As I'm getting older, I want to make sure every film I do really counts.
Time and time again I was told that I would never make the film on time and never make it on budget. That kind of criticism tends to turn me into a great big motor of efficiency.
One film critic back in the early days said "It's a pity Mr. Harryhausen didn't animated the actors, too."
There's a lot of crap out there. Most of the science fiction films alone are abominations, you know. They're mindless. So you can't learn from those kinds of films.
Being on a Paul Thomas Anderson film, the best decision an actor can make is to listen to Paul Thomas Anderson. Because he's probably not going to steer anyone in the wrong direction. I would always say go with your gut on any other movie set, but with Paul, I would say go with Paul's gut.
In the studio system, things are expected of a film. By the first, second, third act, there's a generic language that comes out of the more commercial system.
The film depends on the audience's belief in this relationship.
If I had a gun to my head and I had to choose between theater and film I'd choose theater.
I had the X rating on my films. Now they do as much on The Simpsons as I got an X rating for Fritz the Cat.
Yeah I think Pitch Black was edgy, I think that's what worked for our film.
Often with film, I find that you're just really getting to know a person. They're just starting to sink in, and then you wrap the film.
In film, you have to let go sometimes.
Film's hard when you don't have any relationship with the director at all and you just show up. Then you really are just a gun for hire.
But you know, there's always a danger nowadays that films are gonna be brought up to Canada for budget reasons. And that's something that really concerns me.
Each thing leapfrogs. I do a Genesis project - like now, we're just finishing off an album - and then by the time the album is doing its thing, I could do nothing or I could do a film.
The films that I really enjoy now are films that are made by, for wont of a better word, mavericks.
Structure is important in film, but there's often structure to be found in the most unlikely of places! It's quite possible to build a structured story and retain idiosyncrasy.
But the truth is, at some point, our films - almost every single one of them - are really bad. And it's largely hats off to John Lasseter and Ed Catmull who have set up a system whereby they're expecting it.
If I just concentrate I can walk into memory's store and find the right shelf with the right film and disappear into it.
Never again work in the same conditions in whichyou made your first film. It's good to take risks, but not thatmuch risk.
To make a film, the final big collaborator that you have is the composer.
Films make me into some cheap turn...You bet they'll never let me play a part in a film where a Negro is on top.
It's been my ambition for about 30 years to do a full- length animation film.
One thing I know is that I don't want to be a director for hire, making genre films.
You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not an audience, it's one to one.
