We're always looking for the backbone, the central idea, and once you have that you know everything can circle around it.
All that matters is that the thing be the thing of the thing.
It can even be a single note which defines the entire song.
In a movie like this, the relationship between the two guys is crucial. It sinks or swims on how these two guys are together. I think we did a good job.
The principal person in a picture is light.
The melody is the most important thing that must stay in the minds of the people who listen to you. No matter how many notes you play, you can't let them forget what the song is.
Bubble cubes are central to what I do.
Everybody has a theme. You talk to somebody awhile, and you realize they have one particular thing that rules them. The best you can do is a variation on the theme, but that's about it.
. . . the circumference of life cannot be rightly drawn until the center is set.
Make chance essential.
I think a lot of the time these days people are so concerned about having the right camera and the right film and the right lenses and all the special effects that go along with it, even the computer, that they're missing the key element.
Fear for a linchpin is a clue that you're getting close to doing something important.
Finding the tool is often half the battle.
I've learned one general thing in filmmaking: to work with one strong idea. One strong concept that pushes you to work in a certain way artistically.
If you look at the skeleton, the start is very important.
What I'm identifying with is the vision or the idea - whatever was the little nugget that started it.
The beginning is the chiefest part of any work.
Casting is very, very important.
The drummer's always going to be there. They're the floor of the whole deal and everyone can stand up on you.
Love is, without a doubt, the basis of everything.
In art, interest must be centred on the principal theme.
I'm the only instrument that's got the words, so I've got to be able to get that across.
I suppose if you could have only one thing, it would be that-energy. Without it, you haven't got a thing.
The beginning is the most important part of the work.
