Sydney Pollack Quotes

The visual architecture of 'Biutiful' is the most sophisticated of all the films I have directed.

There are some scenes that work beautifully in a moving, sweeping master, which is how I like to work.

Before we start filming, I have a strong idea of the look and the feel that I want to create, and I'm happy to explore any means that will help me achieve that.

Every different director has another language - for instance, Hitchcock does not like any bright color ever, unless the story says 'there goes the girl in a red dress.'

The great thing about having spent all this time on film sets is that I've been able to watch directors and how they work. I now know that this is what I want to do as well: to tell stories visually. But it's definitely my vision that I want to put across, nobody else's.

If you shoot with a billion cameras, then there's no perspective. You want to use one shot at a time, so it's better to discover what that is before you shoot, rather than trying to make something in the cutting room, and then it just becomes generic.

Directing is creating a whole. You're able to combine different elements and create a film that is unique and true to your vision.

I was never one for multi-cameras; my approach was always... I always considered there was only one place to be to do a shot.

You ought to have a perspective when you're making a film.

I love telling stories with images. But I think there's more to just saying a movie is great visually.

Every film deserves its own unique look.

The camera is the slave to the actor.

When you're making a film, you have an obligation to fill the frame with life.

A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet.

Hitchcock loved long convoluted shots that contained a lot of tracking and camera moves.

What I like to do with every film is to bring a form, like a cinematographic proposal. If you watch 'S21,' it's a form; 'Duch, Master of the Gates of Hell' is a different proposal.

Films take us into an entirely different world, and that's why we must ensure that our long shots do justice.

In all my films, I have tried a different look.

I'm older and wiser. So and now having segued into filmmaking I'm looking at [Ridley Scott ] and what he does in an entirely different way and I have respect for what he does and how he composes shots. So that was what was completely fascinating.

My directors of photography light my films, but the colours of the sets, furnishings, clothes, hairstyles - that's me. Everything that's in front of the camera, I bring you.

So many directors say nothing beautifully, and so many others say great and profound things but have no idea how to read a light meter or arrange a shot.

I mean, Scorsese's a genius, and that's one way of shooting.

Whereas with Sirk, everything is always filmed. No matter what the script, he's always a real director.

I've heard it said many times, 'Let's work on the look of the film,' but that doesn't work with me.

I love it when television is shot in a cinematic way and I think to aspire to that is no bad thing.