Gordon Willis: Less is More

"I spent a lot of time on films taking things out. Art directors would get very cross with me. If something's not going well, my impulse is to minimalize. The impulse of most people when something's not going well is to add — too many colors, too many items on a screen, too many lights. If you're not careful, you're lighting the lighting. American films are overlit compared to European ones. I like closeups shadowy, in profile — which they never do these days... What's needed is simple symmetry, but everyone wants massive coverage these days because they don't have enough confidence in their work and there are way too many cooks in the kitchen."

-Gordon Willis, ASC