Debbie Allen

Time management is a big part of the director's job.

The production team's first meeting took place at my house. I had ideas and a color scheme in mind, how I wanted the movie to look, because that has to be a real collaboration.

It goes back to a style of moviemaking I remember seeing as a child, in movies like The Man With The Golden Arm, which I think was shot all on a sound stage.

The biggest challenge was that we had to shoot so quickly and with such a limited budget.

That's the only way I can control my movie. If you shoot everything, then everything is liable to end up in the movie. If you have a vision, you don't have to cover every scene.

The clothes back in those days were made so much better than clothes are today. They actually took time to make clothes to fit a woman's body. Today they make clothes that fit sizes, so it stretches to fit this and that.

Everything has to be well thought out - what do you really need, when can you do with less coverage.

Making this movie was a great opportunity for me to explore high-definition. I'm glad I got to see what the challenges are, what makes it better. It works wonderfully.

In scoring we have a lot that was not evident in the shooting. The radio is on all the time.

But it was not possible to do this movie, in this matter of time, without a solid rehearsal period.

But out of limitations comes creativity.

There are some scenes that work beautifully in a moving, sweeping master, which is how I like to work.