With the release of “The Gorge,” The Daily Texan sat down with director Scott Derrickson to discuss his directing decisions and filmmaking advice for students.
The Daily Texan: “The Gorge” seems to blend all the genres you’ve previously worked into one film. Was this genre blend difficult for you to direct since there were so many different focuses?
Scott Derrickson: I describe the movie (as) a romantic, sci-fi, action, horror, political thriller. There’s like, five or six genres that it’s blending. Movies don’t do that very often. I credit the writer (Zach Dean) for blending them. In terms of the sci-fi, action, horror and political thriller (it was not hard). … It’s kind of structured like “Titanic,” where you spend so much time with the romantic storyline before the ship hits the iceberg, and the challenge is to keep the romance
going amidst all those other genres when they come in. The focus became how they look at each other when they’re working together, how they work as a team, how they guard and protect each other (and) put themselves at risk for each other.
DT: How much of this film was practical versus being shot on a green or blue screen?
SD: There’s a lot of (Computer Graphics) extensions, but we never shot on an all-green stage. Rick Heinrichs, who is (our) great production designer, won an Academy Award. He and I talked about it. I said, “I want everything to be physical around the actors.” So in any given place, they’re almost certainly on a real set or a real location. Visual effects can do amazing things, but (in) all virtual environments, you can just tell (that what you’re looking at is fake).
DT: What would you say makes a great suspense scene?
SD: You have to recognize that in order for suspense to work, there has to be a real coming down of things. Your characters and your audience are in a quieter environment, and they know something’s gonna happen. You don’t know what it is, and you can sustain that for a very long time.
DT: What advice would you give to student filmmakers looking to do what you do?
SD: There’s a maxim that people use: “Follow your dreams.” I always tell students, “Yeah, that’s bad advice.” You might have a dream of being a director, but you just don’t have the skill set, and you’re going to waste your life pursuing a dream that’s unachievable for you. Because, to become a Hollywood director is like getting into the NBA. There’s only a certain number of people who have the skill set to do that. What you have to do if you want to work in cinema is … figure out what you’re uniquely good at and then find a dream that utilizes that ability, and then you can achieve your dream. … The most satisfying thing when it comes to making a living is getting up every day and doing something that utilizes what you work best at.
