Quotes About Cinematography

The movies that made me want to make movies were action movies, and thrillers, and Kurosawa films, you know, where you have an opportunity every day to shoot it in an unusual way. I was looking for something like that.

The way I work with my cinematographer is not based on general principles, but the ideas are triggered by the locations where we shoot.

Casting a film, you can have the greatest actors in a film and it doesn't work. It's a combination of all of the elements.

The idea of working with Steven Spielberg was very attractive. He's such a master. He knows the language of the camera and of filmmaking, which gives him a great freedom.

I like how you can go back and watch David Lean and John Ford and see the influence that had on Steven Spielberg, especially David Lean, in the camerawork, and yet, you don't watch any Spielberg movie and think of David Lean. Once you're looking for it, you see it all, but it's not in your face.

I like Rob Morgan in 'Mudbound.' Most of the attention being paid to this movie has focused on Rachel Morrison's cinematography and Mary J. Blige's stiff but intensely stoical performance.

If there's an opportunity to tell a story through acting or directing or cinematography or a book, I will embrace that opportunity.

Professional cinema image-taking should integrate, serve, interest, and enhance the story. I judge cinematography not just for a story well told but for what the story is.

I only storyboard scenes that require special effects, where it is necessary to communicate through pictures.

I only make storyboards for action scenes. Once you make a storyboard, you don't film; it can be a stiff move.

A director should concentrate on his storyline and his characters.

The great film editor is not a cutter, he's a storyteller, right?

At the core, I'm a filmmaker and a storyteller.

I've read a hundred fantastic scripts that didn't pan out as films, and I completely put that on the directors. I've also read some mediocre scripts that have ended up being amazing, and I credit that to the directors. They're the storytellers. If you don't have a good storyteller, you really have nothing.

My interpretation of a strong director is someone who knows their story. That's what directors are, they're storytellers because they're directing where your focus is going to be as an audience.

Obviously people loved 'Mystery Road', people loved the storytelling aspect of it, people liked the character.

I think 'GoodFellas' is just a perfect film. From an efficiency of storytelling standpoint, from an entertainment standpoint, from a performance standpoint, from a use of music standpoint, from a cinematography and editing standpoint - to me, it's just a perfect movie.

I don't want to be part of films that are just manufactured, and not made with true passion; I only want to be part of interesting, intriguing storytelling.

I have always admired the Russian cinema, their incisive storytelling, sharp camera work and brilliant acting in them. Indian filmmakers can learn a lot from it.

It was fun playing with those jumps and the flashbacks in 'Zombieland,' but I don't think you need it to make a good movie. It's fun to just do a more straightforward one.

The glory of 70mm is the sharpness of the image it offers.

I've always really loved cinematography and glamorous old Hollywood movies and they go hand in hand.

One of the things I really like about Ford's films is how there is always a focus on the way characters live, and not just the male heroes.

I typically come into any project knowing what the opening shot is and what the end shot is.