Karthik Subbaraj Quotes

When I'm on set, I know what I want.

On Fantastic Mr. Fox, I got used to working with animated storyboards as a way of planning for the shoot. We did a lot of sequences that way with this movie. Partly as a result of that, I decided to build more sets in order to do certain shots.

I look at directing as a sporting event. It's a race, a marathon. It's great when it clicks, which is why I push my crews so hard so we can excel.

I'm not the best filmmaker, but on the sets, it seems like everybody is having fun.

Typically, whenever you're envisioning how you're going to shoot something, you have a location or a set that you're going to build, and it's going to be built to specifications.

It was important on The Shipping News to have my house far enough away from each location so I had this time in the morning to think about my shots and still remain open to surprises once I got to the set.

I'm the kind of person who likes to create the environment and mindset - not because I do it deliberately, but because that's how I like to live - where, from catering to makeup to hair to wardrobe, electricians, camera department lighting, sound, you know, it's our movie; we're together, and we have that camaraderie and that closeness.

I may even show up behind the camera. I love to put things together; I love to give direction. I have a great eye for pace.

I think the worst that can happen in filmmaking is if you're working with a storyboard. That kills all intuition, all fantasy, all creativity.

I love directing.

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.

To this day I over prepare. I draw storyboards for every scene - chicken scratches so crude that they amuse and horrify the crew. I send out shot lists, act out the scenes, and search for a theme that I can relate to. It's my favorite time of the process.

I feel like if you feel good about a script, and you feel confident about your ability to direct and just capture it right, it's all just, really, really in your favor there.

I want to direct. It's something that I know I'll be really good at.

I have wanted to direct for quite some time, but I wanted to be ready and know what I am doing. I wanted to know the basics.

I really don't storyboard unless it's an action sequence of some kind, but I plan carefully.

I love the process of working with a filmmaker and the writers and the actors.

As a filmmaker, I'm a collaborator first.

I don't storyboard like some. I mean, all directors are different. I plan meticulously - really meticulously.

Filmmaking is so heavy: there are so many people and trucks and teamsters and costume people and hair people and makeup people. I try to make it light and as simple as possible. It's great for actors. It puts the story up front. It's not about shots and dollies and lighting and sets.

Everything is always against you when making a movie, and if you don't have a solid blueprint that the entire team can get behind and understand and then execute, then you're going to be lost on the set.

To get the film in your head on the screen, first you have to take it out of your head and explain it to everyone who is working with you. This will take work and planning.

I definitely storyboard, but I only start once I have cast and location. I like to find the world first.

I sort of feel like my job is to be a conduit to opportunities, to maximize the creativity of the day itself - because that's when the cameras are running. That's the important thing to me. Some of these shots you need to think about in advance; you need to have some ideas for them.

Every aspect of filmmaking has lured me. Although I'm an actor now, one day, I'd like to direct a film. It's not as though I'm all set to take the plunge; I cherish this dream of calling the shots, but only after I groom myself with the right kind of preparation and the technical know-how.