Thelma Schoonmaker Quotes

Producing is easier, I can just be at the set overseeing the story.

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.

As an adult, there are technical aspects of filmmaking you understand, like having to pick up a cup on the same line every time.

I have to say that whatever decisions I make, I really do think that movie making is a director's medium. They are the people that ultimately shape the film, and a director can take great material and turn it into garbage if they are not capable of making a good movie.

I know how to write a movie. I know how to direct a movie.

Absolutely. I can produce. I can write. I can direct.

There are a lot of similarities with film and TV, but also a lot of differences, especially in the way they film stuff.

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.

It's always challenging when you're shooting a film. Shooting things out of order and keeping continuity on all levels is always for me the most challenging thing.

The filmmakers always have a great level of control.

From my experience as an actor, choreographer, action director, and producer, I understand the elements and the dynamics of being a film maker.

I think you cannot make films without choosing everything.

I had no education in filmmaking. I started with a 8mm camera. I made 34 films, and little by little I gained more experience in filming.

Film work can be very interesting, but it also can be awfully boring because who creates the film? The actors? No. It is the director. It's his piece of work.

The biggest challenge was trying to convey the story of the making of a film that isn't finished yet - and which won't be finished until the third film, The Return of the King, reaches our cinemas towards the end of 2003!

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

My first student film was Orientation, which was basically the set-up for Animal House. There are a couple of scenes that we later borrowed in some form.

Making a movie and not directing the little moments is like drinking a soda and leaving the little slurp puddle for someone else.

I think making a good film shot is joyful.

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.

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.

Motion picture making is a very, very involved affair. It is completely my baby. I'm a thorough professional. I plan films right from the conception of an idea to its final execution.

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!

I view filmmaking as a director's medium.

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.