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Ben Affleck Explains How Ridley Scott Makes Movies So Fast
Actor Ben Affleck explains how director Ridley Scott is able to make movies so quickly. The legendary filmmaker has been directing for over a half-century now, beginning with television in the 1960s, and his first feature film hit coming in 1979 with Alien. Scott soon followed that sci-fi masterpiece up with Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, and countless more classic films. This year alone, he's directed The Last Duel for 20th Century Studios and House of Gucci for MGM, which released in back-to-back months to boot.
Scott's first film of 2021 told the true story of the last known trial by combat in medieval France between a knight (Matt Damon) who accuses his squire (Adam Driver) of raping his wife (Jodie Comer). The Last Duel also starred Affleck as their feudal overlord, Count Pierre d'Alençon. The director's second film of the year released late last month and chronicled the downfall of the titular fashion empire after the Italian socialite, Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), arranges the murder of her husband, Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver).
During a recent interview with The Playlist, Affleck answered the question that has been on everyone's minds: how is Scott able to make movies so fast? The actor revealed a somewhat surprising answer, as it has to do with the amount of cameras Scott uses on a production, which allows them to do less setups and in turn, shoot scenes much more quickly. Read Affleck's explanation below:
Quote:
If you block it in an intelligent way and you have good operators, which is what Ridley can do, and you have great production design and good actors, you can use five cameras, which is what Ridley does, five or six cameras at once. And shoot a three-page scene around a dinner table in three hours.
Though he is best known for his performances on screen, Affleck has also gotten behind the camera numerous times over his career. His directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, came in 2007, which he soon followed up with The Town and Argo, the latter of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2012. Therefore, he is more than qualified to provide an in-depth explanation on this topic.
It was previously assumed that Ridley Scott's preference for cutting a film while simultaneously shooting was the main reason he could complete a project so quickly. However, it's now known that his use of multiple cameras also contributes to his ability to deliver feature films at a breakneck pace. Fresh off delivering Last Duel and House of Gucci back-to-back, the 84-year-old director will once again prove his intense productivity by diving straight into his Napoleon biopic, Kitbag, which begins filming next month.
