Douglas Wilson Quotes

I do not have a history in set design. I have a history in art. I draw. But I learned set design when I couldn't afford to have a team and I didn't want to look like I was indie. I wanted to give fans the visual.

Gary Ross is amazing. He's just - he always has a billion ideas of what he wants, but has a very clear perspective also; he just makes it work. He really does. He's trying different things and making everything look amazing.

I like the feeling of making things. It's very very rewarding. And filmmaking is that type of experience, where you're forced to collaborate with so many people. You're involved in the beginning to end, you're involved with so many elements, and when it's done, you're like, 'I made this movie.'

I love working with directors who have good taste. It's incredible when a director can say something and things open up for you. I went to The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and some of my best experiences on sets have been working with other alums.

I painted sets before I ever performed.

Part of the process of acting in a film that you're also directing is really trusting the people around you to capture your vision, which hopefully you have communicated well to them.

I paid my dues at drama school and worked backstage in every Theatre in London.

You never know what you do that could be totally out of left field, which actually might work and give something fresh to the whole scene, to the character, whatever. If you have that with a director who then knows how to shape it, either in the direction, in the moment, or in the editing, then that's good.

I think theater is powerful. The best experiences I had in the theater are more powerful than the best experiences I had in movies.

What I love most about animation is, it's a team sport, and everything we do is about pure imagination.

I love illustrating for other writers because I am given stories I never would have thought of, and my work as an illustrator is always in support of the story.

I spent six years touring the world playing Shakespeare, Molire, Shaw, Goldsmith... But I slowly came to realise that the people you are working with are as important as the parts you play, and that there were lots of interesting people working in film and T.V.

My background is in theater. I was a theater major in college.

Well, I'm... first and foremost I'm a theater guy and everything that I know comes from the theater.

I love working in the theater.

There is the danger of over preparation, of loss of spontaneity; over rehearsal is the most terrible thing you can imagine. We do have a very close association between costume and set designer, though. And the cameraman is very important, of course.

Do some work in the theater if you can. It is the best training you can get.

Usually I design the lighting and when I have the physical set there, I'm not good at going out loosely and saying, 'Do you what you want, give it to the editor, and he'll figure it out.' I physically then walk on with the actors and I say, 'Let's walk until you guys feel the space works for you, and tell me when all that happens.'

A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people.

I provide the bricks and mortar with the words and situations - the director and the actors and the designers build the house.

I was never a hugely successful theatre designer. I painted a lot of scenery and did the lighting, and my lighting business grew out of that.

Theatre is really difficult, so it's important that you have a director that kind of understands that and is really hands on.

I've worked with more than 50 directors, and I've paid attention since day one. That's pretty much been my education, apart from studying art history and shooting with my own cameras. I've seen 50 different sets of mistakes and 50 different ways of achieving. You just leave the bad part out.

When I work as an art director, I don't ask to see sketches from illustrators or photographers. I give them a basic idea, and then I say, 'Send it to me, it'll be fine' - I get out of the way.

In my heart of hearts, I love theatre. It's the joy and terror of putting a play on, the creativity of it. It is infinitely harder than film and television and more tiring. Your performance is heightened in the way it isn't with film.