The king of low-budget filmmaking has passed away. From the article, I liked his philosophy of producing film.
"There are many constraints connected with working on a low budget, but at the same time there are certain opportunities," Corman said in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s director of "Cat People" and other underground classics.
"You can gamble a little bit more. You can experiment. You have to find a more creative way to solve a problem or to present a concept."
Gamble, experiment and find more creative ways to present the concept. I love that and will put that in my notebook.
This description of Corman’s success, which appears on his IMDb page, put a smile on my face:
“A running gag in Hollywood was that Corman could negotiate the production of a film on a pay phone, shoot the film in the booth, and finance it with the money in the change slot.” That for me sums up Roger Corman - we all have something to learn from him.
What are your favourite Corman films? Drop a comment, below.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roger-corman-trailblazing-independent-film-...
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My condolences to his family and friends. My favorite Corman film is "Frankenstein Unbound," Geoff Hall.
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I am so sorry to hear that. My condolences to his family and friends. He will inspire me forever.
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Every aspiring filmmaker should read his book or listen to some of his DVD commentaries. Every time he spoke, he gave super practical advice on how to get what you need quickly and cheaply. He gave a lot of thought to story— take a listen to his commentaries for Masque of the Red Death and The Trip for instance— layering in philosophical and psychological themes.
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Mike Boas thanks Mike. I will check those out. The Masque of the Red Death with Vincent Price, has I think been re-released by Studio Canal.
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A huge inspiration to so many, and he launched the careers of some truly incredible filmmakers. I was a huge fan!
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Nick Phillips indeed, Nick. I recall a lot of copy in e-zines with stars of the silver screen talking about how Roger Corman helped kick-start their careers.
Also, my friend and I have a monthly Secret Cinema where we watch ‘classic’ B Movies and his name would be there in the most unsuspecting films, as a Producer, like the “Attack of Giant Leeches”.
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@Geoff Sad to hear. Thanks for the link for those who don’t know about his input in film. I admired Roger C for many years due to his fearless approach that visual art is not limited to just monied & powerful studios. He made a lot of cutting edge (at the time) films that are now cult classics & often researched “audience interest” before embarking on projects. EG Made a poster for Frankenstein & when given accolade asking when film being shown he replied he’d not written the script yet. One of my own thought experiments is a podcast/micro film using authentic voices of non actors to project own characters similar to what R C did in early Galway days. Does anyone know where to obtain his earlier 50s/60’s films such as Swamp Woman? Sorority Girl?
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Mr. Corman was the first and maybe most original filmmaker to seize whatever opportunity he had. If he had an actor + unused set for 3 days, he quickly drafted scenes and shot part of a movie, to be filled out later. He did this with Karloff and Bela Lugosi both. Corman stayed incredibly flexible, which I believe we can all learn from.