“All three parts of filmmaking [writing, shooting, editing] contribute to rhytm. You want the script to be a tight as possible, you want the acting to be as efficient as possible on the set, and you have enough coverage to manipulate the rhythm in the editing room, and then in the editing room you want to find the quickest possible version, even if it's a leisurely paced film. I definitely in filmmaking more and more find writing and directing a means to harvest material for editing. It's all about editing.” IfsWantWritingMeanEnoughFilmThreeRoomsActingMaterialsScriptsVersionsRhythmShootingEfficientFilmmakingEditingHarvestManipulateCoverage Author:Alexander Payne
“I don't think so much about verbal comedy. I always think about visual comedy. I was raised watching silents, and I'm always thinking about how to make cinema, not good talking - although I want good talking. I'm much more interested in framing, composition, and orchestration of bodies in space, and so forth. My goal is always what Chuck Jones wanted his Warner Brothers cartoons to be, which was if you turn down the sound, you could still tell what's going on. I think if you watch most of my films with the sound off, you could still tell what's going on.” IfsThinkingWantStillsBodyWantedFilmTurnsSoundGoalSpaceTalkingWatchesComedyBrotherRaisedCinemaVisualsCompositionCartoonChuckAlways ThinkingFramingOrchestrationWarner Brothers Author:Alexander Payne
“My editor and I remain very disciplined. It's just sometimes when you're making a film, you get into the cutting room and you see a scene that's slowing you down in a certain section, but if you remove that scene then, emotionally or story-wise, another scene a half-hour later won't have the same impact. You just get stuck with it.” IfsSometimesStoriesFilmCertainHoursRoomsHalfWiseCuttingSceneImpactStuckRemoveEditorsSectionsHalf HoursSlowing Author:Alexander Payne
“If you have your movies so that everyone understands everything, I think that's probably not a very good movie.” IfsThinkingVery GoodGood Movie Author:Alexander Payne
“If you're not making epic, archetypal films on some level, I think you're wasting a great potential of cinema.” IfsThinkingFilmLevelsCinemaEpic Author:Alexander Payne
“Even if we die at 100, we're still dying young. I want at least 700 years. There's a lot of travelling and books to read and movies to see. I'm not going to squeeze it all in in 85 years.” IfsWantYearsStillsBookYoungDiesDying Author:Alexander Payne
“I think if you watch most of my films with the sound off, you could still tell what's going on.” IfsThinkingStillsFilmSoundWatches Author:Alexander Payne
“If you were falling in love and you could go back in time and relive a day and see the banal things you did that you'd forgotten about, you'd weep, looking at that day.” IfsFallFalling In LoveForgottenBack In TimeGo Back In Time Author:Alexander Payne
