And Later I Thought, I Can't Think How Anyone Can Become a Director Without Learning the Craft of Cinematography. Gus Van Sant More Quotes by Gus Van Sant More Quotes From Gus Van Sant Even if you try to copy a film shot by shot, you still can't. It's still your own film. Gus Van Sant shots film trying I used to take photographs just to remember people. Gus Van Sant photograph remember people A person's sexuality is so much more than one word "gay." No one refers to anyone as just "hetero" because that doesn't say anything. Sexual identity is broader than a label. Gus Van Sant gay identity say-anything The area of teenage life is not necessarily rarefied; we've all gone through that period. It's not as rarefied as a western or a space adventure or a gangster film, but it has its own dynamic. Gus Van Sant teenage space adventure Modern-day cinema takes the form of a sermon. You don't get to think, you only get to receive information. Gus Van Sant information cinema thinking Sometimes getting upset with yourself is necessary when you face the truth. Gus Van Sant upset faces sometimes I think that in some cases, I've made films that have a sentimental quality, at least as part of the film. Gus Van Sant sentimental quality thinking I'm normally drawn to something I haven't done and seen before. Gus Van Sant done havens Now the music industry is sort of like a Craigslist venture, right? Where you're making your own records and selling them online. Gus Van Sant venture selling records I'm usually trying to react to what the actors are coming up with. And then the environment, and then the story. Gus Van Sant actors stories trying I'm going in a really weird I-don't-know-where direction, but I prefer anything [different] from how standardized filmmaking has become. Gus Van Sant filmmaking really-weird different For all the boredom the straight life brings, it's not too bad. Gus Van Sant boredom blessing The rules of suspense are that you do know, and you just don't know when. In the Hitchcock rules of suspense, you are supposed to know that there is a bomb on the bus that might blow up, and then it becomes very tense - but if you don't know that there's a bomb and it just blows up, then it's just a surprise. Gus Van Sant suspense bombs blow The reason I know about 'Tomb Raider' is from when I was researching 'Elephant.' It was 1999, and I was trying to research the Columbine-massacre kids, and they had played video games, and I, at the time, had never really seen one. It was a world I didn't know. Gus Van Sant elephants games kids I'm a junkie. I like drugs, I like the whole lifestyle, but it just didn't pay off. Gus Van Sant lifestyle drug pay Wong Kar-Wai is a really great inspiration. He's always referred to as the Jimi Hendrix of filmmaking. Gus Van Sant filmmaking hendrix inspiration You're following your track, the story, your only plan, your map for the audience, and all the other stuff is, like, the fun stuff: the costumes, the locations, the set-dressing and the actors. They can all be variable as you like if you stick - however roughly - to the path. Gus Van Sant track stories fun My art teacher in junior high was a very out gay man and a mentor to me. He would tell us about Greenwich Village and show us the 'Village Voice' and describe his life, but it was all sort of subversive and below the radar. Gus Van Sant gay teacher art I have my ideas of what a good documentary is, but drama is a different animal because you're arranging everything. Gus Van Sant animal drama ideas Once you're directing, you're kind of in a certain mode, where you're taking whatever is on the page and forming it into the film that you think it might want to be. So whether it's my writing or not, I still try to work with it in the same way. Gus Van Sant writing trying thinking
