"I tell everyone who works for me, from the guy getting the coffee to the studio head, that all that matters is 'the picture that comes out. I'm always saying that, and the key is always the story. Whenever I'm stuck, I'll inevitably ask myself, 'What part of the story am I trying to advance here? How do I do it?' I'll work forever on these kinds of questions, and when I find the answers I'm pretty pleased."
John Badham on how he filmed this brilliant scene in "Stakeout" (1987) & what matters the most in a movie:
"The challenge of making 'Stakeout' (1987) was to make a lot of divergent elements stay together. Trying to blend comedy and violence in a smooth, realistic way is very difficult. There's one part of the picture, for instance, where there's a tender love scene between Richard and the girl [Madeleine Stowe], then a horrible nightmare sequence, then a passionate sโฌxual interlude and then a farcical chase with Richard in drag - and all of it happens in less than five minutes. Pulling off something like that is a real test. The trick, which I think I mastered, is to accomplish it all without inflicting audience whiplash.
To me, making movies that work in such a way that the people watching don't really feel your presence is what it's all about. So many directors want to show off the fact that they're using a mini-cam for this shot or a helicopter for that one. I don't think those things matter. If they don't help the story, who cares?
I tell everyone who works for me, from the guy getting the coffee to the studio head, that all that matters is 'the picture that comes out. I'm always saying that, and the key is always the story. Whenever I'm stuck, I'll inevitably ask myself, 'What part of the story am I trying to advance here? How do I do it?' I'll work forever on these kinds of questions, and when I find the answers I'm pretty pleased."
("John Badham Just Don't Call Him an Auteur", Steve Oney, The NY Times, 1987)