57 Quotes by Vilmos Zsigmond

You can’t just stick with what you know, you have to evolve.

Mexican cinematographers Gabriel Figueroa and Emilio Fernandez were students of both Sergei Eisenstein and Toland. Their exteriors and lighting were gorgeous. And the films Ingmar Bergman did with Sven Nykvist were exceptional.

As the cinematographer is usually more visual than the director is and full cooperation is really the answer and to make a great film, you need a good director and you need a good cinematographer.

In Slumdog Millionaire when you are immersed in the point of view of children in the slum and the bustle of the city, the handheld camerawork is amazing. A handheld camera is perfect for establishing point-of-view and for instilling the feeling that you are there.

When I do a still picture, I’m doing it all by myself with no help. I’m designing everything. I am my own art director. I’m doing everything. I’m directing, editing, whatever.

I shot a lot of commercials and sometimes I enjoy the commercial shooting and sometimes I really hate it, but in thirty seconds or one minute, you can make some remarkable work shooting in one or two or three days.

I’m always looking in the lighting to tell the story in a different way than it actually looks in real life because it’s, for me, more contrast sometimes has to mean it’s softer than normal.

Technology has a great deal to do with it. The Panaflex camera was a big breakthrough when it came along; it changed everything, because now you could shoot from the perspective of a person riding in the backseat of a car.

I like to say that lighting is about taking the light away. I often like to use the shadows more than the light.