Re last night’s episode:
When are these guys going to take some responsibility?
Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s reality TV, the editing can’t be trusted, a clever cutter can turn black into white, blah blah blah. It’s possible these guys are actually doing a pretty good job and only the worst bits are being used on the show. “Day Seven” was a twelve-hour shooting day; we only see thirty minutes of it (or, rather, more like twenty, once you cut out the opening and closing credits, the “previously” segment, the confessional interviews, and everything else). That’s one thirty-sixth of the whole day.
But even accounting for that potential distortion, I’m struck by how they seem so freakin unapologetic for their inexperience. The capper was that moment where they’re standing behind the camera, and Tweedledum says to Tweedledee, “Y’know, we can’t blame everybody else for this,” with “as usual” unspoken but implied. The other guy nods, and I’m thinking, Hey, are they finally gonna admit that maybe they don’t know what they’re doing? But then they dodge it, saying, “This day was just really poorly organized,” as if to suggest, nobody is at fault.
Now, I don’t mean to attack them for not knowing what they’re doing. It’s completely understandable. That’s the point of the show, to give a break to talented amateurs. There is no shame in inexperience. It would be a freakin’ miracle to pluck somebody from Maine or wherever these guys came from and expect them to run a movie set on their first day.
But these guys don’t seem to understand that. They have responded to being put in charge by pretending to know more than they do, and trying to hide their insecurities. That is a disaster. All of these people who are there to help, who have all this knowledge the duo can tap, are just waiting to be asked. And instead, the pair is trying to shut everybody out.
There was a moment in the show (or was it last week? I don’t remember) where one of the assistants called out an order: “Team Two leaving, Team One coming in.” And one of the directors says, “Team one, team two, what does that mean?” And the assistant explains, “Team two is stand-ins, team one is actual performers.” And the director says, “Okay, got it.” It’s very telling: Their whole experience should be like that. And he didn’t even say thank you: It was clear he felt embarrassed for not knowing. But how should he know? He’s never done this before. There are a thousand things you can’t know about shooting a movie if you haven’t been on a set. (And note the director didn’t even say “thank you” for the tidbit. He just walked away really fast as if to disassociate himself from the feeling of not-knowing.)
Even worse was the bit where they were trying to direct the two actors in front of the garage. The actors just wanted a few minutes to work out the scene for themselves; the directors hovered and kept throwing in suggestions, which the actors pointedly ignored, because that’s not what they wanted. It doesn’t take a freakin’ genius to figure out you’re supposed to back off in that situation. Now, I trained as an actor, and I know exactly what Bill Sadler was talking about when he said he thought the directors were nervous and felt the need to present themselves as directors, when all he wanted was a little time and a little space, so maybe I have a bit of an advantage there. But the two directors had to be doggedly blind not to recognize what their actors were expecting in that moment; Kyle and Efram feel so insecure about being taken seriously that they needed to force their involvement even when it was painfully obvious that it was neither helpful or necessary.
And then they can’t recognize that they’re the problem. As I said, there is no shame in inexperience. If they were really honest about taking advantage of this amazing fucking opportunity, they’d be shutting up whenever possible and absorbing the collective knowledge that surrounds them. Yes, they have to direct the movie, but it’s clear that they’ve become an obstruction to the professionals on the crew. This is their first time directing in a professional setting, and they have the totally mistaken idea that it’s weak to ask for help. It’s not. There is strength in recognizing one’s own limitations and focusing on improving those skills, or in delegating that task if one doesn’t think it’s something one will ever be much good at.
Seriously, imagine the following, based on what we saw in last night’s episode: They do three or four takes of the scene in the back of the limo. It’s evident the actors aren’t getting it, and the directors don’t know how to make it better. Instead of getting pissy about it, like they did, visualize this: Kyle and Efram say, “Okay, everybody, take five.” Kyle goes to Jeff Balis and Chris Moore and says: “It isn’t working, and we’re not sure how to improve it. Do you have any suggestions or advice for working with the actors?” And Efram goes into the limo with the actors: “I know this is frustrating; it seems like you’re struggling with the scene, and what we’re giving you isn’t helping. What should I be doing for you? What do you need from me? What do I need to change so I can help you find the scene?”
I think it was Amy Smart who had the best observation on this. She talked about how there’s a big difference between a director who knows what he wants, and a director who doesn’t know what he wants but recognizes it when he sees something good. There’s nothing wrong with that, either: I can think of lots of high-caliber directors who work the same way, like Kubrick and Altman. (That’s a big part of why Kubrick’s shoots ran so long.) Kyle and Efram are that way also, but they’re handicapped because they don’t know how to help the actors explore the moment. They don’t have any of the vocabulary. Again, because I trained as an actor, I watched last night with frustration, knowing exactly what I would be saying to the two in the limo to help them find the scene: “Try it like this. Remember this given circumstance. Try this physicalization. How much do you know about what the other actor wants in the scene? Look for a moment where you can suddenly make a different choice.” And so on. Kyle and Efram lack that background, and they’re obviously embarrassed by it but won’t admit it, perhaps even to themselves. They’re coping by ladling out attitude and bullshit, and by focusing on bureaucracy.
It’s just such a freakin’ waste.