07/01/2024
How come Clint Eastwoodโs movies as a director are always done under-budget and under-scheduled?
Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood on โInvictusโ.
Because heโs been in the movie business for 232 years. Because heโs been directing feature films for 50 years (the second number is actually true.)
So he knows what heโs doing. The best example of why his movies come in on-time and under budget? His reputation for doing scenes in a single take (two at most) precedes him.
Actors know the rep, and prepare accordingly, as Matt Damon attests:
I was playing a South African [in Invictus] and thatโs a really hard accent to do. โฆ Itโs something that just required a lot of practice and I treated it like a job. I tested that [Eastwood one-take] theory on Day 1 of shooting.
We did the first take. It went pretty well. Clint says, โcut, print, check the gate,โ which means weโre gonna move on. And I said, โHey boss, maybe you think we could get one more?โ He just turned and goes, โWhy? Do you want to waste everybodyโs time?โ
Eastwood is not casual about directing, but he knows what he wants. He uses the same crew over and over, and they know each otherโs rhythms. Heโs a director who lets the members of his team do their job. For instance, he doesnโt stay in the room while his editor is working. Clint watches the footage, he and the editor discuss the best ways to put it together, then Mr. Eastwood goes off to play golf, coming back toward the end of the day to see how sequences are shaping up.
Other directors might hover at their editorโs shoulder, but thatโs not Clint Eastwoodโs style. Which explains why his features are completed without muss or fuss. His seasoned professionals are allowed to do their work without endless second-guessing from their director.
Addendum: Clint was in a round table discussion a few years ago with other A-list directors. The other participants described how they spent long, grueling days in post, working shoulder-to-shoulder with their editor(s). Twelve, fourteen hour days.
Clint gets asked the same question, and says โWell, we sit down in the morning and go over shots, talk about the sequence. Then I go play a round of golf, grab something to eat, come back in the late afternoon to see how itโs shaping up, look at the new footage thatโs been cut. We talk some more and I give him some notes.โ
The others were dumbfounded that he didnโt sit there micro-managing for twelve hours straight.
