162 Quotes by Gus Van Sant

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.

Sometimes getting upset with yourself is necessary when you face the truth.

I used to take photographs just to remember people.

The media has gone through lots of things that make it a less foreign thing to have your lead character be gay.

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.

Wong Kar-Wai is a really great inspiration. He’s always referred to as the Jimi Hendrix of filmmaking.

I try to shoot the first rehearsal because people are more spontaneous. People in real life don’t really know where they are going to be either positioning themselves or how they will be saying their words. When people goof during the first take, it usually looks realistic.

My art teacher in junior high was a very out gay man and a mentor to me. He would tell us about Greenwich Village and show us the ‘Village Voice’ and describe his life, but it was all sort of subversive and below the radar.

And Later I Thought, I Can’t Think How Anyone Can Become a Director Without Learning the Craft of Cinematography.