讀後心得

Renowned American director Sean Baker has a primary style characterized by natural lighting and on-location shooting. With his film "The Florida Project," he earned four Academy Award nominations, becoming a benchmark in the industry. With a childhood dream of making Hollywood commercial films, he shifted to independent production after graduation and directed his first work, "Four Letter Words," at the age of 25. Although facing financial difficulties, he remained undeterred and, influenced by the "Mumblecore" movement, created the low-budget film "Take Out," which tells the story of Chinese undocumented immigrants in New York. The film received high praise and attention from critics, and despite its poor box office performance, it left a profound mark on the film industry.

Using natural light and real location shooting is the director's customary working method. The renowned American independent film director was awarded the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing for the film "Enola" this year, setting an almost insurmountable benchmark for the industry. As a child, he aspired to make Hollywood commercial action films. After graduating from college, he worked as a sound and image producer at a publishing company while also shooting commercials, saving up some funds. At that time, he had already realized that he could not create a successful action film, so he chose the path of independent production and directed his first work "The Four-Letter Sutra" at the age of 25. He spent $50,000, most of which went to buying film stock, and ultimately had to ask for help, borrowing props and locations to complete the work.

Four years later, the film was selected for the 2000 South by Southwest Festival, which was an important encouragement for him. The reviews were quite good, but due to its small scale, it failed to achieve good box office results, leaving him at a loss financially; however, he did not become discouraged. In the cinematic movement "Dogma 95" initiated by Danish director Lars von Trier and others, it advocated low-budget filmmaking without the need for special effects and post-production, creating real and touching works. Inspired by this, he co-directed the film "Takeout" with a Taiwanese producer, which tells the story of illegal Chinese immigrants working in Chinese restaurants in New York, with a budget of only $3,000 and a production team of just three members, one of whom also acted in the film.

"Takeout" was selected for the Los Angeles Slamdance Film Festival and participated in several international film festivals, eventually being sold to a small distributor. However, it failed to hit theaters, which prevented it from being showcased to the public. The director recalls that this experience taught him many exhibition strategies, stating, "It’s very important to premiere at significant film festivals." Buyers often show little interest in small festivals, significantly reducing the film's market impact, which is one of his views on the success or failure of a film. Subsequently, he decided to self-fund the theatrical release of "Takeout." Through close-up shooting and a quasi-documentary style, the film genuinely reflects the voices of migrant workers, displaying strong dramatic tension and a unique perspective that caught the attention of the American film scene. Although it did not perform well at the box office, it won unanimous acclaim from critics, achieving a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.