I never got into making documentaries for any kind of success, because documentary careers are generally ones of prolonged failures.
Morgan NevilleRead
I always tell aspiring documentary filmmakers, 'You have to go into it because you love it; if you go into it for the money, you're an idiot.' The number one prerequisite is you have to be intensely curious. If you love learning and trying to make people figure out what makes people tick, it's the best job in the world.
Interpretation
Pursuing documentary filmmaking should stem from passion and curiosity rather than financial gain.
Morgan Neville emphasizes the importance of love and curiosity in the field of documentary filmmaking. He warns that those who seek this path primarily for monetary rewards are misguided, as the true essence of the craft lies in a genuine desire to explore and understand the complexities of human nature.
In practice
In a speech at a film school graduation, this quote can inspire new filmmakers to follow their passion.
I never got into making documentaries for any kind of success, because documentary careers are generally ones of prolonged failures.
When you come to documentaries, the stakes are too low for it to be cutthroat. You're all doing it for the right reasons.
There was no model how to make a documentary production company work. I figured it out as I went along.
In our hurried world too little value is attached to the part of the connoisseur and dilettante.
I have discovered photography. Now I can kill myself. I have nothing else to learn.
I don't mind being classified as a jazz artist, but I do mind being restricted to being a jazz artist. My foundation has been in jazz, though I didn't really start out that way. I started in classical music, but my formative years were in jazz, and it makes a great foundation.
Dance is not endangered - it will always find a way to express itself.
No matter how much crap you gotta plow through to stay alive as a photographer, no matter how many bad assignments, bad days, bad clients, snotty subjects, obnoxious handlers, wigged-out art directors, technical disasters, failures of the mind, body, and will, all the shouldas, couldas, and wouldas that befuddle our brains and creep into our dreams, always remember to make room to shoot what you love. It's the only way to keep your heart beating as a photographer.
Those who want to be serious photographers, you're really going to have to edit your work. You're going to have to understand what you're doing. You're going to have to not just shoot, shoot, shoot. To stop and look at your work is the most important thing you can do.
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