Lav Diaz has made a big budget type movie - a historical action drama with a star - that's also still a micro-budget type auteur movie - Magellan filmmaking analysis
What a lot of filmmakers and also fans fear when filmmakers move from small movies to large scale movies is the loss of the unique style and approach that made a filmmaker's early work interesting. A few filmmakers are able to make large budget, large scale movies with stars that still retain their unique filmmaking approach - and are able to make those movies a success (filmmaking wise, not the fake box office numbers type success). Lav Diaz did the following in his new large scale movie Magellan, and managed to, I think, make a movie that is not very different from his small scale projects - in many respects:
- he used the camera as he has always done - largely a stationary camera, and very minimal edits, long takes.
- he used costume choices (or lack of clothing) most likely for historical accuracy, but also to make the movie interesting (or shocking in some instances). a choice that can be done on a small budget.
- the sailing scenes with the ships were done in a very minimalist way (that's a strange idea and sentence :)). a wide shot of a ship or ships at sea, and that's about it for the exteriors. takes some effort but not something impossible to do for indie filmmakers. (of course building life sized ships for the movie is most likely something that can be done only with a large budget)
- the battle scenes on land did not have gun use. perhaps a stylistic choice, perhaps historical accuracy, or perhaps a way to keep those scenes more simple - staging wise.
Magellan is an interesting example of how a historical epic type movie can be done. Aside from a few elements, it is not very different from Diaz's other movies. Perhaps the movie will serve as a guide for future indie filmmakers - when they decide to tackle a story that is more of an epic story/movie.
