Actress Greta Gerwig reflects on 42 takes of a brief scene in "Frances Ha"

There's a very fun and candid peek into the imperfect world of movie making in the New York Times "Riff" column this week. Actress and screenwriter Greta Gerwig reviewed and commented on the 42 takes she and fellow actor Mickey Sumner made of a scene in the new movie "Frances Ha." A few examples:

Take 5 (2:20 p.m.): Still hunched over. Less angry, more sad. I’m probably just sad for myself, which is a terrible trap for an actor to fall into. I can tell that Noah [Baumbach, the director] is not thrilled with what we’re getting. He hasn’t said anything yet — no “Good take” or “Mark that one” to let me know that I’m on the right track.

Take 24 (3:15 p.m.): I overarticulate some of the words. I emphasize the “me” too much in the way I say “Don’t treat me like a three-hour-brunch friend.” It makes it sound as if there is someone we’ve just been interacting with who is the three-hour-brunch friend.

Take 32. (3:34 p.m.): We start, and it’s going fairly well, but the camera “rolls out,” and they have to change the memory card.

Gerwig's piece makes it clear what we know but teach ourselves to forget: a movie isn't something organic, but something crafted out of hundreds of individual pieces, like a mosaic. It's a miracle that a director can sort out these little fragments and create something that feels like an integral work. Moreover, it gives you respect for an actor's performance - the ability to create a person that comes through despite hundreds of line misreadings and camera "rollouts."

See what contemplating mistakes can do?

Megamind triumphs by learning from his mistakes

We watched "Megamind" last night and I was delightfully surprised by an exchange between Megamind, the villain-turned-hero, and Titan, the hero-turned-villain (you'll have to see the movie to make sense of that, I think):

[Titan has just thrown Megamind into a wall and is about to finish him off.]

TITAN: No matter what side you're on, you're always the loser.

MEGAMIND: There's a benefit to losing. You get to learn from your mistakes.

[MM proceeds to wriggle out of the tight spot and turn the tables on Titan, save the city, and get the girl.]

Makers of animated films seem to have this learning from mistakes thing down pat - see the quote from "Meet the Robinsons" at the margin to the right.

And here's the Megamind trailer if you're curious:

Tina Brown's New Newsweek features "My Favorite Mistake"

OK, it's official. Mistake stories are the new black. Don't believe me? Celebrity editor Tina Brown (a hell of an editor, by the way - I think the New Yorker was much improved by her tenure there) just published her first version of Newsweek magazine. And on the back page is a new feature called "My Favorite Mistake." The first guest of honor, Harvey Weinstein. Here's a snippet of Harvey's story:

But my favorite mistake happened two years ago, when I had the opportunity to buy The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Two friends in London told me there was a book they loved. I read the book and thought it was great. Then I heard they were making a movie out of it. I got the people to show us the movie to see whether we’d want to distribute it in the United States, and everything about it in my gut said, “Do this—there’s a franchise here.” But my team said, ‘No, we should focus on bigger movies,’ and I let the committee overwhelm me. I didn’t listen to my very significant gut, and when I say significant, I mean size, geographically. And that was a big bloody mistake—an economic mistake, a company mistake. If you’re going to be in the business we are, it has to be because you want to champion movies that are different. This year, we got The King’s Speech, Blue Valentine, Company Men, and part of The Fighter. Small movies are intensive, but they’re so worth it. It’s what we have to do to be who we are.

Now I have to say that this is a particular type of mistake story that may not be the most instructive. As I read it, Harvey's mistake was listening to his committee. In his eyes, he would have been better served ignoring their advice and buying the movie anyway. I guess this is the deepest personal reflection you can expect from a Hollywood mogul.

I wonder if there wasn't a different mistake here: perhaps he wasn't able to articulate his love and passion for the project clearly enough to convince his committee to change its decision. I think of the neat arguments of John Kotter in his new book "Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down" (here's a summary of one of the arguments)- perhaps some of them would have been useful to Harvey in this situation.