Quotes About Cinematography

You don't want to be the guy whose back's to the camera in the emotional part of the movie. So, you have to be aware of the camera movement and what the camera's doing.

The reason why I wanted to direct is because there are personal stories that I want to tell, but also because I love every part of movie making - from the wardrobe to the set decoration to cinematography.

I think people remember pictures not dialogue. That's why I like pictures.

If you film a scene in a wide shot, especially a disturbing, distressing moment, I do feel like that helps you feel as though you're the room with these people, instead of cutting it up and getting close - which you wouldn't be doing if you were actually in a room with these people.

I've made a couple of films that were a little too wide and non-specific - like 'The Doctor.'

I come from a TV background, so for me this more like doing a freeing theatre piece because we'd go into a room and do the scene, instead of doing it as a wide shot, medium shot, and close up with only the odd line of dialogue.

If I have to point to something specific with the way I move my camera, I love to do it with a wide lens. I like to show you as much of the space as I can, even if I'm following a character.

I'm not a big fan of shooting something that looks like it could belong in any movie. I'm not a fan of, okay, 'wide shot, wide shot, medium shot, close-up, close-up - we'll figure it out in post.' I hate that.

With 'Call Me by Your Name,' they locked off the camera and let scenes play out in long, wide shots to make them feel almost voyeuristic.

I'm not wild about hand-held shots.

'Raiders of the Lost Ark' made me want to make films. I am wild about the films of John Carpenter, Ridley Scott, Howard Hawks and Sam Peckinpah.

If you look at classic Hollywood films, they tend to shoot close-ups on quite long lenses and the background it out of focus. You know, it's just a mush.

Animation scripts tend to be much more descriptive and are lighter on dialogue.

I have a tendency to overcut my movies.

My lighting tends to use contrast as a reflection of the stakes in the scene. The higher the stakes, the more I feel I can get away with an exaggerated contrast.

I actually like 'The Shining' more than I like Kubrick, I think. The tension he sustains through the whole film is so great.

The technology available for film-making now is incredible, but I am a big believer that it's all in the story.

We have an uncanny ability to make birds do what we want them to do. In Blood Simple there's a shot from the bumper of a car and it's going up this road and a huge flock of birds takes off at the perfect moment.

Filmmaking is about moments. In real life, things might take six months, a year, but [in filmmaking] you have to create the moment where it happened.

When I write a screenplay, and when I direct, I always pull lines out.

I had the feeling that Sarajevo was the perfect place to shoot the film I wanted to shoot. It is the perfect illustration of purgatory.

I don't love cinematography that's very flashy because I find that it keeps the audience from becoming a part of the film; it becomes sort of self-reflective.

Basketball movies don't really accentuate the flow of the game.

I've been watching things like 'Master of the Flying Guillotine' since I was 5.