--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a film, you have to externalize things…" description: "\"In a film, you have to externalize things that are internal and of course it becomes a debate about to what extent you do that.\" — Chris Terrio" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/chris-terrio-41855_cinema_in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things_1740045.jpg" --- # In a film, you have to externalize things that are… ![“In a film, you have to externalize things that are internal and of course it becomes a debate about to what extent you do that.” quote by Chris Terrio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/chris-terrio-41855_cinema_in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things_1740045.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/chris-terrio-41855_cinema_in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things_1740045.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/chris-terrio-41855_cinema_in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things_1740045.jpg) > “In a film, you have to externalize things that are internal and of course it becomes a debate about to what extent you do that.” [Chris Terrio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-terrio/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Filmmakers must decide how much internal experience to show externally, balancing authenticity and clarity. **In simple terms:** Show internal thoughts carefully on screen. Key Takeaway Find the right balance between internal and external storytelling. Themes film storytelling authenticity Mood analytical creative Type cinematic educational When to use this quote - scriptwriting - directing - acting - editing Key Concepts narrative theory visual communication Questions to Reflect On - When should inner thoughts stay hidden? - How does visual metaphor convey inner states? A Different Perspective Over‑externalizing can dilute subtlety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Debate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) ## Related quotes > [Somehow it helps just to take something that's internal and externalize it, to see it in front of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-taylor/somehow-it-helps-just-to-take-something-that-s-internal-and/) [James Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-taylor/) > [“Over the last few millennial, we've invented a series of technologies … that have made it progressively easier and easier for us to externalize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/over-the-last-few-millennial-we-ve-invented-a-series-of-technologies/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [As soon as you externalize an idea you see facets of it that weren't clear when it was just floating around in your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/as-soon-as-you-externalize-an-idea-you-see-facets-of-it-that-weren-t/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [Desire will in due time externalize itself as concrete fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-troward/desire-will-in-due-time-externalize-itself-as-concrete-fact/) [Thomas Troward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-troward/) > [“And the victim must have been broken and must remain so, so that the externalization of evil is possible. 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Bureaucracies and organizations make it hard to do the right thing sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/and-i-think-it-s-true-of-any-big-organization-bureaucracies-and/) [Chris Terrio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-terrio/) > [Famously, the CIA is somewhere where marriages hardly ever last because it's obviously such a strange lifestyle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/famously-the-cia-is-somewhere-where-marriages-hardly-ever-last/) [Chris Terrio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-terrio/) > [I need eclectic people in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/i-need-eclectic-people-in-my-life/) [Chris Terrio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-terrio/) > [In Tehran, the 444 days of the Iran Hostage Crisis was the first world event in which you could literally have live events beamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/in-tehran-the-444-days-of-the-iran-hostage-crisis-was-the-first-world/) [Chris Terrio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-terrio/) > [The 'Bourne' movies are great in their own ways; it introduces a whole other sort of allegory about the Bush years. 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I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/) [Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. 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It is very tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-silvers/rear-window-isn-t-really-a-horror-film-but-it-is-a-psychological/) [Diana Silvers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-silvers/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [I am not interested in churning out a certain number of films every year. For me, it's about the quality of work. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepika-padukone/i-am-not-interested-in-churning-out-a-certain-number-of-films-every/) [Deepika Padukone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepika-padukone/) [Browse all 23,940 Cinema quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In a film, you have to externalize things that are internal and of course it becomes a debate about to what extent you do that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chris Terrio" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things-that-are-internal-and-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cinema" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things-that-are-internal-and-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/chris-terrio-41855_cinema_in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things_1740045.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/chris-terrio-41855_cinema_in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things_1740045.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/chris-terrio-41855_cinema_in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things_1740045.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In a film, you have to externalize things that are internal and of course it becomes a debate about to what…” — Chris Terrio", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Chris Terrio", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-terrio/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In a film, you have to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things-that-are-internal-and-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-terrio/in-a-film-you-have-to-externalize-things-that-are-internal-and-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```