Army of the Dead star Dave Bautista said he's wanted to work with Zack Snyder for a long time—and now that he has, the actor is ready to direct his own movies in the same style.
Bautista spoke to JoBlo about filming the zombie movie with Snyder, which arrives on Netflix next month. Part of the appeal of the role was getting to see firsthand how Snyder directs a movie and learn tricks of the trade.
"I wanted to work with him for years and it's really just so I can steal all his shit," Bautista said. "I want to steal his stuff. I want to watch him work, cus he's great. Like visually, he's a visual master, and I wanted to get in and learn from him and steal his stuff. So I could go on and direct my films and take credit for his work. I'll steal all his stuff and my films will look like his films."
When asked what exactly Bautista picked up from the director, the actor detailed the specific way Snyder likes to shoot things. "Just kind of camera tricks. And I also liked that he's very much—I only know this because watching this documentary about Spielberg, [who] was one of those guys who visually was looking around and sees something and runs and grabs the camera. He goes, let's shoot it. Let's shoot. And Zack is very much that way," Bautista said. "Cus we're shooting all this with, you know, a lot of natural light, mostly natural lighting. So they've only stuck like, a couple of light tubes in here and there, like very sparingly, but most of it's all natural light. And so a lot of times he's just catching things on the fly, which is weird."
Snyder's unique approach, however, could be a challenge, especially for actors used to strict shooting schedules.
"It's one of those things where our schedule is constantly changing because of that," Bautista continued. "But as well, you want to be flexible because you want to be a part of that at the same time. Sometimes it can get a little frustrating for schedules. It's nice knowing what you're doing when you're doing it. You kind of prepare a little better. So it's one of those things where we're just on a lot of things on the fly. And sometimes, especially when we're in the desert, the weather was changing, lights were changing, or [you] go on to something else or come back to the next day. It gets a little frustrating sometimes."
In the end, the actor said it was all worth it, as the effort put in helped elevate the project. "A lot of his focus tricks are really, really unusual. Really unusual, but lead to a really interesting, interesting look on the characters, but also a really interesting look on the background," Bautista said. "So, a lot of times because of the way he's shooting, the background will almost become one of the characters. I mean, feels like it's another person that it feels like it's alive. So, I learned little tricks here and there. It's an interesting—it's an artistic way to look at a zombie film. It's different."
Directed and co-written by Zack Snyder, Army of the Dead stars Dave Bautista, Garret Dillahunt, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Raul Castillo, Tig Notaro, Theo Rossi and Ana de la Reguera. The film will release on Netflix May 21.
Source: JoBlo