With an independent movie, it's like, 'Okay I know what I want, and I got to go for it.' I just got to get the A version of this. Occasionally we'll try a B version, but not often. We'll just get what's scripted and try to do that as best we can, so you sort of edit while you shoot an independent movie.

David Twohy

Categorized in : You Know Try Best

Theres so much diversity of opinion out there, so ultimately you have to listen to it, put it aside, and make what you want to make.

David Twohy

diversity opinion want

After I script the movie, I have to storyboard it out, I have to budget it, and I have to understand if I can afford all those visual effects or not.

David Twohy

visual-effects visuals scripts

There are trappings of science fiction which I kind of embrace, but there are also cliches which I run from.

David Twohy

kind running fiction

In all my science fiction movies, I try to blend the familiar with the futuristic so as not to be too off putting to the audience. There is always something familiar they can grab onto.

David Twohy

familiar trying fiction

To come up short when you reach too far is not such a bad thing rather than not to reach at all, right?

David Twohy

come-up bad-things

Sometimes, if you leave yourself open, an actor can bring nice nuances to a character.

David Twohy

actors nice character

When you do a studio picture, all the paperwork and legal stuff is already taken care of!

David Twohy

care taken stuff

You hear people say that there's too much CG in movies today, but CG is what allows me to take a green-painted wall in a studio and make it disappear, and then put 100 miles of landscape in. CG, in the right hands, can be a marvelous tool.

David Twohy

wall hands people

While you're making the film and working with the actors, if you want to have a little room to breathe and experiment and play, it grows, and you want that to happen. It's not enough to just shoot the script. You've gotta come up with new inspiration, as you shoot it. There's gotta be room for that and time for that, so it grows.

David Twohy

actors inspiration play

Damn, my first cut that I showed to distributors was probably about two hours and 20 minutes, even though my contract said two hours. So, I had to lose 20 minutes. It's incredible that it just keeps happening.

David Twohy

cutting two firsts

Strangely, I always have a lot of cut scenes. I keep writing shorter and shorter scripts, thinking that this time, I'll get all my scenes in.

David Twohy

cutting writing thinking

Had we had all the money in the world to spend and we were doing another studio movie, we probably would have jumped quickly into the Necromonger universe and done an Orpheus Descending movie there. We didn't have that kind of resource. So, we said, this time, "If not that, this time, then what is it? What does this new movie look like?" Quickly, just in talking about it very simply with Vin [Diesel] in his kitchen, we decided on a survival, left-for-dead story, where Riddick could, as a character, reclaim the animal side.

David Twohy

animal talking character

If I know what my finale is when I'm writing a screenplay, then I don't always have to chart out every scene before that. I can adequately find my way. I'm experienced enough to do that.

David Twohy

enough writing way

We got together and realized that Universal made it clear that they were out of the Riddick business. They didn't want to spend that kind of money anymore. So, it was going to be an independent movie.

David Twohy

independent together want

I guess you don't make any franchise movies unless the fans are there.

David Twohy

fans

I don't want to have so much humor [in films] that it undermines the jeopardy, but enough to sometime relieve tension.

David Twohy

film enough want

I've learned never to count Vin Diesel out. Just don't do that. And I guess it's because he is a very smart guy. Smarter than people give him credit for.

David Twohy

never credit smart people

My hands are already full writing and directing, because that's a full time job. Actually, that's why I don't produce as well, as there's already enough producers.

David Twohy

job writing time hands

You do need to edit yourself as you shoot because you have fewer options in a smaller movie. In other words, when I'm shooting a big movie, and I got an 85 day shooting schedule or more, then I'm saying I have enough time to shoot option A and B and C and D for every scene.

David Twohy

yourself day you time

You do a drama, and you are limited by the rules of reality, and in science fiction, you create your own reality. Some people find that daunting; I find it challenging.

David Twohy

you science reality people