Who is most responsible for a great movie? A lead Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Investors

[toobfreak]

Although it takes a lot of people to make a movie, who is most responsible for it's success?

Everyone. It takes good actors, good casting, good direction, good production, AND good writing all united synergetically to make a truly good movie.

 

[whitehall]

Bogy thought Casablanca was a mediocre drama and it turned out to be a classic. "Cleopatra" with Liz Taylor should have been a boffo hit but it lost money big time. "Top Gun" should have been a loser but it was a gigantic hit. Smarmy H'wood "star" Richard Dreyfus dissed his own movie, Jaws", as a loser but it was a gigantic hit. Nobody knows.

 

[Flopper]

Director is the main influence. It is directors who make the great actors and in most cases discovers them. Writers are important, but not in all movies; some movies are just a series of chases and fights; the director and the stunt choreographers would be the main influences there. Some great actors become great directors, which is why they make that move. Some actors can't do anything but look good on camera for maybe 30 seconds to a couple of minutes, and read lines off cue cards. Editing makes many of them look good to audiences, and it is directors who do most of the editing. In early Hollywood directors would have be effective thugs to get the crews in line.

I agree. If I picked one person most responsible for the success of a movie, it would be th director and here's why

When a director is hired, he is given a script, a budget, a list of potential actors for leading roles and any non-budget requirements by investors. The Director and Producer meet with possible candidates for leading roles. The Director picks who he wants for leading rolls and the Producer works out contractional details. Later a casting manager will be hired to fill the remainder of the cast.

Then comes the planning which is usually the longest phase of production. Where each scene in the script is broken down into many scenes as seen by the camera. For example this one scene in the script is actually 9 scene when filming.

Mike and Diane are in a conversation. CUT. John enters the room laughing sitting down in a chair. CUT. The conversation continues. CUT. Camera shows the window where two bullets are fired. CUT. Camera goes to John laying on the floor covered in blood. CUT. Camera goes Diana screaming in horror. CUT. Mike jumps up running to window. CUT Camera goes to the door where the Butler enters the room. Cut. Conversation between Butler and Mike who tells the Butler to call the police. Cut.

Typically, there are serval dozen to a hundred scenes in a movie and all of them must be mapped out. That mapping includes how each actor plays each roll in each scene, settings camera, lighting and sound positioning, and designs of sets and costumes.

After shooting, the Director will work with the film editor to created the Director's Cut. The final cuts will be made depending on the customer requirements.

Also the Director will alter script in each scene as needed. What is own paper often does not work on film. Lastly the director must make sure that the acting in each scene meets his vision for the film, not that of the actors as actors will always try to enhance their performance.

If the movie is a great success, it is the Director that will receive the awards for the movie and if it is a failure it will be his failure.

 

[Flopper]

The writer.

Without a great story, you can't have a great movie - no matter how good everyone else is.

I can name movies that had shit for a story but the Director made a good movie out it. Once Upon a Time in the West was such a movie. A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad. Sergio Leaone took this simple unoriginal plot and turned into a critics and box office success.

The success of the movie is due to it's styling and pacing of the action. The film features long, slow scenes with very little dialogue and little happening, broken by brief and sudden violence. Whenever you decide nothing is going happen that's when it does.

Another one going back a number years is Duel in which a business commuter, played by Dennis Weaver, drives his car through California to meet a client. However, he finds himself chased and terrorized by the mostly-unseen driver of a monstrous semi-truck. It hardly has any story at all but manages to keep an audience on the edge of their seat.

 

[Flopper]

I would go with the Screenwriter
Bad Scripts ruin a move no matter how good the actors or director may In

What the scriptwriter writes is often not what appears in the movie. Often the script is rewritten or changed by the director or in coordination with the scriptwriter because scripts on paper often have to be change due the actors hired and sometimes what worked on stage just doesn't on screen. I think this is why a lot of directors are screenwriters.

Billy Wilder was at a party and the discussion turned to Noel Coward's Brief Encounters. In which Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) meets Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard) for a thwarted tryst in his friend's apartment. Wilder said, I kept thinking about this and wondered who lends out their apartment like this and where do they stay and what do they do for living? Out these thoughts came the script for the movie, The Apartment. Wider cowrote the script with his long time collaborator, I.A.L. Diamond. In order to have compete control of the movie, he not only wrote the script but directed and produced the movie. So he was able to select Jack Lemon as Baxter and Shirley MacLaine as Miss Kubelik. Wilder said "there was hardly a line changed in the script because I got the actors that fit the roles perfectly."

 

[Flopper]

Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone prove money is not the most pressing issue but a great script, great actor and great director with vision can make a low budget flick an academy award winning one!

Look at Marty a 1955 movie directed by Delbert Mann with screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky, both academy award winners, staring Ernest Borgnine, a great actor that few people ever heard of. It was nominated for 4 academy awards and won 2. It had a 1.5 million budget and made 2 million at the box office.

It has incredible simplest plot. Marty Piletti is an Italian-American butcher who lives in the Bronx with his mother. Unmarried at 34, the good-natured but socially awkward Marty faces constant badgering from family and friends to settle down, as they point out that all his brothers and sisters are already married, most of them with children. Not averse to marriage but disheartened by his lack of prospects, Marty has reluctantly resigned himself to bachelorhood. But then at the Stardust Ballroom one Saturday night, Marty connects with Clara, a plain science who has the same problems as Marty. He finds quietly weeping on the roof after being callously abandoned at the ballroom by her blind date. Thus begin a gentle love affair.

Toward the end of the movie there is on of the most romantic quotes you find any movie. "You don't like her. My mother don't like her. She's a dog and I'm a fat, ugly man. Well, all I know is I had a good time last night. I'm gonna have a good time tonight. If we have enough good times together, I'm gonna get down on my knees and I'm gonna beg that girl to marry me."

 

[Devils_Advocate]

Look at Marty a 1955 movie directed by Delbert Mann with screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky, both academy award winners, staring Ernest Borgnine, a great actor that few people ever heard of. It was nominated for 4 academy awards and won 2. It had a 1.5 million budget and made 2 million at the box office.

Rocky and Braveheart were what I was pointing at when I mentioned the two men I wrote about.

 

[Flopper]

Rocky and Braveheart were what I was pointing at when I mentioned the two men I wrote about.

Sylvester Stallone is a star and a movie personality but he is not a great actor. He is, was, and always will be Rocky Balboa. Stallone not only stared in Rocky but he wrote the story. He was born in Manhattans Hells Kitchen. He never boxed like Rocky but his younger life was not an easy one with a hairdresser and astrologer for parents, there was not much money around. He went to a community college and studied drama. He worked at odd jobs for years getting only a few uncreditable rolls in movies and on stage.

Rocky was a huge success because Stallone was playing himself in his story. As he said in latter life it was all easy except for the boxing. John Guilbert Avildsen, director, co-wrote the script with Stallone, came up with probably the most famous scene in the movie, Rocky running the steps to main theme, and Avildsen also selected Bill Conti's music as the main theme for Rocky.

 

[Flopper]

Bogy thought Casablanca was a mediocre drama and it turned out to be a classic. "Cleopatra" with Liz Taylor should have been a boffo hit but it lost money big time. "Top Gun" should have been a loser but it was a gigantic hit. Smarmy H'wood "star" Richard Dreyfus dissed his own movie, Jaws", as a loser but it was a gigantic hit. Nobody knows.

It wasn't just Bogy that thought is was going to be a flop. It was just about everyone on the set. Warner Bros called it the mess and more than once considered shutting it down.

Casablanca was based on an unproduced play that authors could not find any backers. Warner bought the script and hire a screenwriter to rewrite. He worked on it a week, quit and said it should not be made into a movie. The second screenwriter was actually the Epstein twins who worked on it one month and quit. Warner then hired Howard Koch to write the script. Then the Epstein twins returned and all three work on the script but not to together. No one could come up with an ending. So Warner put all 75 writers on the job of finding and ending for the mess.

Meanwhile, Hal Wallis set up Casablanca’s cast. Humphrey Bogart was picked as Rick Blaine, the movie’s gruff-and-cynical romantic lead. Some might’ve questioned the choice, given that Bogart had mostly played unromantic gangsters in previous films.

You can read the rest of the problems with the mess in the link

"Casablanca": How a "mess" of a film became a classic--Aleteia

The 75-year-old film had a rollercoaster and uncertain beginning, including a cast that barely spoke with each other off set.

aleteia.org

 

[Devils_Advocate]

Sylvester Stallone is a star and a movie personality but he is not a great actor. He is, was, and always will be Rocky Balboa. Stallone not only stared in Rocky but he wrote the story. He was born in Manhattans Hells Kitchen. He never boxed like Rocky but his younger life was not an easy one with a hairdresser and astrologer for parents, there was not much money around. He went to a community college and studied drama. He worked at odd jobs for years getting only a few uncreditable rolls in movies and on stage.

Rocky was a huge success because Stallone was playing himself in his story. As he said in latter life it was all easy except for the boxing. John Guilbert Avildsen, director, co-wrote the script with Stallone, came up with probably the most famous scene in the movie, Rocky running the steps to main theme, and Avildsen also selected Bill Conti's music as the main theme for Rocky.

There are two movie franchises that I will always remember Stallone in and that is Rocky and The Expendable’s.

Both series were not the greatest of all time but you have to admit when Rocky running up those Steps and Jumping up and down was something all of us felt and his loss and screaming for his love.

Rocky was based on the mixture of Rocky Marciano and Rocky Graziano and Stallone did a great job just being himself in the movie.

Now Mel Gibson pulled off the craziest Stunt with Braveheart and no one ever thought it would do as well as it did.

No matter our personal opinion of Gibson the man did so much with a limited budget and won big.

Gibson was already famous for Franchises like Lethal Weapon and Mad Max and was in some big block boaters before Braveheart but Braveheart changed it all for him.

It is sad that he went insane and became like his father but still Gibson made a movie that will be forever remembered.

Now let hope he never writes and produces a World War II movie about Germany…

 

[Uncensored2008]

The last time that I was at a theater which was almost a decade ago, popcorn wasn't the only food to pick from.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. To me, those who go to see the film might be who makes all of the difference. Another set of people who haven't been mentioned are those who plug the film. In other words, the people who get the word out about the film in the first place, put the film commercials together, etc. write the reviews that are written. I could be wrong, but they may be labeled the promoters and what they do is make the film look interesting enough to check out.

I went to see a movie this last summer - first time since Wuhan. They had a Sushi Chef and served cocktails to your seat.

They still had popcorn though...

 

[rightwinger]

It is sad that he went insane and became like his father but still Gibson made a movie that will be forever remembered.

I grew up with Mel Gibson in the 60s. I vaguely remember Mel (he was an alter boy)but remember the family. They went to our church and the father would March the family into church and always take the first pew at the 8 O’Clock Mass

 

[Flopper]

There are two movie franchises that I will always remember Stallone in and that is Rocky and The Expendable’s.

Both series were not the greatest of all time but you have to admit when Rocky running up those Steps and Jumping up and down was something all of us felt and his loss and screaming for his love.

Rocky was based on the mixture of Rocky Marciano and Rocky Graziano and Stallone did a great job just being himself in the movie.

Now Mel Gibson pulled off the craziest Stunt with Braveheart and no one ever thought it would do as well as it did.

No matter our personal opinion of Gibson the man did so much with a limited budget and won big.

Gibson was already famous for Franchises like Lethal Weapon and Mad Max and was in some big block boaters before Braveheart but Braveheart changed it all for him.

It is sad that he went insane and became like his father but still Gibson made a movie that will be forever remembered.

Now let hope he never writes and produces a World War II movie about Germany…

Both Gibson and Stallone were stars and screen personalities, however Gibson was a good actor and Stallone was not.

 

[Devils_Advocate]

Both Gibson and Stallone were stars and screen personalities, however Gibson was a good actor and Stallone was not.

Another actor that for me that did a lot is Clint Eastwood.

 

[Flopper]

Another actor that for me that did a lot is Clint Eastwood.

It is interesting to watch the changes in Eastwood as he goes from the young trailhand in Rawhide in 59 to to the savage cop in Dirty Harry 1971 to the crotchety old man in Gran Torino in 2008. As he ages his acting style changes also but not radically.

 

[Devils_Advocate]

An Actor that made the movie worthwhile to watch for me was Paul Newman.

My adopted brother told me I seemed more of a Redford type but Newman made the movie with me.

Now one actor I can not stand is Tom Hanks.

 

[Flopper]

An Actor that made the movie worthwhile to watch for me was Paul Newman.

My adopted brother told me I seemed more of a Redford type but Newman made the movie with me.

Now one actor I can not stand is Tom Hanks.

Unless you know an actor personally, then you probably like or disliked their screen persona because in public the person you see is often quite different than in his private life. Hanks and Newman are alike in many ways. Paul Newman and Tom Hanks have appeared at the tops of many best actor polls. Both actors tend to become close friends with other actors they work with. They both made huge amounts of money and have given away a lot of it. They also have many successful movies.

But they are different in many ways. Where Newman had the body of Greek god, Tom Hanks looked like an LA Fitness reject. Newman's approach to acting was that of a job that pays well and doesn't give him any great satisfaction. Other avocations such auto racing interested him far more than acting. Tom Hank's life centers around acting. He loves it and loves the movie business. Hanks often talks about his roles a lot, being very critical of some performances and very proud of others. Paul Neuman was pretty self deprecating in discussing any of his movie roles.

I believe Tom Hanks is the better actor. Paul Neuman is a screen personality who always makes his movies enjoyable to watch.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Unless you know an actor personally, then you probably like or disliked their screen persona because in public the person you see is often quite different than in his private life. Hanks and Newman are alike in many ways. Paul Newman and Tom Hanks have appeared at the tops of many best actor polls. Both actors tend to become close friends with other actors they work with. They both made huge amounts of money and have given away a lot of it. They also have many successful movies.

But they are different in many ways. Where Newman had the body of Greek god, Tom Hanks looked like an LA Fitness reject. Newman's approach to acting was that of a job that pays well and doesn't give him any great satisfaction. Other avocations such auto racing interested him far more than acting. Tom Hank's life centers around acting. He loves it and loves the movie business. Hanks often talks about his roles a lot, being very critical of some performances and very proud of others. Paul Neuman was pretty self deprecating in discussing any of his movie roles.

I believe Tom Hanks is the better actor. Paul Neuman is a screen personality who always makes his movies enjoyable to watch.

Paul Newman was on the boat when Robert Wagner murdered Natalie Wood. That was my first exposure to "Not Guilty by Reason of Celebrity."

I always had a negative view of Newman after that.

 

[Flopper]

Paul Newman was on the boat when Robert Wagner murdered Natalie Wood. That was my first exposure to "Not Guilty by Reason of Celebrity."

I always had a negative view of Newman after that.

If all the celebrities that gossip mongers claim were on the boat we’re actually there, it would have to be an ocean liner. According to the authorities Robert Wagner, Christopher Walken, and the boat captain Dennis Davern, were the only people on the boat when Natalie Woods went overboard.

To this day, the cause of death remains drowning and other undetermined factors.”

 

[DudleySmith]

I'd say a bit of everything..... a pinch of this a pinch of that.....you know....

At the end of the day, the main actor can make or brake a movie though!

Yes. All those horrible Elvis movies proved that in some cases it's all about the central character and nothing else. His movies always made money.