![The meaning behind the documentary director's filming of ``American Animals.'' Director Bart Layton [Director's Interview Vol.27]](https://cinemore.jp/images/4231439356097425c499bde372ef8ae2de8e5669832a818f0c63c238080ae31d.png)
The meaning behind the documentary director's filming of ``American Animals.'' Director Bart Layton [Director's Interview Vol.27]
"American Animals" is a film adaptation of a real theft case committed by four American students. Although it is a feature film, it features a new style of directing, with interviews with the people involved inserted like a documentary. Furthermore, the film's attempt to change the atmosphere of the film from scene to scene, sometimes in the style of a teen movie and sometimes in the style of a gangster movie, is also groundbreaking. Where on earth did this innovative technique come from?
The director of "American Animals" is the talented British director Bart Layton. He has worked on documentaries up until now, and his first film, "The Imposter" (2012), was the highest grossing documentary film in the history of the UK and won many awards. This sequel to "American Animals" has also been highly praised, and his fresh style has attracted the attention of critics and movie fans.
I recently had the opportunity to interview director Bart Layton directly. I was able to get some in-depth answers from him, focusing on the director's intentions for the film and the Arrival it contains.
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Documentaries and feature films
Q: Your previous documentary, "The Imposter," was also a film based on a "cinematic true story," just like "American Animals." However, this is a feature film. Was the production method completely different?
Layton: At the initial stage, this film was similar to other documentaries. Since it is a film adaptation of a true story, it is necessary to do research to hear the stories of the people involved, and by taking the time to interview them, we can understand the whole story by synthesizing them. This is the first process.
However, since this film also has fictional parts, the script is written in the following process: think up the lines, plan the direction... In other words, our creative input is involved. This is something that you don't do in a documentary, and shouldn't do.
Q: It was innovative for this film to incorporate documentary elements into the drama; how did you arrive at this approach?
Layton: It was certainly an experimental method to incorporate documentary elements into a drama-based film. When adapting a true story into a film this time, I wondered if there was a new way to convey the "The Truth" of what happened. Then, using my experience as a documentary director, I came to the conclusion that by combining fiction and documentary, I could shed light on The Truth of the incident and humanity from a more multifaceted perspective. So I think this film is the "best of both worlds" of both methods.
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