Foreign Filmmakers and Hollywood

[Stravo]

I just finished watching Dr. Who and The Robots of Death and I watched it again with the commentary on the DVD turned on and something struck me as I was listening. The writer and producer kept saying things like: "Well if this were a Hollywood production we would have done X, Y & Z" "It's obvious this wasn't a hollywood type show because of X." They even went on a mini spiel about Star Trek and Dr. Who and how the production values on Trek were so much better but they felt the storytelling style of Dr. Who tended to be better. In fact easily half the commentary was of this nature.

Then I referenced in my memory back to the commentary of Dog Soldiers (If you have not seen it stop reading this and try and go rent the damn thing its THAT good.) and how the producer (American) and the writer (British) spent a good portion of the commentary talking about how X couldn't have been done if this were a studio picture and how the werewolves would have been so much better done if they had American backing, blah blah.

Those were the two that stuck out in my mind but I've seen several DVD commentary tracks where foreign film makers seem to hold up their film making to a phantom Hollywood standard, either saying that they have better story telling or that they wished they had Hollywood studio backing for things liek money and particualrly special effects.

Is Hollywood truly that pervasive and over shadowing in the minds of foreign filmmakers or am I just picking from a selected grouping and happened to run across this trend?

[The Yosemite Bear]

It's older then that, I have read articles where Fritz Lang said just about the same damn thing. Lets face it, The Industry has all of the good toys, the indies and outsiders aren't hampered by the big pocket's massive control on everything. It's a long standing conflict. Many of the better innovaters produce shit when given budget by the big boys because the controllers place limits and censor them in unusual ways.

[Admiral Valdemar]

In the UK we merely take the piss out of the USA as much as possible, we're still a bit annoyed you rose up a couple of hundred years ago this day and became free thinkers.

[EmperorChrostas the Cruel]

Hollywood is the standard for many reasons, but most of them are $$$$$$$$$$!
The best money buys:
The best cameras, quality film, skilled operators.
FX. Editing. Multiple takes.(time is money, and money is time)
In short, production quality. (The nuts and bolts, business end of things)

When hollywood gets it right, it is awesome.

Where HW falls short, is the business model of art. RISK!
Art, and creativity, are not predictable, reproducable products.
Efforts to "find the formula for spontanious creativity" are doomed from the start. "Planning spontinaity" is oxymoronic. Hence the sequill mania, and the inevitable merchandising media blitz. Most big movies cost millions to make.To quote the movie, The Right Stuff, "Do you know what makes this plain fly? FUNDING! No bucks, no Buck Rodgers!"

Most independant's weak point, is their strong point. Being different, and "non standard." Also, there are lots of creative, driven people working on their "project,"but only so many slots available for production in the Hollywood mainstream movie making machine.

When you don't have the bucks, you can't fake it, and your work stands on it's own merit. Much indy stuff is shit, fit only for Mystery Science Theater 3k.

When you mine 1 million tons of low grade ore, you get lucky, once in a while.


Dr. Who is classic non Hollywood. LOW budget, but a labour of love.
It shows, in the love and the budget.

[Peregrin Toker]

Is Hollywood truly that pervasive and over shadowing in the minds of foreign filmmakers or am I just picking from a selected grouping and happened to run across this trend?

Well, I do know that in the 1950s and 1960s, Italy was one of the world's leading movie nations.

But since the 1970s, most Italian movies have been little more than bad imitations of American movies. (Not that there haven't been good and innovative Italian movies since the 1970s. They're just not as "avantgarde")