--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In practically every film you experience…" description: "\"In practically every film you experience, you can see the director following the text. Illustrating the words first, making the pictures after, and, al..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/801/peter-greenaway-2444_alas_in-practically-every-film-you-experience_1112471.png" --- # In practically every film you experience, you can see the… ![“In practically every film you experience, you can see the director following the text. Illustrating the words first, making the pictures after, and, alas, so often not making pictures at all, but holding up the camera to do its mimetic worst.” quote by Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/801/peter-greenaway-2444_alas_in-practically-every-film-you-experience_1112471.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/801/peter-greenaway-2444_alas_in-practically-every-film-you-experience_1112471.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/801/peter-greenaway-2444_alas_in-practically-every-film-you-experience_1112471.png) > “In practically every film you experience, you can see the director following the text. Illustrating the words first, making the pictures after, and, alas, so often not making pictures at all, but holding up the camera to do its mimetic worst.” [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Directors often prioritize script over visual storytelling, sometimes resulting in static, text‑driven cinema. **In simple terms:** Films can become overly literal, neglecting visual imagination. Key Takeaway Balance narrative and visual expression. Themes filmmaking visual arts storytelling criticism theory Mood analytical critical Type theoretical educational When to use this quote - film analysis - screenwriting workshops - directorial training - art criticism Key Concepts text‑driven cinema visual abstraction director’s intent Questions to Reflect On - How can visual imagination complement a script? - What techniques prevent overly literal filmmaking? A Different Perspective Risk of reducing cinematic experience to reading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cameras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameras/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Directors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/directors/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [Running backwards down the stairs, holding the camera, trying to focus on what's in front of you is difficult, and you need to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hargrave/running-backwards-down-the-stairs-holding-the-camera-trying-to-focus/) [Sam Hargrave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-hargrave/) > [I can zero in on subtle things because I'm holding the camera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-leconte/i-can-zero-in-on-subtle-things-because-i-m-holding-the-camera/) [Patrice Leconte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-leconte/) > [“A wall-to-wall Instagram reel of flirtatious young women doing selfies and documenting the gaps in their thighs isn’t a zoetrope of inconsequential self-involvement, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-alexander/a-wall-to-wall-instagram-reel-of-flirtatious-young-women-doing/) Leigh Alexander > [“People spot a big black lens, and they worry about what they're doing, or how their hair looks. Nobody see the person holding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-o-rourke/people-spot-a-big-black-lens-and-they-worry-about-what-they-re-doing/) [Erica O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-o-rourke/) > [You can assume all photo and video is constructed as a fiction controlled by the person holding the camera and the person who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-degenevieve/you-can-assume-all-photo-and-video-is-constructed-as-a-fiction/) [Barbara Degenevieve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-degenevieve/) > [At least I want to be making films that are somehow born out of me that are stories I want to tell. The challenge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-o-connor/at-least-i-want-to-be-making-films-that-are-somehow-born-out-of-me/) [Gavin O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-o-connor/) > [In making a movie, you're part of a big machine. Even in a small movie there are still so many people involved in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zooey-deschanel/in-making-a-movie-you-re-part-of-a-big-machine-even-in-a-small-movie/) [Zooey Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zooey-deschanel/) > [What people don't understand about making a film is sometimes your experience on the film shapes who you are. You're gone to another country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-eastwood/what-people-don-t-understand-about-making-a-film-is-sometimes-your/) [Scott Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-eastwood/) > [What challenges me is this - I want to walk out of a film with the experience of having done a film, not with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-rampal/what-challenges-me-is-this-i-want-to-walk-out-of-a-film-with-the/) [Arjun Rampal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-rampal/) > [It is a very important film, Life And Nothing More, in that what was filmed was inspired by a journey I had made just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbas-kiarostami/it-is-a-very-important-film-life-and-nothing-more-in-that-what-was/) [Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbas-kiarostami/) > [In terms of my own film experience, I'm definitely used to morose and very heavy, heavy dramas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-kirshner/in-terms-of-my-own-film-experience-i-m-definitely-used-to-morose-and/) [Mia Kirshner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-kirshner/) > [If you go to a theme park, there will be so many rides. You will get an exciting experience in each of them. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-sethupathi/if-you-go-to-a-theme-park-there-will-be-so-many-rides-you-will-get-an/) [Vijay Sethupathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijay-sethupathi/) > [My relationship with every film is more or less the same, but the experience is the difference. It comes with the people I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabu/my-relationship-with-every-film-is-more-or-less-the-same-but-the/) [Tabu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabu/) > [I think people who aren't in film experience that when they hear their voice on an answering machine or something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-portman/i-think-people-who-aren-t-in-film-experience-that-when-they-hear/) [Natalie Portman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-portman/) > [Every film is its own experience, its own planet, its own family. It seems infinite when you're working on it, and then it's suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-lane/every-film-is-its-own-experience-its-own-planet-its-own-family-it/) [Diane Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-lane/) ## More by Peter Greenaway > [American actors are coy. We all have pricks and cunts, or are you different from the rest of us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/american-actors-are-coy-we-all-have-pricks-and-cunts-or-are-you/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I want to be a prime creator - as every self-regarding artist should do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-want-to-be-a-prime-creator-as-every-self-regarding-artist-should-do/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [To be an atheist you have to have ten thousand times more imagination than if you are a religious fundamentalist. You must take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/to-be-an-atheist-you-have-to-have-ten-thousand-times-more-imagination/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [An American critic wrote that she would rather be forced to read the New York telephone directory three times than watch the film A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/an-american-critic-wrote-that-she-would-rather-be-forced-to-read-the/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I like a lot of glasses about - it highers the tone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-like-a-lot-of-glasses-about-it-highers-the-tone/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [There are those who think that Zeffirelli's Hamlet is the way to treat Shakespeare. I think that cinema can handle much more. We somehow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/there-are-those-who-think-that-zeffirelli-s-hamlet-is-the-way-to/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [A really intelligent man makes an indifferent painter. For painting requires a certain blindness, a partial refusal to be aware of all the options.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/a-really-intelligent-man-makes-an-indifferent-painter-for-painting/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I have often thought it was very arrogant to suppose you could make a film for anybody but yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-have-often-thought-it-was-very-arrogant-to-suppose-you-could-make-a/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I believe that cinema died on the 31 September 1983 when the zapper, or the remote control, was introduced into the living rooms of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-believe-that-cinema-died-on-the-31-september-1983-when-the-zapper/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [My biggest critical success was 'The Draughtsman's Contract,' but then it wasn't the English who particularly thought so; it was the French, who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/my-biggest-critical-success-was-the-draughtsman-s-contract-but-then/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [There are basically only two subject matters in all Western culture: sex and death. We do have some ability to manipulate sex nowadays. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/there-are-basically-only-two-subject-matters-in-all-western-culture/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Cinema doesn't connect with the body as artists have in two thousand years of painting, using the nude as the central figure which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/cinema-doesn-t-connect-with-the-body-as-artists-have-in-two-thousand/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Cinema is far too rich and capable a medium to be merely left to the storytellers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/cinema-is-far-too-rich-and-capable-a-medium-to-be-merely-left-to-the/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Jean Renoir once suggested that most true creators have only one idea and spend their lives reworking it, but then very rapidly he added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/jean-renoir-once-suggested-that-most-true-creators-have-only-one-idea/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Bill Viola is worth ten Scorseses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/bill-viola-is-worth-ten-scorseses/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) [Explore all 166 Peter Greenaway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) ## More Alas quotes > [“Muchos de los ángeles de Dios no tienen alas...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/muchos-de-los-ngeles-de-dios-no-tienen-alas/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Time, time - that is our greatest master! Alas, like Ugolino, time devours its own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/time-time-that-is-our-greatest-master-alas-like-ugolino-time-devours/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The flesh is sad, alas, and I have read all the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-phane-mallarm/the-flesh-is-sad-alas-and-i-have-read-all-the-books/) [Stephane Mallarme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-phane-mallarm/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity, or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half, I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/in-spite-of-the-honestest-efforts-to-annihilate-my-i-ity-or-merge-it/) [Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/) > [The dumpling is indeed of more ancient institution, and of foreign origin; but alas, what were those dumplings? Nothing but a few lentils sodden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/the-dumpling-is-indeed-of-more-ancient-institution-and-of-foreign/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [“World is so beautiful, but alas! There are so many assholes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/world-is-so-beautiful-but-alas-there-are-so-many-assholes/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Alas! we makeA ladder of our thoughts, where angels step,But sleep ourselves at the foot: our high resolvesLook down upon our slumbering acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/alas-we-makea-ladder-of-our-thoughts-where-angels-step-but-sleep/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) Browse all 453 Alas quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In practically every film you experience, you can see the director following the text. 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