We cover another several shots here - shotzero.substack.com/p/using-the-... - and STILL don't even get to the title sequence!
One of those you could freeze-frame and talk about for hours, cool drink in hand . . .
A wide shot of several men working at the docks - several wooden palettes create lines and shadows which lead the eye to the men at work.
A ship docks with a large ganplank; the lines of the gangplank and railing lead the eye to the man at the end, about to jump off.
A medium shot of a man hiding in a warehouse; behind him, a large crate is starkly lit, and the lines draw the eye towards his face.
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More beautiful frames with leading lines from Pickup Alley (aka Interpol)
A medium black-and-white shot of a man in a fedora standing next to a starkly lit wooden staircase - the lines of the stairs guide the eye directly to his face.
A wide shot of a ship docking - the big line of the gangplank swings through the middle of the frame
A medium black-and-white shot of a man standing at the top of a staircase, and a woman at the bottom of the same staircase. The railing leads in a straight line directly to the man's face, while the steps point towards the woman's face.
A high medium shot of a large white hallway and stairway in a home; th stairway has an ornate railing, which curls and points towards a woman standing in shadows at the edge of frame.
Pickup Alley (aka Interpol) makes use of its wide frame . . . and a lot of that involves using architectural features to draw lines across and through frame and to characters, whether in big wide shots or cramped interiors.
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#Giri Haji shows Donna (Sophia Brown) taking a phone call with leading lines EVERYWHERE: the railing, the lighting-popped stair edges, the lines of the kerb, ledges and window trim; the streetlight poles.
NONE of them run exactly horizontal or vertical, demonstrating Donna’s world is all askew.
Today we look at how #GravityFalls sets up a reveal in four simple shots!
shotzero.substack.com/p/moving-an-...
Post a non-religious picture you think of as holy.
#GetontheBus 2/2
There’s neon lines of the petrol station, lines made by the overhead lights, and lines painted on the side of the bus, all pointing is towards the eyes of the two characters front and center of the frame.
Yesterday was a set of SpikeLee shots repeating leading lines which bring a story full circle . . . this one from #GetontheBus is more for kicks and good looks.
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background: a brick wall with a giant alien shadow text reads: Week 26.21 - SHADOW PLAY socials roundup. whether made by puppets or people or panthers, shadows can be very effective!
Miss any of our posts on shadows last week? We've got you covered!
shotzero.substack.com/p/week-2612-...
#SpikeLee uses this ‘leading lines’ technique twice in Mo' Better Blues to point to the same two people in two drastically different shots - one near the beginning on their first date, and the other near the end of the film as they're together and expecting a child.
This week is all about using LINES within the frame.
There’s a lot going on in this shot from #DesertHearts, but the leading lines of the train and its painted stripes, as well as Vivian’s outstretched hand, guide us directly to Cay’s face.
Today on our Substack we look at how Hamlet Goes Business can tell an entire story in one transition.
shotzero.substack.com/p/a-transiti...
a black and white photo of a woman sitting at a table; she is dressed in all-black, the table is white, and a piece of white cake sits on a white plate. the text says "A Transition of Opposites: HAMLET GOES BUSINESS"
today on the site: how stark differences make for hard-hitting scene transitions, saying a lot with no words at all!
shotzero.substack.com/p/a-transiti...
Always nice to see Deadline at Dawn getting some love. A great noir with a feeling all its own
Yes! And it just looks so damn . . . dramatic!
This scene has lots of shadows for the fun of it; check out how the bottle and glass next to that apartment door on the lower right are placed to refract light!
It all pays off when Alex and June step from darkness into light, and stare into the bright-white, dead face of Edna staring back.
Just a stunning shadow swish shot from Spike Lee in the opening sequence of his basketball drama #HeGotGame.
Our short shots this week are full of shadows, and our longread also examines how Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro, La Chimera) adds to her eye imagery in Le Fil Rouge by making eyes out of stark lights, silhouettes and shadows.
shotzero.substack.com/p/the-eyes-h...
The light at the door (0:02-0:21) is carefully calibrated to enable Mundt (Michael Shannon) to transition between faceless shadowy shape, to muddled expression, then back to shadow.
Longer breakdown of how this scene uses light and shadow on our Substack, next week.
Here’s #LegendsofTomorrow using shadows to depict an alien eating a human, for maaaaany thousands of dollars less than any other way they could do it.
This wonderful shot starts on the shadow of a canary bouncing between the paws and mouth of a painted panther, before showing us the canary in context of Irena.
Irena is (unbeknownst to her) at the beginning of her transformation into the titular Cat Person: making this quite-literal foreshadowing.
Wondering what that #KPopDemonHunters bit in the #Oscar intro was all about?
We have you covered:
shotzero.substack.com/p/the-eyes-h...
Medium black and white shot; in the foreground, a woman smokes and sings; in the background, a man plats the piano with his back towards us. Both are fully in-focus.
Medium black and white shot; in the foreground,man in a hat glares; in the background, a woman in a black negligee puts on a bathrobe. Both are fully in-focus.
Medium black and white shot; a woman clutches a large piece of paper and looks up with tears in her eyes. We cannot see what is on the paper, but whatever it is, looks like bad news.
Medium black and white shot; a starkly lit man and woman stand in front of a curtain, the man taking the woman's hand and looking at her imploringly.
Today we look at the stark shadows, stage-like curtains, and absolutely audacious filter swings, of 1947's Quai des Orfèvres (aka Jenny Lamour).
No subtitles needed; we're concentrating on how the raw images make us FEEL.
shotzero.substack.com/p/five-shots...
A really difficult trick to pull off but dayum do they ever!
#Locke 2/2
In this scene, because the man on the other end of the line is anxious and frenetic, the image is as well.
Check out our Substack next week for a more thorough breakdown of what makes the constant, different movements in this scene so effective.
The entirety of #Locke (2013) happens within a car, in real time, meaning the actor (Tom Hardy), director (Steven Knight), and editor (Justine Wright) have to find ways to keep the flow of performance and story.
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We’re gearing up for a miniseries to look at every. single. scene. transition. in an episode of #ThePitt.
What do you most want to know about how / when / why The Pitt shifts from scene to scene?
Medium shot of two people sitting in a car at night. Kirsty (Robyn Malcolm) sits up front and Cleaver (Richard Roxburgh) sits in the back, both are in focus, and there's a slight fuzzy line in the middle showing where the split diopter is in use.
Rake uses a classic split diopter for a shot which would have been COMPLETELY different if only one character was in focus, or both were in the same seat.
This arrangement displays the power dynamic: Kirsty in the driver’s seat, with all the control; Cleaver powerless, symbolically a child.
Just like all our short shots this week, our longread is about characters in cars . . . in this case, how super-low-budget made-for-TV-movie and cult film Cuba Libre makes the most of three shots for this pivotal roadside cafe scene.
shotzero.substack.com/p/low-budget...
This shot from #TheCrow stages three characters along different planes: far back left talking on the phone, middle centre lost in thought, and front right smoking and driving.
They may be occupying the same car, but the blocking and framing shows they’re in completely seperate worlds to each other.
