Ken Burns Quotes

Ken Burns

Ken Burns

American Director

Born: Jul 29, 1953

History Jazz Music Think Work You

Related authors: David Lynch George Lucas Martin Scorsese Spike Lee Steven Spielberg Tim Burton Woody Allen

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution to the arts. Ken Burns

Great Genius Country Jazz Our Reflects Contribution Improvisation Arts

I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it's worse than fear - it's active disengagement. Ken Burns

Life Fear Safety Active Think Too Worse Lead Make Than Disengagement Often Choices Cynicism Fully Lived Based

I am passionately interested in understanding how my country works. And if you want to know about this thing called the United States of America you have to know about the Civil War. Ken Burns

Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to 20th century music (I did not say jazz) what Einstein is to physics. Ken Burns

Jazz is a very accurate, curiously accurate accompaniment to 20th century America. Ken Burns

Jazz Very Accurate America Curiously Century

When a documentary filmmaker, working in the style that I do, suggests that there has been a shooting ratio of 40 hours to every one hour of finished film, that doesn't mean that the other 39 are bad. Ken Burns

Finished Style Every Other Has-Been Bad Ratio Hour Hours Documentary Been Shooting Mean Working Film Filmmaker

You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come across a Buck O'Neill and you know you are going to know him for the rest of your life. The same thing happened with Curt Flood. Ken Burns

I grew up certain for a while that I was going to be an anthropologist, until film turned my head. Ken Burns

Head Until Anthropologist Up Going Grew While Turned Certain Film

I began to feel that the drama of the truth that is in the moment and in the past is richer and more interesting than the drama of Hollywood movies. So I began looking at documentary films. Ken Burns

Truth Looking Past Films Drama More Feel Documentary Began Than In The Past Interesting Movies Hollywood Hollywood Movies Richer Moment

I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the facts in my scripts. Ken Burns

Music Research Way Photographs Composers Facts Scripts Use

I enjoy total creative control right now. Nobody tells me to make it longer, shorter, better, sexier, more violent, whatever. Ken Burns

Me Creative Better Whatever Control Enjoy Sexier Tells Total More Nobody Longer Make Creative Control Now Right Violent

I treat the photograph as a work of great complexity in which you can find drama. Add to that a careful composition of landscapes, live photography, the right music and interviews with people, and it becomes a style. Ken Burns

The way I work, the interview never becomes larger than the person being interviewed. Ken Burns

Work Interview Way Never Becomes Than Person Being Larger

I think the problem with a lot of the fusion music is that it's extremely predictable, it's a rock rhythm and the solos all play the same stuff and they play it over and over again and there's a certain musical virtuosity involved in it. Ken Burns

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm. Ken Burns

Jazz Changing Beat Dynamic Rhythm

History's just been made for sale to an inside deal. Ken Burns

History Made Inside Deal Been Sale Just

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