Denis Villeneuve has revealed that mobile phones are banned on his film sets.
READ MORE: ‘Dune: Part Two’ review: sandworm-sized sequel should blow a hole in the box office
The Dune director was profiled for the Los Angeles Times and voiced his anxieties over how “human beings are ruled by algorithms right now.”
“We behave like AI circuits. The ways we see the world are narrow-minded binaries. We’re disconnecting from each other, and society is crumbling in some ways. It’s frightening,” he said.
This formed part of the rationale for him banning phones on the sets of films he is working on.
“Cinema is an act of presence,” Villeneuve said. “When a painter paints, he has to be absolutely focused on the color he’s putting on the canvas. It’s the same with the dancer when he does a gesture. With a filmmaker, you have to do that with a crew, and everybody has to focus and be entirely in the present, listening to each other, being in relationship with each other. So cellphones are banned on my set too, since Day 1. It’s forbidden. When you say cut, you don’t want someone going to his phone to look at his Facebook account.”
Then again, it seemed that Villeneuve is not immune from the absorbing effects of using a smartphone either, as the profile notes that he was checking his phone as he said this. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that “there’s something addictive about the fact that you can access any information, any song, any book” from the palm of your hand.
“It’s compulsive. It’s like a drug. I’m very tempted to disconnect myself. It would be fresh air,” he said.
Villeneuve is not the only high-profile director to have introduced a mobile phone ban on set. Christopher Nolan has done the same, as has Greta Gerwig.
In other news, fans online weren’t happy to see Dune: Part Two get snubbed at the Golden saying: “The disrespect is insane.”
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