Rachel Morrison Quotes

I'm a documentary filmmaker by training. You got to start with the real people and the real place.

I'm a documentary filmmaker, I know what it means to craft a story, especially when you've shot a lot of material.

Before I started to make films, I didn't give much thought to the way the characters were physically positioned in the story world.

You should bear in mind that almost all my documentaries are feature films in disguise.

I design my shots. I walk the rehearsal as the camera and say 'this is where I want to be... I want this look.

I'm a big fan of documentaries. I've always loved them, and I've just never had the opportunity or the time to make a feature.

I think from an early age I was aware of how a camera can tell a story, how a movie camera can affect how the narrative is told.

The camera must point at the exact spot the audience wishes to look at any given moment. To find that spot is absurdly easy: you only have to remember where you were looking at the time the scene was made.

I have considered the directing, actually. Not so much the writing. That is not really interesting, but the directing is really interesting to me.

I have a great little camera, and I had a theory that if the story is interesting, it doesn't matter what medium you shoot it on. You just have to make a good film.

Architecture has a strong link with the movies in terms of time progression, sequencing, framing, all of that.

I started out with this dream of being a director and doing cinematography and bought my first film camera at 15.

I have definitely been curious and involved in the process; even as a young actor. I was always looking at where the camera was, what story it was telling. And as my experience grew, I wanted to know even more.

As far as the balance between being a journalist, being an artist, being a storyteller - documentary filmmakers are all three of those things. The balance between them is affected by the film itself, the topic of the film.

You make the movie through the cinematography - it sounds quite a simple idea, but it was like a huge revelation to me.

You know, when people talk about filmmaking and the techniques of filmmaking, we use them all the time in network television news in order to make our stories simpler, tighter and more understandable to the general public.

When you make documentaries or short films, you have to have eyes and ears in the back of your head and on the sides and all around you. I like that in my films.

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.

I always thought of documentaries as films through which you find your voice as a narrator.

We should not confuse having a Flip camera with making a documentary.

I am very much open to doing cinematography for any talented filmmaker, if the script is good.

I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They're amazing documentarians. If you took away all the narratives, they'd just be amazing documentarians.

Documentaries have always inspired me in narrative filmmaking.

I don't like to watch playback. But being on the set, watching the way the camera is being moved and the way the light is being used, you do get an idea of it.

I've directed a fair amount of television series - so I'm always trying to learn new things. One episode was all hand-held and I'm trying to get better at when you should do things and when you should just shut up and watch what the people are saying.