The magic doesn't come from within the director's mind, it comes from within the hearts of the actors.
James CameronRead
People call me a perfectionist, but I'm not. I'm a rightist. I do something until it's right, and then I move on to the next thing.
Interpretation
Perfectionism is often mistaken for striving to do things correctly; the focus should be on getting things right and moving forward.
In this quote, James Cameron distinguishes between being a perfectionist and being someone who ensures that their work is correct before moving on. He emphasizes the importance of achieving accuracy in one's efforts rather than obsessively seeking perfection, which can lead to stagnation and lack of progress.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming obstacles in personal projects.
The magic doesn't come from within the director's mind, it comes from within the hearts of the actors.
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.
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.
Every ceiling, when reached, becomes a floor, upon which one walks as a matter of course and prescriptive right
Focus on building the best possible business. If you are great, people will notice and opportunities will appear.
The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.
There's a certain sense of ownership that the fans have over you....The thing is, it's all good. You just have to get used to it. If somebody comes up to you while you're eating dinner or something, it's kind of like, 'Well, I asked for it.' It's much better than the alternative-nobody caring and nobody buying your music. The point is to try to just realize that these people are really excited, and that's a good thing. You want them to be that way.
Our premise is there are going to be a lot of winners. It's not winner take all. Other people do not have to lose for us to win.
I am always interested in why young people become writers, and from talking with many I have concluded that most do not want to be writers working eight and ten hours a day and accomplishing little; they want to have been writers, garnering the rewards of having completed a best-seller. They aspire to the rewards of writing but not to the travail.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.