I've never seen anything like this before - where the making of a movie is unmasked from start to finish. We see it all - warts, nose hair, the works, all the interesting behind-the-scenes stuff which you really don't get a taste of otherwise unless you are actually in the production side of the movie business, and HBO and the Project Greenlight staff deserve a great deal of credit for putting this together.
The movie involved in this documentary, "Stolen Summer" appears to be a train wreck from hell, with a childish script, a novice, completely untalented director (Pete Jones), and a faux artiste director of photography. It is perfect for a behind-the-scenes expose because there are so many engaging conflicts in its production. Let's start with the "auteur" - Pete Jones, who wrote what from all appearances seems to be a wholly inadequate screenplay and who was selected to direct this for reasons unknown. He is passive-aggressive, clearly hasn't a clue how movies are really made and doesn't have the first idea how to manage the production crew at his disposal. It is hilarious to see how stupidly he directs this movie - throwing his lot behind a director of photography who is clearly only interested in his own self-interest. Further, Mr. Jones doesn't have the first clue how to frame shots or how to obtain good performances from good actors, let alone untrained kids. Then there is the illustrious Mr. Jones pontificating on how he has a "track record" after three weeks of shooting - classic !!!! He truly has no understanding of how lucky he was to have been given this chance to direct a movie and how many other, far more talented writers and directors would have done a far better job on the film. I can't wait for Stolen Summer to be released just so I can see how bad it truly is - I'm thinking it might just be the worst movie of 2002 !!
Now let's deal with the director of photography - who apparently feels that the most important thing in moviemaking is delay, delay, delay - who couldn't set up a shot quickly if his mother was on fire and he had to get the shot in to go put the flames out. His artistic pretensions in full bloom, he spouts off reverently of his "European" orientation, blah blah blah....and Pete Jones trusts this guy??? Please !!!
The movie involved in this documentary, "Stolen Summer" appears to be a train wreck from hell, with a childish script, a novice, completely untalented director (Pete Jones), and a faux artiste director of photography. It is perfect for a behind-the-scenes expose because there are so many engaging conflicts in its production. Let's start with the "auteur" - Pete Jones, who wrote what from all appearances seems to be a wholly inadequate screenplay and who was selected to direct this for reasons unknown. He is passive-aggressive, clearly hasn't a clue how movies are really made and doesn't have the first idea how to manage the production crew at his disposal. It is hilarious to see how stupidly he directs this movie - throwing his lot behind a director of photography who is clearly only interested in his own self-interest. Further, Mr. Jones doesn't have the first clue how to frame shots or how to obtain good performances from good actors, let alone untrained kids. Then there is the illustrious Mr. Jones pontificating on how he has a "track record" after three weeks of shooting - classic !!!! He truly has no understanding of how lucky he was to have been given this chance to direct a movie and how many other, far more talented writers and directors would have done a far better job on the film. I can't wait for Stolen Summer to be released just so I can see how bad it truly is - I'm thinking it might just be the worst movie of 2002 !!
Now let's deal with the director of photography - who apparently feels that the most important thing in moviemaking is delay, delay, delay - who couldn't set up a shot quickly if his mother was on fire and he had to get the shot in to go put the flames out. His artistic pretensions in full bloom, he spouts off reverently of his "European" orientation, blah blah blah....and Pete Jones trusts this guy??? Please !!!