Brendan Gleeson Quotes

Making a movie is a lot of problem solving.

I've never directed, but it must be humbling.

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.

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.

Once you turn on the camera, making a movie is making a movie. I don't care if it's $9 million dollars or $50 million dollars. You have bigger toys, bigger set, actors who are better paid, but once you turn on the camera, it's director and performance, and I don't find a big difference.

When you direct a movie, you're basically looking at a story, the way you want to look at it. You bring that director's vision, and I'm totally open for that.

It's not just about acting. I love film, I'm a director now, I love writing, I love producing, I love having a company that makes films and to be prolific and have a place to put all the ideas that are constantly bubbling up inside of me and that don't let me sleep at night.

What you do is get the right director and the right screenwriter and the right cast. It's a fantastic job.

When I was younger I didn't really know what a director did: I knew I loved movies and I figured the actors made it up! And then when you get to 12 years old you start thinking, What does a director do? It was really an organic beginning: this looks like something I want to do, I can't believe people get paid to do it!

My dad always produces, and I would always sit in producers' meetings with him. I like the whole thing of putting a movie together. I think that's very exciting.

Making a film, setting it up and getting it cast and getting it together, is not an easy thing.

To be a good director, you have to spend a lot of time on actual sets, but today, there's a lot of people who spend a lot of time in dark rooms writing a script, and they'll go in and tell the story to some suit at a studio who says, 'Okay, this is great, let's go.' But that doesn't necessarily mean you know what to do once you're on set.

When you're making movies you've got to get obsessive.

The influence of Steven Spielberg to my career is unquantifiable. Every day on the set with him is a master class in filmmaking.

When you shoot a movie, the camera is always taking, taking, taking and not giving anything back.

I think what makes a good actor's director is the same thing that makes a good director. Acting is just one of the trades necessary to make a movie.

The process of making a movie is what I love. I thrive on that. It's an exciting miracle, a mad adventure. I love being part of it.

Doing a movie is a stressful thing. You spend months of you life focusing into that one project, and I want to make sure I do something I really like or I'm really passionate about.

Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how small, no matter how cheesy, no matter whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it as director. Now you're a director. Everything after that you're just negotiating your budget and your fee.

I've heard that Alfred Hitchcock said that by the time he was ready to shoot a film, he didn't even want to do it any more because he'd already had all of the fun of working it out. It's the same thing with these Frank comics.

I produced and starred in 'Wake the Riderless Horse,' a short film that my buddy wrote and directed.

Making a movie, under any circumstances, is a highly stressful occupation.

The reason why I wanted to direct is because there are personal stories that I want to tell, but also because I love every part of movie making - from the wardrobe to the set decoration to cinematography.

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 hope to direct at some point, but I don't feel the pressure to rush it. I want to really know what it is that I'm doing.