This #Brooklyn99 ‘cutting the turkey’ double-entendre-off is sold with its blocking and framing. Once the table tableau has been established, shots all cut Roger and Victor (Bradley Whitford and Jimmy Smits) off mid-torso as their hands move furiously off-screen . . . 1/2

#HeatedRivalry's Ep1 promo shot, Ep1 itself, and promo-shots-within-episode-one, ALL have Ilya and Shane making the shape of a heart oh they KNOW what they are doing

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!

[Check replies for said fork!]

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!

“it’s a wonderful life” (1946) remains the best christmas film about the importance of mutual aid during the decline of capitalism.

The Knives Out mysteries often show as they tell . . . like this scene from the OG Benoit Blanc caper.

Around this time, many people look back on their past decisions and consider future resolutions. As does the central character in #ABittersweetLife - today on our Substack, we look at five of our favorite shots from this 2005 existential action thriller. shotzero.substack.com/p/five-shots...

When Sara (Caity Lotz) confronts Bishop (Raffi Barsoumian) in Ep 6.07 “Back to the Finale: Part II” a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am series of shots make our head spin much like Bishop’s!

We know time flies especially during the holidays, but this single shot from #DoctorWho “A Christmas Carol” passes decades in one small slide! We did a deeper dive into how they made the shot shotzero.substack.com/p/passing-ye...

I’ve been working on this one for a minute. With Criterion releasing DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA, for @letterboxd.social I surveyed Spike Lee’s rich history as a musical director. Read: letterboxd.com/journal/spik...

How does a choice of shots within an animated world help establish a show's tone and set up its jokes? We look at a scene from the #GravityFalls pilot to find out! shotzero.substack.com/p/moving-a-s...

Decoy needs us to know we’re in Margot’s POV, because what she sees and knows is going to change what she says on the phone. Showing Margot leaning over looking downwards, then a high angled shot, back to Margot, clearly tells us she has all the same information we have here.

The shots in #Carol come moments apart, with hands placed in the same area of frame so our eye goes the same - even before we know who these people are to each other, these shots tell us how to feel. 1/3

This opening shot from Hamlet Goes Business fades in as usual, then . . . tilts? It's confusing only for a moment, until the next shot cuts to a closeup of Hamlet (Pirkka-Pekka Petelius), whose head is tilted at a similar angle to how the wide shot out the window was. 1/2

Before Jacob Tierney did #HeatedRivalry, he did #Letterkenny, aka one of the smartest, whipfast comedies doing the most jokes with the smallest spaces you ever did see. Like this:

We at Shot Zero are bravely on the record: #DieHard is a Christmas movie, and it is also damn good at making pretty and effective shots like this lil camera tilt. We talk about how tilts and pans are used to great effect here: shotzero.substack.com/p/tiltpans-i...

Today's longread looks at a scene where Succession's editing crosses the line almost as much as the characters! And why breaking that 'rule' is perfectly fine . . . if you do it right. open.substack.com/pub/shotzero...

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

THE VILLAINESS (Jung, 2017)

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

We return to #SHERLOCKHOUND to see how #Miyazaki's detective series stages an aquatic stunt! See our Substack for the result and full breakdown. shotzero.substack.com/p/art-of-the...

The Wizard of Oz (1939) #filmsky 🎬 #movies 🎬 #cinema 🎬📽🎥🎞

If you missed any of our 'How To Make a Phone Call on Film' shots last week from Michael Clayton, Brighton Rock, and more, we've got them all in one handy place shotzero.substack.com/p/staging-a-...

This simple, low-angle, stillframe shot from Drunken Angel makes us feel Sanada’s exhaustion at the heat and the hugeness of his task — his white suit against the blacks and greys makes him stand out, looking small and tired climbing steep steps towards a huge and boundless sky.

Sweet Smell of Succes (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) DoP: James Wong Howe #BOTD Barbara Nichols

This Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School scene starts with John Goodman in prison telling his story to Danny DeVito: standard 2shot. behind bars, as far away from each other as their tiny cell allows. The single shots have them isolated, neither infringing on the others’ frame. 1/2

Recently, Agatha All Along created tarot cards with objects and characters. Merlin pulled a similar move with Morgana (Katie McGrath) in 4.13 “The Sword in the Stone - Part 2’ where she stands in front of a tapestry to create the picture of a dark, avenging angel.

As Bix (Adria Arjona) runs from Imperial cops, all seven shots have her, the stormtroopers chasing her, the camera, or all of the above, moving Left-to-Right. Then the scene cuts from a closeup of Bix to a wide shot of space, with the Fondor coming into screen also moving L-R. 1/2

#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...

#TenPoundPoms loves a mirror shot! What’s interesting here is what we DON’T see — Annie’s (Faye Marsay) face in the shot or the mirror. Annie is small in frame, surrounded by a maze of stairs and hotel hallways. we can see the phone, it’s obvious what she’s doing . . . 1/2

This phone call is actually a ‘reveal’ — the punctuation mark on a sequence where Zack has pondered what to do. The mirror lets us know Zack is still conflicted, even as his conversation lays out his decision. This shot does the exact opposite of our phone call shot coming up tomorrow.

Today we take a look - more accurately, about forty looks - at how Spike Lee uses the color red in #Girl6.

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

This scene from #TheMoretheMerrier spruces up what *could* be a boring phone call with framing, sets, and extras. Constance is 'boxed in', but we also get a look out at a crowded dining hall and an attempting-to-eavesdrop waiter. 1/2

The focus pull, ‘opposite sides’ framing, stark colour difference between locations - these 45 seconds (only 30 actually spent talking) SHOWS us how these people feel, and how strongly they oppose each other. see today's substack for a deeper look at this #MichaelClayton scene

A phone call often ‘merely’ conveys information, so how do you make it interesting? Focus pull, framing, shadows and smoke galore. Then cuts juxtapose mobster and innocent - him sweaty in a dingy crowded room, her in a bright white room with her waitress hat as a sort of halo.

ICYMI: our post on Aussie Christmas noir HEATWAVE is up (and free!) on our Substack open.substack.com/pub/shotzero...

What better to take us from #Noirvember to the Christmas season than a deep dive into five of our favourite shots from Aussie Christmas noir "Heatwave" ?

Sherlock and Watson are a bit at odds in this scene, and the framing shows us as much as their conversation tells us: their singles are ‘clean’ looking far offscreen at each other, but even when they share a screen, they’re separated, first by a pillar, than a *distinctly* posed lamp.

#Noirvember is for stark shadows! We go from seeing nearly nothing, to silhouettes, to the tiny spotlight of a moving handheld torch, to nothing again, to click Nick’s ominous face, in this delightfully shadowy scene from Alias Nick Beale.

#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...

Yesterday we looked at how the earlier part of this scene used mirrors, but check out the transition at 24 seconds! [stills below] The way it crossfades between Cody (James Cagney) and his Ma (Margaret Wycherly) clearly shows them to be cut from the same cloth / kind of psychopathy. 1/2

#Noirvember is for chase scenes! Check out how this dialogue-less chase scene in neo-noir TELL NO ONE shifts POV It's an audacious sequence, but note it always ties the first-person POV to the proper angle and motion of the runner’s eyes through a shot of the runner looking. full breakdown below

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...

When Abel (Louis Garrel) finds a gun in his mom’s boyfriend’s jacket, the scene makes clear how he peeps to spy on said boyfriend through a crack in the door without showing them 'in context' of each other. How? #TheInnocent 1/2

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

Like yesterday's scene from Guilty Bystander, everything here relies entirely on blocking and camera/actor movement in and out of lights and shadows. Such fun!

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-...

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!