Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanbergis an American independent film director, producer, writer, and actor. Known for micro-budget films which make extensive use of improvisation, Swanberg is considered a major figure in the mumblecore film movement. His films often focus on relationships, sex, technology, and the filmmaking process...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth31 August 1981
CountryUnited States of America
Joe Swanberg quotes about
communication thinking people
I think in general I personally have a tendency to protect other people's feelings, and I've noticed that becomes a major hindrance to communication. It's better to just be honest, even if it's painful.
thinking knowing space
For a lot of people, you get cramped making decisions together and living together and every other thing that starts to happen. I just think you have to be vigilant in the relationship to carve out space for yourself. And a lot of that requires knowing what you need and communicating that to your partner, which is hard.
thinking directors excited
I guess I probably see myself as a director. If I had to choose, I think that that's the aspect of the process that I'm most excited by.
letting-go thinking trying
I think I'll try to keep working in film for a little bit. There's something still kind of magical about it, that I don't want to let go of.
thinking people details
During improvisations, I'll hear people bringing back up details from something I heard about at breakfast or something somebody was saying that they were thinking about, and it informs a rewriting of a scene.
thinking people community
The really cool thing is all about being able to take your movie around and show it. It puts you in direct contact with people who are like-minded and interested in similar things. I think the film festival circuit has certainly helped to foster the community.
thinking littles adults
I do think there's a smaller audience that's looking for something that's a little more adult and a little more nuanced [than many Hollywood movies]. At the same time, I think everyone who's making movies hopes to appeal to the widest audience possible.
thinking use levels
There are different levels of scripting that we all use; I think I'm the most improvised of the three, and probably Andrew's the most written. But all of that is in pursuit of similar things, and I think that we kind of recognize that in each other.
thinking people different
We're looking for a certain kind of realism or naturalism, and we go about it in different ways, but I think we're all striving for the same end result, which is to capture the patterns of conversations and how people interact in a very realistic way.
people rein
I'm a pretty hands-off director. I let people try things, and if it gets over-jokey, then I'll try and rein it in a little bit.
build characters dynamic figuring relationship sort trying
In the pre-production process, I am emailing with the actors or jumping on the phone, and we're sort of figuring out who the characters are and trying to build the relationship dynamic and things like that. Then, also, I am outlining.
films
I learn a lot as a director from acting in other people's films and just in general.
trying really-weird ifs
My directing is really weird. Everything is based on whether it's working or not. I don't try to fix something if it's not working, I'll just change it.
nice missing independence
There's something really nice about missing the person you're with. To have someone be apart enough to force independence and to also look forward to seeing that person.