6 Filmmaking Tips From The Coen Brothers
By Cole Abaius
If It’s Cheap Enough, Everyone’s a Winner
When asked by an interviewer about Fargo‘s potential lack of appeal:
“Yeah, but then again, we knew the movie’s cost would be so cheap, that it’d be hard to lose. So we thought that, okay, maybe it wouldn’t be a huge, big commercial hit, but for $6 million…,” said Ethan. “Who cares?”
Your First Cut Will Probably Make You Want To Kill Yourself
“I can almost set my watch by how I’m going to feel at different stages of the process. It’s always identical, whether the movie ends up working or not. I think when you watch the dailies, the film that you shoot every day, you’re very excited by it and very optimistic about how it’s going to work. And when you see it the first time you put the film together, the roughest cut, is when you want to go home and open up your veins and get in a warm tub and just go away. And then it gradually, maybe, works its way back, somewhere toward that spot you were at before,” – Joel.
First Impressions Matter
The Coen Brothers with Noah Baumbach: Where and How to Begin a Film?
Don’t Be Afraid to Offend
“‘Taste,’ says Joel, ‘has never been something we’ve worried about.’ ‘We’re not big on taste,’ agrees Ethan…Granted, being serious-minded filmmakers helps when you layer on the insulting comedy, but context is king.
Take Care of Your Filmmaking Family
This list of frequent collaborators proves that the Coen Brothers might be an absurd example, but if you find people you love and love working with, why not keep them close? You might just meet your wife in the process…
Find people that want to do something on set that you’re not good at/interested in and team up. Create a partnership and a collaboration because talent sharpens talent and you might discover a combination that can last for decades.
Hold Editing in High Regard
Sometimes scripts are called blueprints that the director uses to build the film, but if the metaphor is true, it’s actually the editor that builds the movie from the materials delivered by the director’s team of construction workers. When it’s a movie about construction workers, the metaphor gets even more meta.
The Coens have edited all their films as Roderick Jaynes, showing a clear premium on doing the work themselves. The tip here shouldn’t necessarily be to edit your own work – because there are many iconic filmmakers who don’t – but the overarching rule is to appreciate editors. The audience may not care who is cutting your mess together, but you should.
Read the full article, watch the interviews
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Trey Parker and Matt Stone are losers
They’re smug, dumb humps and their cartoon is overrated.
Thank you, that is all.

Holy shit Tori is gorgeous in this picture.
Great show.
(via silentfantasy)
THIS IS THE BEST MEME EVER.
OMG BRILLIANT
Seriously though, circumcise your boy. Unless you assume he’ll CHOOSE UTI’s.
(via sonneillonv)
Evan Rachel Wood photographed by Marvin Scott Jarrett for Nylon, November 2010
(via kim-pine)
Cable TV? Fox News host John Stossel debunks the “myth” that poverty in America is a serious problem.
In Fox News’ world, people with televisions are (1) not allowed to go to food pantries and (2) not poor.
WOW OK JOHN STOSSEL
1) You didn’t go to a homeless shelter, you went to a food bank.
2) Poor people can’t have TVs and cell phones and video games and air conditioning in their homes? FOR REAL? A TV is a one-time purchase (actually, I got my last TV for free from a friend’s parents). A cell phone is necessary for job-hunting as well as, like the guy points out, staying in touch with family. You can get video games on your phone FOR FREE.
“There’s a myth that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And… it’s true, the rich are getting richer.” So, then, that’s not a myth. And I love how he holds up Oprah as an example of someone who was once poor and is now rich, like how come every poor person in America doesn’t just start their own media empire and call it a day?
RAGE

ha!
Boom.
accurate.
Accurate Matt Bors is accurate.
(via intothekawoosh)
Murphy from Silent Hill: Downpour. Underrated game and definitely worth playing if you get it on 360 and can stand the bugs.
I started a new Twilight Princess file last week.
Also, I named my horse Butt:
I’m not even halfway through the game and I’ve already logged ten hours because I can’t stop giggling like the nine year-old boy I am.
(via s0tc)
- dog: every snack you make
- dog: every meal you bake
- dog: every bite you take
- dog: i'll be watching you









