Roland Joffe Quotes

I think what makes a good actor's director is the same thing that makes a good director. Acting is just one of the trades necessary to make a movie.

The storytelling in a movie is in the cut; it's in the edit. It's not an actor's job, really. Your job is such a tiny little thing, and I love the feeling of juggling or tightrope walking.

In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting.

My two great loves when I'm shooting are working with great actors and composing images.

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.

A good script and a good brief from the director is enough to let me know what is expected of me.

Technically, maybe I learned most of all from George Stevens, and among his movies I learned the most from 'A Place in the Sun.' It's a lesson in moviemaking.

I love David Fincher - even though it was just two scenes, I loved the way we worked and could tell by the way he was shooting it that this was going to be an affective movie to say the least.

In motion pictures, the actor rules. The camera served the actor.

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

I started out my career as a screenwriter and quickly discovered that adhering to a script isn't always the best way to make a film. You have to take into consideration the nuances of the characters and what the actors bring to their roles.

I'm not a great director or an auteur; I'm an ensemble director. I do think I can get wonderful performances out of actors.

I would like to thank the 49 actors who appear on screen in 'Whiplash' for realizing Damien Chazelle's vision so beautifully.

As a cinematographer or director, I'm always looking for projects that are able to say a lot with the actor's expressions.

Directing is quite a nuts-and-bolts thing. It's a mixture of creating an atmosphere in which actors can feel safe enough to be dangerous.

I think all my favorite directors have acted. They understand how an actor thinks.

Writing has made me a better actor. Acting has made me a better writer. So why wouldn't directing make me a better actor and writer?

I do get very involved in making a scene work without giving too much thought about how it affects the overall, which I think is hard to know in any case.

I thought Jack's directing job was the best thing about the film.

I have only recently got interested in film, and it is a strange way of working in many ways. But actually, when it is at its best, it's quite an extraordinary way of working between a director and an actor, to really explore an inner life.

As a director, I'm not the one animating every frame, every shot. I'm moving around like a surgeon on rounds, or a farmer checking in on all the plants being grown, pruning and adjusting. For me, it's a very exciting job.

When I do a movie, I have the script. I know how it begins and how it ends. I know what my character does and where he's going. If I have ideas I want to express or changes I want to make, there's one guy: the director. It's different in television.

I shoot people in a way that makes the audience feel equal to them. And it's hard to express and it's hard to execute but I think it works on every level - the choice of the material the choice of the actor, my relationship with the actor, and so on.

A fantastic actor in a scene that's just closed off will be good. But when working with a director who knows little tricks - correct music, slowly pushing in - that stunning performance will somehow become even better. I've always seen it as a symbiotic relationship.

I like the detail work of telling a story in small pieces, as is done in movie-making, and also the long leap of faith needed to see a theatre performance through each night. Both require focus and self-discipline.