Robert Altman ; The Director, and a close analysis of The GingerBread Essay

Robert Altman ; The Director, and a close analysis of The GingerBread Man - Essay Example Serving as a B-24 copilot in the United States Air Force, Altman took the next baby steps toward his future career when he began writing short stories and screenplay drafts at the age of 20 (â€Å"Robert Altman†, 2005). As soon as he was discharged from the military at the end of the World War II, Altman made a bid for his Hollywood dreams by following the path of many who had gone before him and trying to become an actor. He even landed a spot as an extra in â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,† then wrote an unaccredited screenplay for United Artists’ â€Å"Christmas Eve† and sold a script he co-wrote with Richard Fleischer to RKO for the 1948 version of â€Å"The Bodyguard† (â€Å"Robert Altman†, 2005). Despite this early promise, Altman eventually went bankrupt in Hollywood and was forced to return home to Kansas City, but he hadn’t given up on his dreams. He began working for the Calvin Company and was given the opportunity to direct his first film, although it was a short one and meant for industrial purposes. Through the Calvin Company, Altman learned valuable filmmaking lessons such as how to shoot rapidly, stay on schedule, work within the confines of both big and low budgets, how to use the camera, the boom mike, the lights, and more technical aspects of the art (â€Å"Robert Altman†, 2005). His first feature film came in the form of a teenage gang drama entitled â€Å"The Delinquents† filmed in Kansas City, edited in Hollywood and sold to United Artists. With this film, Altman was able to catch the eye of Alfred Hitchcock, for whom he began directing a series of television shows. Altman worked in the television arena until 1964, working on shows such as â€Å"Bonanza,† â€Å"The Millionaire† and the â€Å"Kraft Suspense Theatre.† One of the shows he directed for the latter was expanded into a feature length movie and helped pave the way for Altman to break into that genre.