My tendency as an actor was to correct people, was to say, 'What if we tried it this way, what about if we tried that way?' That's terrible habit for an actor, but that's a good habit for director. So I became a director.
David MametRead
Filmmaking, like any other art, is a very profound means of human communication; beyond the professional pleasure of succeeding or the pain of failing, you do want your film to be seen, to communicate itself to other people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Filmmaking is a powerful way to share ideas and emotions with others, and the goal is to connect with the audience regardless of success or failure.
In this quote, Kenneth Lonergan emphasizes that filmmaking transcends mere professional achievements and setbacks; it is fundamentally about the desire to convey messages and evoke emotions in others. He highlights the intrinsic value of sharing one's artistic vision and the importance of audience connection, suggesting that the aim of filmmaking is to create a dialogue between the creator and the viewer.
Themes
FilmmakingCommunicationArtAudienceExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a film class, a professor might use this quote to illustrate the purpose of storytelling in cinema.
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To hell with facts! We need stories.
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Fanfiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don't do it for money. That's not what it's about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the satisfaction. They're fans, but they're not silent, couchbound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.
Lev GrossmanRead