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You can't work in the movies. Movies are all about lighting. Very few filmmakers will concentrate on the story. You get very little rehearsal time, so anything you do onscreen is a kind of speed painting.
John Malkovich
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Filmmaking often prioritizes visuals over storytelling due to time constraints.

John Malkovich highlights a common critique in the film industry where the emphasis is placed on visual elements such as lighting rather than the narrative itself. He suggests that the process of filming is rushed, akin to 'speed painting,' where artists must capture a moment quickly, leading to a diminished focus on story development and character depth.

Themes

FilmmakingStorytellingArtLightingVisuals

In practice

Example use cases

In a film class, discussing the importance of story versus visuals.

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