Project Greenlight Episode 5

So the third season of Project Greenlight is well under way and there are production problems on this season as well. The director, John Gulager, wants to get everything just right to make the best movie he can. He likes to set up shots on the fly and take the time to get it just right. This is great if you're Steven Spielberg and you have a 90 day shoot so you can take the time to shoot 1-2 pages of script a day. When you only have 26 days to shoot a 90 page (or so) script then you have to get 3 1/2 pages done a day. There isn't always enough time to get that perfect shot every time. John made his first couple of days ok, but the crew was worried that when more effect shots have to be done then they might not make it. This happened on day 5 when an actor spent an hour in the make up chair for his "face ripped off scene" and they ended up not getting to his scene and he just washed it off.

I think the directors problem can be summed up with this analogy. He wants to go to a sit down restaurant and order a double cheeseburger, cooked medium well, with no ketchup but with mayo, lettuce, tomato, no pickle, and a sourdough bun. Instead of fries he wants onion rings. Half an hour later he gets his burger and it costs him $10. But he only has $3 to spend and only 5 minutes to wait. So he has to go to a fast food place. He doesn't get it cooked the way he wants, or on a sourdough bun. Onion rings cost too much so he gets fries. It's still a double cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. It's not exactly what he wants but it's close and fits in his money and time constraints.

I paraphrase the Rolling Stones that I believe fits this situation very well. "You can't always get what you want. But if you try some time, you just might find, you get what you need."

I wonder if after this experience that Mr. Gulager decides he doesn't like the Hollywood constraints that are placed on him and goes back to making his home movies. Time will tell.