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
two people looks
Rather than look at a marriage as two people morphing into one thing, you could see two individuals who are choosing to form a partnership.
two long attention
I'm usually two projects ahead. It's hard for me because I don't have a really long attention span.
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.
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.
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.
atmosphere levels want
I don't want to force somebody to talk about sensitive subjects if they're not into it, but at the very least, even if that's happening off camera, it's allowing everybody to be on the same level, and creates an atmosphere on set that engenders trust.
trying helpful feels
I'm interested in taking things from my relationship that I don't see on screen - or that I feel like that could be useful or helpful if it were out in the open - and trying to put that in the movies as much as possible.
ideas different actors
I do like the idea of doing something different, maybe doing something that's more like a genre film. And there are certain actors that I'd like to work with that would go along with working with a bigger budget.
order years ideas
I've never been able to develop a movie over several years, and keep coming back to it and adding to it. I get excited by the spark of an idea, and if I can't go make that, there's another idea that comes along that I get excited about. It has to happen quickly, in order for it to happen, at all.
grateful careers age
I always loved the work. As soon as I finished a movie, the most exciting thing to do was to try to jump into the next one. How I feel about it is that I learned a lot, so I'm grateful that I learned so much, at such a young age, rather than in my more adult professional career.