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David Ayer

David Ayer Biography

Film director

David Ayer, born on January 18, 1968, is an acclaimed American film director known for his distinctive style and ability to portray complex social issues and character relationships. His notable works include 'Training Day' and 'End of Watch'.

David Ayer, born on January 18, 1968, is an acclaimed American film director known for his distinctive style and ability to portray complex social issues and character relationships. His notable works include 'Training Day' and 'End of Watch'.

Related Quotes

“Every movie is different. Every movie requires its own sort of photographic voice.”

Different Voice

Author:David Ayer

“I'm a Veteran. I was in the Navy, in the submarine corps. I come from a military family. Both of my grandparents were in World War II and retired as officers. One fought in the Pacific and one fought in Europe. The whole family was in the war. I grew up exposed to it and hearing the stories, but the stories I heard weren't kind of the whole "Rah, rah, rah! We saved the world!" They were about the personal price and the emotional price.”

“If you want to know somebody, fight 'em. Have a fistfight with them.”

Ifs Knows Want Fighting Ems

Author:David Ayer

“To operate а tank as a crew, it's not about five individuals. It has to be one organism, composed of five people.”

People Individual Five Organisms Crew Tanks

Author:David Ayer

“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.”

Knows Enjoy Audience Fronts Hopefully Filmmaking

Author:David Ayer

“My mantra is "Better is better".”

Author:David Ayer

“When you talk to people who have been in combat, there's a sensory overload that happens. The color becomes vivid. Sounds become more pronounced. People talk about how, for them, the war was technicolor and real life was black and white after the war.”

People Has Beens War Real Happens Sound Black White Color Real Life Combat Black And White Vivid Sensory Overload

Author:David Ayer

“I think a good director can embrace any genre and it's the kind of thing where you always want to do something different. You always want to challenge yourself.”

Thinking Want Kind Different Challenges Directors Embrace Genre Challenge Yourself Good Directors

Author:David Ayer

“You make a movie and it's like convincing people to go on an expedition with you. You think you know where it's going to end up, and you're hoping and guessing. But, when people trust you and get involved, based on that trust, it's a really nice feeling to be able to have everything pay off.”

People Thinking Knows Ends Feelings Able Pay Nice Goes On Involved Convincing Get Involved Really Nice Guessing Expeditions You Think You Know Nice Feeling

Author:David Ayer

“You can't go back. Once it's done, it's done. I'm sure there will be things that I would love to change, in the future, but each movie is a snapshot of its time and the resources, and you do your best on it.”

Done Resources Snapshots

Author:David Ayer

“When you put a movie together, you're continually screening it for yourself and you're screening it for other people. It's like a video game power meter. When the power bar starts going down, you've gotta look at what's going on.”

People Looks Together Games Bars Video Meter Screening

Author:David Ayer

“That's the world of policing. I've met some bad-ass female cops, who are very cool people.”

People World Mets Female Ass Cop Bad Ass Very Cool Cool People

Author:David Ayer

“I like to do stuff real and practical and in camera, as much as possible. I like old school filmmaking.”

Real School Stuff Cameras Practicals Filmmaking Old School

Author:David Ayer

“For me, directing is like writing with meat. I can write live, in real time, and change things and be confident that I'm helping the movie.”

Writing I Can Real Helping Meat Be Confident Time And Change

Author:David Ayer

“The movie has to be going somewhere. Other than that, you want it to be entertaining, but people usually disagree on what entertaining is and everybody has different tastes.”

People Want Different Taste Disagree Entertaining Different Tastes

Author:David Ayer

“It was a distortion, a mercenary decision to create this parallel history in order to drive the movie for an American audience, Both my grandparents were officers in World War Two, and I would be personally offended if somebody distorted their achieve.”

Ifs World Two War Would Be Order Decision Audience Achieve War Of The Worlds Officers Grandparent Offended Parallels Distortion Mercenary World War Two

Author:David Ayer

“I'm not a film-school guy. I was a high-school dropout. I was on a nuclear submarine. I was an electrician. I was a house painter. So if you get in my face, I'm going to fight you.”

Ifs School Film Faces Guy Fighting House High School Nuclear Painter Film School Submarines Dropouts Electrician School Dropout High School Dropout

Author:David Ayer

“Actors are insanely competitive and they hold back on each other. They are like magicians and none of them want to show their tricks.”

Want Shows Actors Tricks Magician

Author:David Ayer

“[If] you want to learn something about somebody, get into a fistfight. You'll learn more in five minutes than you will in five weeks of conversations. It's basic.”

Ifs Want Five Week Minutes Conversation Five Minutes

Author:David Ayer

“You hear again and again that audiences want to see movies that are different and critics say we [directors] make the same thing again and again in Hollywood, then you go and make something different and you get kicked in the gut for it.”

Want Different Audience Directors Hollywood Critics Guts Again And Again

Author:David Ayer

“Actors are like kids, they need to play a little bit. And that's the nature of their job, they need to shake off some energy and then you as the director get them back on track. When you do loosen up the reins, you get some amazing things, but you have to wring out the performances for every last good drop.”

Needs Littles Play Kids Jobs Lasts Actors Energy Bits Directors Little Bit Performances Track Shakes Amazing Things Reins Back On Track

Author:David Ayer

“I'm all about real drama, real performance, and real people, so my twist on this is: I'm creating a family, a brotherhood here. I'm creating a very real chemistry and I have this incredible ensemble of actors led by Will Smith, who are basically playing dimensional characters with lives and souls.”

People Real Soul Character Actors Drama Creating Performances Incredibles Chemistry Brotherhood Twists Ensemble Creating A Family

Author:David Ayer

“The movie on the screen is always going to be different from the movie in your head. How it makes you feel is what I'm after, what I'm chasing, and what I'm trying to construct.”

Feels Trying Different Screens Constructs Chasing

Author:David Ayer

“The hardest thing, as a director, is that it's never right. Nothing you do is ever right. It's never exactly how you envision it. Making a movie is about making it better.”

Directors Hardest Hardest Thing

Author:David Ayer

“The worst part of directing is always seeing the first assembly. It's devastating. It really is. It's like going into the delivery room and you can't wait to see your baby, and it's a crocodile.”

Firsts Waiting Rooms Seeing Worst Baby Assembly Delivery Crocodiles Delivery Room

Author:David Ayer

“It's important for me to take very famous, well-known people and not have them play themselves and not have them be seen as themselves.”

People Wells Important Play Known Well Known Very Famous

Author:David Ayer

“I think great acting is about inhabiting a skin and transforming yourself.”

Thinking Acting Skins Transforming Transforming Yourself

Author:David Ayer

“I feel like, as a filmmaker, I'm at my strongest when I write the script and when it comes from me, out of whole cloth. My best work has always been self-generated.”

Feels Writing Self Whole Scripts Filmmaker Strongest Best Work

Author:David Ayer

“Stories of friendship are very interesting to me. Artificial families are something I like to explore. Whether it's a bunch of guys or a bunch of ladies, there's something interesting about that.”

Stories Guy Interesting Bunch Artificial Very Interesting Something Interesting

Author:David Ayer

“For me, I like to show what guys are like when no one is looking and how we really are, and that we can be emotional and have these emotional lives. I think it would be great to do a film where we see some females and what's going on there when we're not around.”

Thinking Shows Would Be Film Guy Emotional Female Emotional Life

Author:David Ayer

“In the writing phase, normally I try not to envisage any particular actors because I like to let the characters sort of reveal themselves in that process.”

Writing Trying Character Actors Process Particular Phases

Author:David Ayer

“Well, as far as film, either you're making a film or you're making videos. Digital capture is always trying to emulate the range and look of film. I believe personally that film has more.”

Trying Believe Wells Looks Film I Believe Video Range Digital Capture Always Trying Emulate

Author:David Ayer

“You don't want to get too far ahead of the audience and you don't want the audience to be ahead of you. So, that balance is difficult and it takes a lot of work and tuning in the edit, to get the right balance.”

Want Difficult Audience Balance Edits Tuning

Author:David Ayer

“As a writer, you have to be willing to kill your darlings, and I'm a writer first. As a director, I've got no problem cutting the scenes.”

Firsts Problem Cutting Willing Scene Directors No Problem Darling

Author:David Ayer

“The worst pressure is the pressure I put on myself.”

Author:David Ayer

“I'm a veteran, and I come from a family of veterans and people who served in that war. And the stories that I heard were a hell of a lot different than the movies that I was seeing, so I wanted to make a movie about the people that were really there.”

People Different War Stories Wanted Hell Seeing Heard Veteran

Author:David Ayer

“When I make a movie, it's almost a relief to get shooting 'cause the hell is over, or part of the hell is over.”

Causes Hell Shooting Relief

Author:David Ayer

“The most terrifying thing in my life is a blank sheet of paper.”

Life Is Paper Blank Sheets

Author:David Ayer

“Even the scrutiny is good because it lets you know the world cares about your movie, and there is interest in it.”

World Care Interest

Author:David Ayer

“I'm one of those big believers that the movie comes together in the way it's supposed to be and that movies are fated to become what they become.”

Together Believer

Author:David Ayer

About the Author

Born: January 18, 1968
Known for: Film director
Quotes: 40

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