Sam Mendes Quotes

The key to making good movies is to pay attention to the transition between scenes.

I love more than anything looking at a movie scene by scene and seeing the intention behind it.

I have been in advertising and I know my craft well, but ultimately in cinema every scene has to matter, and that has to do with the writing.

Action scenes are not that different from other scenes.

Directing has completely changed the way I write and watch films.

Most writers have no idea how to make a film. It's a totally different skill set. Nor is it just to translate exactly what's on the page directly on to the screen - because that would be terrible. It would be five hours long, and the structure would be a mess. But the writers know the characters and the story.

The stage is suspension of disbelief. Film is a literal medium.

I think films are bigger than structure.

I have always believed that directing a film is like telling a story. You have to tell it well so that it is appreciated.

I wouldn't say I see things visually first, but what I do think is important, for a lot of screenwriters, is to not just think about the words on the page, but also the world as a whole and the vibe of the movie, rather than a sequence of scenes written on the page.

As the director of a film, as the story teller, you have to keep your voice alive.

I like to shoot feature films because it's about capturing emotions... words like guilt, hurt, betrayal.

When I shoot a film, I take my camera and put it among the characters and let it show you their world, their problems, their happiness and the little things that matter to them.

For me, the filmmaking has to be about the dramaturgy.

You can't, no matter what anyone says, build a movie around someone.

Anybody can direct a picture once they know the fundamentals. Directing is not a mystery, it's not an art. The main thing about directing is: photograph the people's eyes.

In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting.

So much of it is the design of the shot or the motion of the character; it's the work you do so that it has the same things that are in the movie. In just a few frames it's got to communicate something clearly and dramatically.

I pretty much believe that a film is a film and when an audience watches a film, they finish it.

In a lot of ways, TV writing taught me how to be a good storyteller. I learned about dialogue, scenes, moving the plot forward.

Film is drama. You've only two hours, so you lie by exclusion, and try to make up for it by portraying the environment.

Technically, maybe I learned most of all from George Stevens, and among his movies I learned the most from 'A Place in the Sun.' It's a lesson in moviemaking.

Part of what's so tricky in a film that's two hours long is how many themes can you effectively explore.

I think film, to me, as a director, is about telling a story.

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