Debbie Allen Quotes

I like hanging around the set and learning how people do things, how the set runs.

When you're on a set it can be very tedious and slow. It's just not as big as when you see it on film.

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 want to be on set and die hearing those words: Where's Peter?

When I'm in a movie, what I always do, instead of sitting in a trailer or watching a DVD, is I go on the set and watch the director work and the actors work, and sometimes I'll hang out with B camera and watch what they're up to and ask questions because there's so much to learn about the medium.

In Hollywood, the cameraman lights the star. In Europe, he lights the set.

It's always really surreal, being on a film set, but inside a beautiful, massive scene.

With 'Tron,' we had so many crew members around and a stage full of special effects people that know exactly what has to be done in the situations. You're on a stage in sets the whole time.

I love when I go on set every day, because the camera people teach me camera terms and grip terms - I learn all these new terms from different people on the set and leave feeling all cool about myself when I go out places.

I loved being on the set with my stepfather. I loved the magic of movies. I went on the set of 'The Mod Squad' - I mean, can you imagine? Just walking into a living room and then walking behind the living room, and it's just flat. There's nothing I love more than being on a sound stage.

When we were filming the first 'Magic Mike,' we obviously had a limited budget; it was an independent film. And we would entertain extras in between takes.

It's such a thrill walking onto a film set.

I like to work in cinema everywhere.

The idea of directing my own movie is definitely more challenging than choreography.

You have to have a great director to make a great movie.

The production scale of 'Okja,' which I had never experienced before, was jaw-dropping. Not only the actors but also all the staff were experts in their fields.

I love being part of the movie-making process. There is magic. There is an element of mystery and unpredictability.

Shooting a movie should be fun! It's not a real job. It can be hard, but at the end of the day, we're dressing up and playing pretend.

Directing is a very, very difficult job.

Making a movie is universal. Directing a movie is universal; it's a universal language.

Movie-making is a very creative medium of expression.

My final ambition is to turn director.

If you go into a studio without a set effectively, you've got a blue screen. As a DP you have to light it of what you think it should look like. You don't have any reference of what the background looks like. You might have some concepts, but effectively you're lighting it as what you think it should look like.

When I did 'Gilbert Grape,' Lasse Hallstrom let me be on the set with him and in the editing room and in the casting sessions and so on. And so I got a firsthand, rather intimate, high-pressure look at how to make a film.

I really like shooting in real locations.