S04.E07: Accident Waiting To Happen

[lidarose9]

And nothing and nobody could get him to behave like an professional (instead of a spoiled little dilettante) regardless of what was said or done. He wasn't ready for this opportunity; everything else aside, he just didn't have the creative vision to use limitation as a spur to create a better idea, scene, or shot. He was a (pouting, smirking) veal calf let loose on a professional set,  who -- knowing nothing -- still refused to *learn*. (The car location rehash alone proves his unwillingness to learn -- and his bitter, ungracious bullshit -- to look past that woman as if she were nothing? The sense of entitlement goes bone deep with him -- not production.)

 

This so much! I was reading all the comments about how to "fix" the car flip scene in post-production, thinking: isn't this part of the magic of movie-making? To create an impression using all the wonderful hocus pocus of film production? Wouldn't that be a fascinating reality show, where a *serious* newbie filmmaker (who WANTS to learn) gets to learn from the pros how to create a life-changing car accident on a shoestring budget? 

 

There are a hundred ways to tell a story. Get creative! Did Steven Spielberg stand around complaining when they couldn't come up a REAL shark that big? No. So he built one. Jason's OCD insistence on there only being one right way to do a scene indicates a huge LACK of imagination, if you ask me.    

 

I have started wondering whether Jason had some traumatic heartbreak in his Wonder Years that involved a really rich girl spurning him, that he's obsessed with this story because it's his own story, and he is exorcising his personal demons at the urging of his analyst by doing the film as an elaborate role play, to recreate the scene of his ultimate shame and turn it into a comedy.

 

Also, he looks more and more like Mr. Burns. Did someone already say that? Well, he does. Give him a few more years, he'll be balding and hunched over, drumming his fingers with that grimace on his face...

[MamaMax]

This so much! I was reading all the comments about how to "fix" the car flip scene in post-production, thinking: isn't this part of the magic of movie-making? To create an impression using all the wonderful hocus pocus of film production? Wouldn't that be a fascinating reality show, where a *serious* newbie filmmaker (who WANTS to learn) gets to learn from the pros how to create a life-changing car accident on a shoestring budget? 

 

There are a hundred ways to tell a story. Get creative! Did Steven Spielberg stand around complaining when they couldn't come up a REAL shark that big? No. So he built one. Jason's OCD insistence on there only being one right way to do a scene indicates a huge LACK of imagination, if you ask me.    

 

I have started wondering whether Jason had some traumatic heartbreak in his Wonder Years that involved a really rich girl spurning him, that he's obsessed with this story because it's his own story, and he is exorcising his personal demons at the urging of his analyst by doing the film as an elaborate role play, to recreate the scene of his ultimate shame and turn it into a comedy.

 

Also, he looks more and more like Mr. Burns. Did someone already say that? Well, he does. Give him a few more years, he'll be balding and hunched over, drumming his fingers with that grimace on his face...

 

Excellent, Smithers.

[Julia]

I have started wondering whether Jason had some traumatic heartbreak in his Wonder Years that involved a really rich girl spurning him, that he's obsessed with this story because it's his own story, and he is exorcising his personal demons at the urging of his analyst by doing the film as an elaborate role play, to recreate the scene of his ultimate shame and turn it into a comedy.

So by letting Jason spike his own career in the service of must-see TV, Project Greenlight has saved the world another embittered rich kid auteur obsessively rewriting high school so the fuckers finally pay (or as I like to think of them, Whedons)?

Totally worth it.

[Clanstarling]

With 'entitlement' being the word of the day, I guess I have to ask, is Jason entitled to this as a director? I don't know much about the movie-making industry, but wasn't Jason supposed to inspire and cultivate an environment where people WANTED to help him? You can't burn bridges and then wonder why people aren't walking over the ashes. He had a very experienced production staff, and as far as I could tell, he spent much of the production time ignoring their advice and/or blaming them for problems they told him would occur if he didn't follow their advice. I agree they probably could have helped him more, but I see no reason why they should have.

Love this - so true. 

 

I was not surprised that Jason blamed Effie for everything. His interpretation of contentious is anyone who gives him a dose of reality. He has absolutely no self-awareness, no sense of responsibility. It's been said before, if he had half the creative vision he thinks he has, those obstacles (all self-made) could have led to inspiration. I'm not in the film business, but I do know that in my own field (and life), rather than staring blankly at the walls and refusing to budge, figuring out how to go over, around, or under often leads to a better result than the original plan.

Edited October 28, 2015 by clanstarling

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Happily Ever After
Principal shooting ends, a little too neatly.

[Jesse]

So by letting Jason spike his own career in the service of must-see TV, Project Greenlight has saved the world another embittered rich kid auteur obsessively rewriting high school so the fuckers finally pay (or as I like to think of them, Whedons)?

Totally worth it.

 

That was beautiful. 

[PetuniaP]

while I find her to be too stubborn to budge when certain things were negotiable (eg. budget)

 

I really feel the need to jump in and defend Effie on this budget issue because I've seen it mentioned several times that she didn't do her job and get more money for the director. Effie spoke to HBO about the budget and was told that the budget was NOT negotiable and would not be increased under any circumstances. So given that, she was right to proceed with that understanding and to insist that they did not have the money for film. There was no way for her to predict that Jason would go to Matt and Ben and that they would offer to forego their own fees in order to give him an extra $300K. I don't see that as the budget being negotiable, I see that as Jason doing an end run around the normal process that filmmakers are subject to and taking advantage of the fact that he was on TV with two major movie stars who wanted to be seen as good guys and supportive of a young filmmaker. HBO then coughed up the additional monies so as not to appear cheap and piss off the two major movie stars they got into business with to impress. 

Edited November 3, 2015 by PetuniaP