Kim Novak Quotes

I like a lot of takes. I just go on until the actors get it right.

The only way you can learn about making films is by making them, by putting your stamp on the thing.

All the films I do, I write the scripts, I direct.

Working on a film, the setup for an action sequence takes a long time, and we need to shoot the scene many times to get different angles.

Rarely ever see or meet the writer during shooting.

I enjoy co-directing or even being there just for support because you get to see your script come to aural life in front of you.

I love working quickly. I don't like to do thousands of takes, and I don't want to do thousands of set ups.

There comes a time as you continue to write and work on scripts and screenplays where you realize that you have opinions about the next step of the process, and you kind of want more control over the translation from page to screen.

From 2005 to 2010, I was exclusively shooting 'The Act of Killing' and then editing it.

I always thought the writing process for movies and TV shows was just a blueprint. The making of it was the thing.

I love being on a movie set.

In Hollywood, the system is so streamlined, the administration is in place. That's why every six months Spielberg is able to make a film.

A product can turn bad, not the production. When you start a film, you feel it will be great. But sometimes, as it progresses, it fails somewhere. You can't blame anyone for that. You can blame only your own intelligence!

There's so many people involved in making a film.

We used to take two years to complete a film, and sometimes, we used to be told on the sets that the scenes are still being written. Everything today is pre-planned.

Writing is fantasizing about what your film will be like. Shooting is reality. And the post-production is recovering the idea you had.

Get the overall. Some of my films may have been crude at times, or tough, or missed the points, but I've tried to get the overall in. I think that's more important. You may miss a thing or two, but you move faster. If you can do it in three takes, do it in three takes.

We shot every scene of mine in the entire movie in five days. All my coverage, everything. I left. They went back and shot everybody else around me. Insane. The part [Billie in Crazy Six] called for a handsome, coiffed cool guy romantic lead, and I showed up like you see him in the movie. And they let me do it.

If you spend any time on the shooting of a drama, for television or movies, it's very slow and there's a lot of standing around.

There's nothing worse than shooting a scene you haven't rehearsed.

When I make a movie, it's almost a relief to get shooting 'cause the hell is over, or part of the hell is over.

Obviously, you never shoot the scenes of a film in order or only very rarely.

When you're shooting a movie you are away from home most of the time. It's an amazing thing that we get to do what we get to do, but you definitely are away from the family more than you'd like to be.

Going to UCLA, as far as I'm concerned, afforded me two things. One was the advantage of meeting friends and getting to know a group of guys I hung out with, was chummy with. All of us eventually had success with film. Making films, cutting our own little movies together, 3 in the morning going out and shooting stuff, finding gels that people had thrown away, making our own lights. It was like a frat house for film geeks, the Pad O' Guys. That's what being at UCLA afforded me.

And then to see the whole movie, you're pretty much waiting until the end of production. And the major lifting in terms of editing and all that stuff is done before you shoot the movie. That's an unusual way to work.