James Wong Howe Quotes

[Martin Scorsese ] basically works just like any other director. You work the scene, you try to find what's best in it and make it work. That's what it was like.

Peter Chelsom and Edgar Wright are totally different directors and worlds apart, but both really accomplished directors who are certain of how they want to make a film.

When I am shooting a film I never think of how I want to shoot something; I simply shoot it.

I don't think you can figure this stuff out. If you could figure all this stuff out, then all the great filmmakers would come out of Yale and Harvard. It's not an intellectual process.

A movie is like a city. There's, like, 150 people working, and it's all because of something that came out of your head.

I think about a lot of my favorite directors, and I think about their first films, and I have great admiration for the earthiness of those films.

Oddly, in a sense, I still have more confidence as a director than my ability as a writer. Somehow, directing is just really easy. It's just about being really honest about how you feel about what you're seeing.

I was constantly surprised by how things took shape, whether it was something that was funny or [sharp] or some of these more simple, quiet moments in the woods. Honestly I would say everything and nothing. I honestly don't think it's different than on any other film [Swiss Army Man]. I think I would probably ask questions of everything always.

As a director and filmmaker, I love creating my own opportunity, and getting to share the love, in that way, by creating other opportunities for people that I admire, so that they can do something in a way they haven't done it before.

A lot of filmmaking is all about filtering out the bullshit.

People will say, 'There are a million ways to shoot a scene,' but I don't think so. I think there are two, maybe. And the other one is wrong.

I don't really believe in the mystery of cinematography - what happens in the camera is what the cinematographers create and all that nonsense.

The work of a director can be summed up in two very simple words. Why and How.

I'm trying to use the camera to get into people's heads. I use camera techniques a lot to articulate character.

To make movies you just have to want it enough. You have to have the passion for telling stories. You have to get by the love-of-movies aspect. You can't just be a movie fan.

I really do enjoy making movies and I try to test myself on occasion with some different stuff.

I like making movies. I like the process. I like trying out new ideas, and if they don't work, they don't work. That's the reason I generated the money in the first place, to be able to try things. That's where I spend my money.

There is something about being a director where, for me personally, I get to . . . it's the closest I'll ever come to being able to be a stand up. And to use my particular sense of humor, and hear people laughing, without me having to stand up in front of an audience and tell jokes.

I do not over-intellectualize the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.

Getting back in the directors chair - there's a sense of like doing something every year. It's not like riding a bike, you're always learning new things, you're gonna face new challenges and when you face new challenges you'll have an answer for them.

Movies are so hard to get made - every step of the way of making a movie has obstacles. If you don't have that passion, if you don't have that vision, if you don't believe it's a piece of art worth making, then you probably won't get it made - you won't have a chance for it to be something special.

I used to edit myself. If something seemed super-simple I had to make it more complicated. Now I'm trying to let what's in there come out and acknowledge where I come from. I'm trying to make it more. ..true.

The thing that I really want to try and do is just live my life really openly and honestly. I think there's so much power in that, as simple as it is.

I do love making films. I want to be a filmmaker that grows and progresses and does keep trying to push myself. I think that's it... and a bit of confidence maybe.

People come up to me and say "Steve, what is film editing?" And I say "How should I know? You're the director.