The magic doesn't come from within the director's mind, it comes from within the hearts of the actors.
James CameronRead
To convince people to back your idea, you've got to sell it to yourself and know when it's the moment. Sometimes that means waiting. It's like surfing. You don't create energy, you just harvest energy already out there.
Interpretation
To persuade others about your idea, first believe in it yourself and recognize the right timing.
James Cameron emphasizes the importance of self-belief and patience in advocating for your ideas. Just as a surfer waits for the right wave, one must cultivate an understanding of when to present and push their concepts while being attuned to the existing energy and opportunities around them.
In practice
During a team meeting to pitch a new project idea.
The magic doesn't come from within the director's mind, it comes from within the hearts of the actors.
I tend to like strong female characters. It just interests me dramatically. A strong male character isn't interesting because it has been done and it's so cliched. A weak male character is interesting: somebody else hasn't done it a hundred times. A strong female character is still interesting to me because it hasn't been done all that much, finding the balance of femininity and strength. [From a 1986 Fangoria interview]
But failure has to be an option in art and in exploration - because it's a leap of faith. And no important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks.
Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how small, no matter how cheesy, no matter whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it as director. Now you're a director. Everything after that you're just negotiating your budget and your fee.
Every time you dive, you hope you'll see something new - some new species. Sometimes the ocean gives you a gift, sometimes it doesn't.
I'm a storyteller; that's what exploration really is all about. Going to places where others haven't been and returning to tell a story they haven't heard before.
It was clear to me that if I could get through Princeton at the top of my class, I could do anything in the world.
I hope our hopes and aspirations are bigger than setting records.
Will I, succeed, paranoid from the weed and hocus pocus, try to focus but I can't see.
The separation of talent and skill is one of the largest misconceptions in modern society. Talent is something you born with, but skill can only be attained through Hours and Hours of hard work perfecting your talent as a craft. Which is why Talent will fail you without skill.
A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.
You were not born a winner, and you were not born a loser. You are what you make yourself be.
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