8 Directors Who Did Crazy Things To Get Their Movies Made

2. Michael Cimino Built An Irrigation System So That Grass Would Look Nice

Details, details, details. Michael Cimino was fastidious to the point of madness while directing 1980's Heaven's Gate.

Reportedly, Cimino arranged every background extra €“ literally every one, lining them up before filming a shot and placing them around the set according to their appearance. In scenes that contained over fifty extras, this could take anywhere up to two hours. The main cast themselves were made to spend six weeks learning to roller-skate, only for the roller-skating scene to be cut. Cimino was also known to hold up production while waiting for the right cloud formation in the sky. In one of his wildest grasps towards perfection, Cimino was desperate to get the hill on which the film's climactic battle takes place to look just right. He ordered the construction of a massive subterranean irrigation system in order that the grass would grow and flourish. In the end, the film did so badly that it actually affected the film industry as a whole, triggering the collapse of its film studio United Artists and ending much of the artistic freedom that was granted to young directors. So much for perfection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNlthlz1d8