proof that you don't need to be a technical expert to make a great movie

As someone who's dabbled in the micro-budget indie filmmaking scene, two things I see happening frequently are either filmmakers that are afraid to give direction to their crew because they don't trust themselves enough to believe in their vision, or technical people going out of their way to try undermine some fresh, young director because the latter isn't an expert on every aspect of filmmaking yet, and both these occurrences always drive me nuts when I think of this movie. This film is perfect proof of how you don't exactly need to be an all-encompassing technical expert to make a great movie (Clive himself said that back then, if you showed him a plate of spaghetti and told him that was a 50mm lens, he would've believed it).

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying filmmakers should never try to learn technical stuff or that being an expert in each field doesn't improve one's craft as a director, but I do think there's this common misconception that one cannot direct a film if they can't do every person's job there. While it never hurts to have more knowledge, the goal of a movie director is really to create a vision, and not to manage every person step by step how to do their jobs. The key people a director really needs to communicate with, are his producers, his ADs, his cinematographer, his camera operator, his editor, and of course, his actors. It's the individual heads of those departments who'll be telling each person step by step what to do, and not usually the director themselves.

Ideally, you should go in with at least some knowledge of the rudimentary basics of cinematography and editing (I'm certainly not recommending first-time filmmakers to jump in head first at directing a feature film with as little knowledge as Clive did), but to say that a director can't direct because they don't know how to set up lights is the equivalent of saying a person can't drive because they don't know how the mechanics of the car engines work. With driving, the most important part is that you understand the rules of traffic and that you have good control of the steering wheel, gas pedal, and brake. With directing, the most important part is that you know how you want your film to look, the shots you want to create, the performances you want out of your actors, the themes and intent of the story you're telling, and the overall tone/feel of your film.

For those who feel either unconfident about directing because of their lack of technical expertise, or are one of those people who believe that a person shouldn't be allowed to direct because they haven't learned to do every single job themselves, I'd say, watch this film. If you are a director, try to be curious and eager to learn, of course, but don't assume that just because you don't know how to move lights around that you can't direct. Hell, don't take my word for it, hear what Terry Gilliam said to Tarantino at Sundance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NG_DGFc7_Y&ab_channel=SiriusXM).

Just a few thoughts that came to mind after reading up on the production of this film.