SUNDAY QUESTIONS
Florian Froschmayer: 'The character must be led by their actions and words'
During our last talk, you complained that stereotyping in the industry makes it harder for you to make films in genres other than thrillers. It seems that has changed?
Yes, I'm in the perfect place now. I am doing a romantic comedy - "Lovin’ Amsterdam" - and I am shooting a Stralsund crime film, which should make sure that I am not reduced to romantic comedies. (Laughs) I think the comedy "Sweet September" helped me two years ago. The ARD Degeto editor, who was managing it suggested "Lovin’ Amsterdam" - in this sense it was liberating to get rid of the stereotype of only being able to shoot crime films.
I find that "Lovin’ Amsterdam" has unusually strong sex appeal for an ARD romantic comedy in the representation of how the two main characters stand together. And when I look back, I realize many other ARD productions, in which there was really strong chemistry between two lovers, also ran in the spring. Is this possibly a broadcasting 'trick': "The film is to run just before the summer, to stir viewers' spring feelings?"
No, this wasn't a condition. At the beginning of the production, it was not yet clear when the film would run even though, of course, I hoped from the outset that "Lovin’ Amsterdam" would be shown in the spring. The film plot itself unfolds in spring / summer, and I always find it clever when the feeling corresponds to the time of year. I think films are then more accessible to the TV audience. But we shot it in August and September - I was always afraid that the next day the leaves would turn red. (Laughs)
Last time we also talked that you were working on a political thriller for the big screen. There has been little progress - with "After the pain" a novel emerged about the topic you were interested in, "Rosewood files".
Yes, we go the opposite way from what happens usually: Based on the script, the author has created a novel. We hope that it will generate interest in this topic. The novel helped to better understand the characters and to rediscover their motivation. Therefore, while the novel was being written, we cut funding of the movie again because it became clear to us that when the novel is finished, we will be reworking the script. This is a very exciting process: we have adapted an unfilmed script as a novel and next we will adapt the novel back to the script.
I understand the strategy of drawing attention to this rather unknown sub-chapter of Stasi history through a novel in order to give the film a boost. But don't you risk exposing the film to a different kind of criticism? Without a novel, the audience would know only the film. With a novel, there will be people sitting in the cinema and complaining, "In the book it was different..."
That may be, but I'm not really concerned with such things. Anyone is welcome to criticize the differences between the novel and the film, but I don't find such criticism very relevant. I am more interested in whether someone liked my work as director or not and less in whether someone else painted the story differently. It is unfortunately impossible to take all criticism into account. Novels and scripts are totally different reading experiences. It's the same when I read treatments of films that I direct. Treatments are written in essay style, they read like summaries of novels, and as a reader, my imagination is stimulated and I bring in a kind of subjective self-performance. Of course, the reading experiences of a novel are different since sometimes you just imagine things differently. A script, on the other hand, is actually much clearer and one-dimensional in its format. It should leave less room for interpretation.
So to you, a good script is one that is easy to read?
No, not at all. If it is, red lights go off. What I mean is: A script says if a scene is played in the day or night, inside or outside. The character must be guided by their actions and statement and not by the description of the thoughts or emotions - unlike the treatment. A treatment is a thought trampoline, the script is a guide, and I have to think about the staging as a director. But I find that scrips aren't made for a relaxed reading experience. If a script can be read easily, there is always the danger that it was written exactly for this purpose, which I would understand, for example, in the financing phase. A script should be the basis for a good movie or a good series - often scenes read well and as soon as they are staged, they work quite differently and do not tell the story as they were actually meant to. If the motivation and paths can't be shown by the characters, it can be a very sluggish or complicated film. In the script, I can explain something to the reader as director, but I do not have this tool in the film. Then it often happens that a character must express everything in the dialogue, which I find very "un-filmish".
Could that be why so many interchangeable scrips are handed down in editorial offices until they are finally realized?
It could be that a lot of people like a script because it reads well. It is everyone's job to keep their eyes on the end result and to risk, to dare to do something. Thankfully, something has been done since our last conversation, also by the new players. Be it "You Are Wanted" at Amazon, "Weinberg" at the TNT series, or "Dark", which looks great from what has been released so far and will be coming to Netflix soon. Or even in the cinema: I find it great how hard Christian Alvart is working to establish German action films in the cinema. I found what he did with the cinema "CRIME SCENE" really powerful. And now the audience has only to learn to accept something like that.
That would in any case increase your chances of realizing your political thriller. But if it takes a bit longer: Is your film crew communication software SCRIPTtoMOVIE additional financial support for you?
Oh, no, it would be nice if it were. (Laughs) We have already sold it in many countries, but this is still just a passion project, which I am working on. This can take up my free time, but it is so hard for me to sit and do nothing.
Has the software changed since it was launched?
Definitely. After SCRIPTtoMOVIE came on the market, there was constructive criticism from some film crews that used it, and I always try to respond to such feedback. And I myself have also noticed details, on which I have not worked yet. Above all, it was about the user interface. For example, if you log in, you immediately get an overview page of your projects. Within the projects, too, we have worked on clarity. We have also attempted to make cooperation between the individual sectors working on a project more efficient.
Thank you very much for the talk!
"Lovin’ Amsterdam" will be shown on April 28, 2017 at 8:15 pm on Channel 1.
original text by: Sidney Schering
Outlet: Quotenmeter.de (Germany)
Date: April 27th, 2017
Circulation: Online platform (film trade specific, like Variety or The Hollywood Reporter)
Interview available online: http://www.quotenmeter.de/n/92702/florian-froschmayer-die-figur-muss- durch-ihr-handeln-und-ihre-aussage-gefuehrt-werden
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