Q. As an actress, did shooting a movie on a digital format make any difference? If so, what were those differences?A. Shooting on digital gave the cameraman more freedom to move with the camera, particularly the sequences where he used the mini DV camera, because of its size and weight. This made the work very organic, very improvisational in tone, and very collaborative. I actually felt less aware of the camera- it sort of felt like a part of the scene.
Q. Also, since the setting was intimate and the crew smaller, how, if in any way, did it effect the way you work?
A. The intimate setting and smaller size of the crew was very freeing. There was this kind of integrated feeling between the actors and the crew. It made me feel very loose, relaxed, and able to experiment with ideas about the scene.
Q. Since Frankie and Johnny are Married, how was it to work with the director? Does the work go home with you? Or, is it nice to be able to talk about a scene over breakfast?
A. That the director of this film is also my husband was actually very exciting and so much fun. It turns out that we work very well together. The work definitely went home with us. When you're shooting a movie it consumes you pretty much 24 hours a day until you finish. Since we were consumed by the same movie, it was nice to be able to talk to each other at night about the day's work and the upcoming day's work. On our days off we tried to let go of it a little so we could spend attentive time with our son. But, of course he's also in the film, so he too didn't mind talking about it.
Q. What was the hardest thing about shooting in digital?
A. For me, as an actor, there was nothing negative about shooting digital. There were some lighting and staging limitations at times but I didn't feel terribly effected by these.
Q. Talk about the evolution of the film from your perspective. How much of the script is fiction or fact based?
A. The film is a story that was inspired by the events of Michael and I deciding to work together, virtually for the first time, by mounting a production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune", a play that I had wanted to do for several years. We mounted the play, twice, because the first attempt shut down after the first preview. We did a successful run the second time. The film is a fictionalized account (some facts are retained) of our almost eight month experience with the play.
Q. How do you prepare for a role in which you play yourself?
A. There is an obvious shorthand when one plays oneself, even though the "Lisa" in the film is slightly different from the Lisa who is responding to this question. Usually when I prepare for a character I begin a journal for that person in which I create character elements and a life history for that character. I did not have to do that here, those things are obviously all within me. The work in this film was more intuitive from the start.
Q. Did you do much improvisation or did you pretty much stick to the script?
A. We always worked directly from the script, but we used improvisation at times to "find" the meaning of the words. Occasionally we changed the way something was said, which we may have discovered through improvising, but for the most part, we stuck to the script.
Q. If you did it over what would you do differently?
A. I can't really think of anything I would do differently. It was truly a great experience for me!
Q. Would you do it again?
A. I would definitely do it again, I can't wait to do it again, but I wouldn't shoot in my own home again. Once was enough for that.
* Murray Mintz is a friend of Michael Pressman, who wrote and directed Bad Business one of the first feature length films shot with a MiniDV camera. Michael Pressman had a featured cameo, as "Money Man" in Bad Business playing opposite the film's star Chris Mulkey.