiasm and camaraderie within the crew, because I think if you're doing a big green screen film and if every single shot you're saying, "Oh, don't worry about that, they'll put that in later. Don't worry about that, they'll put it in later.
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edgarwright bbcmaestro Last Night in SoHo was groovy. I liked it. JohnnyNeat