WILLIAM LEE INTERVIEW

THE WILLIAM LEE INTERVIEW

general by William Lee, president and CEO of
CINEMA LEXZIKON PRODUCTIONS LLC.

Excerpts from The William Lee Interview

1.        What is your earliest memory of taking an interest in film making?

a.        I think my earliest recollection is in 1968, I was in an art class and our teacher brought in blank
strips of 16mm film. She then instructed us to paint figures on each frame. She didn’t explain to us that
when the film was to be run through the projector, that the images would move. Standard movie film
runs at 24 frames per second, so the more series of 24 images I drew, the more of my work would be on
the screen. When she did finally run that through the projector, wow. My mind was ignited.

2.        Obviously your interest in film had other influences. Surely you didn’t come up
with your creative action films from painted images on film?

a.        No, I wish it were that easy. However, in those days, access to film making equipment wasn’t that
easy, and I didn’t think my father had the money to afford such items. You see, we had just moved cross
country from New York to Ohio.

During those days, problems like racial integration and my father’s career were more important than my
burgeoning movie career. So, my nephew James and I were able to use my father’s old Polaroid
Instamatic camera and shoot single shots of actions scenes.

We’d throw a football, and get a shot of it in mid air. We’d strike action poses, make believe we were
tackling, running, etc. However, we still knew something was missing. But this was the best we could
do. Other things also interfered with the pursuit of film making dreams. Like attending a new school and
fitting in. A kid from New York with a funny accent in Dayton, Ohio made me a prime target for bullies. I
began to seek a way to improve my self esteem.

This was right before the start of the “blaxploitation era”, and a 10 year old kid wasn’t going to break
into the film world. It was still largely off limits to black actors and producers. My sister would take us
to drive in movies, and we’d see flicks like Shaft, and "Across 110th Street" but one person really ignited
our passion: Bruce Lee. After seeing him, I went home and begged my father for a super 8 movie camera.
There was some mail order company that allowed “payment over time” (early days of financing) and I
used my allowance to pay for the camera. When it arrived, I gathered up the local kids and we shot
“hand of the Kung Fu Dragon”, a 4-minute actioner in which, somehow, I had a story and choreographed
fight scenes. I then began to study martial arts seriously.

The rest, is shall we say, history.

3. How did you develop your film style?

a. Basically I learned to make films by trial and error. It was only after years of amateur film making,
that I finally decided to pursue a college degree in Cinema. My Bachelor's degree I did for my folks. I
had to prove to them that my "hobby" could become my life's work.

When I went for my master's degree, it was for my own selfish reasons. Selfish in the sense that I did it
for myself and pushed myself. I went to night school and summer school, and finished my thesis in a
year and a half.

My film method was developed through the reality of never having anything. Never having adequate
money, never having dependable actors, never having a competent crew.

I had to film on private property or secluded park areas, or empty warehouses because I could never
secure permission or cooperation. You really learn to improvise when no one believes in you or helps
you. However, I don't regret one minute of it because it made me very strong and very creative when
obstacles come up.

All through high school I was taunted and ridiculed because I pursued something that most "normal"
black people didn't pursue. I wonder how my high school "pals" would react now? If my life proves one
thing, patience and perseverance can pay off if you don't let nay sayers side track your dream.

4. You have many unique film influences. You don't just make typical action films. Talk about this.

a. Well, since the advent of digital film making, it seems that anyone with spare time, a small idea, and
some friends has decided to become a world class filmmaker. Sometimes this works. Most of the time, it's
not such a good idea. Film making is not simply "making a film". You have to tell a story. You have to
have believable characters. From that starting point, you move on to the next most important element:
editing the film. I have always written, directed and edited all of my work. I look to the old film masters
for guidance. I was lucky enough to study under real film historians and experts. Therefore, while many
of today's generation get inspiration from MTV music videos, I prefer to take direction from masters like
Eric Von Stroheim, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, Sergei Eisenstein, Oscar Michaeux, Howard
Hawks, and Salvador Dali. That's not to say the action scenes and horror elements of my films are
anything more than pure Bruce Lee/ George Romero type manifestations, but if you watch the film and
what the characters say, you will not find this in typical action/horror fare. Characters have to say
SOMETHING in a film. I write unique dialog, and put my characters in unique situations, not just words
to get you to the next Kung Fu battle or zombie killing scene. A lot of today's indie films don't say much,
except that "dad lent me a million bucks, I'm going to enter all the trendy film festivals, and I am going
to make a gross out sex/horror/comedy film to impress my friends and get famous. "

Sorry, I am a little too old for that.

5. Speaking of "old"....talk about how new digital technology has affected your film making?

a. As an old time film guy, who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the digital "movie" age, I
have just entered a new arena. Back when film makers began to see video as a replacement for film, I got
into proverbial fist fights with the new "video guys". Never! I shouted. Video would never look like film.
That was 1987. Then, slowly, things changed. The first big step forward was HI8mm. It was a really good
picture, but the thing most of us old timers hated was the loss of contrast, color, depth and warmth in
video imagery. In 1980, I shot a TV series called "William Lee's Game of Death" on VHS, and I
experimented with all sorts of gimmicks to make the video "soften", but the technology sucked. The
audio was bad, and the fight scenes--which I make my living on-looked awful because they looked like
someone taping a street fight with a shitty VHS camera.

Then came Mini DV, and after getting distribution for SOULRIPPERZ, ROOM 13, and with the addition
of film-like 24p, CODE BLACK went worldwide.

Now, old "splice and cut, edit on Steenbeck, cut film into strips, edit on a moviola" William Lee was a
believer.

6. Just when it seemed video had advanced to being more "film like", now here comes High definition.
Thoughts?

My biggest issue with HD was that video cameras had struggled for years to become more like film
cameras, and just when we had achieved that (See AGDXV100A), then the video camera people went to
HD, which made video look like really clear sharp video. Uh, can you say "redundancy"? What the hell
was the point? Sometimes technology is too good for it's own good. They ended up almost destroying the
idea behind becoming more film like. Duh! Well, someone realized this and combined the best of both
worlds 24p and HD. Well, Cinema Lexzikon just acquired one of these babies, and let me tell you. If you
are going to shoot a feature, My God. Get one of these. I've heard all the cries of "God, I'll need tons of
light", but if you get the right camera, adjust the parameters to shoot 24p, with cinema mode and the
right frame rate, you can get a great image. Cinema Lexzikon will have two of these on our next project,
and we hope that when it comes to Blockbuster you'll rent it and let us know how much difference you
see in the images. From and old school film guy who used to cut and paste actual celluloid, I am glad I
lived long enough to work in the non linear digital almost film arena! I feel like a kid again!

7. You created a little controversy on a foreign website with your "rules for indie film makers".
Can you list them here?

Rule number one: Make your film, YOUR WAY, and accept the consequences. Apologies are for
amateurs. BUT BE REALISTIC! Do not expect to sell a non- commercial art film to an action film
distributor!

Rule number two: There is no standard methodology to follow. Shot sheets? Storyboards? Come on now.
Stop wasting time! Do it!

Rule number three: Don't ever waste time making a short. Distributors are no longer in the "spec"
business. Half-done films are half way to oblivion. Make features. Shorts are a starting point, not a
continuous endeavor. At Some time in his or her “film” career, a person making films becomes a
filmmaker. A filmmaker does not make shorts for a living. A short filmmaker is incomplete, a failure at
becoming the thing he or she got into the film making business for! MAKING FILMS!

Rule number four: Know your audience, and target your film to that audience. Do not let your artistic
vision steer you into the “film that didn’t sell because it had too much art and not enough
commercialism”! Do your homework before the camera rolls! Know where the money is!

Rule number five: Artistic vision is always trumped by commercial viability, unless you like going to film
festivals and getting useless awards. Film Festivals can start you on the right road, but film festivals are
not a be all end all for every filmmaker. For everyone who has gotten a “deal” at a film festival,
thousands more got ripped off for a $50 entry fee in a festival they had no chance in winning.

Rule number six: Music videos are not good study materials for film making. Films shot in the 90's and
later are just copycats, and not very good ones at that. How many remakes is Hollywood gonna' do?
Where the hell are the original film makers? Imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery, it is the
greatest sign of an uninspired film maker. Want some inspiration?
Try Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Gordon Parks, Howard Hawks, Fritz Lang, Eric Von Stroheim and
Alfred Hitchcock.

Rule Number Seven: Do not make a movie unless it has a good story to tell.
No amount of SFX,sex, gore and gimmicks will fix a crappy, shitty script.

.
Rule Number Eight: There is no magic angel investor out there waiting to fund your dream movie. People
who tell you this kind of bulls#$ are liars or crazy. Getting funding is the hardest thing you will ever do,
so do not get in the game if you aren't good with hearing the word "NO".

Rule Number Nine: Never let the word "NO" stop you from your dream. If your “dream” IS VIABLE,
COMMERCIAL, WELL DONE, AND GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE MARKET, then for the love of Pete, FUCK
‘EM! It's your dream, who's in charge, you or the haters?

Rule Number Ten: Hollywood people will try to make you think they know more than you do about movie
making. How do you think they got started? You must walk before you run. But check this out: Some so-
called "professionals" make shitty movies--just go to the action or urban section of your local video store.
Think you can do better than that? What's holding you back?

The Golden rule: Never consider yourself a good filmmaker if the people telling you that you’re a good
filmmaker, are your family and friends. Always get third party opinions and advice. Your family and
friends don’t want to hurt your feelings, they want you to succeed. Your enemies will tell you that you
suck just because they’re jealous. People who don’t know you will tell you the truth because they have
no stake in your success or failure. Think about the scores of untalented people on American Idol who
said they knew they could sing because their “Grandma said they had a great voice”! Get real! Stay Real!