I could be just a writer very easily. I am not a writer. I am a screenwriter, which is half a filmmaker... But it is not an art form, because screenplays are not works of art. They are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art. Paul Schrader More Quotes by Paul Schrader More Quotes From Paul Schrader The secret of the creative life is to feel at ease with your own embarrassment. Paul Schrader creativesecretease Screenplays are not works of art. They are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art. Paul Schrader screenplaysworks-of-artart Those artists who say that somehow therapy or analysis will thwart their creativity are completely misinformed. It's absolutely the opposite: it opens closed doors. Paul Schrader creativityartistdoors The secret of the creative life is how to feel at ease with your own embarrassment. We're all in the dirty laundry business and we're being paid to take risks and look silly. Race car drivers get paid to risk their lives in a more concrete way; we get paid to risk our lives in an emotional way. Paul Schrader emotionalsillydirty Because many of the films I've made have had an intellectualedge, it's harder for me to lie. It's harder for me to go to peoplewith money and say I don't care about art, all I care about iscommerce; all I really want to do is make money. Paul Schrader carelyingart One of the things that I do like about filmmaking is that you find out how to solve new problems. Paul Schrader filmmakingsolveproblem Contradiction is the heart and soul of character and drama. You're always looking for it. I loved her so much I hit her; that's character. I loved her so much I hit her again; that's even more character. Paul Schrader heartcharacterdrama If you write interesting roles, you get interesting people to play them. If you write roles that are full of nuance and contradiction and have interesting dialog, actors are drawn to that. Paul Schrader playwritingpeople There's the generation that made the rules, the generation that codified them. The generation that broke them - that's mine. The generation that laughed at them - that's Tarantino's. And now there's a generation that doesn't know that there were any. Paul Schrader brokegenerationsmade Let's just shoot in black and white. Don't explain why. Have no reason for it. Just do it because it's interesting. Paul Schrader black-and-whitereasoninteresting The best advice is essentially that thing in the back of your mind that you really aren't sure of, and when you start to hear other people bring up the same concerns, you say, "Okay, let's address that." Paul Schrader mindadvicepeople I would not have made any of my films or written scripts such as Taxi Driver had it not been for Ingmar Bergman, What he has left is a legacy greater than any other director.... I think the extraordinary thing that Bergman will be remembered for, other than his body of work, was that he probably did more than anyone to make cinema a medium of personal and introspective value. Paul Schrader legacydirectorsthinking There's no escape. I'm God's only man. Paul Schrader dutygodmen I want to be happy; why do I do things that make me unhappy? Paul Schrader unhappinessunhappywant Don't ever let the viewer settle in and get ahead of you. Paul Schrader get-aheadviewerssettling Ultimately, it's an illusion that you can understand yourself. Paul Schrader illusion You think it's a blessing to know what God wants? I'll tell you what he wants. He wants to push me over! Can't he see what's inside of me? All my sins. Paul Schrader blessinggodthinking Film noir is not a genre. It is not defined, as are the western and gangster genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood. It is a film 'noir', as opposed to the possible variants of film gray or film off-white. Paul Schrader noirqualitywhite All these teachers and [screenwriting] books mean you see movies that have been worked over by more committees wielding more rules, that all originality and authorship is lost. That's why you're seeing superstars like Brad Pitt in THE FIGHT CLUB and Tom Cruise in MAGNOLIA. They're desperately searching for people writing and directing off-formula movies. Paul Schrader writingteacherbook Once you have a situation that is fresh, then you sort of believe in it and it becomes normal. So you do end up with protagonists that haven't been in other movies before. Paul Schrader normalendsbelieve
