Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondryis a French independent film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is often ranked one of the greatest films of the 2000s...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth8 May 1963
CityVersailles, France
CountryUnited States of America
I think some people feel that if you are going to have 3D, then you have to shoot in 3D, but they shoot 3D, so of course they're going to say 'my way of doing a film is better.' I'm not telling anyone how they should do their film, so why should anyone tell me how I should do mine?
You cannot do everything you want with the 3D camera, it's too big, and the digital quality of those cameras is a little bit limiting. With film, you have a lot more subtly, like with highlights and color. In terms of sharpness they (both formats) are very close; but in terms of nuance, of color and contrast, film is far superior.
Orange is an underrated color, it's the second most underrated color after yellow.
I think always my interest in making movies is to have something really technical mixed with something that was not so formal...something free.
Every movie I do is challenging for me. There is some element of imaginative that you wouldn't have in a typical movie.
Since I was a kid, I've liked to see how things are done. Sometimes when you see how things are done, it's like watching a 'making of' within the story. You see the physical aspect, the construction of things.
I want to see abstract art move. Especially in the '30s, you had animators doing innovative work, and I was entranced by that. It's basically what you see when you close your eyes, when you fall asleep.
My goal was to show that even if people work in a garage or a supermarket, they have very funny things to say. We never hear their voices.
The problem is when you get forced to use ideas that aren't good. When I can filter the ideas and use the best of them, I am happy to collaborate.
I'm just thinking of 2001, which I think is the most expensive independent film ever made - which is great, someday I hope I will do one. But I know the parameters when I got onto this project - I have to take care of everyone, make sure that they are all on board, and this process interests me.
The idea that competition is pointless is really something that speaks to me, especially in America where competition is really prominent and very overwhelming, and it doesn't bring the best out in you because what's going to push you is to bring others down.
The competition is not really friendly or peaceful. It leads to oppression in some ways.
The problem when you edit a film together, when you shoot a film, you are drawn into the moment. You want each moment to be special and full of life.
And I'm not a micromanagement guy. I prefer to spend my time doing other stuff than that.