Pa t ri ck Tu ck e r

In Conversation With Patrick Tucker

What do you look for in a script when you are presented with
one for a potential job?
Ha ha, yes, that sounds as if one ever has choices. Actually, one does-
nt. If Im looking for a script to recommend to somebody, Im just
looking for a script. That is a script that works, a script that has some-
thing to say, something that I actually feel that I might enjoy doing. Most
of the scripts I get are codswallop absolute crap. Every half decent
script has already been snaffled by someone else. So when you say,
What am I looking for in a script? well, the real answer is, Im a hired
gun. Im a director. You ask me to direct a script, meet my fee, Ill direct
it. Well, within reason, cause Ive read some horrible things pushed in
my direction. The answer that youll want for the book is something
along the lines of: I want character development, all that. Thats all bol-
locks. If Im asked to direct an episode of Casualty, for example, I dont
say, Can I read the script first? I say, Thanks very much, wheres the
dotted line. Thats what directors do.
Its a bit like asking me which Shakespeare play I would like to direct
next. It all depends: where Im doing it, who Im doing it with, what the
budget is. I mean, would I want to do a wonderful play for some crum-
my group in a dumpy pub in Brixton? Would I want to do a well-known
play in the most wonderful scenario? Last year, for example, I was
asked to return to South Korea to direct A Midsummer Nights Dream
in the national theatre in Korean, which I did. Except it turned out to be
a musical. I didnt know about it at the time, but when I arrived I had to
tell them which of the forty songs were going to be in each bit. Its a
well known play to do in South Korea, so I was going to have a big cast,
a big budget, so thats fine, whereas, if I was asked to do Alls Well
That Ends Well, at a pub and given five actors... The real question is
what do I do with a script once Ive been given it. Thats something
entirely different. I have a very firm series of points of view on that.
So, how would you go on after being given a script?
Well, you have to answer a blindingly simple question why are we
Patrick has been working as
a director for the last forty
years. He has run The
Original Shakespeare
Company with many
successful productions using
his methods. His productions
at The Globe, London, were
consistently sold out and
enthusiastically received.
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doing it? Now, the real answer might be money someone is giving me
money, I need to pay the rent, I need to earn a living as a director but
you have to go beyond that. Why are we doing it? Whats the point of
it? Now, some films are to show the audience the delights of Julia
Roberts big smile. In which case, you direct it showing her big smile.
Thats why youre doing it. Others are youre there to try and cash in on
the audiences remembrance of Dumb and Dumber, so you direct
Dumb and Dumberer, I suppose. But you really have to answer who is
it for, why are we doing it, and then, why do I want to do it. And that is
your own personal point of view.
So, you come across a script. Whats it about? Well, its about how
childhood is a nightmare. Oh, yeah? Well, lets suppose that it is. And
what am I going to do about that? Whats my point of view about that?
Well, its probably only a nightmare if you look at it in a certain way.
Right, is that what Im going to do with it? So really, you see youre
starting to have your own point of view that will eventually end up
informing your different choices of actors, sets, and in particular, cam-
era angles and shots. But it must come from an idea first. You dont just
say, Im going to direct this. Youve got to think of an idea. The hardest
problem, always, is where do you put the camera? So, its very simple.
If I dont know where to put the camera for a scene, Ill put it nowhere
until Ive worked out what its about. Until Ive worked out what its
about, how can I film it? Every shot must illustrate an idea, and you must
work out what the ideas are first for the script, for a scene, then for indi-
vidual dialogue before you commit to putting it into a picture.
Ill tell you how to do it. Lets say the scene is about a dawning attrac-
tion. So first of all, we work up what the scene is about and even write
that down. Then Ill say, What shot can show that to my audience?
And Ill come up with a shot that when you look at the shot you go, Ah
ha! That sums it up. And Ill fix upon that shot, whatever it is lay down,
tracking, whatever and then Ill work out how to get to that shot, and
how to get away from that shot. That shot will be part of the scene. You
must put your ideas into physical and pictorial form. Otherwise, youre
merely shooting moving actors, which is crap. You must always have a
thought. That then means if you feel unable to do it the ceiling falls
down, the light goes, suddenly Ive got to put the camera over there,
suddenly my production manager says youve got to finish this in thirty
seconds, it doesnt matter what whatever pressure they put on you,
knowing the idea, youll still be looking for ways to realise that idea.
Otherwise you become the victim of circumstance. So you must always
be ahead of the game. And thats why when it comes to directing, you
talk about what I look for in a script, its not really so much what I look
for in it, its what I do with it. The directing is, of course, done before you
start shooting. Shooting is merely putting to practice what you pre-plan.
The more you pre-plan, the more youre able on the shoot to abandon
every idea youve had and do something else. Because deep down,
youve got a solution right there. That gives you the confidence. But
these directors are taught in film school, dont make up your mind until
you meet the actors, what a load of rubbish. Because that will work at
PATRICK TUCKER 3
nine oclock in the morning, and it might work at two oclock in the after-
noon, by four oclock in the afternoon, your brain is gone cabbaged
but youve got to grind through until seven. And thats when you use
your pre-planning.
Could you elaborate a little bit on the relationships a director
has with the writer, the producer, and the cinematographer?
Cinematographers are getting a bit edgy, and harder to work with
because their power is being undermined with the advent of digital and
widescreen, and, in particular, high definition. What that means is every-
one now can see the shot. We dont have to have a DoP say that will be
all right or that wont be all right, we dont have a DoP say to us Wait til
I force process it, and all that stuff they come up with so they retain the
look. Thats what they love doing. Thats why they hate directors looking
at the video assist. They say Oh, no, just stand by the camera, you
dont want video assist. Well, actually I do. And when it comes to high
def a very strange thing happens. You shoot quicker. You shoot quicker
because you know what youre doing rather than having to take your
cinematographers opinion of how youre doing. I was reading about
Panic Room for example. After two weeks of shooting, the DoP walked
out. He said, You dont want me, you just want a meter presser
because the director is deciding all the shots. I think thats right, actual-
ly. I think thats our job. But he felt it was his job, with me telling him
what I want and he decides the shots. I think thats the old fashioned
way. Youve got a big monitor, high definition monitor. Now wardrobe,
make-up, set can see what theyve got rather than take it on trust. You
see what youve got.
And now here comes the fun bit. Im shooting on film. Take one. Okay.
Well, maybe the laboratory will burn it; maybe there will be a speckle
that I dont know about. So lets do a second one. Take two: Now the
odds are that the performance wont be quite the same. Odds are that
take one will be better than take two. So why would I stop with an infe-
rior take. So lets do take three. Take three: Now the actors getting
tired and bored. Ill do another. Take four. Take five: Ive got it. Thats
film. But with high def. Here we go. Take one: Ive got it. I dont need
any insurance. I dont need to do it twice. And therefore, by not doing it
twice, I dont have any comparisons, therefore I can happily say Got it,
moving on. You do a lot of one-shot wonders, you shoot quicker and
you keep the momentum going too. So thats the deal with the DoP. The
DoP, yes, they should be collaborative, etc. but theyve been taught that
they are the eye. Well, I think thats the old days. And they cant keep
up. Especially with the new formats that are coming out.
With the writers, I have to beg and plead for them to be on the set.
Im desperate for them to be on the set as my foolproof way of keeping
them away. Theyll only be there if they think theyre not wanted. If they
think you really want them, the odds are they might actually let you get
on with it.
And producers. A producer employs me to do something. Now, I
work for them. They pay my salary. I do not want to piss them off. So, I
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work for them. But that doesnt necessarily mean Ill do what they say.
Theyve paid me for my opinions. Now the trouble is, that so often, they
need everyone to know that theyre the boss person. I can do that. I call
them boss loudly. Yes, Boss. They love it. Especially in front of the
crews. If they want to give me a note, Ill stop everything and Ill take my
notebook out, and Ill write it down very conspicuously and Im fulfilling
my function. Everyone knows the producers in charge. Do I do the
note? Who knows? If its a good note I will, if its not, I wont. But most-
ly, they need to have their power acknowledged. And I can do that.
Because my job is to direct. I like to direct. So in dealing with produc-
ers, my own personal technique is benign. I just dont do it. I smile and
say yes, and then I dont do it. They say do so-and-so, I say yes, then
the next day they come back and they say you havent done it, and I go
havent I? I look at my notebook and go Oh, dear. And I write it down
again. Still dont do it.
How do you deal with that?
Its very hard. If they really really do insist, they are the boss, they are the
money people. But they are employing me for my own passionate
points of view. And I will see that we get those in. Heres the trick. I
dont need to be seen to be getting my way. Its not important. As long
as what happens is what I want, frankly, they can think that its their idea
as long as I get a better result. I would happily give all my credit away to
whoever wants it, who cares? As long as its what I want. Which it usu-
ally is. The other thing about it is quite seriously, of course, theyre not
stupid people, sometimes they come up with a good idea. But youll
soon find that if they give you a note, you better write it down, so in the
calm of the evening, you can read it over and just occasionally it is actu-
ally a good note. So it works whatever way.
How do you go about with blocking and staging actors, etc?
Lego. I get out my Lego set. I build a model. I work it all out. For exam-
ple, the shoot I just did was set on a tube train. There are six people in
the tube train, it breaks down. All mayhem breaks out they get up and
murder each other, attack each other, you name it. Where do they sit?
They could sit anywhere couldnt they? So what do I do? I build a
model with my Lego with all the people, and I put them in various
places. I go through the script. I put them in other places. I go through
the script again. You see, its a three-dimensional thing that I can see.
After a while, youve got everyone in the right place. You go on the set,
you put the actors there, bang, it works. And everyone says, Arent you
lucky?. I say Do you know, Im the luckiest person in the world, this
shots working. Gosh, isnt that amazing? I just put the camera there
and everyone is in the right shot, isnt that amazing? Gosh, Im a lucky
director. Use Lego. Its three-dimensional and you really get to see it.
Everyone talks about storyboards. I dont like storyboards. Mainly
because your producer can see what youre doing and then argue
about it afterwards. If you unfortunately havent got time for a story-
board, who knows? You see, you should be able to run the film in your
PATRICK TUCKER 5
head. Thats what Im constantly doing. I believe on the set, that where-
as everyone is interested in a good shot, nobody really cares how this
shot cuts to this shot. Except you, the director. Thats your job. So you
should be continually playing it in your head. Looking at the cut. So in
fact, when Ive finished the film, and go through all my cutting, I know
where they all are. And sometimes Ill say to the editor, Oh, youve cut
there. He says, Yes. I say, Well, if youll notice, one line later, he does
just a little flick of his head, I thought you might like that as a cutting
point. And they look at you strangely, but thats my job. To work out nice
and neat cutting points.
What are some of the differences in shooting for HD than
shooting anything else?
First of all, it takes about a third longer than shooting digi. Its about the
same as shooting film. In film, you dont have to keep checking the gate.
So you save that time, but every time you change a prime lens, you have
to do the back focus. So, what you gain on one side, you lose on
another. Ive been to a lot of conferences recently about high def and
everyone who comes from film stands up and goes on about how high
def is inferior to film. They always come up with something like, Oh well
in high def you have to keep changing the back focus. But they dont
mention you dont have to check the gate, cause they are already prej-
udiced against it. Here we go. High definition is different. Its not the
same as film. Its definitely above DigiBeta thats for sure. It makes you
shoot things in different ways. For example, the film Russian Ark,
Wouldnt even have been dreamt of a year ago. You couldnt. Cause
you have to change the magazine every ten minutes. But Russian Ark,
is a single ninety-minute solid take on a steadycam. Now you could only
think of that shot when we have equipment such as HD to do it. So HD
is going to throw up a whole bunch of new ideas for people. For exam-
ple, the sun sets. I want it speeded up. How do I do it? I set up a film
camera, click, click. It takes ages. Now, set up an HD camera, and
shoot it. Speed it up, boom. Ive got my sunset. You see, I dont have to
worry about all that stock Im using, or what neg Im going to use, all
those developing things, cause theyre not there. Its just videotape. So
its going to allow you to think differently.
Now you and I know that the first thing that happens when a film
comes back, is its all put into a computer and its all digitised. So,
theres no difference anyway. Except that the quality is such that when
you digitise it, you can then at the end of the process, which is what Ive
done with my film, is transpose it back to film. So youll end up with a
film print, but you shot it in HD.
The pluses and minuses. You can work in a different way, thats the
most important thing, such as I described earlier. Get the one shot,
moving on. With everybody really on the ball seeing what theyve got,
youve got to be much more careful with your set design and set dress-
ings. It requires a much higher degree of precision. The slight bit of hair
over someones eye will show much more on HD than it did on
DigiBeta. So youve go to be really shit-hot on those things. Youve got
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to be slightly careful with brightness and flare. In film, of course, it could
just burn out. It doesnt matter. But on HD you have a problem. It is the
only disadvantage compared to film. It is the brightness of highlights.
But the advantages are the effects, speeding up, slowing down. Boom
in the shot? Resize the picture. Booms gone. Ive even taken about half
the picture because there was a shot I needed. If you get to a point
where youre scraping around and you need a shot, go back to a similar
shot, resize it, go tighter, it looks like a different shot. Its really good
stuff. So youre technical effects are fun and much easier to do.
There is huge debate about shooting in 24P/25P that I wont go into
now, although, everyone seems to be coming around in this country to
shoot in 25P because you can edit in 25P, then at the end of the
process, you can change it to film at 24 frames a second. All you do is
slightly slow it down, slightly dip the pitch to get the voices the same.
Or you can easily transfer it to the American 60I. As you know, America
is 60 cycles a second and we are 50 cycles a second. So the consen-
sus seems to be going about settling on 25P as a standard over here.
Which means that when you finish your HD, you can then deliver it to
TV, or film, or to foreign stations, or to those stations like Discovery that
specialize in showing HD programmes. The BBC, for example, doesnt
broadcast any HD, but programmes you make for the BBC have to be
made in HD. Cause then you can have future sales.
So, shooting in HD is slightly slower than DigiBeta. Youve got to be
really careful on your shot for example on your focus points because
on a big screen if its the slightest bit out of focus it will really show.
Whereas on DigiBeta a DoP might do it by eye, I think you should use
the measuring tape because youve absolutely got to be spot on for
those things.
Youve got to be more careful on sound because if youre going to be
doing HD, youre most likely going to be needing a separate track for
dialogue and a separate track for effects. In order to make your mark on
the international market, you can take away the English and replace it
with German, Italian, or French. So youve got to mind that youre prob-
ably going to end up with a film mix and need to be particularly careful
about wild tracks and things like that. In other words, sound is a bit
more complex than with DigiBeta. You have to have good sound.
Editing is a huge problem because right now there arent enough HD
areas to edit. So what people will do say is, Well you can edit on low
resolution on Avid and then you can auto-conform to HD. But since
youre going to do some special effects, the minute you go to high def-
inition, youve lost every effect youve done. You have to go back and do
it twice. So you end up much longer in your online edit with HD than
you do with DigiBeta. Much, much longer, and thats very expensive. So
thats where extra costs come in. You save cost on the tapes and the
rushes and all that stuff but it does hit you in the final cut.