Keith Gordon

[on working with director Brian De Palma on Home Movies (1979)] I was very impressed that Brian took the time to rehearse before shooting started. Especially on low budget film, like Home Movies, this was critical. It's much cheaper to resolve the 'What the hell is this scene really about?' questions when there isn't a crew of 30 or more people standing around waiting, with all the expenses of filmmaking on the clock. It also made the cast much more confident in ourselves, each other and Brian. At the same time, he was always encouraging experimentation and improvisation-- which wasn't what would have expected from someone known as a visual Hitchcockian filmmaker. But this was an antic comedy, that was going to rely more on performances than shots, and he was wise enough to know that and alter his style to fit the material. We did a surprising number of takes, given the limited budget, but this was my first exposure to the truism, 'film is the cheapest thing.' What's expensive is all the time getting ready to shoot; once it's set, make sure you get what you need. Brian would have us try the scene multiple ways, saying (for example), 'Good, we've got an angry version, we're printing that, now try one that's softer.' It gave us tremendous confidence to try things, knowing that there would be numerous takes, and he'd always print two or three. As an actor, you're terribly afraid of looking like an idiot, and this safety zone made a huge difference. It also gave Brian lots of choices in the editing room, when sometimes the thing that seemed best on the set didn't play as well when the whole film was put together. Show less «