Filmmaking Quotations

The truth about filmmaking is you have all these ideas and you're trying to convince everybody that they should buy into this idea, but at two o'clock in the morning when you're all on your own you're going, 'Geez, I hope I know what I'm doing. I hope this idea is gonna work.'

I think I still have that same drive and determination, the same curiosity and passion for filmmaking that I did when I first started. Every film brings with it unique challenges and experiences, and I approach every one with the same enthusiasm.

John Hughes had such a huge impact on filmmaking.

If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed.

For me, the filmmaking has to be about the dramaturgy.

Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking.

After working for a while, I realized that acting was only satisfying about 30 percent of what interested me about the filmmaking process. Somewhere around age seventeen, I started to realize that if I'm very particular about the people I work with, then I can have the best sort of master class possible.

I think people think filmmaking is fun, but I've never thought that. For me it's always been a lot of work and pain and stress.

Most filmmaking is about shaking hands and just starting

Satisfying myself is the point in filmmaking, in my mind.

I came to filmmaking because it's my passion. I decided I can't have it distorted or marred by someone else deciding what it should be.

I became passionate about nature filmmaking when I graduated from UCLA, and one of the things I always wanted to do was shoot really high quality film, so I got into time-lapse photography - so that means when you shoot a flower, you're shooting, like, one frame every twenty minutes, so that's basically two seconds of a film per day.

The problem with feature filmmaking is that it offers you this mirage of being able to achieve perfection, as the theory of it is that you have control of every part of the film, though in reality, it is as inexact as the next thing in your life.

Filmmaking is a business and at the bottom line people who don't make fiscally responsible decisions end up going into another line of work.

Ah, there's a director. Astonishing, Spike Lee. A feisty guy, but a guy who's, I think, incredibly misunderstood. I think people review his politics or his color as opposed to his filmmaking sometimes. Because he's a wonderful, wonderful filmmaker and a lover of the art.

Filmmaking is a great adventure. I'm as excited as a kid to be given tickets to fly suddenly to England, South Africa, America, everywhere. I'm still a 13-year-old kid, flying.

The biggest thing I have realized was that you have to choose your collaborators very carefully, and that not everybody can like you. The process of filmmaking is so difficult, there's no point in doing it unless you can do it the way you want.

What I want to do with my filmmaking is help kids experience the truth and wisdom of nature no matter where they are, whether or not they have the opportunity to go to a national park.

Directing, editing, and everything about filmmaking has definitely changed me as an actor.

I love editing. It's one of my favorite parts about filmmaking.

Find your own specific voice in filmmaking and go for it. Either people will get it or they won't and that's what it's all about.

I'm a big fan of movies, but I'm a bigger fan of filmmaking itself. I fell in love with it when I was very young, and I have always loved to learn the craft, every aspect of it.

I don't think I can speak of the achievements of Indian cinema because it's so large next to me. It's not stopping. It's ever-growing. We are going towards the right direction. We are evolving as a filmmaking industry as actors, directors, producers, singers, musicians. Everybody just pushing the boundaries.

Filmmaking for me is always aiming for the imaginary movie and never achieving it.

I think filmmaking is a strange animal because it's anti-Democratic and collective at the same time, but I think it's all about not trying to know everything better than everybody else but making the right choices.

You must be willing to risk everything to really express it all.

Filmmaking is a thousand choices a day, and it's important to just let those choices potentially be informed by something deeper.

You get a different kick out of all aspects of filmmaking.

However, that old mode of Polish filmmaking virtually disappeared.

People ask me about 'The Hurt Locker' a lot, and it's an incredible piece of filmmaking - as are 'Band of Brothers' and 'Platoon' and 'Full Metal Jacket' and 'Apocalypse Now.' But they're not necessarily true to war in a literal sense. What they are, really, are brilliant movies about Hollywood's idea of war.

I personally think a fight scene is the most cinematic thing you can witness because all the elements of filmmaking come together, you know, with the camera speed changes, editing, make up effects and general smoke and mirrors of trying to make it look like you are hitting someone when you're not. It's filmmaking in it's purest form, I think.

You know what it is, the reason so many 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds are saying 'Drive' is their favorite movie is that 'Drive' is a 90-minute trip into what a lot of seventies filmmaking was. It encapsulates the best of a certain kind of style, and a style that a lot of people haven't seen before, with the music and the way it's edited.

Often in films, you have no idea where you're going to be six months from now. And I grew very weary of that. And television, although it wasn't necessarily as creatively diverse as filmmaking can be, it was the lifestyle choice that I needed to make.

I got into filmmaking in order to tell very personal stories, and in this day and age, the opportunity seems all the more precious.

The only job that was ever of interest to me other than filmmaking is architecture.

When I was a kid, I was always going to bed creating a story, and that was the birth of filmmaking for me. I would like going to the dream-state by telling the story to someone else in my mind. That was my imaginary friend; it was an imaginary audience listening to my story.

I was going to design sports cars, but my father came to my college to visit me. At the time he was making a picture in Sweden and he took me there with him. I got to see Ingmar Bergman's company and I thought, 'Gee, filmmaking is a lot more fun than sports cars,' so I decided to follow him and go into acting.

I'm Godless. I've had to make my God, and my God is narrative filmmaking

Someone asked me the other day, 'What's the biggest influence on your filmmaking career?' And they started naming filmmakers. I went 'Naw, it's Jesus actually.'

In 3-D filmmaking, I can take images and manipulate them infinitely, as opposed to taking still photographs and laying them one after the other. I move things in all directions. It's such a liberating experience.

I mean, '8½' to me is such a great dissertation on the whole, you know, act of filmmaking and creativity.

I was failed in all other aspects of filmmaking and was completely bankrupt because my dreams were higher than realities. So I started my acting school in a small room with 12 students to prepare future actors and actresses.

One of the nice things about the world of filmmaking is that you make friends in the business. Sometimes directors feel a script needs something, but they're not sure what it is, so they show it to a friend; if the friend is a writer, he ends up kicking around with that script for a while.

One of the things I would suggest to anybody who is feeling burnt in the film business, ... They should spend one hour with Martin Scorsese and they'll be rejuvenated, because this man has so much passion and love for the craft of filmmaking that it's impossible not to have it rub off on you. It's exhilarating to be around.

Online theft has changed the business model of filmmaking because the DVD market is very soft. So, more ambitious, compelling, character-driven narrative of a certain budget level isn't really a viable business model in the eyes of the studios right now.

No other filmmaker has gotten a better shake than I have. I'm very fortunate in my career. I've never had to direct a film I didn't choose or develop. My love for filmmaking has given me an entree to the world and to the human condition.

Next to filmmaking and stuff like that, skiing is my favorite thing. I go skiing in Aspen - everywhere. I have been skiing since I was 4. I just love it. I feel so free.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Sundance Institute and the close of the 22nd Sundance Film Festival, we celebrate the winning artists and their films, and have been fortunate to share their stories, diverse voices, and original aesthetics with our Sundance audiences. This year we've seen a number of films that deal sensitively with the timely and complex issues of cultural assimilation and community. Clearly, these compelling stories along with the quality of filmmaking have resonated with audiences and jury members alike.

I was attracted to filmmaking in college because of my love of storytelling. You can have such an impact and reach a broader audience than conventional journalism.

I wish we could have used more than we used, but there is a certain conventional wisdom about filmmaking that says that long phone calls are taboo.

I think the most satisfying part about filmmaking is seeing a production in full bloom. When I write, I write in isolation.

Terry is one of the great original filmmakers, that's for sure. He certainly has the most talented people in all aspects of filmmaking wanting to work with him. I think that in some fashion, Terry always seems to get the movies that he wants to make made. Sometimes it takes him a long time to do it.

I think, for me, Julian Schnabel set a great precedent in being able to cross over so successfully. I feel like his artwork is kind of big, grand, and bombastic, yet the films that he makes are very beautifully sensitive, and I just feel that his filmmaking sensibility is very different from his artwork.

'Jurassic Park' was able to get away with big, dynamic filmmaking that might be out of place in another kind of story.

Most of the films I'm showing this semester are new releases on DVD. But I try to give a range of the current styles of independent filmmaking and international cinema.

Most of the films I'm showing this semester are new releases on DVD, ... But I try to give a range of the current styles of independent filmmaking and international cinema.

I mean, '8 ½' to me is such a great dissertation on the whole, you know, act of filmmaking and creativity.

I love the art of filmmaking very much in all aspects.

I'd say I'm definitely an actor first and foremost, but I love filmmaking.

You never know what you have until you put it in front of an audience. That's the truth. That's the truth of filmmaking and that's why you make movies, for an audience to, hopefully, enjoy it.

Filmmaking is such a collaborative medium

I'm Godless. And so I've had to make my God, and my God is narrative filmmaking, which is -- ultimately what my God becomes, which is what my mantra becomes, is the theme.

We're surrounded by violence, and we see so much of it on TV, especially the news programs. We almost become numb. And that forces filmmakers to try to outdo themselves... They say, 'Look what I can do,' and it becomes like a showoff thing. To me, that's ridiculous. Filmmaking isn't a contest!

There could be no filmmaking without industrywide agreement on frame rates, lenses, and audio recording equipment.

When you make a film, you have to follow filmmaking rules. Like, a soundtrack... can get in the way of the serenity of the game.

Bob's devotion to the craft of filmmaking and his wealth of head-and-heart knowledge about what we do and how we do it was a special gift to his fellow directors,

devotion to the craft of filmmaking and his wealth of head-and-heart knowledge about what we do and how we do it was a special gift to his fellow directors.

? devotion to the craft of filmmaking and his wealth of head-and-heart knowledge about what we do and how we do it was a special gift to his fellow directors.

Earl and I are part of a new entity, 'Public Interest Pictures,' designed to use filmmaking skills to bring this message to a larger public.

The title accurately reflects the aims and purposes of the event, which are to showcase the very best of filmmaking and to showcase gay and lesbian film within a tradition of film scholarship and a spirit of inclusion at this university.

Technology continues to bring us wondrous advances in filmmaking to improve how we view movies.

'Sabotage' was an opportunity. That was journeyman work, but the irony is I learned more off that movie on what filmmaking is and isn't than everything else combined. A lot of lessons, and it will impact me for the rest of my career.

Adobe's tools enable filmmakers to tell their stories and realize their filmmaking vision, engaging audiences worldwide. By providing comprehensive, cost effective solutions that support the entire workflow from conceptualization through delivery with professional quality results from HDV to SD to HD and Flash Video, we look forward to empowering this generation of independent filmmakers.

Once we saw Norm and Zach's film, we knew that one of the most important films from and about Canada had crossed our paths. Although we still have significant work to see from major Canadian directors, the unique storytelling and aesthetics of this film as our Opening Night speaks both to our core charitable mission of fostering motion picture culture and to showcase the diversity of global filmmaking worldwide.

This difficult decision was based on what is best strategically for our business in both the short and long term, ... Having the entire animation group working together in Burbank under one roof will further enhance our filmmaking process.

They step up to make filmmaking possible to students who don't have access to a trust fund.

They're both very fragmented. You'll start out with a master take, the whole band plays it, and then we start doing coverage of each instrument, and it's very similar to filmmaking in terms of the process, time involved and the repetition of performance.

They're both very fragmented, ... You'll start out with a master take, the whole band plays it, and then we start doing coverage of each instrument, and it's very similar to filmmaking in terms of the process, time involved and the repetition of performance.

The relationship between art and a job is not quite linear, but I really love any and all manifestations of art, really respect any kind of artistic impulse, whether it's paintings and sculptures or really good filmmaking or music. I really see the relationships between these different mediums as very fluid.

It was incredibly cathartic after spending eight hours in an editing room being frustrated by the filmmaking process to be able to go out and say the 'F' word 104 times,

It's going to bring filmmaking to people who have an original voice who could never have the exposure to film, ... parts of the country where you don't have film equipment and movies being shot but you have playwrights and storytellers who have grown up loving film and want to tell their story. I think you'll get a fresh new round of stories.

That is precisely just what I don't want to be known as. I just want to go back to my own little filmmaking base, telling small New Zealand stories with my writing partner, Fran Walsh. I have no huge desire to be swallowed up by Hollywood.

That is precisely just what I don't want to be known as, ... I just want to go back to my own little filmmaking base, telling small New Zealand stories with my writing partner, Fran Walsh. I have no huge desire to be swallowed up by Hollywood.

These two works represent a divergent spectrum of films and filmmaking and we are proud to bring these two richly engaging films to IFC. Each one of these films is powerfully provocative and should connect to audiences in some fundamental ways.

I loved the writing part of it, but the learning curve on the actual filmmaking was steeper than I thought,

I like the feeling of making things. It's very very rewarding. And filmmaking is that type of experience, where you're forced to collaborate with so many people. You're involved in the beginning to end, you're involved with so many elements, and when it's done, you're like, 'I made this movie.'

I'm happy that I feel a little less out of place in filmmaking than I once was - but it's almost impossible for a playwright in the U.S. to make a living. You can have a play, like I did with 'Angels,' and it still generates income for me, but it's not enough for me to live on and have health insurance.

I really took filmmaking very seriously... It was an honor and then a crutch also, because at a young age, I was like, I guess I'm a serious filmmaker. I never set out to be a serious filmmaker. I just set out to make movies.

I really don't feel like I'm in any kind of contest. Except, maybe, with myself. Just want to learn and create and grow. Get better all the time with these filmmaking tools. I don't expect perfection from myself. Just progress.

In TV the attitude is: 'Tell me what we have and we'll build around that,' ... Feature filmmaking seems more like, 'Give me everything and then I'll choose.'

Clearly, these compelling stories along with the quality of filmmaking have resonated with audiences and jury members alike.

Clearly, the ghosts of 9/11 have come home to roost. And you basically have many, many different filmmakers coming from all different areas of the filmmaking business addressing the issue, whether going into the past or dealing with the present. The Middle East and its discontent are front and center.

There are no rules in filmmaking

There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness.

When I hear the words 'activist filmmaking,' I think of somebody who's an activist, who wants to prove a particular point.

I'd say that there is certainly a move toward a form of filmmaking that is political with a small p -- has a degree of engagement with the world at large,

How I'm portrayed in films has more to do with the filmmaking and what they need in the story than anything else. I'm the same person I've always been, I just get used in different ways according to the filmmakers' needs - which is fine with me; it makes for great films.

Wong Kar-Wai is a really great inspiration. He's always referred to as the Jimi Hendrix of filmmaking.

I'm going in a really weird I-don't-know-where direction, but I prefer anything [different] from how standardized filmmaking has become.

Elia Kazan. He wrote my favorite book about filmmaking, 'Elia Kazan: On Directing.' There is a thing in the book that I do every time, it's part of my production structure. He said when you're hiring an actor, ask them what draws them to the project, and don't lead them to the answer.