When directors or actors or other professionals talk about the films they are apart of, they usually speak in the terms of the big picture. They will relay a specific scene or moment as a microcosm for the entire film. We rarely hear about what happens directly in the moment to trigger a certain thing on film. Thanks to The New York Times, we get a glimpse at one such specific moment in the film Nightcrawler, which you can watch below.
Writer/director Dan Gilroy gives some comments about a specific scene in the film (it is not spoilery, for people curious). Most notably, he talks about an adjustment he gave to star Jake Gyllenhaal about how to approach the monologue in he gives in this particular scene. The collaboration between a director and an actor is a really interesting one, and this shows that even the most minute detail or giving a suggestion that does not necessarily fit the scene can bring about the exact right performance from the actor. The “as if” adjustment from a director is a common one, and I think this particular use of it was quite effective.
You can watch the scene with Gilroy’s commentary on it below.
