Richard Donner Quotes

When doing a fantasy show - or a show with fantasy elements - the more you can anchor an effect to reality, the stronger the illusion is.

Film is so immersive.

Like when you go to a magic show and you know how they do the illusions. That's how I am when I watch any movies where they have people flying through the air.

Movies started out as an extension of a magic trick, so making a spectacle is part of the game.

If you want to believe in the fantasy on screen, then you have to believe in the characters and use them as a stepping-stone to lead you into this fantasy world.

Magic in cinema is a bit like ventriloquism on the radio.

I think if they suddenly cut away and you realize there is a stunt guy, you're out of the movie.

A lot of cinema is about the game of authenticity - do you feel it's real?

As a boy, my favorite show was 'Superman' and my favorite movie was 'Star Wars' - along with other science fiction shows and movies. And I always wanted to fly.

I think there's a vague sense out there that movies are becoming more and more unreal. I know I've felt it.

We're telling a story. And the demands of that are different from the demands of a documentary. The audience must believe in order to keep faith in the story.

Making the unbelievable believable is different on a set with 'Fantastic Four,' where it's like, 'Wind machines! Because the airship is coming in and you're pretending to be afraid!'

The public always wants to be told.

Making movies is about creating illusions, and they can be subtle illusions, but it's all a cumulative effect as you make these little tweaks. It kinda adds up to something, hopefully.

Cinema, which demands suspension of disbelief, is an increasingly naive proposition.

I think the biggest compliment an actor can have is if people forget who they're watching and get lost in the character.

At the cinema, we do not think - we are thought.

I think there is no future whatsoever in 3D. It does nothing to the grammar and syntax or vocabulary of cinema. And you get fed up with it in exactly 3 minutes.

Theater is a wonderful medium - I love theater myself, and there are exceptions to every rule - but the thing that motion pictures can do that theater cannot is that in movies, you don't have to rely on dialogue.

I've worked my entire career to try to broaden the perception of the WWE. A lot of folks think because we're so entertaining and oftentimes have such wild and well-defined characters that it's all we are. It has kind of been my life's work to tell the public that's not true.

It's harder to do anything in the public eye now, in terms of if you're worried about scrutiny or being judged negatively. It's not as much of a free ride. If you're someone who's making film or TV or music, or any kind of art form now, there's a billion outlets, and they all have an opinion.

It is impossible to give a performance that makes you unaware of the fact that you're watching an actor and be really involved in all aspects of filmmaking.

I only think in the following terms: writing, recording, releasing. That's what I have control of. What I don't have control is whether critics or the public like what I do.

When you write, you put your thoughts in the public space. You get both positive and negative feedback.

As a reader and as a viewer, usually when I watch a movie, I'm caught up enough in the movie that I'm not breaking it down to the details anyway.