How Paul Thomas Anderson Shoots A Film At 3 Budget Levels

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Let's take a look at three films made at three different budget levels from director Paul Thomas Anderson in order to get a sense of the trajectory of his career, his approach to filmmaking and how some of his methods of production have both remained the same and slowly shifted throughout his career.
Source: • Hard Eight Commentary ...
Source: • Licorice Pizza Q & A w...
Source: • Paul Thomas Anderson i...
Source: • Paul Thomas Anderson o...
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MUSIC: bit.ly/3jZHBC0
Michael Witt - 'The Glow Of The Afternoon'
Wray Neon - 'Forming'
Subsets - 'No More Hiding'
Skygaze - 'All Those Dead Tunes'
Fassounds - 'Cafe'
Some Were At Sea - 'Sailor'
Falcxne - 'Puddles'
Sun Rain - 'Planets'
Charlie Ryan - 'Second Thoughts'
0:00 Introduction
1:17 Hard Eight
7:05 Sponsored Message
8:03 Boogie Nights
13:02 Licorice Pizza
17:26 Conclusion
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[@alejandrotoro9676]

Man I just love this series and the cinematographers styles. Always come back. I think an interesting filmmaker to do would be Robert Eggers, but we just have to wait for the Northman to come out that way you actually have 3 movies 🤣

[@lukamrse1324]

Robert Eggers would be a crown jewel for your series, hes a young ambitious filmmaker who is only showing a sliver of what he can unleash in a picture.

[@mikekasabion]

Perhaps once the Northman comes out, bc he’s been operating in the same place with having just 2 (amazing) films out

[@stevenmitchell714]

He already released one of the best horror movies of all time, as well as the best A24 movie 3 years ago!

[@elliotlanceley7745]

for me robert eggers is a little bit too much style and not enough substance! Cool pictures and very riveting but does lack a storyline and character development, imo!

[@odesreis6712]

You have no idea what an actual talented filmmaker with little to no money can actually do that’s not Eggers.

[@raredreamfootage]

My budget levels: - Level 1: $0 - Level 2: Close to $0 - Level 3: Nearly $0

[@jajboi]

It would be great to see you cover director Bong Joon Ho, and how he's evolved from 'barking dogs never bite' up to 'parasite'!

[@timothyslaughter476]

I just love movies that depict the 70s. I grew up in the 70s on the east coast and my friends and I dreamt of the California surfing and skateboarding lifestyle. We did everything imaginable to recreate the whole vibe here. The clothes, the slang, the skating and surfing, the whole bit. It was truly California dreaming. The Anderson films and others really recreate that vibe that is unmistakably 70s. The Bad News Bears movies, especially the original, caught the same feel at that time. Nostalgic.

[@NickOwens]

So glad to see you do a video about PTA, this series is always so insightful!

[@xant99]

i would say boogie nights and licorice pizza have the same budget but 20 years apart, no?

[@wackywong]

I just wanna say I appreciate these videos immensely.

[@TwistVisuals]

I don't think there's no cinematographer. It's just that Paul Thomas Anderson himself became a cinematographer.

[@rickpostdp]

Absolute love this series! I would love to see a 3 budget levels video about Damien Chazelle!

[@chrisperry7963]

Outstanding job! Love Anderson's work, easily one of my favorite directors.

[@A_Fortunate_Traveler]

I binge watched this 3 Buget Levels playlist and enjoyed and loved every episode. Very informing, interesting and show how directors evolve yet stay mostly the same. Hope to see more in this series.

[@MSIFILMS1]

loving these videos, man! keep up the great work!

[@aidenlorenzo5409]

fun fact: Boogie Nights was almost made at 20th Century Fox before they rejected the script

[@EHH246]

4:03-4:10 Good thing you can never tell what time it is at a casino unless you look at the entrance and windows.

[@ezrarichardson279]

Thanks for this video!

[@tonysanchez5598]

amazing content and breakdown!

[@LycanVisuals]

Licorice Pizza was handled so poorly in the marketing department. Nonetheless I liked it.

[@bighands69]

It was never going to make money due to the type of film it is and the state of the current movie market. The budget is far too high. The problem with marketing it is it would require a lot of effort with no guarantee of success. If the film was released 20 years ago with that budget it may have made its money by performing well through word of mouth and marketing.

[@LycanVisuals]

@@jon8004 Interesting. Well I'm just glad folks are still willing to work with him despite not being a box office darling.

[@brunobilandzija1823]

One of the best cinema channels on YT! Thank you! 🍀

[@scottmumford8295]

Very nicely done. I love this stuff!

[@michaelhockus8208]

Nice essay, thank you sir

[@kibuukamukisa6949]

appreciate your service

[@black-popfilms9355]

Great channel!! 🔥🔥🙏🏾

[@Sethstern]

Great video! Wow, 3 different 50mm lenses. Such a refined taste.

[@cornellouis]

Love this series. Love PTA. Hope I'll see an analysis of "Magnolia" some time. It's my all time favorite.

[@salvadorslim3234]

Great channel.

[@theowlfromduolingo7982]

Hey In Depth Cine, I recently saw a photo showing Roger Deakins on set with a 16mm camera which had purple tape on it. Does this have a special reason? I am familiar with orange and blue tapes on film cameras but in this case I’m a little confused Thank you for your videos

[@JakesJoy31]

'Hard eight ' all time favorite movie Philip baker Hall 💖

[@robertobuatti7226]

Just wondering why didn't use a cinematographer on Licorice Pizza, also I like to know more about Ultra Panavision 70 mm camera's, their unique look and textures compared to other film formats and why Hollywood doesn't use them much anymore, as I watched a movie the other day that was filmed on them from the 70's which had this ultra wide look to the Film.

[@Jorge_Ambruster]

Ultra Panavision 70 was created in the late 50s/early 60s because TV had just come and, like may other formats, it was developed to have a wider aspect ratio that would attract people to the cinemas by competing against the more squared traditional ratio. The reason they created this one was because film stocks were a bit more grainy than later on and, since movie theatres back then had much bigger screens than nowadays (and movies were presented in Roadshow format) they used this format to have the anamorphic look of Cinemascope but using 65mm film instead of 35mm. But by the mid to late 60s, film stocks were improved, reducing grain to a point where the advantage of shooting 65 for less grain was not that big compared to shooting 35, that allowed for a smaller budget. Other reasons why it was dropped was due to the surge of more indie films and the New Hollywood that changed the types of movies being made from huge super productions to more personal and smaller budget stories where the format was unnecessary (the 2.76:1 ratio makes more sense in a battlefield than in a NYC apartment). Since the format was dropped, there hasn't been an interesting of bringing it back because it is still an extremely wide ratio that becomes a problem to fill (and most directors today have trouble filling a normal aspect ratio). The only brave director has been Tarantino with the Hateful Eight and still he used it in a less demanding story than what they originally used it for. Maybe, if digital cameras hadn't become so popular, considering Marvel movies were shot on film for the first 5 installments, if they had continued, Avengers Endgame would've been a good candidate for the use of Ultra Panavision 70. But we'll never know. If it interests you, there's a great 10 minute video about the format with Tarantino and his people talking about it. Just search The Hateful Eight Ultra Panavision and you'll find it here on KZbin.

[@robertobuatti7226]

@@Jorge_Ambruster This actually helps quite a lot, thank you for that, I really appreciate it, now I understand why those camera's aren't in demand in Hollywood anymore and that gave me huge insight of the golden age Hollywood's days before the arrival of other formats and digital cameras.

[@bighands69]

@@Jorge_Ambruster The use of 70mm film has nothing to do with grain. It has to do with clarity on a large screen in relationship to colors. Grain does not have any sort of affect on that. When 35mm became popular again after 70mm it was more to do with the fact cinema was in decline and numbers were down so they started to make the productions smaller. 70mm declined massively in the 1960s and by the 1970s was not an option and it only then was used for special effects for super wide screen and for zoomed in high resolution images. Film grain has nothing to do with resolution and is like a texture of a painting. There can be high grain film that still has high optical resolution.

[@robertobuatti7226]

@Madi Oh Thank you for that, much appreciated, that actually gives me much more insight into his thought process on cinematography and why he didn't use one on the last movie as he's definitely has an eye for it.

[@chrisjfox8715]

LP does an amazing job of truly feeling like the 70s, even better than Boogie Nights I'd say, without feeling a schtick. But it's interesting that nearly the same film likely couldve been pulled off with $10M...like if PTA had pulled a Soderbergh and truly leaned into the fun of shooting on a low budget (ala Bubble but not *that* cheap lol).

[@jacob2971]

I love this series 😍 in our day and age ,i dont think a story like PTA's would happen ,just because everybody has a camera in their pockets and the line between and actual movie and a phone movie would be blurred lol

[@Paddlesuploadsvideo]

Thanks bru. Can we have one on Neil Blomkamp? closer to home would be cool man.

[@lakrids-pibe]

Not to be confused with the Jim Jarmusch movie *Coffee and Cigarettes*

[@ChrisSalvatoreProductions]

I Love Your Videos You Have Helped Me A Lot And You Giving Us Very Good Information And Good Looking Videos It's Like School But Instead Of Boring And With A Strict Teacher One Good Teacher Who Teaching Us With Pictures And Talks You Doing Amazing Job Keep Up With Your Hard Work And If You Can You Can Make A Video About Tim Burton? I Would Love To Watch A Video From You Who You WILL Explain Directing Style And A Lot Of Stuff About Tim Burton He Is My Idol In Directing And You Are One Of The Best KZbinrs Who I Have Ever Watched Thank You For Your Time Big Love From Greece 🧡🌌

[@kiaandavids755]

could you please do a video on harmony korine!

[@Guspool33]

I would love for you to do a cinematography style video on Bill Pope.

[@kylemayo-blake995]

Would love to see one of these on Kelly Reichardt

[@gabrielidusogie9189]

How did you figure out all the technical information? I would never have figured out the lighting information from just watching it. Also how do you analyze films and then turn them into videos like these?

[@onil1325ms]

imdb on the details tab, has all the technical info. from camera, to film stock, to labs, to print lengths, to lenses, etc...

[@chrisjfox8715]

@@onil1325ms if you can't figure all of those things out just by watching the film then you don't deserve to become a filmmaker Jk lol

[@mwangi8623]

@@chrisjfox8715 that's an asshole thing to say Jk lol

[@enzo8138]

Boogie nights feel like a Scorsese movie

[@raulrodrigues2307]

Goes to school - expects not to have homework.

[@mrrodriguezHLP]

Realizes film school is BS, just like the following people: Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson, James Cameron, Terry Gilliam, Christopher Nolan, Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Paul Verhoeven, Ridley Scott, David Fincher, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, Wes Craven, Steven Soderbergh, Luc Besson, the Coens, and Stanley Kubrick. Charlie Chaplin had never heard of such a thing as film school, but if he had, he would've probably thought they were BS too.

[@Lacabineproduction]

Could you do the same thing with the films of Luc Besson? THANKS

[@squatch545]

Interesting, Licorice Pizza cost $40M but has only grossed $30M at the box office so far.

[@whoopsie890]

None of PTA's movies do well at the box office

[@bighands69]

@@whoopsie890 Boogie Nights and there will be blood made money at the box office. Phantom thread through the box office and secondary market will make money. Licorice Pizza was never going to make money at the cinema and will be a flop over all and could very well be his last major production through studios. Whoever green lighted Licorice Pizza was completely mad. It will be a massive failure.

[@maxlee2675]

Hi, I have a queation, what do you mean with universal theme?

[@LeonardoKlotz]

Can you do a video for Paul Verhoeven?

[@carolcop91]

Please Paul. He is the best.

[@allthingshollywood2620]

'Licorice Pizza', alongside 'X' are absolutely incredible movies.

[@EllisBailey458]

I would love Sergio Leone, one of my favourite directors

[@rossjennings8264]

Fuuuuuuuckkkk Yaaaaaasssssss!!!! Thank you, Thank you!!!!

[@bibhuranjandutta470]

Pulling and pushing film stock means.....please explain

[@chickrepelant]

would've loved to see a comparison to "there will be blood"

[@leonardodalongisland]

Why do you refer to aperture openings as "T"?

[@FerdIsaacs]

PTA the GOAT!

[@nkanyisoinnocentkhwane3752]

Del Toro would be interesting so would Robert Rodriguez, Danny Boyle & Cronenberg

[@muhammadhabibzaman9448]

Can you discuss about Mel Gibson directorial style ?

[@mitchmcclain7087]

DO SAM RAIMI

It's so bizarre to me how movies are becoming increasingly expensive while not looking or feeling expensive at all, Like I'm genuinely curious where those 40 million dollars went in a movie like Licorice Pizza

[@jangrashei1752]

Luc Besson!

[@bighands69]

Licorice Pizza is not a $40 million and who ever green lighted that movie is mad. It is a $10 million movie at most.

[@master-ik9ro]

you see it's a money grabbing scheme. most of the money was probably shared amongst a select few

[@Markrobinson-bb3ti]

He will never make a better movie than boogie nights

[@theepicbellendoftomorrow4703]

How the fuck did that dud “Licorice Pizza” cost 40 mil?!!

[@lucy._.3547]

Wong kai wai

[@pallenk]

Well 15 million in 1996 would be 40 million today.

[@matthewdelaney3466]

The amount of people bashing PTA in the comments is laughable- they could never make a movie a fraction as good as PTA if they tried.

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Ill take him over Tarantino any day

[@patmat.]

RIDLEY SCOTT ! (before he sold his soul lol)

[@pekcamkee1868]

*ENSEMBLE CAST*

[@dicekolev5360]

I'm 32 and think of myself as more than normal cinema lover but yet never watched a movie of this director although I've heard his name... oops

[@bighands69]

He is an amazing director in a poor market place and his films have too high a budget.

[@AdliberateVideoProduction]

You could have included a HAIM video and stretched another level. Great video though.

[@Zombiesnyder13]

Why didn't you pick up "Magnolia" instead of "Licorice Pizza"?

[@alechall7082]

To show the "trajectory of his career".

[@giansantos6902]

licorice pizza sucks

[@alcoholicgoat]

Nepotism that's how he shoots at 3 million

[@milovarquiel]

Great video. But I hate PTA with a passion.

[@bighands69]

You hating him does not mean he is not a good director. His film budgets are too high.

[@davidmckesey7119]

Licorice Pizza was so dumb. They didn't explain why the young guy was so "mature" he was actually annoying

[@stephenallison5003]

I just wanna say I watched 'Licorice' and it was a big fat turd. Guy has one great movie ('Boogie'), one good ('Blood') and the rest are unwatchable.

[@bighands69]

It is a good movie but it is not a $40 million and is a $10 million movie at most due to the fact it will never make any money.

[@jawncorleone3767]

I just wanna say I read this ‘comment’ and the author is a big fat turd. Guy has no great comments. The rest are unreadable.

[@jasonleetaiwan]

Hard Eight is a decent film. Magnolia has some good parts, but the film was trying to do too much in my opinion.

[@MrGreen-ci2mm]

This guy's movies are bad, like bad bad, his movies make no money

[@bighands69]

His films not making money does not mean they are bad. His films just do not appeal to the current lightweight theatre audience. His films are also too high in budget.

[@MrGreen-ci2mm]

@@bighands69 His films having good critics from the press does not mean they are good movies. nowadays, I base weither or not I watch a movie on its budget to box office numbers.

[@bighands69]

@@MrGreen-ci2mm The Box office favors big budget trash as that is who the films are aimed at which is mostly young people.

[@MrGreen-ci2mm]

@@bighands69 That's why I said budget to box office. Box office favors GREAT MOVIES ! Parasite, low budget high box office, whiplash, low budget high box office, the good the bad and the ugly, slumdog millionaire, Marty (1955), memories of murder (2003), Mother (2009), Joker (2019), cloverfield lane (2016), Fargo (1996), No country for old men, these are all low budget, but they made high box office returns because they're good and enjoyed by most. PTA on the other hand makes bad movies, why ? because PTA makes movies for high establishment critics, trying to impress them.He doesn't make movies for himself, the one's he'd actually want to see.

[@MrGreen-ci2mm]

@@bighands69 PTA needs to learn to quit trying to please high establishment critics and start caring about the audience ! no wonder no one goes to see his movies, he doesn't care about the audience, but about the critics

[@TheJonnyEnglish]

He “sticks around” the 20-40 mil mark because his films aren’t profitable enough in the eyes of big studios. I’m sure he’d love to make a movie with a studio budget, no shit.

[@LordJagd]

Aren’t the budgets for Boogie Nights comparable to Licorice Pizza due to inflation?

[@bighands69]

No. Film industry inflation has been far lower than general economic inflation. Stars salaries have gone down and the directors are nowhere near as well paid as they used to be. Technical staff salaries have increased at a level less than other technical industries and the actual equipment itself such as cameras have become cheaper in general as have other technologies. It is now cheaper to put the film in theatres due to its inferior standards. The 15 million budget for Boogie nights which had a good cast and up and coming actors would only be about $20 in todays money.

[@LordJagd]

@@bighands69 I just did the calculation and $15 million in 1997 is worth $26.5 million now