Blog 21: Exit Interview

1. My essential question is "How can a director best maximize the potential for a low budget independent film?" My best answer to the EQ is "A director must find a balance between good acting and quality production value."

2. I arrived at this answer after I was watching multiple films on Netflix and watching the films that my mentor was brought to edit. I often found that in the subpar independent films directors would focus more on either working with their actors or creating production value. The indie films that really stood out for the better, however, really found a balance between the two. Through   my research I found that well known directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Gareth Edwards made an emphasis on these points so I realized I was onto something.

3. A problem I found it was difficult to find regular articles that talked about balancing acting and production value. What I did find were multiple interviews with directors who talked about the balance and articles that mentioned separating time to work with actors and creating production value individually.

4. One of the sources that I found helped answer my essential question was an interview with director Gareth Edwards that was done by the BBC after the release of his independent film entitled 'Monsters'. Another source that I felt was really helpful was the book "Rebel Without a Crew" written Robert Rodriguez. The book is a journal of when he was directing his first feature film 'El Mariachi'. The book contains useful advice and tips that he learned from making his film from start to finish.