What I learned from Rob Lowe
Rob tells story after absorbing story about his life in and around the movies. One particular story he tells of his first breakout role in ‘The Outsiders' especially caught my attention. In it, he shares an account of his experience with Francis Ford Coppola, the director of the 80′s teen classic. Coppola never watched the actors' live performance of a scene. Never. He exclusively watched the scene as it appeared on one of the monitors. Why? Because this is how the audience would see it – not live, but onscreen. Coppola would opt most days to watch the performances not on set, but in his trailer where he could focus his attention exclusively on the performance as seen on a monitor.
From this, I took note. The actors' performances might have appeared amazing live, on set – as it was being filmed – but looked terrible or told the wrong story when actually viewed onscreen.
Context always matters.
While creative work, ours included, may look amazing in isolation on a white background – it may not be functional on a website, or be competitive when in the market, or be memorable when seen in the context of a consumer's busy life.
Context always matters.
Today, every director follows Coppola's then original approach – they watch the performance on a monitor and pay little, if any, attention to the actors' live performance.
Referenced from Rob Lowe's autobiography: Stories I Only Tell My Friends
2 Comments
"Wow. What a great story."
- Craig Johnson
"Great story...you gotta be kidding...the book was finished for reading in 2011. Where was anything about "Bro-Sisters? What was it about Dukakis that was appealing? Is Hollywood an acceptable excuse for the behavior?
No, I saw the book in the library and read it. I'm not a fan of the Hollywood lunacy and the continuing need for them to throw the accolades at each other. I pay for my ticket and expect to be entertained for an hour and 1/2 and that's it, the rest is B.S. It the job they wanted and I don't need to see them afterward."
- MW