101 Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Directing with Duplasses
'Cyrus' makers talk
about their grassroots
filmmaking philosophy
By ANKUR SOHONI
DailyArts Writer
On Jan.28, the Sundance Film Fes-
tival sent eight filmmakers, movies in
tow, to eight different theaters across
the country. The film festival publi-
cized "Sundance USA" as an event to
bring the country together for a cel-
ebration of cinema and discourse.
One of the eight theaters selected
for the event was Ann Arbor's very
own Michigan Theater, which wel-
comed filmmakers Jay and Mark
Duplass, co-writer-directors of the
film "Cyrus," for a screening and
Q&A session. Ann Arbor residents
flocked to the Michigan for the event,
and with a strange self-awareness sat
in the huge, sold-out theater to watch
a small independent film.
Five months later, "Cyrus" is now
in nationwide limited release. The
new film attracted stars like Jonah
Hill, John C. Reilly and Marisa
Tomei, giving the directing team
its best chance yet to reach a bigger
audience. With a somewhat rebel-
lious approach to filmmaking, the
Duplass brothers represent a new
wave of filmmakers creating a new,
rawer dramatic form. "Cyrus" is
their biggest film yet, and with a new
Paramount Pictures film, "Jeff Who
Lives at Home," due out next year,
the brothers have a chance to take
their style to new heights.
That's not to say they don't have a
taste for the classic film experience.
With the film industry slowly shift-
ing from the theater to home video,
the brothers expressed affection for
tradition and how it affects their
filmmaking process in an interview
with the Daily.
"In an ideal world, I will say that
in a packed movie theater is the ideal
screening of our movies," said older
brother Jay Duplass at the Birming-
ham 8 theater in Birmingham. "You
get the full laughter, but you also get
the punch of the emotion towards
the end. It just takes longer to get
there."
Mark Duplass noted that home
video gave their previous films "The
Puffy Chair" (2005) and "Baghead"
(2008) an entirely different iden-
tity than did their respective theater
releases.
"When there are people around
you laughing, it gives you permis-
sion to laugh," he said. "It turns
it much more into a comedy. 'The
Puffy Chair,' at home, feels like a
hard-hitting relationship drama. In a
movie theater it feels like 'Dumb and
Dumber.' It's like night and day."
"Cyrus" is being marketed nation-
wide as "a brutally honest comedy."
With their film in the hands of Fox
Searchlight, the brothers hope to win
over new viewers and fans to their
singular'style.
"Fox Searchlight has been really
good at marketing these kinds of
movies," Mark said. "We've trust-
ed them in a lot of ways ... We don't
know how to get this movie to a big
group of people, and they kind of do."
"Cyrus" continues the brothers'
trademark improvisational directing
style, which has gained them critical
acclaim in years past.
"There will be a writing process,
and then we start shooting, and we
really start seeing what (the actors).
are like," Mark said. "Then we start
- even if we don't put it in the script
- tailoring the scenes and how we
direct the scenes, going to their
strengths and avoiding their weak-
nesses."
Jay spoke about the transition
from pre-production to production,
characterizing it as unpredictable
but ultimately liberating.
"You have these ideas and then,
you know, people come on set and
start doing shit, and it's totally dif-
ferent," he said. "It's very important
to be really honest about what you're
getting. Sometimes it's better, some-
times it's worse, sometimes it's weird
and different and you need to learn
how to adjust."
Their style contrasts with stan-
dard Hollywood protocol, in which
the directors tend to force everyone
around them to adjust. The director
is often seen as the creative dicta-
tor of the cinematic form, but the
Duplass brothers seem entirely com-
fortable turning the system on its
end, turning the director into a reac-
tionary filmmaking force.
Placing the actor in the role of
pseudo-screenwriter, the Duplass
brothers' style empowers their cast
with the opportunity for a more
creative presence in the film. Nev-
ertheless, Mark, who is an actor as
well, noted a fundamental differ-
ence between an improv actor and a
writer.
"(Actors are) not trying to gener-
ate comedy, so they're not thinking
as writers so much ... They're just try-
ing to inhabit a character, and re-say
the existing lines in new, interesting,
surprising, natural ways," he said.
Jay described the mindset differ-
ently, noting that the brothers direct
actors to focus on a single goal.
" 'I gotta get out of this goddamn
room before this guy shuts me down,
and I gotta do whatever it takes,'" he
said, putting himself in the mind of
an actor. "When you instill that moti-
vation in somebody, and you know
your character, it becomes really
exciting and creative and vibrant."
Their shooting methods also playa
role in allowing their style to sustain
itself.
Filming documentary-style with a
fully lit set, the directors allow each
actor to fully inhabit another person-
ality - one with independent moti-
vations and movements. While their
style presents a unique challenge to
actors, it also gives them more free-
dom.
"We bring the camera to them.
That's what so great and so terrify-
ing about it at the same time," Jay
said. "Once they embrace it, we run a
whole take. We don't do line per line
like a lot of films do."
But the brothers are quick to admit
how difficult their process is. Every
day of production requires a special
self-confidence, and the entire cast
and crew must keep up scene by
scene.
"Having the spirit and strength to
believe that, even though the scene
sucks right now, we're going to find
something" is key, Mark Duplass
said.
"It keeps it alive," Jay added. "But
it makes it very important to be..."
"Vigilant," Mark interjected.
"Cyrus" returns to the Michi-
gan Theater July 9. However, if the
Duplass brothers' dedication is any
sign, it certainly won't be the last
time we hear from them.
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