The informing idea of what you want to say and do, that's what will take you from film school to professional - the idea. That's what is original to you.
William FriedkinYou don't leave the film alone. You have a new audience, and you have a new medium. Why would you leave it alone? Film is not an antique. It's not a relic. It's not a Leonardo da Vinci. I don't want someone painting over a da Vinci or Rembrandt. But these movies aren't that.
William FriedkinI have to see the whole scene in my head before I go out and do it. Which I do. I will envision the entire scene before I shoot it.
William FriedkinWhen you go to a studio with something you want to make, or they come to you with something they want to make, more often than not, it's a tent pole. Not something one single person is really passionate about on a creative level.
William FriedkinWith The Exorcist we said what we wanted to say. Neither one of us view it as a horror film. We view it as a film about the mysteries of faith. It's easier for people to call it a horror film. Or a great horror film. Or the greatest horror film ever made. Whenever I see that, I feel a great distance from it.
William Friedkin