Jeff Nichols, Member of the Feature Films Jury © Maxence Parey / FDC
Interview with Jeff Nichols, member of the Feature Film Jury
Six years after the heartbreaking Loving, a drama based on a true story selected in Competition, Jeff Nichols makes his return to the Festival de Cannes as a Jury member. A few months before shooting his next film, the talented American filmmaker, who stunned the Croisette in 2011 with Take Shelter, talks about his working methods.
Each filmmaker approaches filmmaking in their own way. What is your approach?
My films are almost all born from images that arise in my mind. For Take Shelter (2011), I remember being seized by the appearance of a man standing outside a storm shelter. For Midnight Special (2016), I had this lingering idea of a light in a young boy's eyes. For Mud (2012), it was of a boat in a tree. I always associate a feeling with these images. The feeling of unrequited love for a girl in Mud. That of the loss of a loved one and the thirst for revenge in Shotgun Stories (2007). I draw from the immense pool of feelings that inspire me to create my films.
Why is it important to have a part of yourself resonate with the film?
That's the only way to make them come alive! If you have no personal connection to the story you are telling, how will you convey it to the viewer? As a filmmaker, I have no more important goal to achieve than to make emotion tangible. This idea dictates everything else for me, including the directing.
How do you approach writing the script?
It's a time-consuming stage because I think a lot about what I want to say before I write. And then, I don't rewrite very much. The second version of my scripts is usually the one I shoot. I used to write ideas for scenes on post-it notes. I would then lay them out on the floor and try to connect the elements together. Sometimes this allowed me to break with a story that was too conventional and to uncover twists and turns that I hadn't imagined. It was a technique that taught me to focus more on the characters' journey.
What do you take care to avoid at this stage?
I never put camera directions in my scripts. There are so many ways to bring a scene to life that I always try to write with a point of view from the start, to avoid procrastination. What the viewer cares about is not the movement of the camera, but what happens on screen. For Mud, I thought of the direction from Ellis' point of view. By concentrating on where the character is and focusing on his vision of things from the writing stage, I was able to eliminate the superfluous.
“I’m very excited because I couldn’t be more ready to make a film again, and this one in particular: I’ve been thinking about it for twenty years.
How do you direct your actors?
I do not impose any particular rules. I am open to proposals and, in fact, some actors make them. Most of those I have directed have followed the script I have written without me imposing anything on them. Perhaps it is because my scripts have a very strong point of view. Perhaps it’s also because of the type of actors I work with.
And Michael Shannon?
Michael has great respect for every line of the scripts I submit to him. That's not to say that he never improvises. He understands that this is the blueprint and if the blueprint is right, then so is the film.
What did it bring to your leadership?
He taught me everything about working with actors and directing. I can even say that I learned how to direct a film by directing Michael Shannon. Michael and I are working partners in the deepest sense of the word.
For example?
A few days before I started shooting Shotgun Stories, which was my first film with him, I asked all my actors if they wanted to rehearse. He said something like: "No, let's leave the juice in the lemon". Since then, I never have my actors rehearse before shooting because I have found that it gives them more intensity. Michael brings something different to every take.
Why have you remained silent since Midnight Special and Loving?
I emerged from the tour to promote Loving feeling exhausted. My creative juices were running low. I needed some time to breathe before I started writing again. I then spent three years writing a science fiction film that was financed by Fox. Everything was set, from the budget to the casting. But Disney bought Fox and nipped the project in the bud. I put it aside for a while to digest, but I'm working on it again now and I hope it will happen one day. At the moment I'm preparing to shoot an original script in the autumn. I'm very excited because I couldn't be more ready to make a film again, and this one in particular: I've been thinking about it for twenty years. We are currently finalising the casting.
