Choose Your Shadow Wisely...

[Digigenic]

Choose Your Shadow Wisely…

With regard to giving credit where credit is due, it’s important to remember that credits can often times be misleading. Even though the multitude of names that flash and/or scurry across the screen give the impression that all names have been accounted for, there are still quite a few people who assisted in the development of the story and didn’t hear so much as a whisper of credit to their name.

I know that this is not the best example, but has anyone ever heard of writer/director, Roger Avary? His most recent directorial credit was for Rules of Attraction. As a writer, he’s been in Tarantino’s shadow since Reservoir Dogs, even helping out with story development for True Romance, and Pulp Fiction. They’ve been friends since their days as fellow video store clerks in the 1980’s, yet Avary goes on with little to no recognition for his work.

Each person or persons who stand in the spotlight have a shadow, and within that shadow can be any number of individuals making that one person stand out to the public. So is it a choice, or a set of uncontrolled circumstances within the industry that leads such talent to remain in the shadows instead of the spotlight?

 

[DerekEastham]

Sometimes, people are in the shadows for pure circumstantial reasons...

However, and I would hope more often, people choose to remain in the shadows by choice.

Just go through the IMDB pages... and look through people's filmographies... now and then you'll come across a work that they were "uncredited" for... which means, everyone's found out... but when it was released, no-one really knew.

 

[laurent.a]

IMDB get their informations, I don't know where from... I mean, if you're credited for a major film at a major job, you'd get "in"... I've got many friends (including myself) who weren't credited on some films (whatever job they would have got) you don't know why. Sometimes you'd see a film for which you would'nt see the dp's name though the film and director are registred, for instance. It's very easy to update information there, anyway...

 

[MarkG]

Well, that's Tarantino for you. Didn't Avary have to send his lawyers in to get his 'share' of the oscar for 'Pulp Fiction'?

 

[Digigenic]

Taming Fame

Taming Fame

It's likely that legal action was pursued with a silent and surgical pay off, executed in such a way that even Johnny Cochran would've been at a loss for words.

But, I originally brought up the issue because it isn’t necessarily preferential discussion within the industry; it confronts an individual’s purpose as an artist versus a business person and/or “star”.

Sustaining a career based on fame while retaining artistic integrity is an admirable balancing act. But, often times, it just gives more reason for people to act desperate. Desperate for good reviews, desperate for awards, desperate for fortune, just desperate to be anything other than an artist.

This type of subject matter is generally easier to digest before becoming a commodity.