Q: Do you and the Breaking Bad writing staff intentionally seek inspiration from other great crime films, or does it just evolve as scripts are written? -- Alec
A: My writers and I are inspired constantly by great movies and TV shows. Not just crime movies, but westerns. We take a lot of inspiration from the "spaghetti westerns" of Sergio Leone. Once Upon a Time in the West is a particular favorite, and the first fifteen minutes of that movie is something that I have potential directors of the show watch before they start directing for us. Also, The Godfather, Parts I and II. I was thinking of The French Connection when I directed the pilot. I was emulating the look of it, or perhaps a better word is stealing from it. I love the visual sense of that movie. Film noir is a big influence: the classic noirs -- I could watch The Maltese Falcon once a month, probably -- as well as the Coen brothers contemporary ones as well.
Q: How do you feel about all of the attention the show is getting from critics and fans, and all of the speculation on the storyline found on numerous Internet sites? -- TrueNorth
A: I just think it's absolutely wonderful that so many smart people like the show and are watching it and combing through it for the most minute details. I never believed the show would even go on the air in the first place! So the fact that we're now four years in and they're still paying this close attention to it, just astounds me. I think it's great sport to wonder about future twists and turns of one's favorite show, and I'm glad they're doing that for Breaking Bad.
I have to confess that I never look up Breaking Bad on the internet, nor myself. It's not that I don't care what people have to say, it's just that I'm very neurotic. I fear that anything bad -- or good, for that matter -- that I would read on the show would send me down a rabbit hole of questioning. But the way that works the best for me is to try and have as quiet a writing room as possible and get a story that pleases me and that pleases my writers. Because the seven of us -- my six writers and myself -- are really the first viewers of the show. If we can make ourselves happy, because we're a pretty hard to please bunch, than I feel that keeps us in good stead. Although I do keep all this stuff: I keep reams of reviews and blog entries and printouts to enjoy someday when the show is long off the air.
Source: Full Q&A @ AMC
Streaming Options
Sign Up for the SpoilerTV Newsletter where we talk all things TV!
Recommendations
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
