A Quote by Irvin Kershner

The thing that you learn in directing is that when you're on the floor, no matter how complex the shooting is...you have to remain absolutely sensitive to every nuance of the behavior of the people around you. Because, ultimately, if you don't keep in mind the overall humanity, then the machine takes over and suddenly all you have are technically fine shots, technically good performances. The story's being told, but something's lacking, something mysterious, indefinable.

Irvin Kershner

Quote Topics

Absolutely Around Because Behavior Being Complex Directing Every Fine Floor Good How Humanity Indefinable Keep Lacking Learn Machine Matter Mind Mysterious Nuance Over Overall People Performances Remain Sensitive Shooting Shots Something Story Suddenly Takes Technically Then Thing Ultimately

Quote Author

Irvin Kershner
American - Director
April 29, 1923 - November 27, 2010

I'm not that particularly talented in terms of making anything or - I'm not technically efficient. I certainly don't know how to draw very well or paint, and I'm not good with computers. But I think the thing that I'm good at is willing something into life, no matter what. I do what it takes to get it done.

Gregory Crewdson

I think I've spent so much time playing characters that are so far away from me and learning how to technically build and how to technically put something on top of you.

Josh Lucas

People can get too heavy and it's just about being heavy, which means there isn't a whole lot of art in that; it's more mechanical. Just always keep in mind that melody is what makes something memorable and if you take that out of the equation then you may have something that's technically played very well, but you still can't lose sight of the song.

Jason C. Miller

It doesn't matter how good you are, it's about connecting with your audience. It doesn't matter how technically good you are, if nobody wants to watch you then you're no good to anybody.

William Regal

Sometimes a poem appeals to me technically, just because of the way a line feels on my lips. Sometimes it is because it says something I have felt, or sometimes something that I suddenly recognise. Other times it can change the way I see something.

Frank Skinner

Very quickly I realized that directing is a combination of things: It's visual, it's directing the actors, it's telling a story. And people don't always mention this part of directing, but it's also knowing how to really edit something into something that makes sense.

Julie Delpy

I think the legacy of the space station will be that we can do something this technically complex in an international way.

Peggy Whitson

Delia Sherman once told me that you never learn to write a story. You only learn to write the story you are currently writing. You have to learn how to write the next story all over again. And she's absolutely right.

Theodora Goss

I know people who prepare their roles in such a way that they technically look ahead and memorize their gestures, and then they stick to it. Those that are technically proficient enough can make it seem natural, but they do that and don't really take in what other people are doing.

Viggo Mortensen

To be a good artist, you need to be sensitive to the world around you, you need to be curious, you need to listen, you need to be willing to learn from people. A lot of great art is about people being moved by something or seeing something that stops them dead.

Arlo Parks

I don't really class myself as a musician, I can make music but I'm not the greatest technically. There were other people who were technically better than me in school but I knew how I wanted to sound and all I needed was to work out how to do it.

Dizzee Rascal

It’s just … everything. There are too many people. And I don’t fit in. I don’t know how to be. Nothing that I’m good at is the sort of thing that matters there. Being smart doesn’t matter—and being good with words. And when those things do matter, it’s only because people want something from me. Not because they want me.

Rainbow Rowell

I'd like to work more as a director. It's distracting being an actor, because - there's a lot of reasons. You find out you're going to work about six months before you start shooting, and then there's prep and there's post afterward, and there's stuff to do, and then suddenly you've gone a year without directing. There's a part of me that has to not be tempted by that in order to commit more to the directing. Honestly, the big reason for me to act is to observe other directors and learn from them. That seems to be the biggest draw.