Loved today's longread about #WynonnaEarp's long-running, camera-spinning, Texas-switching oner, but left you wanting more?
We've got you covered!
shotzero.substack.com/p/art-of-the...
This #WynonnaEarp oner is over two minutes, and involves multiple Texas switches . . . and yes it's a TRUE oner!
We break it all down on our Substack today.
shotzero.substack.com/p/staging-a-...
"I’m not terribly interested in trying to create a perfect illusion of realism. I don’t find that super interesting as an actor or a filmmaker. It’s why I like Nicolas Cage."
For this month's column at @ebertvoices.bsky.social I spoke with filmmaker Grace Glowicki about her horror comedy DEAD LOVER
#PulpFiction 2/2 . . . Well, they didn’t.
#TexasSwitch, baby.
You can even see the tire treads on the lawn from where the stunt car drove past the already-parked hero car.
#PulpFiction uses a single shot to show a car careening over a lawn, then follows Lance (Eric Stoltz) out to the crashed car where he argues with Vincent (John Travolta) over Mia (Uma Thurman).
How did they guarantee the car could safely crash exactly in place with Travolta and Thurman in it?
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All of Kelly Macdonald's line deliveries are good but you REALLY feel this one in your bones.
"I didn't expect to find myself living in the future but here I fucking well am."
Like Uptown Girls, this #TexasSwitch allows a stuntie to take the fall.
Roat (Alan Arkin) stabs Mike (Richard Crenna) - then Roat steps through the door, pauses menacingly, the camera follows him, and he pushes the stuntie down the steps . . . Crenna having used the pause to get out of shot.
As Molly (Brittany Murphy) talks on the phone, soap suds overflow from her washing machine in the background. When Molly realizes, she drops the phone and runs.
When Brittany Murphy gets offscreen, the #TexasSwitch is on! and the stuntperson dashes in to take the slip-and-fall.
What does it say when you frame a character within a doorway, window, or tree branches, versus when you show the same character without a frame?
Our picture essay today looks at how David Lynch tracks a character journey through frames in The Straight Story.
shotzero.substack.com/p/frames-wit...
Two very different things to note in this #MyLifeisMurder intro:
Alexa's ‘dramatic but not huge’ reaction (actor choice / editor selection works!)
Alexa eating an ice cream cone motivates the camera movement towards the title card hanging on the giant elephant
Sure it’s a bright, gaudy, blinking obvious affectation of a neon sign . . . but then this is a #MyLifeisMurder episode about several fabulous drag queens, so it’s more than fitting!
What do Kiki's Delivery Service and Fight Club have in common?
Turns out, almost nothing, but both do make 'meta use' of their frames in very fun ways . . .
Today's deep dive: five of our favourite shots from #BlackMirror 3.06 #HatedintheNation
shotzero.substack.com/p/five-shots...
A lot of #MyLifeisMurder season 2 makes use of Alexa’s nostalgia, and this combines that with another location-setting landmark of the Auckland Museum — fun stuff!
In case you missed any of our 'meta frame use' shots last week, we've rounded them all up in one handy place!
shotzero.substack.com/p/week-2608-...
Yesterday was #MyLifeisMurder Season 2's first title card, and it was BIG AND WIDE.
On the opposite end of the spectrum we’ve got a really small-scale title card which could be made practically *and* is done in fresh pasta.
What’s not to love!?
Rebuilding my BABYLON inspirations thread here 💃🎞️
A wide shot of a tower standing above a harbour; several small ships are in the harbour; a bungee jumper is very small, jumping from the tower; superimposed on the tower in teal letters matching the ocean water is the title card MY LIFE IS MURDER
#MyLifeisMurder 2/2
This title card does all of the above, complete with bungee jumpers!
When #MyLifeisMurder came back for S2, it needed to continue its tradition of fun title reveals, reintroduce Alexa Crowe (Lucy Lawless) and her new partner in crime-solving Detective Harry (Rawiri Jobe), establish Alexa had moved to Auckland, and preferably be dramatic . . .
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Today we take a look at Spike Lee's color theory in Red Hook Summer . . . and it may not be the color you expect!
shotzero.substack.com/p/colour-the...
#GravityFalls pulls a fun visual trick using the frame:
when Bill Cipher tips his hat to Dipper, the whole frame flips around them; at first it may feel like only the camera flips, but when Dipper skids down the roof, we realize Bill has actually flipped reality around himself!
all our posts this week are about 'meta ways to use the frame'
and this may be amongst the most meta of them all
a medium shot of a cafe window; the window is oval-shaped, with an unusual middle frame piece which creates a yin-yang outline. On the left, outlined in the 'bottom' part of the yin-yang symbol, a woman with red hair is sitting. On the right, outlined in the 'top' part of the yin-yang symbol, a woman with black hair is standing.
The way #Andor arranges Vel (Faye Marsay) and Cinta (Varada Sethu) here is entirely for us the audience, using an unusual window frame to create a meta moment of commentary about the characters and where they have been emotionally.
Medium shot of a man in army uniform, sitting in a chair against a background with wood columns and slight shadows in one corner
A wide shot of a man standing in an office, across the desk from a man sitting hunched over. The many shadows cast across the whole room look like a spiderweb.
medium shot of a man in an office chair, wearing a fine-patterned suit and smoking a pipe
Medium shot of two men sitting at a desk in an office; the windows behind them are barred, and casting barred shadows on the wall, so the whole thing looks like a jail cell.
As three characters dance around truth and each other, the changing patterns of the room show the audience whether they're in the clear . . . or in the spider's web.
Check out our photo-heavy look at 1947's CROSSFIRE
shotzero.substack.com/p/patterns-i...
#FightClub 2/2
This sort of meta moment just. so. happens! to be something Stu and I did an entire podcast episode on, over on Draft Zero.
draft-zero.com/2024/dz-111/
This moment in Fight Club involves a ‘cigarette burn’ in the frame we’re watching.
That the narrator refers to it as Tyler (Brat Pitt) points to it is a meta way to signal the narrator has full knowledge of the movie we are watching . . .
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This live-action #LegendsofTomorrow scene pulls the same trick with the frame as yesterday's animated scene from Kiki's Delivery Service.
When Nate [Nick Zano] punches the bad guy, the whole frame SHAKES to make us feel the impact!
Slowed down for clarity, and also pure enjoyment.
Afraid she may be losing her ability to fly, Kiki tests her broom . . .
When she lands with a THUD! the screen shakes as though the camera is jarred by her hitting the floor.
More than a sight gag, the jarring motion makes us *feel* how Kiki’s world is shaken when she hits the ground.
every. single. time. Lake George has three people in a scene, it gets a little funky with the framing.
Step inside, and we'll show you how . . .
open.substack.com/pub/shotzero...
When Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to get closer to a picture without cutting, he swung a magnifying glass in front of the frame.
You may notice the edge ‘wipe’ across the frame, or it may feel like an extreme focus pull, but the EFFECT of jumping to "but it did happen . . . “ for sure grabs you.
