The slightest thing can ruin a scene, but you must be willing to take chances.
William WylerRead
I'm here to make good pictures. If I don't see it, I won't touch it. I may not make a good picture, but I still gotta believe in it!
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of vision and belief in one's work, regardless of the outcome.
William Wyler highlights the artist's commitment to their craft by stating that true creativity stems from a vision. He suggests that even if the final product may not meet expectations, one must have faith in their artistic instinct and the process of creation, reflecting a deep respect for the art form.
In practice
In a presentation about the creative process in filmmaking, I might quote Wyler to express the importance of belief in one's vision.
The slightest thing can ruin a scene, but you must be willing to take chances.
A director must push his actors to the utmost limit to get everything possible out of each scene - without being corny or sentimental or going overboard.
Everything a director does must help the story and the performances. Otherwise, it is useless.
The fundamental aspect of video is not the image, even though you can stand in amazement at what can be done electronically, how images can be manipulated and the really extraordinary creative possibilities. For me the essential basis of video is the movement - something that exists at the moment and changes in the next moment.
The most important thing is you can't write what you wouldn't read for pleasure. It's a mistake to analyze the market thinking you can write whatever is hot. You can't say you're going to write romance when you don't even like it. You need to write what you would read if you expect anybody else to read it.
Well, what's interesting, I try not to think about the radio when I'm writing a song. I want people to love the song, and that means it might not be exactly thinking about the radio, but it's thinking about your audience and saying, 'I want people to like this song after it's done.'
A dancer must listen to his body and pay homage to it. Behind the movement lies this terrible, driving passion, this necessity. I won't settle for anything less.
I tend to believe that film can try to save what still can be saved, in terms of our histories, our memories. Because a lot of things are disappearing very quickly, things are changing. We are living in very quick times, and we have a new generation who basically know nothing about events 30 years ago.
There is only one true thing: Instantly paint what you see.
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