John Leeson Quotes

I'm interested in films, in directing.

You can't work in the movies. Movies are all about lighting. Very few filmmakers will concentrate on the story. You get very little rehearsal time, so anything you do onscreen is a kind of speed painting.

I like to direct for the big screen.

Filmmaking is a very complex form - ya know, acting, lighting, screenwriting, storytelling, music, editing - all these things have to come together.

I like the fact you can spend two hours setting up a scene that will only last a couple of seconds. And I like just sitting around and dozing between scenes!

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

My understanding of films was just as much as any young girl who watches Bollywood films. I had no idea about the whole process of filmmaking, about dialogue writing, scripts, screenplay etc. I had probably gone to two or three film shoots in my childhood.

When you're making a film, it's a very technical process. You do things over and over again, and you have to hit your marks and your light and all that stuff.

Directing, editing, and everything about filmmaking has definitely changed me as an actor.

That's what interests me about film: directing.

I learned a lot about filmmaking from my dad. Starting when I was a child, I would listen to my dad as an actor, writer, director and producer talking about films - you know what the treatment would be in the opening, in the middle, and in the ending.

I've picked up so much about the technical aspects of filmmaking and television.

It was in Kanpur where I got exposed to the art of filmmaking.

An actor's performance can be improved or shaped - or ruined - by what takes you use, how long you are on the actor's face, what line you put on the other actor's face, and when do you use close-ups or wide shots or two shots.

Part of being a filmmaker is also being a craftsman.

I like doing film, you know, single-camera.

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.

For a lot of my childhood, I didn't want to direct movies because I didn't really know what directing was.

Filming is like a house, you have to feel comfortable in it.

I love filmmaking, and I love the process. And I would rather do nothing else. It's a privilege to be able to paint such big pictures, so to speak.

I really love diving in, head first, with directing and not having to worry about hair, makeup or lines.

On a film, you do your own work, you come together and meet on set, and then you shoot. It's great.

I've always wanted to make movies.

Acting is always going to be number one, but what I learned in film school, I want to make that happen too, so I'm going to actually start working on my own.

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.