Quotes About Cinematography

With the black and white films, one was concerned with tone.

I'm always inspired by other filmmakers, whether it's a shot or the way they handle tone.

Tony Kaye is great with that kind of stuff. Up until American History X, he had only done commercials.

I grew up loving Ridley Scott and Tony Scott and Michael Bay and Adrian Lyne.

A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.

When they invented the Steadicam, every movie had to have a fight in a stairwell. Whenever there's a new thing, it's abused until artists realize what a Steadicam as a tool can be. And now I defy people to be able to see Steadicam shots, because we know how to do them and make them invisible.

As a filmmaker, every tool you get to tell the scene better is important.

Motion capture has become very specialized but also still just a tool of filmmaking.

I think that technological tools that filmmakers use to tell stories, in a perfect world, need to become invisible. When it's brand new and it's never been seen before and you're birthing this stuff, it's very much on people's minds.

The beauty of Toronto is that it has not been shot a lot in movies, for itself at least. I mean, most of the time, Toronto is shot to portray something else.

One thing I hate in movies is when the camera starts circling around the characters. I find that totally fake.

I think about it all the time. I love filmmaking. Whether I'd be in front of the camera or behind the camera, I just love that world.

Nobody has shot a strip club in black and white in a long time.

I've never been a big fan of the music-video style of editing movies that crept in the last few decades. I like stuff that's able to take its time.

I'm proud of the way I rearrange and put things together, like a chef who makes a great meal, or a filmmaker who puts together a story - it's casting, editing, cinematography.

A writer, like a cinematographer, manipulates the viewer's perspective on an ongoing story, with the verbal equivalent of camera angles and quick cuts.

The filmmakers I really love are the ones that let me look through their eyes for a while. They have an aesthetic and social point of view.

Normally as a director, you do look at other films and things that are relevant. But with this film, it became impossible because I became so aware of the camera placement.

The cinematography and the conditions in which 'Meru' was filmed drew me to the project. It's remarkable to think that everything in the film is real; these three men set out to attempt this impossible climb and to film it at the same time.

Does anyone remember who shot Kubrick's movies? Do you remember who shot David Lean's movies? No one remembers who shot 'Dr. Strangelove' or 'Barry Lyndon.'

I don't know, I'm still a little bit like, when you blend CGI well with real life, it's impressive, but if you remove real life completely, I still get pulled out of the movie a bit.

The true excitement comes from the actors - that gives you the true drama - and whatever I can do with the camera, that's icing on the cake.

So many films are being shot on the DSLR, that they're all starting to look the same. There's a shallow depth of field. It's a nice look, but I can always identify a film shot with a DSLR.

It is great filming in London. It's difficult, but it looks good. It has its own identity.