Welcome back to ThinkTalk's Hump Day Movie Day. Every Wednesday we're going to pull a favorite interview from the archives. This week, our feature showing is a Director's Cut interview with Jared Hess, the creative and comic genius behind films like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. The director and producer sat down in the ThinkTalk studios to answer questions from the University of Maryland. He talks about how he became successful as a director, and also gives tips on scriptwriting.

Hey all! I wanted to give everyone a heads-up for an upcoming Director's Cut guest, Robert Stone. He'll be visiting the ThinkTalk studios next week to talk with our host Erika about his career in the film business and his advice for students, and you can submit a question for the interview at Stone's bio page.

Since the early days of cinema, there has always been a creative marriage between film and music. Before movies had built in sound or dialogue, live music was played in movie theaters to add atmosphere and emotion. When you watch a lot of the early post silent era movies from the 1930's, you'll still hear music but you won't hear it from beginning to end. It wasn't necessary because the viewers could now hear sounds coming from the mouths of the characters. Most of the music in those movies is played during the beginning, the end, and during transitions.

Even though the face of cinema keeps changing for better or for worse, film scores have not lost their power. In 1975, "Jaws" made a lot of people afraid to swim in the ocean. The "Jaws" score by John Williams definitely makes the appearance of that shark all the more frightening. Bernard Herrmann's score was very effective in the shower sequence from the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Psycho". The score for "Back to The Future" composed by Alan Silvestri added extra excitement to the time travel adventure that only had about 32 special effects. "Avatar" will not only be remembered for the lifelike 3D special effects but it will also be remembered for the powerful score by James Horner. Last year, my father introduced me to the classic "The Great Escape". Everytime I talk to him about the movie, he whistles that joyful score from that movie by Elmer Bernstein.

There are many TV shows from the past and present that are remembered for their theme songs. Certain products are remembered not only for their trademarks but also for their catchy jingles. Soap operas will always be remembered for their cheap and cheesy music. There are many movies that will always be remembered for their score.

If you are a filmmaker, or aspire to be one, remember how much impact your film's musical score can have.

"Fast musical notes on a music sheet" courtesy Horia Varlan via Flickr Creative Commons

John Badham's "I'll Be in My Trailer: The Creative Way Between Directors and Actors", is a book every film maker should own. "I'll Be in My Trailer" was published in 2006. I came across the book when one of my teachers used it as a text book for my 'Directing With Actors' class at the Art Institute. This is one of the few text books that most students don't sell back after finals. In this book, film director John Badham discusses first hand directorial experiences including the bridge scene in "Saturday Night Fever". When John Travolta showed up for that scene, Badham had already filmed Travolta's stunt double crawling across a bridge to stop a friend from jumping. The stunt double had already gone home for the day but Travolta told Badham that his character would never crawl. After much heated discussion, Travolta told Badham, "I'll Be in My Trailer". Badham ended up filming the scene with Travolta walking and had to correct the continuity errors in post production.

"I'll Be in My Trailer" also includes interviews with other directors including John Frankenheimer discussing how Frank Sinatra's insisted on completing his performances in just one take on the set of "The Manchurian Candidate". Francis Ford Coppola also talks about living out every director's worst nightmare when he was directing "Apocalypse Now". If you're an actor, this book is especially useful because you get to read about actors being directed including Jenna Elfman, Dennis Haysbert, Michael Caine, Betty Thomas, and Martin Sheen.

Badham defines the language directors use when speaking with actors as "Actor-Speak". Otherwise, directors need to realize that actors are human beings whether they are multimillionaires or amateurs. It seems that there has to be a certain level of sensitivity when offering constructive criticism to the actor because a lot of actors tend to be very sensitive. Providing a healthy and comfortable environment is also essential. Being what Badham refers to as a "Stealth Director", or a passive aggressive director, creates a distance between the director and actor. That sounds like a shot in the foot for the director because if the actor doesn't remember their director on a certain project, how can the director's reputation flourish? Actors often mention in DVD interviews about certain directors making an impression on them. The more aggressive directors are Badham refers to as "War Horses". If I ever decided to be a director, I'd like to be in the middle ground between the "Stealth" and the "War Horse". Even though I've only done stage acting and directing, I can still see it from both sides. I would want to create an environment where I'm working with my actors and they are comfortable asking me for help.

Even if you don't want to direct or act, buy this book. A cinematographer or assistant director would also benefit from reading this book because they also work on the set when the actors are present. Being that I want to be an editor, I still have that actor inside that wants to come out and play every now and then. Directing a huge production sounds like the challenge of all challenges but I'm sure I would get some kind of satisfaction out of it. After all, the first line in the book is, "Making a movie can be a first-class blast most days." Find out what he says next when you buy it!

"HVR-V1P Front" courtesy Jaymis via Flickr Creative Commons