You can be technically strong, and focus all your efforts on elements like casting, music, cinematography and sets, but they are all just add ons. End of the day, filmmaking is really about how well you tell a story.

Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language.

When I saw 'Bully' and I was 11 or 12 years old I thought I could do this; I could make movies. Larry Clark's cinematography is very raw. It's also based on a true story. I think a lot of the movies I like are based on true stories.

I think the cinematography in 'Mr. Robot' is some of the best I've ever seen, honestly. Not even as being part of the show but as somebody who enjoys cinema and movies in film and TV.

And later I thought, I can't think how anyone can become a director without learning the craft of cinematography.

I thought of learning cinematography, so I assisted a cinematographer for an ad.

Usually, if you notice good cinematography, then the cinematographer's failing. I try to make light feel like it's always motivated and natural in some way and hope that the lighting goes unnoticed.

People confuse 'pretty' with good cinematography.

Cinematography is so much about instinct and intuition - you want the same range of experience going into behind the camera as what you see in front of it. Your life experience will come through the lens.

Writing, of course, is writing, acting comes from the theater, and cinematography comes from photography. Editing is unique to film. You can see something from different points of view almost simultaneously, and it creates a new experience.

I am interested in all aspects of filmmaking, so I have an opinion on every aspect, so sound design, score, cinematography, editing - all that stuff I have experience doing myself, so I had a very strong idea of what I wanted, and I got, for the most part, people that were able to articulate that idea, which was nice.

In 'Tree of Life,' the cinematography records a small story, a celebration of the courage of everyday life. But it does it so up close and so effortlessly that it has the effect of elevating the intimacy of the story to a grand scale.

After I finished my degree in Mass Communication in Manipal, I enrolled for a cinematography course in Pune Film Institute. That is when Nandini Reddy, the director of 'Ala Modalaindi,' convinced me to act.

A lot of cinematography is intuition. It's an art, not a formula.

When I was studying photography, I became interested in conflict photojournalism, and that got me interested in lighting. Then I realized there was this amazing thing called cinematography where you could kind of tell more complete stories photographing for film. So I ended up going to AFI grad school for that.

Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language.

And later I thought I can't think how anyone can become a director without learning the craft of cinematography.