Leigh Brackett
The filmmaking process is a team effort. A screenwriter cannot possibly do exactly what he wants as if he was writing a novel.
When I write a novel, I am God at my own typewriter, and there is nobody in between. But when I write a screenplay, it must be a compromise because there are so many elements which are outside the writer's province.
Screenwriting is still a challenge for me. It's more technical than creative. You have to be a very good journeyman plumber and put the proper parts together. Then, if you can still inject a little bit of something worthwhile, you have done as much as can be expected.
Writing a film is like building a brick wall. You have a plan, and you have the blocks. Then, somebody says, 'I think we'll take this stone out of here and put it over there. And while we're at it, let's make this stone red and that stone green.'
Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there's an explosion-that's Plot.Collection: Writing
Witchcraft to the ignorant, .... Simple science to the learned.Collection: Simple
Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.Collection: Powerful
Love is like the measles; the older you are when it hits you, the harder it takes. Cheer up, you won't die of it.Collection: Cheer
Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances.Collection: War
David will never go to space again. I'm glad.What did it gain the McQuarries? What has it ever gained men? Have men ever brought back more happiness from the stars? Will they ever?Collection: Stars