Brian De Palma

“Yeah, I had an idea to make a very scary movie, based on a kind of serial murderer that preys on tourists.”

“I've been obsessed with this kind of visual storytelling for quite a while, and I try to create material that allows me to explore it.”

“You know, when people want to get any information, research information, it will all exist on these Web sites.”

“You know, I listen to contemporary music all the time.”

“I've been sort of traveling around the country for ten years talking about independent features.”

“It's always great to discover a new star of tomorrow.”

“Well, I just think through your career you go through different phases, and I just got sort of uninspired by the whole studio process of making and releasing films.”

“I mean, I don't mind promoting a movie, or talking to the press if it's going to be used in some way.”

“When you make a movie outside the system and it's successful critically or a moderate financial success, you usually have to go back into the system and make a big hit.”

“The biggest mistake in student films is that they are usually cast so badly, with friends and people the directors know. Actually you can cover a lot of bad direction with good acting.”

“I don't see scarey films. I certainly wouldn't go see my films.”

“That's what noir feels like to me. It feels like some kind of recurring dream, with very strong archetypes operating. You know, the guilty girl being pursued, falling, all kinds of stuff that we see in our dreams all the time.”

“The real trouble with film school is that the people teaching are so far out of the industry that they don't give the students an idea of what's happening.”

“You really are as hot as your last movie. And it goes away really quickly.”

“It's always great when you discover someone.”

“And I always had this idea for making a movie about a femme fatale, because I like these characters. They're a lot of fun, they're sexy, they're manipulative, they're dangerous.”

“You know it's always amazed me - I think the most startling thing that's happened in the last couple of decades is that there is no sort of objective reporting anymore.”

“Well, like any time you're shooting documentary stuff, you've got to be in the moment, and you've got to be able to be in control enough to capture what's happening.”

“I've dropped myself into straightforward character pieces in order to explore that form and reap its values. But you are sort of restricted visually when your first requirement is to tell a fairly straightforward story.”

“But, number one, I think traditional noir doesn't work in contemporary storytelling because we don't live in that world anymore.”