Conrad Hall Quotes

Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language.

You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.

Dad, wherever you are, you are gone but you will never be forgotten.

It was 100 feet of 16 mm black-and-white film of a car coming to a stop sign, and driving off. I had to decide how to frame and light it. It was magic. There was a sense of mystery.

I was very happy sitting alone at a dining room table, writing a script.

There are infinite shadings of light and shadows and colors... it's an extraordinarily subtle language. Figuring out how to speak that language is a lifetime job.

Every once in a while, when the audience is expecting to see one thing, you have to show them something else.

Every cinematographer I worked with had his own way of solving problems.

It took a while for me to grasp that my colleagues believe I have made an impact on the history of cinema.

But at heart, I am more than a cinematographer.

Contrast is what makes photography interesting.

To me, the camera is like a musical instrument. You use it to control the flow, shape, size and colors of images.

In aptitude tests, I scored highest in music.

I don't think of myself as a director or writer. I think of myself as a filmmaker.

Manipulating shadows and tonality is like writing music or a poem.

Billions of people have seen and been influenced by movies in the short history of this industry.

The closer the source of light is to a subject, the broader the beams are.

Painting and writing are solitary arts.

It's important to know that if you are dealing with shadows.

My peers say I have made a difference. That means more to me than winning an Oscar.

But you know you haven't done it all because you know everything keeps evolving and changing; and you know you can evolve with it if you grow and develop as a human being.

It is also difficult to articulate the subtleties in cinema, because there aren't words or metaphors which describe many of the emotions you are attempting to evoke.

The sun is the most parallel light source because it is so far away.

I can still recall the thrill of shooting my first film.

I hope I'm still shooting when I'm 80.

There are a lot of directors who are knowledgeable about images, and others who aren't.

Photography is a very important part of my life.

I think one of the reasons people quit is because they're afraid they won't be able to get better and better; that they have to come to a zenith of some kind.

I suppose I would still be a communicator, maybe a musician.

You have to understand the nature of light.

That's why I like fast film. It gives you more freedom to light more naturally.

I saw Tequila Sunrise as a romantic picture with complex, bigger than life characters.

There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.