Quote

In the case of a film like The Exorcist or To Live and Die in L.A., I saw the whole movie in my head before I went to shoot it. I never did storyboards, or anything like that. I had the film in my head.

William Friedkin

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

William Friedkin
Age: 89
Born: 1935
Born: August 29
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Television Director
Chicago
Illinois
Vilijam Friedkin
Never
Went
Like
Head
Movie
Dies
Exorcist
Film
Shoot
Anything
Case
Live
Saws
Whole
Cases

More quotes by William Friedkin

Image
Sure, you could go out and make Jaws today. But all of the sequels to Jaws weren't good. They are all worthless. The Godfather II is the only sequel that I have ever seen that is as good as or better than the original.
William Friedkin
Image
I don't look back or analyze my films. I just make them. It's for someone else to look at.
William Friedkin
Image
I don't believe that Citizen Kane or Gone With the Wind, or any damn picture that you can name, would be better off in 3D. I think it's a gimmick. I find 3D distracting.
William Friedkin
Image
I'm not a fan of 3D. But I am a huge fan of digital imagery. Because it allows a filmmaker much more latitude to appreciate their own visions and dreams.
William Friedkin
Image
The studios mostly threw away the negatives of the classic films. They had no interest in their legacy.
William Friedkin
Image
Every time you run a 35mm print, it picks up scratches. It picks up dirt. Sometimes it breaks, and you have to re-splice it. You lose frames. This doesn't happen with digital or Blu-ray. I think that's great. Because I love the new media.
William Friedkin
Image
The Blu-ray is the real cinematech of world cinema. That's how it's being preserved. All of these guys that are trying to preserve 35mm negatives? They are wasting their time. There are better ways to see and project this stuff. It's called digital.
William Friedkin
Image
Violence is not funny.
William Friedkin
Image
There are certain things that happen during the production of, I think, every film, that you didn't plan, and often it's better than what you did plan. There's the question of either going with it or not.
William Friedkin
Image
I really think that sex always looks kind of funny in a movie.
William Friedkin
Image
To me, the art of movies is to take a two-dimensional image and give the illusion of depth.
William Friedkin
Image
I believe it's true that there's good and evil in everyone and it's a constant struggle to have your better angels prevail.
William Friedkin
Image
If you're a movie star, the studios don't want you to act. They just want you to show up and look good and chase girls and have a lot of laughs.
William Friedkin
Image
You don't leave the film alone. You have a new audience, and you have a new medium. Why would you leave it alone? Film is not an antique. It's not a relic. It's not a Leonardo da Vinci. I don't want someone painting over a da Vinci or Rembrandt. But these movies aren't that.
William Friedkin
Image
Star Wars is one of a handful of films that changed the zeitgeist forever.
William Friedkin
Image
The informing idea of what you want to say and do, that's what will take you from film school to professional - the idea. That's what is original to you.
William Friedkin
Image
The digital process gives me total control over how I want the film to look. The films look like they did when I was first looking through the viewfinder.
William Friedkin
Image
There are many untalented people making millions of dollars in the film business.
William Friedkin
Image
Sam Jackson is a director's dream. Some actors hope to find their character during shooting. He knows his character before shooting. Sam's old-school. I just got out of his way. I never did more than two takes with Sam.-william friedkin
William Friedkin
Image
Technique is of less interest than character and story.
William Friedkin