In drama, the characters should determine the story. In melodrama, the story determines the characters. Sidney Lumet More Quotes by Sidney Lumet More Quotes From Sidney Lumet For any director with a little lucidity, masterpieces are films that come to you by accident. Sidney Lumet film littles directors While the goal of all movies is to entertain, the kind of film in which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing. Sidney Lumet juice goal believe Everything becomes creative if the person doing the job is Sidney Lumet creative persons jobs All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen. Sidney Lumet great-work entrepreneur opportunity It's art. It's commerce. It's heartbreaking and it's fun. It's a great way to live. Sidney Lumet way-to-live fun art All good work requires self-revelation. Sidney Lumet good-work hard-work self Good style, to me, is unseen style. Sidney Lumet unseen style I only said 'Titanic' is unwatchable because one can not watch it. Sidney Lumet can-not said watches Dolby was in the driver's seat. "Surround Sound" was added. Now we had three speakers behind the screen, two more on the left side of the theater, and two on the right. A closely guarded secret about all this is that you hear the correct balance only if you're sitting in the center of the theater. On the left or right side, those speakers tend to dominate. Sidney Lumet surround-sound secret two Don't let the difficulty of actually achieving a shot make you think that the shot is good. Sidney Lumet achieve make-you-think thinking Work is my norm. I have mad energy, insane energy, a kind of stamina in terms of work that's a little crazy. Sidney Lumet mad insane crazy The varying physical characteristics of the actors may also necessitate changes. Sean Connery is six feet four. Dustin Hoffman isn't. Sidney Lumet four actors feet I don't know how to choose work that illuminates what my life is about. I don't know what my life is about and don't examine it. My life will define itself as I live it. The movies will define themselves as I make them. As long as the theme is something I care about at the moment, it's enough for me to start work. Maybe work itself is what my life is about. Sidney Lumet care life-is long There's no such thing as a small part. There are just small actors. Sidney Lumet small-parts actors The nature of the work is to prepare for a good accident . Sidney Lumet accidents preparation There are no minor decisions in movie making. Each decision will either contribute to a good piece of work or bring the whole movie crashing down around my head many months later. Sidney Lumet pieces months decision There are no personal revelations other than feelings arising from the work itself Sidney Lumet personal-revelation revelations feelings There's a powerful magic about being a writer that I still marvel at. Sidney Lumet magic stills powerful Suffice to say that the theme (the WHAT of the movie) is going to determine the style (the HOW of the movie). Sidney Lumet theme style determine Over-length is one of the things that most often results in the destruction of the movie in the cutting room. Sidney Lumet destruction cutting rooms
