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ALAN POUL Executive Producer Show responsibilities: Executive Producer and Director of episode 10 season 2, "The Secret." Education: Yale HBO.COM: What particular challenges (if any) did you encounter on this episode? ALAN POUL: This episode as (brilliantly) scripted by Bruce Eric Kaplan was particularly ambitous, with a large number of group scenes and locations. In order to complete the filming in the 9 days we allow for each episode, I had to plan my shots very carefully, and stick to a relatively simple shooting plan. I attempted to turn these production exigencies into a strength by creating a visual scheme in which the shots of our characters are distinct from their point-of-view shots. Thematically this episode puts a number of the characters into unusual situations in which they are primarily spectators (e.g. Brenda at the sex party and at her own shower, Nate at the funeral and in his own fantasy). While the normal impulse for a filmmaker would be to find interesting moving shots that tie together the subject and his/her environment, I opted for a more traditional editorial pattern of alternating static shots of the watcher and what's being watched. I also felt this approach complimented the more contemplative nature of the episode, including the Thai Buddhist funeral, and culminating in the montage accompanied by the chanting of the monks. HBO.COM: Were there any special shots or camera moves that you used? ALAN POUL: Not really. HBO.COM: Did you use any color or special effects filters in this episode? ALAN POUL: For the opening segment where Mr. Srisai dies, we put a color effect over the printed film to add a warmer, slightly heightened sense of color. This sequence is shot in a slightly stylized way, and I wanted a subtly stylized color palette to accompany it. We also added special color effects to the cocktail that the young Thai boy is holding in Nate's unborn-children fantasy, to make sure that it evoked the strange green cocktails from Belize that Margaret served Nate and Brenda in an earlier scene. HBO.COM: How do you go about planning to direct an episode? ALAN POUL: I obviously had a huge advantage in that my working relationships with the writer, designers, director of photography, assistant director, crew, and cast were already well-entrenched. I spent a lot of time studying the script and making notes, including frequent questions for Bruce Kaplan and Alan Ball, and then an equal amount of time on the weekends walking the sets, figuring out how to best stage and shoot the scenes. I had several sequences storyboarded, to make them easier to break down into shot lists. I also made one-sentence descriptions of some of the more difficult scenes, to help remind me in the thick of shooting of the most important elements that needed to be conveyed by each one. HBO.COM: Why did you want to work on "Six Feet Under"? ALAN POUL: I have always had an interest in directing, and after a season and a half producing the show, it seemed like a natural step. Also, because I can. HBO.COM: What is your favorite TV show besides "Six Feet Under"? ALAN POUL: "South Park". |
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