Seth Grahame-Smith Quotes

Just telling a story. That's cinema. It's not silent, black and white. It's a simple story that's well made.

A novel is both a story and a piece of writing. A movie is a story and a piece of filmmaking.

Films don't always tell a story; some films can achieve effect just by being razzle-dazzle or rock n' roll. That's part of the fare that's out there. And that's okay. For me, I place more value on a story.

Where film is infinitely superior to any other medium is emotion and story and character.

I have a certain kind of a taste for what will make a good movie or a good play or theater.

For me, the filmmaking has to be about the dramaturgy.

Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch?

There are a lot of considerations that come into play when you craft one of these 'Saw' scripts, and there's only so much you can put into them.

A film is different than a script. The text of the script is what it is.

Film is very condensed.

Every film is a puzzle really, from an editorial point of view.

Storytelling is storytelling. Good stories need compelling characters and interesting conflicts. That's the bottom line no matter what medium you're writing for.

Film-makers must decide what story to tell and how to tell it.

With a film, you have to pare down and take stuff out and squish it all down into a 110 page script.

I always want to be telling stories in whatever fashion I can, and directing is really just understanding and learning a different element of that storytelling process.

I'm drawn to a good story, really, as I hope most people are. For me, it's the story that's going to stay with you eventually, not necessarily the genre. I go to watch a film because of the story, not because it was a Western or a comedy.

The way the films look will never entertain an audience alone. It has to be in the service of a good story with great characters.

A good opening and a good ending make for a good film provide they come close together.

To me, the AMC brand is great storytelling - they call it slow-burn storytelling.

I have a very simple definition of a good movie: a good movie makes you forget you're watching a movie.

Content films necessary don't go by the content, they go by the emotions. Content films are about content whether you want to portray the content or sell it through humour, through seriousness, is a choice of the filmmaker.

I feel like with a movie you know your whole journey, and even though little minutiae might change, you're able to get a better idea of where you're going, whereas TV is engaging a different side of your brain.

Atanu is one of my favourite directors. His script, style of storytelling and characterisation are always very different.

These days, you don't need a song or glamour to make your film work. It is all about a good story.

As a writer, I think about films I work on in a traditional Hollywood kind of a way. I'm curious to see how it translates.