In aptitude tests, I scored highest in music.
Every cinematographer I worked with had his own way of solving problems.
But at heart, I am more than a cinematographer.
Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language.
I suppose I would still be a communicator, maybe a musician.
My first semester, I got a D in creative writing.
With today's fast films, you can light the way your eye sees the scene. You can abuse the film and create subtleties in contrast with light and exposure, diffusion and filters. That's what makes it an art.
I was very happy sitting alone at a dining room table, writing a script.
It is also difficult to articulate the subtleties in cinema, because there aren't words or metaphors which describe many of the emotions you are attempting to evoke.
You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.
Manipulating shadows and tonality is like writing music or a poem.
I knew exactly how I wanted it to play, but you are never sure until you watch the projected images reflect off the screen. That's when you know it worked.
I saw Tequila Sunrise as a romantic picture with complex, bigger than life characters.
I think one of the reasons people quit is because they're afraid they won't be able to get better and better; that they have to come to a zenith of some kind.
