Don't ever let the viewer settle in and get ahead of you.

There's something wrong - the performance, the weather, the set design, the lighting. Something is not working. And so you say, "Give me 10 minutes." When you're first directing, you're terrified. But when you've been in that situation enough times, you know that under pressure, it will come to you.

Film noir is not a genre. It is not defined, as are the western and gangster genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood. It is a film 'noir', as opposed to the possible variants of film gray or film off-white.

I was looking for people who didn't have any preconceptions about films, what I call the "post-rules" generation.

Screenplays are not works of art. They are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art.

All the animals come out at night.

That's just my disposition - to create a situation where you have to come up with something.