NYU Film School was the way to learn about film, to be exposed to film, to go to repertory houses, to be exposed to New York and see films. I would go to the library and see one, two or three movies a day. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon More Quotes by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon More Quotes From Alfonso Gomez-Rejon I was only driven to be the best and it was very disheartening sometimes that it took me so long to start getting my voice heard. That certainly started with television, but it was never because of where I came from, it was because people saw something in me. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon voice long people If you can make the day, you can do whatever you want. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon do-whatever-you-want can-do want I've been clawing my way to directing since I was a kid. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon my-way kids way The fun of directing for me, other than working with the actors, is trying to extract those ideas that you have in your head and make them real. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon real fun ideas I started in the P.A. world and craft service and storyboard artist, with the eye on the prize of directing. When I was directing second unit on Babel, I ended up casting most of the unknown parts. In these weird circles, I was this guy who found these kids on the streets. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon eye artist kids I just wanted to make movies, but I never though about, "How am I being perceived because of my culture or my skin?" Alfonso Gomez-Rejon skins wanted culture I'm a fan of musicals from great masters, and I was able to have an opportunity to express myself in musical numbers with Glee. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon musical opportunity numbers Musicals and horror films can be very non-verbal and very pure cinema with movement. The camera is justified in being a character. It can really move and tell a story, and literally direct you to look here or there. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon cameras character moving Horror allowed me to quickly switch gears. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon gears horror It's a great asset to you, on your first film, to bring some people with you from the television world because they understand the speed that you have to work with to get your grand ideas down. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon people television ideas As a fine artist I was drawn to composition and technique. I would count the cuts. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon cutting technique artist If someone already knows you from being in the trenches with you on this TV schedules, and then you have a little bit more time, it's a treat for them, as well, because they can give you more. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon schedules littles giving At some point, you have an opportunity to not be a first-time filmmaker anymore. You can embrace the genre and show the world how you can tell stories on a bigger scale. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon stories opportunity world It becomes an extension of your imagination to make something tangible and concrete. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon concrete tangible imagination I don't set out to do something weird, but if you see something a certain way and it's a little left of center, and you can realize it, that's a real thrill. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon thrill real littles I love visual stylists like Bob Fosse and Vincente Minnelli and Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger with The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffman. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon stylist bob shoes On some kind of unspoken, deep, deep level, I think we [with Ryan Murphy] have an aesthetic that we both understand or connect to. It's not that we see the world in the same way because we have very different points of view, but we're both visual stylists. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon different views thinking TV is all new to me because I came from features. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon features tvs To me film school was film history because there weren't a lot of books out there that I had access to. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon film-history book school I still think that being thrown in a very competitive environment where you really have to see what you are made of - certainly when you come out of nowhere - was good for me. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon environment made thinking
