You could accomplish a shot like this with a split diopter (but there’s no tell-tell blur), or you could place the shotgun shell quite close to camera, light carefully, and open wide for deep depth of field . . . OR, you could ask props to build you a nice, large, fake shotgun shell!

as for me and my house, this is Welcome to Derry

'tis the season for femme fatales and pretty lights and choirs singing dirges Merry Christmas Noir melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...

Yesterday Stu examined how #PortraitofaLadyonFire is a ghost story, but the film’s thoughtful use of visuals don’t stop at metaphor and mythology. This transition from the cold open cleverly show we’ve entered a flashback. When the scene cuts, it’s from Marianne to Marianne . . . 1/4

Rob Reiner was one of the perennials, a force in TV and then film and then politics and Los Angeles life for decades and decades. He was the quintessence of Bleeding Heart Liberal Hollywood in the best sense of every word. May his memory be a blessing.

The Discourse has reached the point where the youtube algorithm is pushing Paul Dano's episode of Hot Ones so good things do still come of the internet

Question: if I am talking about multiple movies of the Kevin McCallister franchise together, so referring to them in the plural is it "Homes Alone", like "Attorneys General" ?

In this scene from All That Heaven Allows, characters moving a prop and operator(s) moving the camera coincide to frame Cary (Jane Wyman) in the TV screen as the bow blocks her daughter Kay out. 1/2

#Pluribus 2/2 As Carol pours, the shot switches angles 90° to a medium shot, with the stream of water in the same screen area, but then Carol moves the bottle and glass into shot - the cut has 'moved' her to the bar. It’s a nice touch that she’s also changed from a green glass to a clear one.

In #Pluribus 1.03 “Grenade” all it takes is a neat bit of framing and editing for Carol (Rhea Seehorn) to turn water into vodka. After Carol considering taking her medication with tap water, she begins pouring out the water . . . 1/2

"Spielberg uses his film language to target a deeper level of consumerist exploitation [which intentionally turns] one of Spielberg’s best set pieces into [a] supercharged proof-of-concept for a marketing strategy . . . " Great piece on one of Spielberg's best. letterboxd.com/journal/mino...

#Andor scene transition 2/2 As a nice little touch, the spacecraft is coming exactly from where Bix was looking in the transition frame, like so: For more on this episode, see our deep dive open.substack.com/pub/shotzero...

what a time to be alive never been so glad to own Casablanca on both DVD and BluRay

#Andor 1.08 "Narkina 5" makes the most of motion, blocking, and symmetry - we look at how each is so effective, especially in culmative use! open.substack.com/pub/shotzero...

VERY weird coincidence I decided to watch these two back to back . . . letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/f...

as someone who used to buy this stuff ten at a time for a buck a pop from the shop five minutes away, I don't know what to be more horrified at - the cost - the per customer limit - the fact its ONLY location is two hours from me THE FACT EVEN WITH ALL THAT IT IS SOLD OUT

All week on @shotzero.bsky.social we're looking at how to dramatize phone calls on screen.

Aussie! Christmas!! Noir!!! shotzero.substack.com/p/five-shots...

short to long, classic to neo, old favorites and new loves, I saw 56 films this #noirvember (and reviewed them all) Bring on the Christmas movies letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/t...

This was an absolutely wild ride letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/f...

#Noirvember is for Chase Scenes part2, from what else: THE CHASE! This scene uses eye movements, very particularly modulated pacing, and stark light/shadows, to drive the tension and keep us guessing. shotzero.substack.com/p/art-of-the...

Shot-Reverse-Shot, but also make it a double reverse in a mirror! As #Noirvember draws to a close, we take a closer look at how this scene from #WhiteHeat has fun with mirrors. shotzero.substack.com/p/shot-rever...

people think noir isn't funny . . . that bit with the cigar is simply HILARIOUS

If you’re going to be one of the most iconic femme fatales in history, you really gotta know how to make an entrance . . . shotzero.substack.com/p/character-...

it only took 30 years and one nasty concussion during college which changed the way I wrote cursive forever but I finally think I like my handwriting now

Some of the tension in this wordless scene comes from just waiting to see if Max Thursday (Zachary Scott) exactly hits the beam of light with his eyes as he moves . . . and he always does!

Today we look at five of our favourite shots from neo-noir #GetMillieBlack. shotzero.substack.com/p/five-shots...

AFL refuse to let W teams all play each other during a season; bork the grounds / game timings; don't care if they play finals in 35 degree heat yet we still get games like #AFLWNorthDees These players are marvelous, deserve the world

Similar to how White Heat used prison bars to make the whole frame look like a spiderweb, this shot from Safe in Hell shows us that even though Gilda thinks she has escaped, she is in fact still trapped . . . she just doesn’t realize it yet.

How my #Noirvember is going letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/t...

Now HERE'S a picture which blends stage-y theatricality and the capabilities of cinema well! #newtome #noirvember letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/f...

#Noirvember continues, with coffee, Safe in Hell melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...

Hear me out! #noirvember #remakes letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/f...

🎁Well, it's birthday week! My goal for birthday week? Sell one print for every year I've trodden this earth, plus one for the year to come. 43 in all. Can I do it? Let's see! (Now is also the time to place holiday orders so they actually arrive for the holidays!) www.brianna-ashby.com/new-products

#Noirvember continues with gay and biblical imagery aplenty. letterboxd.com/mehlsbells/f...

Noir and murder and a siphon pot boiling over, oh my! melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...

This gorgeous "White Heat" prison shot uses light and shadows, bars and depth, to make the prison look like a spiderweb, trapping its inhabitants - guards as well - as fodder.

Congrats to Kate Hore - absolutely outstanding performance, and double-handedly the reason the Dees were the better team today.

As for me and my house, we shall observe #Noirvember across all mediums

If you, like @criterion.bsky.social, are searching for more #BlackoutNoir this #Noirvember, we’ve got a doozy of a scene breakdown for you! shotzero.substack.com/p/putting-us...

I would not have minded seeing more scenes set in aesthetically pleasing Japanese cafes, but still, GIRI / HAJI made the most of its coffee scenes melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...

#MichaelClayton 3/4 Second, Michael begins the call in motion, but lands in a position which frames him in opposition to the sister; they remain ‘facing’ each other from opposite sides of frame for the remainder of the conversation.

Many noir films make use of window slats to cast fore-shadows on characters, but Pitfall (1948) takes it further, using curtains, pajamas, stair railings, bedposts, a model plane, and more, to form visual 'cages' around Johnny and Mona. 1/2

The bestie saw Honey Don't / my review of Honey Don't

Back on my very specific bullshit again melkillingsworth.substack.com/p/coffee-and...

new-to-me faves this #Noirvember: - La Otra (1946) - Obsession / The Hidden Room (1949) - Mulholland Falls (1996) - A Bittersweet Life (2005)

Today for #Noirvember, we look at the absolutely astonishing opening 'oner' (including a few stitches and models) to 1948's The Big Clock

Another #Noirvember day, another lit cigarette! 99 River Street (1953) is absolutely smouldering. Note the power dynamic shifts with the blocking (more on our substack shotzero.substack.com/i/138989527/...) beat it, indeed.

been a long time since I studied the romantics, but I still swore out loud in the theater when the quote popped up at the end great discussion of how all adaptation is in dialogue with its source, and what that means in context of Shelley's life and work neaveglennon.substack.com/p/guillermo-...

#Intimidation 2/3 not only the thief’s movements but his experience, before a 12-second (!!!) ECU of the thief's ear. It’s a wonderful depiction of panic in 60 seconds which puts us 'in his shoes,' makes us feel his panic, then forces us to sit and consider how LOUD the alarm and sirens sound.