Wealth & Money Quote by Marguerite Moreau

It is a small technical note that quietly rewrites the power dynamics of a set. Moreau is talking about cameras, but she is really talking about permission: permission to explore, to fail privately, to chase a performance without the constant meter running. Film stock used to be an invisible producer in the room, pressuring actors and directors toward “good enough” because every extra take literally cost money. Digital capture removes that hard limit, and the sentence “as much as we wanted” lands like a relief valve.

The subtext is double-edged, though. “A lot more takes are possible” sounds like creative freedom, yet it also hints at the new expectation of endless iteration. When you don’t “worry about wasting money,” the constraint doesn’t disappear; it migrates. Time becomes the currency. Patience becomes the resource. Actors can be asked to deliver not just a performance but a searchable database of micro-variations that can be shaped later in the edit.

Two cameras matters, too: it signals coverage, options, and the modern preference for capturing spontaneity from multiple angles rather than building a moment through repetition and precision. That can protect an actor (fewer resets, more continuity) or expose them (more surveillance, fewer places to hide a misstep). Moreau’s phrasing stays practical, but the cultural moment is clear: the shift from scarcity to abundance in image-making didn’t just change budgets; it changed what we demand from creativity, and how relentlessly we can ask artists to keep going.