--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have always thought if you are going to…" description: "\"I have always thought if you are going to make a film, it's much better to have an original script that will play to film's strengths.\" — William Boyd" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/william-boyd-3581_always_i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-t_933385.png" --- # I have always thought if you are going to make a film… ![“I have always thought if you are going to make a film, it's much better to have an original script that will play to film's strengths.” quote by William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/william-boyd-3581_always_i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-t_933385.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/william-boyd-3581_always_i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-t_933385.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/william-boyd-3581_always_i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-t_933385.png) > “I have always thought if you are going to make a film, it's much better to have an original script that will play to film's strengths.” [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Original scripts that play to a film’s strengths are preferable to adaptations. **In simple terms:** Original scripts suit film best. Key Takeaway Write scripts that match cinematic strengths. Themes creativity film production storytelling Mood practical insightful Type educational creative When to use this quote - film development - pitch meetings - production planning - directing Key Concepts originality scriptwriting visual storytelling Questions to Reflect On - What makes a script inherently cinematic? - How to identify a film’s strengths early? A Different Perspective Adaptations can also succeed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Original](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Strengths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strengths/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) ## Related quotes > [Filmmaking is, a sort of uncontrolled process. I think it's very important to be open to the unexpected and at the same time, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dagur-kari/filmmaking-is-a-sort-of-uncontrolled-process-i-think-it-s-very/) Dagur Kari > [You finish a film and you think, 'If I could just make the film again I could do a much better job.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-minkoff/you-finish-a-film-and-you-think-if-i-could-just-make-the-film-again-i/) [Rob Minkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-minkoff/) > [I've worked with genius performers. Sometimes they created great work with a bad script... but not often. Play it safe: write well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-juhl/i-ve-worked-with-genius-performers-sometimes-they-created-great-work/) Jerry Juhl > [I always knew that someone was going to come at me with a script to play God. It's just one of those things, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/i-always-knew-that-someone-was-going-to-come-at-me-with-a-script-to/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) > [With proper acting, I don't know what I would play - I got sent a script for a play, and it said in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-brand/with-proper-acting-i-don-t-know-what-i-would-play-i-got-sent-a-script/) [Jo Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-brand/) > [“I am more attentive to the script of a play when I read it than when I see it performed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-am-more-attentive-to-the-script-of-a-play-when-i-read-it-than-when/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“What is it about our expectations, plans, or ideas that hold such sway over us? It is as if we've written a script for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-sprink/what-is-it-about-our-expectations-plans-or-ideas-that-hold-such-sway/) [Holly Sprink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-sprink/) > [A lot of our favorite comedies in general are usually directed by writers, whether or not they wrote the original script themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hurwitz/a-lot-of-our-favorite-comedies-in-general-are-usually-directed-by/) [Jon Hurwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hurwitz/) > [There's always something that draws you away from the original script.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-corman/there-s-always-something-that-draws-you-away-from-the-original-script/) [Roger Corman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-corman/) > [Producers on Broadway approached us with an original script after relaunching ourselves as 'A Great Big World,' and wanted us to write the music.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-axel/producers-on-broadway-approached-us-with-an-original-script-after/) [Ian Axel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-axel/) > [In the original script, my character was a basketball player rather than a boxer. I didn't think I could pull that off. I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-murphy/in-the-original-script-my-character-was-a-basketball-player-rather/) [Eddie Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-murphy/) > [“I think maybe I’m just a victim of movies, y’know? That I have some completely unrealistic notion of what a relationship can be.” —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kaufman/i-think-maybe-i-m-just-a-victim-of-movies-y-know-that-i-have-some/) [Charlie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kaufman/) > [To be fair to ourselves, in almost every original script, the timing is actually worked out down to the minute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-loceff/to-be-fair-to-ourselves-in-almost-every-original-script-the-timing-is/) [Michael Loceff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-loceff/) > [You have to accept that the moment you hand a script to a director, even if you've written it as an original script, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-levin/you-have-to-accept-that-the-moment-you-hand-a-script-to-a-director/) [Victor Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-levin/) > [What first attracted me to doing Swiss Army Man was just how mental it was - how insane and wonderful and original the script…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-radcliffe/what-first-attracted-me-to-doing-swiss-army-man-was-just-how-mental/) [Daniel Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-radcliffe/) ## More by William Boyd > [Sometimes limbo is a tolerable place to be stuck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/sometimes-limbo-is-a-tolerable-place-to-be-stuck/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“Here at its extremities the terrified transients gathered, gazing out at the vast refulgent ocean for some sign of security.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/here-at-its-extremities-the-terrified-transients-gathered-gazing-out/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“We all possess, like it or not, the people we know, and are possessed by them in turn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people-we-know-and-are-possessed-by/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“Old Testament prophets. ‘You savvy dis fetish thing?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/old-testament-prophets-you-savvy-dis-fetish-thing/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [Human beings are interested in the human condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/human-beings-are-interested-in-the-human-condition/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“A warm sunny evening, the plash and gurgle of the waves in the rock pools, the rush of the cold gin. I thought for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/a-warm-sunny-evening-the-plash-and-gurgle-of-the-waves-in-the-rock/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [I have this lock of hair that keeps falling across my forehead. It drives me mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-have-this-lock-of-hair-that-keeps-falling-across-my-forehead-it/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [With film, you have very limited tools to convey subjectivity - voiceover, the camera's point of view, good acting - but even the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/with-film-you-have-very-limited-tools-to-convey-subjectivity/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“any man over forty who deliberately combs his hair forward in a child’s fringe has something suspect about him,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/any-man-over-forty-who-deliberately-combs-his-hair-forward-in-a-child/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [There are things in life we don't understand, and when we meet them, all we can do is let them alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/there-are-things-in-life-we-don-t-understand-and-when-we-meet-them/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“All great artists are doubters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/all-great-artists-are-doubters/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“Feelings of depression; feelings of frustration; feelings of emptiness in the face of all this randomness - done down by the haphazard, yet again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/feelings-of-depression-feelings-of-frustration-feelings-of-emptiness/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“I am a total stranger, you see. Total.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-am-a-total-stranger-you-see-total/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [There is a disconnect between the film Bond and the literary Bond which is their contemporaneity. I don't suffer from that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/there-is-a-disconnect-between-the-film-bond-and-the-literary-bond/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“So much for my great vendetta, so much for the tireless hunt for my betrayer. Isn't this how life turns out, more often than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/so-much-for-my-great-vendetta-so-much-for-the-tireless-hunt-for-my/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) [Explore all 125 William Boyd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I have really good lateral movement. I've always had quick lateral movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-rivers/i-have-really-good-lateral-movement-i-ve-always-had-quick-lateral/) [Austin Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-rivers/) > [There is something magical about being able to feel somebody. And that is something that has always moved me with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/there-is-something-magical-about-being-able-to-feel-somebody-and-that/) [Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have always thought if you are going to make a film, it's much better to have an original script that will play to film's strengths.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Boyd" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-to-make-a-film-it-s-much/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Always" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-to-make-a-film-it-s-much/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/william-boyd-3581_always_i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-t_933385.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/william-boyd-3581_always_i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-t_933385.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/william-boyd-3581_always_i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-t_933385.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have always thought if you are going to make a film, it's much better to have an original script that will…” — William Boyd", "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": "William Boyd", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have always thought if you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-to-make-a-film-it-s-much/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-have-always-thought-if-you-are-going-to-make-a-film-it-s-much/#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 } } ] } ```