If it were up to the executives, they probably wouldn't have directors at all. Gus Van Sant More Quotes by Gus Van Sant More Quotes From Gus Van Sant Once you're directing, you're kind of in a certain mode, where you're taking whatever is on the page and forming it into the film that you think it might want to be. So whether it's my writing or not, I still try to work with it in the same way. Gus Van Sant writing trying thinking I don't think American independent films have ever really been particularly experimental, except for the original guys from the '60s who were huge influences, like Stan Brakhage, Robert Breer, and Stan van der Beek. They were the true independents. Gus Van Sant independent guy thinking Sometimes, the people who are helping you can drop the ball. Gus Van Sant balls helping people In rare cases, I've had music before I shot the movie. I think that for 'Good Will Hunting' I had an Elliot Smith record or a couple of them and I just somehow felt like the sound had something to it that reminded me of the story. So in that case there was music beforehand. Gus Van Sant hunting couple thinking Even when you're making a movie about life, death is a presence, and I guess it's part of my dramatic viewpoint. I'm not sure why exactly. Gus Van Sant viewpoints movie actors Casting the locals is my primary concern because all the other things you assume will be manageable. Gus Van Sant casting concern assuming Apparently there’s this kind of songbird that thinks it dies every time the sun goes down. In the morning, when it wakes up, it’s totally shocked to still be alive—so it sings this really beautiful song. Gus Van Sant song morning beautiful There is a common theme, though, in the stories I have told, which are usually associations of characters or families that are formed outside of a family circle. Gus Van Sant family circles character The artist himself is actually the subject in everything after, say, 1900. Eventually, art becomes so removed from the community that you have to know about the artist before you can even look at the painting, because there is a conceptual idea going on. Gus Van Sant community ideas art I've always been interested in how to present something that relates to our reality - which is not really... I don't even know if documentary itself does as good a job. It has its own problems in trying to get at the reality of the situation. Gus Van Sant trying jobs reality As I do with most films, I try and find some music that you could use throughout, not just a sampling of lots of different artists. Gus Van Sant different artist trying There's a lot of films that have relatively rigid road maps because they have a script and others that are less rigid because they have less of a script, like 'Elephant.' The road map becomes more interpretive, maybe, than one with a detailed script. Editing-wise, they all have their problems. Gus Van Sant elephants wise editing If you don't have the story and the unfolding of the trajectory of the saga, it's like getting in a car and not having any gas. Gus Van Sant unfolding car stories One of the things that is devastating is I realise I haven't been living a different life than when I was, like, 12. I'm shocked at how reclusive I've been since then. I was unaware of it until recently. Gus Van Sant realising different havens Because I didn't have brothers, I was always interested in the kids down the street that had four brothers in their family, so I became one of them - but it was not my family. I've always been attracted to temporary families. They tend to be lost characters. Gus Van Sant brother character kids I'd come into filmmaking as a painter so, for me, making 'Good Will Hunting' was experimental because I didn't know how to do it. Gus Van Sant hunting movie actors I think over the course of 14 films, I'm returning to a place that I know to tell a story... the same way Spielberg returned to fantasy, Lucas returned to the 'Star Wars' saga, or John Ford returned to the western. Gus Van Sant stars war thinking I have this new theory about films. It's almost like astrology, where if we started on a Tuesday the film will be different than if we started on a Wednesday. Not because of the planets. It's that sometimes you start with the wrong balance and the whole thing gets messed up. Gus Van Sant astrology balance tuesday The biopic also wasn't a form that I necessarily believed in, because you can never really get it right, you know? It's also a form that's very popular - the straight-ahead biopic. Gus Van Sant very-popular form knows The dark comedies tend to be in a non-releasable area. There can be romantic comedies. There can be dramas. But there's no 'dark comedy' inbox for the advertising. Gus Van Sant dark romantic drama
