Robert Butler
Birthday:
17 November 1927, Los Angeles, California, USA
Robert Butler was born on November 17, 1927 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is known for his work on Turbulence (1997), The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) and White Mile (1994).
[on making Hill Street Blues (1981)] I was tired of clean speeches, where people waited until others stopped talking, tired of clean shots-I...Show more »
[on making Hill Street Blues (1981)] I was tired of clean speeches, where people waited until others stopped talking, tired of clean shots-I didn't fucking want it. In my mind, the show came from the congestion of the material, the congestion of the characters. I remember the camera operator cleaning up shots, in the classic Hollywood style that I had begun to hate, and I had to brainwash him to let it be a mess. I wanted it messy. The trick was to make it look seemingly real, live, raunchy, congested. We jammed the streets with derelict cars and graffiti. We suggested Eastern-city crunch very well. The multiple stories added to the congestion, so I ran with it. There's a pair of people arguing here, something developing over there. My idea was that we were putting on binoculars and panning around at the people, keeping it fluid, rather than cutting. That really worked well for that series. Show less «