Bill Duke Quotes

Directors tend to be more underrated than overrated because it's a quiet job and people don't really understand it.

In a movie, you work three months to tell a story that happens in two hours. In a Mexican soap opera, you work one day to make a story that's an hour and a half. So you can see the difference in the quality of the project.

I don't know much about making films or TV programs, but what's cool about being in the studio is that you have more time.

A director can come from anywhere, but having a story background, if you have nothing else, is probably a good thing to have because it's really the one tool you need.

I got to learn what does and doesn't work on screen. Because the turnaround is so fast, there's no messing around. You have to be on the ball.

I think that's the key to being a director: to be able to get the shot and move on quickly.

I think you cannot make films without choosing everything.

Often times people complain about the lack of time in television, but I have to say, you don't have any more time to film in feature films then you do in television. It's just a question of how many scenes you'll be doing in the course of a day.

If you want to be a director, work with writers and find different ways of telling stories with film, then do a course. This way you can consolidate what you've learnt and use the course to go further.

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.

And later I thought, I can't think how anyone can become a director without learning the craft of cinematography.

I thought I'd make a really great director because I'm an actor. Like, I thought I could really direct actors.

I would love to direct one day. I value the relationship that I have with a director so much, and I would be really excited to be on the other end of that relationship.

I've always wanted to be a director; it's just how my mind has always worked. If I hear music, I see music videos and all the shots and setups to edit it all together. If I interact with a person, I'm seeing a whole scene come to life.

Usually in TV... A TV director could be anything from a main grip to just a glorified cameraman, and sometimes a director can be the person who is hired last. It's very much a producer's medium.

I love the visual medium of film and TV. I love the science of it, working with the sound and the lighting and every aspect.

I don't think you can be a great director without knowing a lot about editing.

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

With films, you are not so much on a schedule. TV is all about scheduling.

When you're doing the work, film and TV are exactly the same. TV is just film in reduced pieces.

If you ask me whether I can direct, I can. In fact, I have shot several songs, scenes and stunts. When certain directors of my movies were not able to be there for some reason and had asked me to help out, I have directed. But to helm an entire movie is a different art altogether.

I always try and bring screenplay, shooting and editing into a sort of symbiotic - as close into alignment as you possibly can get them, consistent, obviously, with the resources that you've got and the time you've got available.

I've worked in the movie business for many, many years, where you have lots of days and lots of money. It's really mainly about time. We always try to conceive all of our action from a place of, "What can we shoot that looks fantastic?," rather than trying to do the kinds of thing that you would be able to accomplish in a movie.

I have considered the directing, actually. Not so much the writing. That is not really interesting, but the directing is really interesting to me.

I love doing television; it's such a brilliant way to tell a story over six hours rather over the two hours of doing a movie.