Rachel Morrison Quotes
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When I was studying photography, I became interested in conflict photojournalism, and that got me interested in lighting. Then I realized there was this amazing thing called cinematography where you could kind of tell more complete stories photographing for film. So I ended up going to AFI grad school for that.
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'Fruitvale' set the bar for what I wanted to do with my career, which was to make films that had consciousness and messaging in an entertaining package. Once I hit that mark, I never wanted to go back.
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As artists, we can't help but infuse our art with our own experience, so your experience becomes informative.
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I didn't want 'Mudbound' to feel stylized in any way.
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For me, it's just always about trying to tell stories that I care about.
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When you're so used to operating the camera, it's an extension of your eye and your heart and your head.
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My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was four. And she was re-diagnosed when I was seven or eight, and again when I was 13, and my dad was very unhealthy, too. I was living on the edge of mortality my entire childhood.
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I think Marvel's incredibly supportive of young auteurs and really let them do their thing and support their vision. They give you a sandbox to play in, but it's a pretty massive one.
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To me, as an audience member, movies always come to a screeching halt when they get to their action scenes. They always feel like they drag on to me.
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I think 'Sound of My Voice' was the first film where suddenly I could point to something I had done that I was proud of and say, 'Look at this piece of work.' And that's probably what led to 'Fruitvale Station,' which was the real break.
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It took me a long time to adapt to the West Coast. I lived eight years in New York before California and might have gone back. Then I discovered surfing. It's the California equivalent of ice hockey, I guess. It gave me a real sense of place.
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I really do believe that the experience of having a child is going to actually make me a much better cinematographer.
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I lived within walking distance of Harvard Square, and that's where I discovered my love of cinema. I saw a lot of foreign and independent films there.
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If there's anything consistent about my work, it's not flat.
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I believe in naturalistic lighting, which isn't to say natural light.
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We really owe it to our world to infuse our entertainment with messaging.
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There's something so inspiring about being in real locations, where you can feel the tactile qualities from the layer of paint that has been chipping off and the hundreds of years that have been lived in the space.
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The theatrical experience is also a communal one. When people saw 'Fruitvale' in the theater, there was not a dry eye at the end of the movie, and you would look to your neighbor and have this shared moment together that had a real weight behind it.
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I love the team aspect of filmmaking.
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The big trick is just to get to a point where we're just considered DPs, and we're not 'female DPs.' When you think of the word 'doctor' or 'teacher,' you don't think gender. And it would be nice to get to a place where 'DP' meant either and 'director' meant either and 'gaffer' meant either.
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The focus has to be about making good work. I don't ever want to be hired for a job because I'm a woman. And I don't ever want to be recognized for a job because I'm a woman.
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So much of 'Mudbound' is about man's relationship to the land and to the elements. It's about the desire for control and how powerless we are against nature. We always knew we would shoot widescreen as a means to isolate a body in the frame and to highlight our own insignificance.
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Surfing is incredible. It's both meditative and physical. I think it was my way into California.
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I think you can make a gorgeous movie on any piece of equipment. Look at 'Tangerine,' which is a beautiful movie shot on an iPhone. You see so many movies that are impeccably shot but are vapid, and there's no audience for that except for other cinematographers who just like to watch two-hour-long music videos.