Remembering Nina II

Two years ago, Nina Foch passed away.

Every once in a while, I pull out my notes from Nina's class, and try to relive her presence and teachings. There are pages and pages of notes from every session. In remembrance of Nina, here are a few quotes I found while perusing the notes today.

If you're smart about your brain, you will memorize things all the time. It keeps your brain alive.

Whenever a student in class used the colloquial "sort of," "just," or "basically," as in "well, the story is basically about..." Nina would interrupt and make them rephrase.

'Basically' is a cop-out. Because if you say 'basically', you can deny what you've said.

She demanded the best from us, and was very direct, harsh and critical with her notes.

My purpose in life is to be as harsh as possible, to make sure you're ready. Because I'm nothing compared to what you will face.

I can still hear her voice when directing, writing or even editing, commenting on the scene, making it better, stronger, more alive.

This is the second post 'Remembering Nina.' The first one is from April 20, 2009.

Since then, a tribute DVD has been produced by Randal Kleiser. It includes hours of footage from her classroom, and some interviews about her approach. It's a great glimpse of her for anyone who wants to discover or remember Nina Foch.