“I know when I watch a film at this point, if I completely lose myself in the characters and the story and the world of the film I know that it's at least in my opinion, that was great. Otherwise I'm thinking: "Oh I know they were just doing A, B and C, right before they walked into the scene, then the camera was there, then they probably took the shot from this reverse close-up and moved it into this." When all of that drops away then I'm like: "Okay this was phenomenal, this was fantastic." I mean, any film or TV performance in general is probably good.” IfsThinkingKnowsWorldMeanCharacterStoriesFilmLosesOpinionWatchesTvsSceneShotsOkayPerformancesCamerasMovedFantasticReversePhenomenal Author:Gabriel Mann
“I still to this day maintain that in that million-and-a-half feet of film [Heaven's Gate] that we shot, we thought we were making a great American film. I honestly believe that Michael [Cimino] was under a tremendous amount of pressure, and Michael's response to pressure from what I saw was to double down and to get more aggressive and to get more kind of arrogant, but I don't think it was real. I think it was the response to pressure.” ThinkingBelieveKindStillsRealFilmHeavenHalfMillionsSawsFeetAmountShotsPressureDown AndResponseHonestlyGatesThis DayAggressiveArrogantGreat AmericanAmerican Film Author:Richard Masur
“Maybe if I'd gone in younger, I wouldn't have had that feeling, but I've seen an enormous amount of changes since the early-'70s in how this stuff is shot. I did the first TV movie ever shot in 18 days; before this film the normal length of shooting a TV movie was between 21 and 26 days. We shot a full-up, two-hour TV movie in 18 days with Donald Sutherland playing the lead, who had never worked on television before.” IfsFirstsTwoFeelingsFilmStuffHoursGoneTelevisionTvsAmountNormalShotsEnormousShootingLength Author:Richard Masur
“You try to do as much as you can on set because practical looks cool and practical looks great. Until you get to a point where the reality is you look at it - and I went through this in my last movie which was a war film, which my brother fought in Iraq and I did a ton of research and as much as I could made it documentary-like - and then at some point on set, the reality is somebody says to you, "You know, you can use a real squib and you can have three hours of clean up and you can lose five shots or we can do that blood explosion in post and you can get those five extra shots."” KnowsTryingLooksMadeWarRealUseRealityLastsFilmThreeCan DoHoursLosesFiveBloodBrotherResearchShotsCleanIraqPracticalsMade ItPostsMy BrotherExtrasDocumentariesExplosions Author:Kimberly Peirce
“I was at a Madonna show many, many years ago and I was in the sweet spot and she came out and I mean it was the best part of the show. And I was shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting. And I'm like, "God, I must have shot a hundred pictures have I not run out of film?" And I opened the back of my camera and there was no film in there. So that happened to me only once.” YearsMeanShowsRunningFilmHappenedSweetHundredShotsYears AgoCamerasSpotsShooting Author:Danny Clinch
“Jack [Nicholson] really knows about the camera. He's one of the directors who likes to play with the camera. He'll change things around, play with lighting, things like that. He'll even spend hours on the set-up for an insert shot. He's an interested person who gets involved in all the aspects of the films he is making.” KnowsPersonsPlayFilmHoursInvolvedDirectorsShotsAspectCamerasLikesGet InvolvedLightingInsertNicholson Author:Vilmos Zsigmond
“Just someone trying to shoot in 70mm deserves the nomination, and he[Quentin Tarantino] is shooting interiors, like tight interior shots, for that matter. Obviously [Quentin] is the director and demanding the shots, but all credit for the beauty of that film [Hateful Eight] goes to the director of photography.” TryingMatterFilmDirectorsPhotographyShotsDeserveEightCreditShootingInteriorsHatefulNominationsQuentinTarantino Author:Bun B
“The idea of watching an entire film basically from one person's perspective - and not even really from their perspective, but [it's] probably the most intimately shot film that's in any of these categories. If you're not familiar with Son of Saul, basically it's a film about a Jewish guy who's in concentration camp, but he helps dispose of the bodies after they leave the gas chamber. So, you watch the entire movie looking at Saul's face and looking at his interactions with people.” PeopleIfsPersonsIdeasHelpingBodyFilmFacesGuyWatchesSonPerspectiveShotsFamiliarGasConcentrationCategoriesCampsInteractionChamberConcentration CampGas Chambers Author:Bun B
“One of the first decisions I made, as the director of "Hide and Seek," was that our film would be silent and use underscoring of original music that I was planning on composing. The decision was mostly predicated on knowing how time consuming the editing of dialogue can be and given the various locations we shot in, I didn't want to worry about having to mix room tones in such a short amount of time.” WantFirstsMadeUseWould BeFilmGivenDecisionRoomsWorryKnowingAmountDirectorsShotsOriginalsSilentVariousPlanningDialogueToneEditingLocationConsumingComposingTime ConsumingHide And SeekOriginal Music Author:Garth Kravits
“We just worked hard to not just get things right and authentic, but also to make it consistent and visually right. For instance, there are colours that aren't in the film that would have been there in reality. I think part of the look of the film not only has to do with the way it's shot and lit, but also the lack of certain colours that give it a softness which really suits it because there's more focus on the characters. For instance, there's no yellow at all until we get to Miss Stubbs' flat at the very end.” ThinkingWayGivingLooksHas BeensEndsHardCharacterRealityFilmCertainFocusMissingShotsInstanceSuitsColourConsistentFlatsYellowLitSoftness Author:Lone Scherfig
“I never get tired of looking at her [Catherine Keener] and it always surprises me, despite how many hours of film I've shot on that face. She's fantastic. She does comedy and tragedy so equally well. She wears her feeling so on the surface for both. I try to stop myself from casting her but I just keep coming back to her. She's just so fantastic to work with.” TryingWellsDoeFeelingsFilmFacesHoursComedyShotsTragedyTiredSurpriseSurfaceDespiteFantasticComing BackCastingSurprise Me Author:Nicole Holofcener
“I believe today that there is no film and no shot in a film that is worth a squirrel getting a sprained ankle.” BelieveTodayFilmI BelieveShotsSquirrelsAnkles Author:William Friedkin
“I did a film that I shot in 24 hours that was self-financed for $5,000. It was a feature called Looking For Jimmy that I shot with a bunch of friends. I spent eight months editing because we had 24 hours of footage that made no sense and I learned a lot about directing while editing that film.” MadeSelfFilmHoursMonthsShotsEightBunchFeaturesEditingJimmy Author:Julie Delpy
“Your job is always the same if it's a juggernaut or if it's just one of these little jewels of a film that's gonna wind up at the Laemmle or something, so your job doesn't change whatsoever... give it your best shot.” IfsGivingLittlesJobsFilmWindShotsJust OneJewelsBest ShotJuggernaut Author:Morgan Freeman
“When the film [Certified Copy] was in the Cannes Festival, I realized that the fact of having it shot in a different culture, in a different language, in a different setting, that wasn't mine and that I didn't belong to, gave me a totally different relationship to the film. When I was sitting in the audience during the official screening in Cannes, I didn't feel that it was my film.” FeelsDifferentFactsFilmCultureLanguageAudienceMinesShotsSittingI RealizedSettingSettingsOfficialsCopiesFestivalsDifferent CulturesScreeningDifferent LanguagesCannesDifferent Relationships Author:Abbas Kiarostami
“My first feature film was a movie called 'A Gunfight,' with Kirk Douglas, Johnny Cash, Karen Black, Jane Alexander, Raf Vallone... It was shot in Santa Fe, Mexico, in 1970, and it was directed by Lamont Johnson. It was the first gig I did when I got to California from having done 'Hair' in New York on Broadway for a year. It was a Western, though! But that film was not a successful release.” YearsFirstsDoneFilmBlackSuccessfulNew YorkHairShotsWesternReleaseCaliforniaFeaturesCashMexicoBroadwayJaneSantaGigsJohnsonKirkGunfightsSanta FeRaf Author:Keith Carradine
“In film, a dancer should always be shot from head to toe, because that way you can see the whole body and that is the art of dancing. Nowadays they shoot the nose. Left nostril. Right nostril. Hand. Foot. Bust. Derrière. The film prevents you from determining who is a good dancer and who is not.” WayShouldArtWholeBodyHandsFilmLeftFeetShotsDancingNosesDancerToes Author:Gene Kelly
“"Fish Tank" [my favorite woman-directed film] by Andrea Arnold. The film is so beautifully shot, and I love the raw energy of Katie Jarvis, who plays the main character, Mia. She is not a professional actress and she provides the film with a sense of realism. To me, the film feels so complete and superior.” FeelsPlayCharacterFilmEnergyShotsMy FavoriteFishesActressesSuperiorsRealismTanksKatieMain CharactersMiaAndreaFish Tanks Author:Nicole Nielsen Horanyi
“There hadn't been one done since the late 70s. I was living in Brooklyn, had no connection to Roger Corman, to no one in this movie. I didn't go to film school. I'm like the person who should have never made this film. But I just decided to put one foot in front of the other. I was writing film articles for magazines at the time. I convinced an editor from one of the magazines that I was working for to give me a shot to do a piece on Roger. This was an excuse to go meet him.” GivingShouldWritingPersonsMadeDoneSchoolFilmPiecesFeetFrontsLateShotsConnectionsDecidedShould HaveGive MeExcuseConvincedMagazinesEditorsArticlesBrooklynRogerFilm School Author:Alex Stapleton
“I think Tim Matheson is amazing and I think he's amazing in this - I haven't seen the film [Killing Reagan] since we shot it, but I think he's just incredible.” ThinkingFilmHavensShotsKillingIncredibles Author:Cynthia Nixon
“[Televised stand-up] never really makes me laugh. The only one I ever saw that I liked was Richard Pryor, and that was [shot on] film.” FilmLaughingSawsShotsMake Me Laugh Author:Norm MacDonald
“Some of it was shot in Berlin, but a lot of it was filmed in Hamburg, along the Reeperbahn in Hamburg in the famous red light district. Kino is obviously German and "film" and "cinema" and we were always cinematic in our thinking.” ThinkingLightFilmShotsRedCinemaBerlinCinematicRed Lights Author:Stephen Mallinder
“I edited Big Funk, some of the footage was shot by Peter Care. We were film buffs as much as music buffs, and so there are film reference as well as sound references.” WellsBigsCareFilmSoundShotsPeterEditedFunk Author:Stephen Mallinder
“[Jack Reacher] is the longest I'd ever shot anything - and let's be clear, this is my first studio feature film - so there was a huge learning curve.” FirstsFilmClearHugeShotsStudiosFeaturesCurvesLearning Curve Author:Patrick Heusinger
“I'm not one for doing the children's party version: "Hi, I'm a character in a movie and now I'm in reality!" I was doing the last shot of the film before reshoots outside their shop. I was starting my run into the frame and I thought, "You are literally ending where this began. The loop of serendipity's too much to not go in and acknowledge it." I just wanted to see the look on their faces.” LooksChildrenCharacterRealityRunningWantedLastsFilmFacesPartyToo MuchShotsStartingVersionsAcknowledgeShopsSerendipityLoops Author:Benedict Cumberbatch
“A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people.” PeopleDoeMatterFilmDirectorsShotsNo Matter WhatDesperateFilm Directors Author:Elia Kazan
“There [in Allied] were things that were written that were cut, and things that were shot that were cut, but if the film works, they are erased from memory.” IfsFilmMemoriesCuttingWrittenShots Author:Steven Knight
“I had four years of auditions, and nothing happened, until Francis Ford Coppola took a shot on me ['Tetro' in 2009]. I hadn't done a film, and suddenly I was the lead.” YearsDoneFilmFourHappenedShotsFour YearsAuditions Author:Alden Ehrenreich
“For a film I shot on the most difficult mountain on God's wide earth in Patagonia for a sequence where there was high probability some digital effects were needed, somebody made storyboards and I quickly ignored them, after half an hour I ignored them and I never used any digital effect.” MadeEarthFilmUsedDifficultHoursHalfEffectsNeededMountainShotsWideDigitalIgnoredProbabilitySequencePatagonia Author:Werner Herzog
“I hate it when, in films, the girl looks perfect in every shot. It's quite nice if there's a bit of dark circles underneath the eyes, if we see the reality of the situation that the person is going through.” IfsLooksPersonsRealityEyeFilmHateGirlBitsDarkPerfectSituationNiceShotsI HateCircles Author:Felicity Jones
“If someone didn't want to be filmed, or my children said, "Don't film me anymore," [Steven Sebring] didn't try to sneak a shot or cajole them; he just respected their wishes.” IfsWantTryingChildrenSaidFilmWishShotsMy ChildrenSneak Author:Patti Smith
“Gian Luigi Polidoro and his girlfriend had written this script, it was an American comedy, and they decided I was the guy to play the part. I was young, they offered me the lead in the film, and I said, "Sure, I'll do it." And I'm telling you, there is a movie waiting to be made about the making of a movie like that, particularly at that time in New York. I mean, we shot all over the streets of New York without permits. We would literally grab a shot and run. But Rent Control... I think the total cost was $100,000, and to this director's credit, I think it looks like $200,000.” ThinkingLooksMeanMadeSaidPlayRunningFilmYoungGuyWaitingComedyWrittenStreetsNew YorkCostDirectorsShotsDecidedScriptsCreditGirlfriendPermitLead InRent Control Author:Brent Spiner
“Earl Mills is probably the best role I've ever been given in a film. And it was a great experience to work with Halle [Berry] and Klaus Maria Brandauer, an Austrian actor who's a hero of mine. Martha Coolidge directed the movie [Introducing Dorothy Dandridge], giving me another shot, and it was an amazing experience.” GivingFilmActorsGivenRolesMinesHeroShotsIntroducingMillsBerriesGreat ExperiencesAmazing Experiences Author:Brent Spiner
“After directing the first film it feels kind of tricky being back to being in front of the camera, because I've always got one eye over there, kind of thinking of what they are doing, and how the shot is being composed. I think it takes a couple of films to just get back to just being an actor.” ThinkingFeelsFirstsKindEyeFilmActorsFrontsCoupleShotsCamerasGet BackJust BeingTricky Author:Denzel Washington
“It was a film [The Lost World], and it's a sequel at the same time. The first shot on the first day was from the sequel to the movie they hadn't made yet. But yeah, it was a pretty amazing experience running around the jungle for that.” WorldFirstsMadeRunningFilmLostShotsYeahJungleSequelsAmazing Experiences Author:Eric McCormack
“I've shot films in Africa. I've shot in America - English is not my language.” AmericaFilmLanguageShots Author:Sergio Leone
“The film [ Wyatt Earp and the Holy Grail] was shot on a KODAK Zi8 camera as well as on multiple camera phones. It was processed using the effects of FINAL CUT X and then edited in FINAL CUT 7.” WellsFilmCuttingEffectsHolyShotsCamerasFinalsPhonesMultipleEditedHoly GrailKodak Author:Evan Jacobs
“The worst thing that can happen is when you have gone weeks and months into elaborate sequences and the storyline of the film changes and you find out they don't need it. Sometimes you don't shoot those sequences, or they have been shot and then get edited out of the sequence you've shot gets changed and needs to be redone. That can be hard. It's not heartbreaking, but you do tend to think, "Och, all that work and effort." But that's filming, you know? You put all of these modular things into the pot, and sometimes they don't all get used.” ThinkingKnowsNeedsHas BeensSometimesHardHappensFilmUsedEffortGoneWeekWorstChangedMonthsShotsPotWorst ThingsSequenceHeartbreakingEditedStoryline Author:Wade Eastwood
“I'm very interested in film making. It's telling a story, fiction or non-fiction. I have been filmed quite a lot. Contrary to popular belief, filming isn't glamorous. It can be wearingly repetitious, as the same shot is taken over and over again.” Has BeensStoriesFilmBeliefFictionTakenShotsContraryNon FictionGlamorousContrary To Popular Belief Author:Stephen Hawking
“My first film I made, "Permanent Vacation," we shot in 1979 for like $12,000, part of which I got a fake car loan for that Amos Poe told me you could do that. And, yeah, I had no idea what I was doing. It was just like, well, we're going to try and do this. Partly because I had been following Amos Poe and Eric Mitchell around for about a year, and I worked on some of Eric's films as a sound recordist and stuff.” TryingYearsFirstsWellsMadeIdeasFilmStuffSoundCarShotsYeahFollowingNo IdeaPermanentFakeVacationLoanEricCar Loan Author:Jim Jarmusch
“We [me and Alex Kendrick] had our pastor's blessing back in 2013 to launch out, and so we shot [ War Room] last year, in 2014, but we still had the church pray over us , before the movie hit theatres, and the pastor was asking God to bless the film, and so we're very excited about what's happening .” YearsStillsWarLastsPastFilmChurchRoomsPrayingBlessingHappeningsShotsAskingExcitedTheatreBlessLast YearOur PastPastorAlexAsking God Author:Stephen Kendrick
“We still had the prayer support of our church. We shot this film [War Room] in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we had about 85 churches rise up and support us across racial and denominational lines, and many of them were praying for us, and we built some prayer teams where we had people on set praying.” PeopleStillsWarFilmChurchLinesPrayerRoomsSupportTeamPrayingShotsBuiltCarolinaNorth CarolinaCharlotte Author:Stephen Kendrick
“I found out about it probably 9 - 10 months before we shot the film [Don't Kill It] because it was postponed a couple of times, which was actually a good thing because once it all finally came together, I had to get in there and roll off different pages of dialogue and monologues pretty quickly.” DifferentTogetherFilmFoundMonthsCouplePagesShotsGood ThingsDialogueMonologues Author:Dolph Lundgren
“A lot of the issues of rhythm in film are found in the editing because it's very rare that any sequence is the sequence that is shot.” FilmFoundIssuesShotsRhythmEditingSequence Author:Frederick Wiseman
“When people stop some film from being shot or burn a book, it's not just that they are saying, this is against Indian culture. They are also saying, you Westernized, elite, English-speaking people are having too much of a good time. It's a very interesting phenomenon.” PeopleBookFilmCultureInterestingToo MuchShotsIndianGood TimesPhenomenonElitesVery InterestingIndian CultureEnglish Speaking Author:Arundhati Roy
“[Two Evil Eyes] was shot in Pittsburgh, and that's where I was born and raised, so it was really nice to be a part of Pittsburgh film culture.” TwoEyeFilmCultureEvilBornNiceShotsRaisedReally NicePittsburghBorn And RaisedTwo EvilsEvil Eye Author:Julie Benz
“I personally believe the film turns out better when shot in one short schedule, plus it doesn't stress the actors.” BelieveFilmTurnsActorsShotsStressPlusSchedules Author:Shahrukh Khan
“Silence Of The Lambs is a fantastic film. It's a horror film, and it's an incredibly well-told film that is about point of view in such a unique way. The way that film is shot, the way the eyelines are so close, if not directly into camera, betrays an intimacy with the characters and the audience.” IfsWayWellsCharacterFilmViewsSilenceAudienceHorrorUniqueShotsCamerasPoint Of ViewFantasticIntimacyBetrayLambsHorror Film Author:Bryan Fuller
“I think good storytelling continues to teach you how it unfolds. And so I don't think that film and stage are mutually exclusive at all. It's just that you're always in a wide shot.” ThinkingFilmTeachStageShotsWideStorytellingExclusiveGood Storytelling Author:Terry Kinney
“There's something magical still about it when I get in a darkroom, and you've shot a roll of film and you develop it and you look at your negatives, and there's like imagery there. That always stuns me.” LooksStillsFilmShotsImageryDarkroom Author:Jessica Lange