Ben Foster Quotes

The silent movie is an emotional cinema: it's sensory; the fact that you don't go through a text brings you back to a basic way of telling a story predicated on the feelings you have created.

One of my favorite things to do is not to speak on screen. In theater it's different because there's a lot of emphasis on language - it's a different medium. But that is one of the most wonderful things about film. A person's face can say so much more than their voice can.

It's about storytelling. The story is told through images. So with the cast, I had to make sure that the emotions were readable without sound... I know some great actors, if you turn off the sound, you don't really know what they're saying.

I always loved silent movies. I was not a specialist, but I loved them. And when I started directing, I became really fascinated by the format - how it works, the device of the silent movie. It's not the same form of expression as a talkie. The lack of sounds makes you participate in the storytelling.

In a silent film, you speak but the audience does not hear you.

When you see a silent movie, you understand everything that's going on from the images because the images are so strong.

In a silent film, the visuals are of utmost importance.

I've always been a follower of silent movies. I see film as a visual medium with a musical accompaniment, and dialogue is a raft that goes on with it.

When I'm actually assembling a scene, I assemble it as a silent movie. Even if it's a dialog scene, I lip read what people are saying.

I love some films with very silent characters, people who don't speak, but I wouldn't be able to do that.

I always loved silent movies. I was not a specialist, but I loved them. And when I started directing, I became really fascinated by the format - how it works, the device of the silent movie.

Everybody uses mime and gesture in real life, though we don't realize it. It's very useful as a performance technique, though it can be boring to watch on its own.

I always had a dream about trying to make a movie that had no dialogue in it, that was just music and pictures. I still haven't done it yet, but I tried to get close in the beginning.

I love scenes with minimal dialogue.

I made several short films with very little dialogue. I'm still not a fan of talking heads. My stories are told with images as much as possible.

I've never made a film using dialogue or speech.

The camera is the slave to the actor.

I remember seeing the performance Samantha Morton did in 'Sweet and Low Down' where she didn't speak at all, and I loved it so much because she got to do so much work just by expressing herself in her body and her face. With expressions, it wasn't necessary to speak. I find that appealing.

Film is anti-language.

Silent films weren't so different from my comics - the basic choice both offer an artist is what do you show and what do you tell.

IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CANT SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE, YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA.

I found in making and directing films that the less you have voiceover, the better it is.

Ever since I made the short film 'Black And White,' which had almost no dialogues, the idea of making a silent feature film fascinated me.

Hitchcock loved long convoluted shots that contained a lot of tracking and camera moves.

When you have great performers and have set your movie in the right direction, it's a beautiful privilege to let the camera watch the action unfold without spoken words.