Top 103 Quotes & Sayings by Lynne Ramsay - Page 2

I'm a big believer in cinema, you know - what it used to be? Images and sound, and working it out a bit. I find it exciting watching films where I just go into an impressive world.

I guess I've never really done a straight adaptation. It's been more like 'in the spirit of,' you know?

It's surreal, Glasgow. It's got a really black sense of humor and I remember being envious of John Glazer beating me to it on the sci-fi in Glasgow with 'Under the Skin.'

It's a real skill to take a piece of literature and make it in cinema. It's quite a different form, and I think I have to respect that.

Kevin' is a psychological horror film. It uses genre elements, so hopefully it's exciting to watch.

I love Aphex Twin's 'Rhubarb.'

I love the discipline of shooting film, because you don't cover everything, and I'm glad that I learned that way.

Film school was frustrating for me at first but I met some cool people like Lucia Zucchetti - she was amazing.

Gasman' was something I wrote on a beer mat in a pub.

I try to keep very simple ideas and keep them as emotionally powerful as possible.

I always say I thought I was making this exciting action movie but I actually always end up making character studies. Every single one.

You've got to stick up for what you believe in. If you don't do that, you're doing a disservice to the audience, because you're making something really diluted. And if you do that when you're a guy, you're seen as artistic - 'difficulty' is seen as a sign of genius. But it's not the same for women.

I don't want to do worldly cinema: 'Hold your breath, this is art.'

I was at film school when I made 'Small Debts' and I was a cinematographer, so I didn't actually study to be a director.

I've had some bad experiences, but I've also been lucky and I just feel so privileged to be able to even make films.

I'm really lucky to work with such special actors.

You can always tell a great photographer because they make you feel super-relaxed.

I think if you sell parts of your soul, you don't really know who you are anymore.

I think you're always learning how to explore different territories.

I love writing openings, and I think that can give me the key to the movie. So somehow, that can be the easiest part, to be honest.

Every film has its ups and downs. Each time it seems like pushing a boat over a mountain. I worked on 'The Lovely Bones' for five years before my involvement fell apart.

I am committed when I make a film and if it takes a long time I would rather wait.

Sometimes what you don't show creates more of a mystery.

In my short film, 'Gasman,' I shot it at a kid's party. And the kids were just having a party - they couldn't care less about our film. But that was great because we got this amazing footage where kids were drinking soda and pop or whatever, and getting that sugar high and beating each other up or dancing.

When I was younger, making films was so all-consuming. It was a life-or-death thing. Films still mean so much to me when I'm making them. So I had to get away from that attitude of living or dying with every film, because otherwise you'll go insane.

I came from a background of photography so I look at details and visuals, and I see things in pictures or signs.

Just being in love with making films makes me carry on.

Short stories can make for really good adaptations.

Working with cool people helps when working with few shots. You trust yourself and them.

If you want to achieve a real labour of love, it can be painful, too.

It's hard to trust something completely.

To me life is very complex. But there's always humor.

99 percent of the time when you cast right, it's a dream. If you cast wrong, it's a nightmare.

I just like working with good actors.

My adaptations are just as complicated as an original.

Kevin' was shot in 30 days.

We Need To Talk About Kevin,' as an adaptation, was pretty major. It's a long book, and it's in letters, so it was a real editing experience to boil that down and make it cinematic. I learned a lot doing that film.

Films I've really liked are when you've walked out and you're still in that movie for a while. That's virtual reality for me, to go into a theatre, especially with the use of sound - a subconscious thing that's underestimated. I remember seeing 'Blue Velvet' when I was 15, and half the audience walking out, but I thought my life had changed.

A 30-day shoot is a nightmare.

To me, most filmmaking is a kind of visualization of how people are. The dark, the light, the absurdity of life, all the crazy things, you know? So all of the characters that I've made have been really close to my heart. I guess what I'm interested in is just visualizing a really three-dimensional picture of a person.

A tendency for the male perspective to dominate responses to films, whether that's commissions or how a film is presented in the world. The market is used to a male voice and a male audience, which it feeds

Don't try and change things for other people. Don't try and be persuaded by producers and people to change your vision. If you stick to your vision and you're true to yourself, it kind of works. I mean, it's tough. It's a big Fitzcarraldo journey, but then you'll have your good karma at the end of the day. You'll have your good soul. You know, if you start to sell little bits of it, you, you become nothing and nobody, and you don't have any vision remaining.

When I go to the cinema, I want to have a cinematic experience. Some people ignore the sound and you end up seeing something you might see on television and it doesn't explore the form. Sound is the other picture. When you show people a rough cut without the sound mix they are often really surprised. Sound creates a completely new world. With dialogue, people say a lot of things they don't mean. I like dialogue when it's used in a way when the body language says the complete opposite. But I love great dialogue I think expositional dialogue is quite crass and not like real life.