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Spielberg to Remake “Jaws”
The idea of creative control is a funny thing.
Control freaks crack me up. Mainly because I am one. Knowing the behavior so well, I can spot it easily.
On the one hand, I can understand that a songwriter or band leader might have a specific vision for a song. I've written songs myself and heard them in my head. But the reality is that they will end up different when you let them out on their own, and that's a good thing.
What's funny is, when you ask a songwriter which one of his or her songs are his or her favorite, they will often tell you, "they're like children, I can't pick a favorite." Well, like a child, you can't control what they will be or become once they're out on their own. Use the whole analogy if you're going to use it.
I think people who are too much of control freaks are defeating themselves. Sometimes the best moments happen because of things that are out of your control. My favorite example is Bruce the shark. Bruce was the shark in Jaws, but because of ongoing technical problems, Steven Spielberg had to shoot the movie in a more Hitchcockian manner where you didn't see the shark as much as he originally intended, but you experienced it instead. It made for a much better movie. Imagine if he made that movie today. He'd have a frickin' CGI shark doing backflips over the boat or something. Instead of the enduring classic, it would be another forgettable summer blockbuster.
As a songwriter, the ultimate moment isn't when you finish the demo that you've been working on by yourself in your studio late at night, it's when you hear your band or another good band nail it. The individual contributions by the musicians, letting them interpret the song and put themselves into it, make it better than you even imagined. They're not getting in the way of your vision, they're taking it places you never even thought of. The people you are working with aren't robots there to perform every moment exactly as you demand, they're creative interpreters of the work bringing it to another level. Don't fight it, enjoy it!
Posted 2009 11 30 at 10:35 AM
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