- Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare told Insider that Taika Waititi banned cell phones from his "Jojo Rabbit" film set.
- Malaimare said that Waititi wanted a creative and concentrated set, so removed the distractions of cell phones.
- "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" director Quentin Tarantino banned cell phones from his set, too.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
The cinematographer of "Jojo Rabbit," Mihai Malaimare, told Insider that director Taika Waititi banned all cell phones from his film set in order to promote a more concentrated and creative environment without distractions.
"Taika was exactly as I hoped he'd be. He was fun and very serious at the same time, but he had one rule which was that there were no cell phones allowed on set," Malaimare told Insider.
"Jojo Rabbit" follows a young boy (Roman Griffin Davis) in Hitler's youth army, who finds a Jewish girl hiding in his home (Thomasin McKenzie). Jojo also happens to have an imaginary friend — Adolf Hitler. That's where Waititi comes in.
"There are a lot of moments, especially with the technical crew, where people have to wait around but what no phones does is it creates more of a calm and concentrated environment, especially for actors," Malaimare said.
"That's why he banned them. Its hard to rehearse if somebody is giggling on their phone or listening to music."
Malaimare also told Insider that Waititi likes to change things on the fly, so "having this concentration and creativity without the distraction of cell phones helps with that."
"That was great because that can often turn out better than how they were planned in the script," he said. "And that's how he got the great performances from the actors, because they had all the freedom in the world and he let them create all their interesting ideas."
Malaimare told Insider that this was sometimes uncomfortable to begin with, as it gave the set a spontaneous quality, but eventually Waititi's rule and improvisation-heavy style of working just aided in creating the tone of "Jojo Rabbit," which is up for six Oscars including Best Picture.
"You may feel uncomfortable and may not know what's going to happen but it creates a lot of ideas for everyone. I really enjoyed the rule and by the end of shooting, everybody did, too."
Waititi isn't the only director to enforce this rule on his set, as Timothy Olyphant said that Quentin Tarantino would fire anyone who used a mobile phone, too.
"Quentin Tarantino's got no cellphones allowed on set," Olyphant told Rich Eisen's radio show. "None. You're fired. Cellphone out? Done. No warning, nothing, you're going home.
"I'm not telling tales. If you needed to make a phone call, you go out onto the street and you make a phone call."
Read more:
Taika Waititi says he was 'embarrassed' having to direct 'Jojo Rabbit' while dressed as Hitler
How Golden Globes winner Quentin Tarantino steals from other movies
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