Michelle MacLaren Quotes

I'm very analytical, I'm very precise.

I tend to be cautious and rational, prone to keep everything under control.

Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can't imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my head.

How do you shoot a 150-day movie? You shoot it one day at a time.

I'm very cerebral. I like to think things through.

The thing is, I'm a very practical filmmaker.

I'm just taking one step at a time. I could zigzag one way, but it's not usually on purpose.

I'm a Virgo; I naturally love to organize things.

I really don't storyboard unless it's an action sequence of some kind, but I plan carefully.

Science, as everyone knows, is responsible, moderate, unsentimental, and otherwise good.

Being deliberate in decisionmaking isn't always flashy, but it does get results.

I always knew the script was important, but I didn't realize how important until you get out there and just deal with the issues of putting a movie together. It's amazing that anything works, to be totally honest.

I tend to be very methodical for a variety of reasons. I'm more of a plodder.

Making movies is really hard. It's a very complex process, with many, many variables.

Everybody knows the Premier League is so difficult, we have to think step by step.

The screenplay is a great document because it makes you have many discussions prior to actually being on the floor.

One of the things that I do like about filmmaking is that you find out how to solve new problems.

When any great design thou dost intend, Think on the means, the manner, and the end.

Derek Jarman shared the responsibility for making the film. He didn't necessarily know what he wanted - he knew what he didn't want - but you had to keep coming up with stuff.

I've always approached screenplays and so forth with, "How would it really happen?" Not "What's the movie version?" but "What's the real-life version?" Then I just follow my nose.

The script is what you've dreamed up - this is what it should be. The film is what you end up with.

I don't think I'm anything like the improviser. I'm not. I do better with at least an outline.

I think that there's an infinite amount of places where you can stick a camera. There's an infinite amount of choices of what could be going on. There's an infinite amount of places for so many things, so you have to figure out how to do your job.

Every film, obviously, everyone starts out aiming at making it good, and in the end, filmmaking is really fragile. Making a film is like building a house of cards on the deck of a speeding boat, or playing chess on train tracks. Every opportunity feels like that; it's the one artistic field that's unlike most of the others.

Why bother with a cunning plan when a simple one will do?