If I don't have a script I adore, I do one I like. If I don't have one I like, I do one that has an actor I like or that presents some technical challenge.
Sidney LumetRead
Suffice to say that the theme (the WHAT of the movie) is going to determine the style (the HOW of the movie).
Interpretation
What this quote means
The theme of a movie shapes its style, impacting how it is presented to the audience.
Sidney Lumet's quote emphasizes the intrinsic relationship between a film's theme and its stylistic choices. The 'WHAT' refers to the underlying message or subject matter of the film, while the 'HOW' relates to the techniques and methods employed in storytelling and cinematography, suggesting that the narrative intent fundamentally influences the aesthetic and execution of the film.
Themes
ThemeStyleFilmArtCinematography
In practice
Example use cases
In a film class discussion about how theme influences cinematic techniques.
More from Sidney Lumet
All quotes →Everything becomes creative if the person doing the job is
Sidney LumetRead
There's no such thing as a small part. There are just small actors.
Sidney LumetRead
Similar quotes
I start with no preconceived idea - discovery excites me to focus - then rediscovery through the lens - final form of presentation seen on ground glass, the finished print previsioned completely in every detail of texture, movement, proportion, before exposure - the shutter's release automatically and finally fixes my conception, allowing no after manipulation - the ultimate end, the print, is but a duplication of all that I saw and felt through my camera.
Edward WestonRead
Making social comment is an artificial place for an artist to start from. If an artist is touched by some social condition, what the artist creates will reflect that, but you can't force it.
Susan SontagRead
The essential thing is to spring forth, to express the bolt of lightning one senses upon contact with a thing. The function of the artist is not to translate an observation but to express the shock of the object on his nature; the shock, with the original reaction.
Henri MatisseRead
Dont call me a rapper, I’m an artist. Update your minds. I ‘INCORPORATE’ hip hop elements because I am part MC, but I am all things musical. All things melodically beautiful.
Kid CudiRead
The fact is that it takes more than ingredients and technique to cook a good meal. A good cook puts something of himself into the preparation - he cooks with enjoyment, anticipation, spontaneity, and he is willing to experiment.
Pearl BaileyRead
I cannot life for life itself: but for the words which stay the flux. My life, I feel, will not be lived until there are books and stories which relive it perpetually in time. I forget too easily how it was, and shrink to the horror of the here and now, with no past and no future. Writing breaks open the vaults of the dead and the skies behind which the prophesying angels hide. The mind makes and makes, spinning its web.
Sylvia PlathRead