Jay Roach Quotes

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.

My two great loves when I'm shooting are working with great actors and composing images.

As a filmmaker and film student, I think it's really interesting to hear what a director did and how they figured out how to do things.

I mean, '8½' to me is such a great dissertation on the whole, you know, act of filmmaking and creativity.

Different films have different places in people's lives. I don't get to see a lot of films, so I want to watch films I learn from.

When I talk to film students, I always say, 'Buy the DVDs and listen to the commentaries, look at the making of, look at the behind-the-scenes,' because that's such a great learning tool.

Watching movies was like going to school for me. It still is. You're always learning. Even if it's bad, you're learning what not to do.

A lifetime isn't long enough to learn how to make films.

A lot of directors in my experience are very receptive. They see what you do first, and then they want to find a place to put the camera, and they tweak you here and there.

I've gotten to work with some wonderful directors and people who have been great teachers to me.

So, yes, there's nothing I love more than listening to directors talk about their movies.

In making films, you're dealing with hundreds of people and a crew, but eventually, it's you and an editor, and that part of it, I liked it a lot. The experience on 'Up in Smoke' was great. I really enjoyed it.

I never studied film formally at school, but as a kid, I spent most of my time in cinemas.

When you're directing, you see your ideas. You see them created right in front of you on the monitor and the sound stage. You get that experience all over again when you get into the editing room and you start playing with it.

Just making a movie the way 'All is Lost' had to be made was a great experience, because it was structured differently than any other film I will make for the rest of my life.

When I was shooting 'Mud,' every day was my favourite! I had so much fun on this film and loved working with all the cast and crew! It was a great experience.

I loved making Pure Country. It was a great learning experience for me, seeing another part of the entertainment industry.

I teach film directing, inasmuch as you can. It's not really possible to teach film direction, but I sit there as a sort of testimony of experience and know-how, I suppose.

As I began making my feature films, it was a great adventure. It was about constructing something I saw in my head or I had designed on storyboards and capturing that on film.

I love films for the fact that it is like working under a microscope. It is sort of like a laboratory.

The first scene I ever shot for 'Louie Bluie,' on that first day, I had never seen the camera before. I didn't know where to put it. I just knew what was strong about these guys and what I wanted to capture, so I tried to work backward from there and figure it out. Trial and error. Hopefully I got a little bit better at it.

Being behind the camera is where I feel comfortable. I've found something that I feel I, as 'Michael,' can be as confident in as 'Johnny' was on the stage. It's great being part of the creative process. You're right at the start of an idea, and you get to see it all the way through till the end.

Oh yeah - I watched Knife in the Water, saw the shot, and repeated it. But even if I hadn't seen that film, inevitably the camera would've ended up on top of that mast, I mean if you think of it there are only so many dynamic shots on a boat.

I need to have my hands on the DNA of a film.

Spike optioned my first book, 'Now the Hell Will Start,' and he trusted me to write the screenplay, too. That was an awesome learning experience - I grew up watching Spike's movies, and here he was giving me handwritten notes about structure and dialogue. His feedback taught me so much about how to craft a cinematic narrative.