The Drunk Projectionist

The Drunk Projectionist


Ep: 4 Frederick Wiseman

June 23, 2017

The Drunk Projectionist's Todd Melby interviews Frederick Wiseman director of "Titicut Follies," a 1967 documentary about a hospital for the criminally insane. In this interview with Todd Melby, he also reveals why he shot most of his movies on 16mm, how his films are structurally similar to plays and why he hates the term "cinema verite." In the interview, Wiseman discusses Jim's victimization at the hands of prison guards (5:20), Vladmir's case review (9:07), the limitations of documentaries (13:54), the importances of long scenes (17:28), the length of his films (20:03), on directing a theatrical production of "Happy Days" (24:45), on the advantages of shooting on 16mm (26:29), on recording sound and working with cinematographers (28:51), on other documentary filmmakers (29:31), and on "cinema verite" (29:58).