What genre has most influenced your desire to make films?

The one thing that has had the biggest influence in recent years is actually Buffy. I think, watching that show, I finally got to understand the term "character driven". That it doesn't mean one of those 70s films that's all character study, it means knowing your characters so well that you hardly have to write at all, because whatever situation you put them in, you know exactly how they will react. I used to start with genre--"I wanna write a scifi story, I wanna write a political satire, I wanna write a zombie movie"--and I never got very far or came up with anything good, because that's just the wrong way to go about it. You have to get to start with the characters.

As for genres, it's all comedy for me. I have no desire to do anything that's not a comedy. That's just who I am--I wanna make people laugh. And by people, I mean me. Of course, there are alot of movies that I think are hilarious that most people wouldn't consider comedies...

Horror.

Because I've seen so much absolute shite - some of which is considered masterful (The Exorcist) - that I know I could make a better film.

Of course, I've never written a horror film...

...unless you count the semi-autobiographical romantic comedy...

HAM, you don't post nearly often enough...

Star Wars. Plain and simple.

Older Horror. Stuff like "NIght Gallery" really made an impact.

Just about all the movies that I have seen have influenced me in some way. It would be tedious to list them all so I'll just list the main genres that I want to somehow work in.

Horror - Dark comedy - Dark fantasy - Fantasy.

Though I am trying to stay away from a similar category of tragic drama because I am one of the few people in my film class that realizes in student films Tragic drama and melodrama are done way too much and more often then not they suck. So I am aiming for dark comedy. I find my morbid sense of humor is often found in my horror ideas. Like:

A zombie has just risen up from his grave and stalks the streets at night. He encounters a girl in trouble with other zombies and some emotion rises up through his rotting heart and he falls in love with her. With single mindedness he stalks her (after he saves her from the other zombies) and encounters obstacles on the way. Then finally with rose in hand he confronts her, offering the flower to her. She, gathering courage, takes and axe and hacks him up while he is trying to plead to her in groans and mumbles....

This is a pretty straight forward story that I just thought up off the top of my head but in order for it to represent my morbid humor I would juxtapose the ending scene with the love song “I fall to pieces”.

You now may have some idea on what movies I’d like to make/write. Sort of Dead Alive-ish. To tell you the truth probably my main influences come from the books that I read.

Come to think of it the song “Thank Heavens For Little Girls” might be also a candidate for the ending scene.

Thanks

WILD AT HEART did it to me.

So... road movies soundtracked by Chris Isaac.

Im gonna follow the general crowd and say horror. I mean what more can I say that hasnt already been said? Its my flesh and blood.

John Cassavetes said it best with Husbands. How to make a movie, that is.

I agree I love Horror, but that's not necessarily the biggest influence on me. I desire to be a filmmaker because one simple reason, I don't want to be anybody, I want to be somebody. I think I have a great talent inside of me that’s waiting to be unleashed. I can't say I am a very intelligent or brilliant person, but when it all comes down to it yes I do have my marbles. I feel I am a very good writer and have numerous projects started, most of which aren't finished, it seems like every time I begin to write I stumble upon another idea. I mostly write scripts and my ideas vary, anything from Alien5 to a Halloween sequel and yes even a drama film. If I was to name a few people who have inspired me well then the one person who comes to my mind first is Tobe Hooper, he gets a lot of crap, but I feel he is one of the best directors, Clive Barker, Wes, and the list goes on. My direction in writing is simple; it's how I want to see things done.

INDEPENDENT FLICS, they showed me that the lay-person could make films that are better than large studios' with a fraction of the budget, within that it's DARK COMEDY'S all around...

Horror i guess was a starting point for my love of films. But i generally love all kinds of film, and i didnt really make the decision to make it more than a hobby until i saw films out of hte genre. I mean sure Horror is fine and easy to sell to people. But its not all there is, and eventualy itll lead to a dead end. Look at all the horror directors. They have all gone down hill. I personally think its because they never bothered to branch out of their given fields, which eventually led them to make huge crap fests.

Wow! Great Topic! Great Answers!

If you were inspired by Kurosawa you're in good company with some great directors who have made some of the greatest movies of all time! Goerge Lucas for one!

For me? Stanley Kubrick really inspired me throughout my entire life. One amazing film after another! Nary a bad one in the bunch. Of course, I take alot of flack for saying my favorite Kubrick film was Eyes Wide Shut but The Shining left an impression on me when I saw it at the movie theatre that will never go away! Thus my favorite genre and what I want to do!

Horror

I've been into charcoal drawing, sketching, painting and I've had a lifelong passion for music of every genre, as long as it's quality. I also have had a passion for video games pretty much since we brought Pong home from the store. Mix all of that together and film is the only place to combine moving visuals, static art and audio in all it's various forms together as one piece.

[EDIT]

I had to mention the fact that I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was in 5th grade and was so completely blown away by this incredible thing where I read this amazing piece of literature and was transported to an amazingly vivid other world. I was so moved by the whole experience that when I got done reading them I wrote a letter to Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien and mailed it to the address on the inner sleave. About two months later I got a letter back and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the letterhead of Tolkiens Estate. I opened it up and read the letter. It said that they appreciated the letter but that they were sorry to inform me that Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien had passed away. Man, that was such a disapointing, yet, incredible moment because I had reached out to someone that inspired me for the first time. I'll never forget that moment, anyway ever since then I read as much as I could get my hands on and once I read The Old Man and The Sea I started writing and have never stopped! Too much information?

horror is where I got my writing start. I am one of the biggest Stephen King fans you can find. So I wrote short stories and novels over it.

I guess that is why most of my short film projects have been horror related.

But the movie that made me sit up and say I want to do something like that is Magnolia. That dialogue is amazing. And the directing, the way it all fits together, the montages, the way it grabs your emotions - that was the movie that did it for me.

And William Goldman is the reason I decided to go ahead and do this crazy thing called movie making.

I write horror. My first three screenplays were horror. We are finishing my Stephen King adaptation now and we have already started our next movie which is one of my original horror screenplays.

I also only wrote horror when I wrote short stories. I have broadened my horizons with screenwriting (comedy, drama and right now I am working on a thriller that is only a little horror - think Sixth Sense with a lot more action)