MasterClass: Werner Herzog Teaches Filmmaking

I think we should move to practical things.

Practical things.

We have been into ideas and there's lots more,

but I'd like to talk a little bit about the most imminent,

how to organize a set.

Here we have a set.

1, 2, 3, 4 cameras.

And I think one camera was up there.

It's still up there, which I think doesn't help us very far.

But whatever.

So how do organize my set in the first place?

I'm basically a one camera guy.

And I think you still see it around in the film industry.

You see it, for example, in that director who makes Batman.

His name is Nolan.

Is it Christopher-- Christopher Nolan.

And I really like him for that.

Number one, he's still in celluloid large format,

celluloid.

Any he's basically a one camera guy.

And I like this attitude of focus.

I never have a director's chair.

I do not like them.

I loathe them with your name on it.

In fact, I never had one in my life.

And it's some sort of a standard ritual, which I do not like.

And since I always threw out the idea of having my own chair,

normally the actors, or producers, or other people

feel embarrassed and they don't sit-in a chair.

They say, yeah, but where am I going to sit then?

I said, number one, I'm not sitting normally I'm

standing right next to the camera.

And secondly, if I need to sit, there's

some apple box or something next to me.

I grab an apple box and sit on it.

I also do not have a trailer.

It's one of these other status symbols for directors,

which sets certain hierarchies.

And if you have a trailer everybody

in the crew, the heads of department,

the actors are constantly fighting and squabbling

about the size of their trailer, and the air conditioning in it,

and the plasma screen in it.

And it all somehow disappears.

Of course, actors have to withdraw

and they should have their trailer.

I personally do not need it.

And I waive my right to have a chair or a trailer.

And I'm doing very well on a set,

so I have no problem not having that.

During lunch break, I normally join

the a camera truck, the guys there,

because normally they have the best beer.

I would not like to have the so-called, video village,

a play out on video.

It's very, very distracting.

I have been at a set of a Hollywood movie

when I was shooting "Bad Lieutenant" in New Orleans.

And Forest Whitaker, who was shooting only two blocks away

from us, sent somebody.

Oh, come over.

I love your films and let's have a talk and so.

And I arrive at the set.

And there's a video village I bump

into that first .

30 people looking at screens.

And you only see-- excuse the expression-- you only so asses.

You just only-- nothing else.

And everybody is staring at the screens.

However the actors were very, very close by

and you could have watched the actors live.

And I think the impression that you

get when you really look at a person in the real face,

for me, he has much more intensity.

And video play out always gives a very, very false impression.

It's strange the same thing happened with dailies

in the times of celluloid.

I hated to watch dailies, because they

would be very, very misleading.

And you have 15 to 20 different opinions floating around.

It creates a huge amount of insecurity.

So you have to learn and that's a hard lesson

and takes probably long.

You have to learn and you have to understand,

this was the best shot I can get and nothing else, no more.

I try to be as close to the camera as possible.

And if the camera moves, I try to move along with the camera.

Nowadays I do have a video screen on the set,

but it's only an assistant camera man

and he sits in the corner.

He sits in the corner, but he has--

so that nobody can look at his screen-- he sits like this

and watches the screen.

And you outside, you cannot see what he sees.

And he would come in and he would say, oh,

yeah there was something not right

with the actor on the left hand of the screen.

He didn't enter fast enough and this or that

was slightly out of focus.

And so we have to repeat.

Of course, it's good to have some sort of control.

Organizing a set also, of course,

has to do with the size of the crew.

For many reasons I try to reduce the amount of crew.

And battling-- and in bigger films--

it's a constant battle that I have with production companies.

Whenever there's a problem I go to sleep

and the next day five new people are hired to solve the problem.

And sometimes you do not solve it in technical terms,

you have to solve it with intelligence.

I try for various reasons to reduce the amount of crew.

Number one, you are much more flexible and faster.

And it really brings down the budget.

The size of the crew also has to do with the possibilities

that you had in early films. "Aguirre, the Wrath of God"

we were eight or maybe ten people as the entire crew.

And its strange-- when I did "Fitzcarraldo", Les Blank,

a wonderful documentary filmmaker--

he made "Burden of Dreams"-- and people--

when they saw they film, which is really good-- they said,

yeah, but Les has never shown the crew at work.

And I keep saying, you idiots, you see the entire crew

much of the time right there.

And it was only something like 16.

I do the slate myself.

I insist being the one who does the slate.

And I have been accustomed to do that

from the very earliest days of my filmmaking.

Why do I do it?

I like to be the last one between the cameras, and sound,

and lights, and the technical crew on one side,

and the actors on the other side.

And I am the last one who would move out.

And I would-- as I am so close to the actors.

I would notice either the actor knows his line and everything