Quote

"I don’t like what I call empty shots, that are there just for screenwriting reasons. ... If there isn’t something in the shot, you have to bring it. I can’t imagine how a lot of moviemakers are doing shots just to explain something in the story. No painter would ever paint an image, no musicians would ever record a sound, for such a reason. I’ll never show someone crossing a street so you’ll understand he’s going from one place to another. I’ll do it if I like the street, or because of the light, or because of something. If not, I won’t do it, I’ll cut it."

-- Jean-Luc Godard, from a 1980 interview with Jonathan Rosenbaum