So, I’ve just got around to watching The Hunger Games for a second time, and it’s still an incredibly made story/film (and further away from reading the book, I’m not noticing “what’s missing” and taking it on its own terms).
Just a few thoughts from watching the special features elements on the DVD, of which there’s a huge amount of interesting content, but a couple of things really struck me whilst watching.
- The Director (Gary Ross) talking about not trying to please the potential audience, not trying to think what everyone would want, but having a clear vision of his own (albeit in discussion with his team, the author, etc.) and being true to that vision in order to make a cohesive film. This reminded me of our discussions at #smvalues last week in knowing what you stand for, and living your life cohesively to that.
- The creation process being something that is ongoing, that every layer that is added to the film (the casting, the shooting, the editing, the music) has to add to, and improve, the story. Discussions between the actors and the director are important – the Director may have overall ‘control’, but can take inspiration from those who he’s directing, and can change the overall look/feel by listening to others.
- In working with the editor in the film creation process, how a few screens added can change, and layer, future tellings of the story – the particular example given here was that the story felt like it was missing the aspect of ‘game’ and the addition of an ‘odds’ board reminded the viewers of what this was really about, and how this was a sick game.
- Remaining true to the original story, whilst recognizing that a different medium requires different choices/a different application (often what is whirling around my mind when we’re looking at the Bible in the digital space) – and that this could have been done in many different ways, emphasizing different aspects of the story.
So, this is not deeply thought out, just a few ideas that occurred to me in watching several hours of interesting special features – fascinating!
