Artist at Work

I: Andy and Films:

Andy considered himself a film director. He did paintings and sold them for cheap. But, his real heart belonged to making movies. Andy mostly made short, experimental films. They weren’t much to look at. But, the Japanese hippies and art lovers ate it up as fast as he could make them. Andy’s happy to give to them.

He gets his stars to star in his movies. It’s just him and all of his friends working on production. The stars only get exposure for payment. Andy doesn’t do it for the money. As the cliché goes, he does it for the art and it comes from his heart and soul. So, how does he make his magic happen? How does it all come together? Just like other artists, Andy himself has his secrets.

II: How His Day Begins:

He gets up around three in the morning. Sometimes, he doesn’t sleep at all. It depends on what his artistic creativity says to him. Andy smokes about two or three cigarettes in the darkness. His lover is still sound asleep beside him. The director himself sits on his bed and lets his mind wander through the darkness. He looks like he’s off in La-La Land. But, is he really?

This is his planning period. When everyone is asleep, Andy’s brain is hard at work. He shuts down everything around him. Nothing comes in and nothing goes out until he has the final say. He stares at the empty wall with his cigarette lit in his mouth. (Sometimes, it is not lit.) Inside his head, images repeat themselves in his head. It starts out as one that he tried to chase from last night. This process unfolds inch by inch. He may look blank, but it’s all coming together. Every time it circles in his mind, more and more come together.

How long does this take? Minutes. Sometimes hours. There are even times, when the picture doesn’t come together that day. It all depends on the creative process coming together. Andy will not be moved until he has a picture to start with.

Once the picture is in motion, he’s ready to go.

III: The Casting:

The cast do not cost too much to get. He knows how to get them easily. They all work at the Stardust Factory. It doesn’t take much for them to work for him either. He just calls them up and they answer. No real persuasion is needed. His movie him them grow for the indie crowd. His cast have many friends among the hippies.

Who goes to which role is Andy’s choosing. Sometimes, he doesn’t pick people. He’s made movies with just building and inanimate objects. Andy just points his camera on his star and starts filming. Some of the stars will invite their friends to act with them. Andy is happy to have them act in his movies. It all feeds into his creativity.

Once he has his cast, he needs sets to make his movie.

IV: The Sets:

His sets don’t cost much either. He shoots most of his movie in the Factory. Nothing some props and little set dressing can’t do. Andy’s Factory has plenty of props. He made most of them in fact. He is an artist after all.

He and his stars are the ones that set everything up. Andy is the that plans everything out. The director points out where he wants everything to go. He will sometimes rearrange where he wants props and background. After the lights are set, he can start filming. Sometimes, this is not needed. Andy uses the city as his setting. Mostly the streets. He just points the camera at his stars and they just do the work.

Andy barely uses money to make his movies. He makes them so cheap every time. But somehow, they manage to look good. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the story. Maybe it’s the charm of the director. Maybe it’s both. But somehow, the movies end up looking decent enough to be put in local film festivals.

V: Diving In:

Andy doesn’t plan out his movies. There are no scripts. Everyone just adlibs. Andy lets the camera roll. The stars play along. Some command a strong screen presence. Others… well… They just need some extra help.

There is no direction with these movies. Andy just points his cut and the actors keep going until he says cut. The filming takes place all day. Sometimes, the film wraps up in one day. Other times it would be three days. The longest he’s filmed was ten days. It all just depends on his whims. The stars just go along for the ride. They all believe it will all be worth it.

VI: Work Ethic:

Andy just goes with what he wants to do. It’s so easy when you just stand behind the camera all day. He doesn’t follow the tradition structure of film. There is no storyline most of the time. It’s just an idea or two strung together. The actors do the rest.

He balances out his time and attention with his actors just to get his film to match his vision. Most of his actors are happy to work with him. Whether he feels the same or not, it’s hard to tell when looking at his face when he is working. They just go with their instinct. Just like he does.

VII: This is How He Works:

Andy gets an idea and he just runs with it. No plans involved. He doesn’t use a huge amount of money. It’s just his usual suspects in his movies. His productions don’t rake in that much payback. They don’t spill into the mainstream. Nobody really talks about them. But, that’s not what Andy was doing.

He does it all to make his stars famous and share his ideas on the screen of the indie film world. That’s just the way he likes it.

VIII: The Man and His Films:

Andy considered himself a film director. He did paintings and sold them for cheap. But, his real heart belonged to making movies. His movies are the backbone of the Stardust Factory.