Good Directors Quotes

• Good directors say, Here's where the play is. They stand by the heart of the matter. Some of them stand beside it.

  Sam Waterston

  Heart, Play, Directors

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• Your own barometer is all you have to go by, and often what makes a good director is knowing when not to say something. On occasions you can find yourself on a film set where the person who is wearing the director's hat is only trying to justify his position.

  Gary Oldman

  Knowing, Finding Yourself, Trying

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• There are definitely reasons to do certain things, but I like to stick to good director, good actor, good script.

  Amanda Seyfried

  Directors, Actors, Scripts

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• Good directors can bring certain things out of you, with their intensity or gentleness or sensitivity or understanding. They can make an actor feel he can do no wrong.

  Robert De Niro

  Understanding, Actors, Directors

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• I've never played a Dane in a movie. I've had offers to be in Danish movies, including for some good directors, but I either had a job at the time or, when I was available, the movie just didn't happen. Hopefully someday I'll do one.

  Viggo Mortensen

  Jobs, Directors, Someday

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• I suppose a good director is like a teacher. I think that someone like David Cronenberg was very much like a teacher, because there's an openness, but a certain set of rules of behavior, and a certain conduct expected. But there's an atmosphere that's relaxed and conducive to exploration, and that is created by someone like Cronenberg.

  Viggo Mortensen

  Teacher, Thinking, Atmosphere

  "Viggo Mortensen Speaks: Part 3 of 3". Interview with Ethan Gilsdorf, www.wired.com. March 12, 2012.

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• I think to be a good director you have to be a good person and you have to care about people.

  Kristen Stewart

  Thinking, People, Directors

  Source: collider.com

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• There's a paraphrase about Orson Welles saying: "Great films are made by great directors and the rest are made by everyone else." I've been very lucky... before I start insulting the profession of directing, but I think a good director is everything and a bad director really is nothing at all.

  Colin Firth

  Thinking, Insulting, Directors

  "Then She Found Me - Colin Firth interview". Interview with Rob Carnevale, www.indielondon.co.uk.

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• It's entirely to do with personality, I think. There are good directors who talk a lot, bad directors who talk a lot, and good directors who don't say much and vice-versa. It just depends on whether people respond to that personality and whether people have a willingness to do something for them.

  Colin Firth

  Thinking, People, Personality

  "Then She Found Me - Colin Firth interview". Interview with Rob Carnevale, www.indielondon.co.uk.

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• It's always the script first choosing roles. [Then] whoever else is attached. I never like to be the first person attached, because I don't really trust what's going on, unless there's a really good director.

  Christopher Mintz-Plasse

  Directors, Roles, Scripts

  Source: www.avclub.com

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• I'm trying to avoid any more asshole roles, at least for a little bit. The main criteria for me when choosing a project is a good director. I just want to work with these guys that I admire because I do want to direct my own films one day, and I want to pick their brains to see what their process is like, and see what I can take from that.

  Dave Franco

  Guy, Brain, Trying

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• To seek out making films that are unique and insightful, boundary-pushing and genre-bending, and not films that fit into the neat, little boxes that people "want" (expect) women to be making. In some ways, I guess for me, any filmmaker should strive to be a good director first, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation etc.

  Rania Attieh

  Unique, Race, People

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• There are some directors I should have worked with. I`d like to have worked with Robert Altman - I turned him down a couple of times when I was younger. My thing now is if it`s a good director I`ll never say no - I`m just gonna say yes from now on.

  Val Kilmer

  Couple, Should Have, Directors

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• Movies are certainly a director's medium, so getting the opportunity to work with really good directors is everything to me.

  Clive Owen

  Opportunity, Directors, Mediums

  Interview with RZA, www.interviewmagazine.com. October 28, 2015.

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• I think a lot of good directors listen to music while they're working. The songs just don't become a part of the film. They're replaced.

  Ben Folds

  Song, Thinking, Directors

  Source: collider.com

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• I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to work with good directors and for me it's not really a plan each time I'm on a set with one of them; I think about what I can learn from them because I'm very aware that my filmmaking skills are very modest.

  Sacha Baron Cohen

  Thinking, Skills, Directors

  Source: deadline.com

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• Matching character and actor is what a good director does.

  Bruno Dumont

  Character, Directors, Doe

  "Marrakech Film Festival Masterclass: Bruno Dumont Gives Tips on Editing, Directing Actors and More" by Eric Hynes, www.indiewire.com. December 4, 2013.

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• I think a good director casts a film so that the actors bring a lot to the table.

  Debbie Allen

  Thinking, Directors, Actors

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• Really good director sometimes will kind of see what the actors are doing and then get in there. Because there's the realization that you have to find it a little bit and then kind of clump around and sniff it out.

  Ron Livingston

  Realization, Littles, Directors

  "Ron Livingston Talks the Conjuring, Why He Got Involved, Meeting His Real-life Counterpart, Building Chemistry With His Film Family and the Immersive Set". Interview with Dave Trumbore, collider.com. June 26, 2013.

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• There are times when you work with directors on set, and things are a bit rudderless, and those can be good directors.

  Grant Heslov

  Directors, Be Good, Bits

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• Any good director creates a playground. That's what they do. They hire the right actor, open the door and let them play because stuff will happen, right then and there. The audience wants to believe that what's going on is happening for the first time, ever. That's what acting is. That's what good scene writing is.

  Martin Landau

  Believe, Writing, Doors

  "Martin Landau Talks FRANKENWEENIE, the Love for His Character, Bringing Mr. Rzykruski to Life, Advising Other Actors and Collaborating with Tim Burton". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. October 5, 2012.

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• I like to be cast well and then I like to be left alone. And good directors, that's generally what they do when they hire you because you have something that's useful to the part, and then they leave you alone. The times that I've run into trouble is when, very rare actually, but you get hired and then there's some sort of makeover involved.

  Christopher Walken

  Running, Directors, Trouble

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• It's more fun to play a good character with a good director and good actors around you. That's what makes it fun, and the more variety, the better.

  Salma Hayek

  Fun, Character, Play

  "Blake Lively and Salma Hayek Talk About SAVAGES, Slapping and Spitting on Benicio del Toro, and Swearing in Spanish". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. July 3, 2012.

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• As the cinematographer is usually more visual than the director is and full cooperation is really the answer and to make a great film, you need a good director and you need a good cinematographer.

  Vilmos Zsigmond

  Directors, Needs, Answers

  Source: www.chud.com

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• I like to work with talented people, I must say that. That's my weakness. I really like to work with good directors. That doesn't mean I don't like to work with starting up young directors, that's fun also.

  Vilmos Zsigmond

  Fun, Mean, Starting Up

  Source: www.chud.com

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