The first thing I say when people ask what's the difference [between doing TV and film], is that film has an ending and TV doesn't. When I write a film, all I think about is where the thing ends and how to get the audience there. And in television, it can't end. You need the audience to return the next week. It kind of shifts the drive of the story. But I find that more as a writer than as a director.
The predominant difference between television and film is the pace to which you work, but the development of the character or the process for playing the character isn't necessarily different.
Live theatre provides a rush you can't get in film or television. But it is the TV and film work that offers the leisure to go off and do a play.
As far as the difference for me between television and movies, I really thrill to the pace of television. As exhausting as it can be - there was actually one day when we never went to bed.
The difference between directing film and directing television is so stark simply because TV is a living breathing organism already when you direct an episode.
The other main difference between film and television is that you have the opportunity to flush out a character, over a longer period of time. Whereas with a film, you're confined to two or three hours, or whatever it may be.
I do like working on television but I prefer film. I just want to work mainly but the pace on a movie is slower and you get to form more of a family. There is more time to work with whereas TV is faster paced.
People think I watch TV too much, but they are wrong. There is a huge difference between merely "watching" TV and learning to respond aggressively to it. The difference, for most people, is the difference between the living and dying of their own brains.
Filming movies and TV are vastly different. Film is more of slower pace. You usually have more time to develop characters, and it sometimes takes up to 3 months to film one movie. Sometimes you'll spend half the day filming one scene. TV moves much faster. It takes about 10 days to film an episode.
Mothers know the difference between a broth and a consommé. And the difference between damask and chintz. And the difference between vinyl and Naugahyde. And the difference between a house and a home. And the difference between a romantic and a stalker. And the difference between a rock and a hard place.
There's so little difference between television and features as far as you make the film. I mean, you have less money and it's a little quicker, but the concept is all on television.
I don't see any kind of difference between television and film.
As a film director and as film actors, you get used to a certain rhythm that's slow. But with TV, it's hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. It's a different pace. So, it's about adjusting to the pace. It's not meant for everybody.
I do think there's probably a little more opportunity to direct in television, because there are just so many TV shows. In movies, it still feels harder to break in. I do hope that's shifting. The difference between TV and miniseries and movies is also diminishing.
I mean, there's definitely a difference between film and live performances or live television. But at the same time, it's just performing. No matter what, it's performing.
The difference between film and TV, for me, is just that huge thing of knowing that there's a script that is not going to change and you can go really deep into that. With TV, you're just constantly on a high-wire, making sure you don't fall.