Movies If you were a filmmaker...?

I'd love to make deeply disturbing movies with bleak and depressing endings.

Like Lars Von Trier used to make. But maybe with a touch of Charlie Kaufman's humor and creativity.
 
Happy Madison type movies would be amazing, fun movies that look like a lot of fun to make.
 
Strategic use of blue and yellow tints. My films will be well lit and explore the full color spectrum.

80% practical, 20% cgi.

Moody synth.

Science fiction. Fantasy. Comedy. Romance. Action. Noir. Spaghetti western. Historical epic.
 
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i like movies from a lot different genres so it's tough to say.

neo noir
horror (less jump scares and more implicit horror)
music heavy (think halloween or even unsolved mysteries)
kubrick
fincher
maybe sci-fi
 
Ari Aster is on par with my type of ideas.
But I think he's a lot more intelligent than what I am, and I'd just be a hack lmao.
Or maybe, rather, it's that he has a far better eye for detail, like fucking OCD, and it pays off if you pay attention. I couldn't be doing all that.
 
As for myself, I think there are a few factors that would shape the movies I would make:

-Obviously my foremost influence is Tarantino and I would say a large part of that is because of the "hangout movie" aspect of his films, particularly my favorite movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And even well before OUATIH, hangout movies had become a subgenre I adore. The day in the life aspect of these movies and the slow nonchalant "getting to know" the character is just as interesting to me as the what happens next of the normal plot based film.

-Lucio Fulci's influence has been quite strong over the last several years and his desire to as Dario Argento put it, "narrate (or convey) feelings" has been of interest to me. To confirm this Fulci said The City of the Living Dead is a film about the metaphysical side of bad dreams, and that much of the movie is about the feeling or quality of tension and not expressly horror. Not that I'd want to make only horror movies, but the idea of making a movie as a representation of either one particular or collection of feelings or emotions fascinates me.

-Another genre I have in the last decade developed a great love for is the grand spectacle and visual splendor of the 1940's and 50's (but not limited to that) movie musical. Up until 2016 I was seemingly like the majority of people who thought musicals and their logic were silly. Until the release that year of a movie that was presented to me as a throwback to the movie musicals of old. I thought I'd give it a try and if I liked it I would start watching the movies that inspired it. The movie was La La Land and I loved it and it became the catalyst for my love of so many of the great musicals from the likes of Stanley Donan, Vincente Minnelli etc. Watching films like On the Town, The Band Wagon ect. are just frankly among the most delightful experiences watching movies I've ever had and I think musicals are as good a use of the medium as anyone ever thought of. I maybe wouldn't want to make a musical either, but I love the formalism aspect of the genre and would love to capture the grandness, the delight and the visual beauty of those movies.

-Also I think there would be some sort of heightened for stylized elements in a melodramatic sense in a sort of Sirkian way.

Honestly, I don't know how all these pieces would fit together and what kind of potentially loose, aimless nonsense the finished product would bare out. But it would be interesting to theorize about.
 
My dream projects would be an HBO sports true crime miniseries on the history of Pride, and a mockumentary in the style of best in show that focuses on bjj world championships and the lunatics from various teams on their journey to a tournament in las vegas.
 
Pretty wide variety. But I’d focus my cinematography in a Kubrick fashion.

I’d probably focus on fantasy, instead of writing the novels I’m working on I’d just film them. Then do some noir, cyberpunk, and some horror.
 
Haha, funny enough, when I was in film school a long ass time ago, a professor in a class had us do this as an assignment. We had to break down what it was about our filmmaker of choice that we liked so much that we wanted to make movies like theirs, and in what way(s) we'd incorporate their style/themes/characters/etc. Even though by the time I had to do this I'd already realized that I didn't want to make movies, I could still remember who the primary influence was when I was a teenager and thought the only way to have a career all about movies was to make them, and it was Michael Mann. Manhunter, Heat, and Collateral still blow me away anew every time I watch them, and while Scorsese and Tarantino were also big for me growing up, especially Tarantino's brand of crime film, it was Mann's deep psychological character studies along with his stylistic flair and his meticulous research that really resonated and set an example for me from the ages of 13-17.

I also loved John McTiernan's installment of the old AFI series "The Directors" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237167/). His work ethic and general approach to filmmaking also made a huge impression on young me and I still respect the hell out of him as a filmmaker.
 
I had an idea for a scriot where small time fighter turned coach navigates life as a sort of known local celebrity who loves it anytime he's recognized, he's a bit dim and always overplays his hand by overdoing it in the interactions he has, either with strangers who know of him, or like the cop that pulls him over in the opening scene but agrees to let him off with a warning before even humoring his misguided attempt to teach him a short combo and invites him to clme train at his shithole gym, almost like he'sexpecting this cop to tell other cops about him and they'll all start coming to train. Establish right away how deluded our main character is, and how it's perceived as harmless meathead nostalgia thats sort of sad so people overlook it

Underneath his jovial yet aggressive sense of self and bravado, we see that there's something darker, that it may have always been there. And its getting noticeably worse
-------
No idea where it goes from there, how dark it does or doesn't get, I detest edgelord movies that just do upsetting shit like a Serbian film or anything.

But I wanna tell a story about a relatable guy who's delusion seems harmless but worth keeping an eye on, then slowly peel back the layers as his bad decisions start to escalate. Maybe we find out there was a dead body in the trunk of the car he's driving when he gets pulled over?
Maybe hes desperate for money and the scheme he comes up with goes terribly sideways and people end up dead.

Maybe I'll actually try working on it again idk
 
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Bullitt68 said:
Haha, funny enough, when I was in film school a long ass time ago, a professor in a class had us do this as an assignment. We had to break down what it was about our filmmaker of choice that we liked so much that we wanted to make movies like theirs, and in what way(s) we'd incorporate their style/themes/characters/etc. Even though by the time I had to do this I'd already realized that I didn't want to make movies, I could still remember who the primary influence was when I was a teenager and thought the only way to have a career all about movies was to make them, and it was Michael Mann. Manhunter, Heat, and Collateral still blow me away anew every time I watch them, and while Scorsese and Tarantino were also big for me growing up, especially Tarantino's brand of crime film, it was Mann's deep psychological character studies along with his stylistic flair and his meticulous research that really resonated and set an example for me from the ages of 13-17.

I also loved John McTiernan's installment of the old AFI series "The Directors" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237167/). His work ethic and general approach to filmmaking also made a huge impression on young me and I still respect the hell out of him as a filmmaker.
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I wish McTiernan would have been able to follow through on his versions of Sgt. Rock and Without Remorse. We lost out on a couple good ones there I believe.
 
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