Tom Cruise Quotes

I am interested in people. I'm interested in telling stories, whether that is behind the camera or in front of the camera.

My filmmaking really began with technology. It began through technology, not through telling stories, because my 8mm movie camera was the way into whatever I decided to do.

I don't really make movies with an intention other than asking myself, 'Do I love the character, and do I love the story?'

The camera is the gatekeeper to the audience that's watching you.

A camera is a camera, a shot is a shot, how you tell the story is the main thing.

You're trying to bring a character to an audience, and tell stories. That's what we're all trying do.

I always wanted to do a movie, because I love the movies. They give you a chance to have an intimacy with your audience that is different from stand up. With movies, you can bring the audience in with a close up, and emote in a different way.

For me, it's always filmmaker and then character and then story. They're all equally important but if you don't have a great filmmaker, you will not have a great film unless you just get lucky.

I see theater as a simple formula. Audience plus players plus story makes the play.

I've done a lot of theater, and I know that it's a different audience each time who doesn't know the story, and we have to tell it.

For me, being in front of a camera is a matter of practicing and refining your art. I think, if you're telling a story worth telling, it's worth investing the time into developing.

I loved the stage and then grew to love the camera.

I don't have the energy or the mental security to get involved with all that. I think it's a good idea to be able to disappear into the story, so that the first thing the audience sees isn't you, but the part.

The greatest filmmakers are not the ones who put everything in; they're the ones who can figure things to leave out, and in doing so, invite your participation.

I think from an early age I was aware of how a camera can tell a story, how a movie camera can affect how the narrative is told.

Making a pretty picture, an image, is a completely different thing from acting to camera.

It's not a film-maker's job to explain his technique, but to tell his story the best way he can.

Film is the only language I speak, and I have been lucky to be involved in some great stories. You don't want to preach to people, but you want them to think about why things are the way they are, the history that is there as well as the possibilities.

Whether I'm telling stories in songs or if directing is the next step, being a storyteller is what I like doing.

I love Bollywood as a viewer, but going in front of the camera and singing and dancing is not my thing.

Being a director is almost like being another sort of character, but you're out of view.

As filmmakers, we're constantly always looking for something to bring the audience deeper into the reality of the story we're telling.

In every movie I do have a dialogue.

We are not the originators of the story. I think it's actually the opposite when you're an actor. You're telling somebody else's story.

With moviemaking, the audience always has to keep asking, 'What happens next?' If you have the wrong piece of music over a scene, people aren't going to get the scene. If you have the wrong camera angle, people aren't going to pay attention. That's as much a part of the process as getting people to talk to you.