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The work of the director is the work of constructing the shot list from the script.

David Mamet

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David Mamet
Age: 76
Born: 1947
Born: November 30
Actor
Author
Film Director
Film Producer
Novelist
Playwright
Poet
Screenwriter
Television Producer
Theatrical Director
Writer
Chicago
Illinois
David Alen Mamet
David Alan Mamet
Shot
Director
Shots
Directors
Constructing
Work
List
Script
Lists
Scripts

More quotes by David Mamet

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Show business is and has always been a depraved carnival.
David Mamet
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You can't rely on the acting to tell the story.
David Mamet
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Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance.
David Mamet
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I didn't knowingly meet a conservative until, to my shame, I was 60 years old and sat down and said, 'Wow, I don't understand what this guy's talking about, but he has a great civility about him. Perhaps I better investigate this thing.'
David Mamet
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War is tragedy. The great war stories are tragedies. It's the failure of diplomacy. 'War and Peace,' 'A Farewell to Arms,' 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' Those are some of the greatest tragedies.
David Mamet
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Policemen so cherish their status as keepers of the peace and protectors of the public that they have occasionally been known to beat to death those citizens or groups who question that status.
David Mamet
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You know, young actors say all the time, 'Should I use my own life experience?' And my response is, 'What choice do you have?'
David Mamet
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What I value most in my friends is loyalty.
David Mamet
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It is the writer’s job to make the play interesting. It is the actor’s job to make the performance truthful.
David Mamet
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The audience requires not information but drama.
David Mamet
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Don't write stage directions. If it is not apparent what the character is trying to accomplish by saying the line, tell us how the character said it or whether or not she moved to the couch isn't going to aid the case.
David Mamet
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Put. That coffee. Down. Coffee's for closers only.
David Mamet
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Our job, as writers is to do our jobs.
David Mamet
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Let the cut tell the story. Otherwise you have not got dramatic action, you've got narration.
David Mamet
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I was fortunate enough to have a rambling youth.
David Mamet
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American football seems to resemble soccer in that one scores by putting the ball through the opponent's goal but football, truly is about land. The Settlers want to move the line of scrimmage Westward, the Native Americans want to move it East.
David Mamet
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IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CANT SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE, YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA.
David Mamet
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Make the audience wonder what's going on by putting them in the same position as the protagonist.
David Mamet
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I love working on a typewriter - the rhythm, the sound it's like playing the piano, which I do, too.
David Mamet
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What we're trying to do is find two or more shots the juxtaposition of which will give us the idea.
David Mamet