An imposing black structure provides a connection between the past and the future in this enigmatic adaptation of a short story by revered sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. When Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and other astronauts are sent on a mysterious mission, their ship’s computer system, HAL, begins to display increasingly strange behavior, leading up to a tense showdown between man and machine that results in a mind-bending trek through space and time.
In psychology, there’s something called the serial position effect. It means people tend to remember what comes first and last, not what occurs in the middle. Filmmakers know this phenomenon all too well. Combine that with today’s stream-ability and countless options… and the opening to a film is as important as ever. Today, we study the best… Continue reading 25 Best Opening Scenes in Movies & What Makes Them Great
The first scene in your film is arguably the most important one. You need to give the audience a sense of what’s going to happen as well as set the tone. After all, you don’t want your comedy to start off with a grim, overly dramatic scene. This is where a prologue can come in… Continue reading What is a Prologue? Definition, Examples in Film and Literature
There’s no doubt about it: Stanley Kubrick is one of the greatest filmmaking pioneers of all time. Stanley Kubrick was, in many ways, a perfectionist. As such, his filmography isn’t as expansive as those of his contemporaries. But for what Kubrick lacked in quantity he made up for in quality: Each film he directed was a… Continue reading Best Stanley Kubrick Movies — 13 Masterpieces Ranked (and Video Essay)
Are practical effects still useful in modern cinema? In the battle of practical vs CGI (computer-generated images), who wins? Practical effects have a rich history in cinema, influencing generations of filmmakers and movie goers alike. Oftentimes, practical effects movies can produce a more realistic look and feel than CGI. In the article, we analyze practical… Continue reading Practical Effects in Film — How Filmmakers Do It For Real
Mise en scene plays a huge role in communicating the tone of a story — but what is mise en scene? In classical terms, mise en scene is the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play or film. Today, mise en scene is regarded as all of the elements that go into any… Continue reading How to Use Color in Film like Kubrick: Mise-en-Scène Elements Explained
The saying goes, “If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.” So, is Stanley Kubrick the best? For many filmmakers, the immediate answer is yes. The harder question is “why?” Like a great magician, we appreciate the end result without knowing how it was done. There is certainly a lot of “process” in his… Continue reading Stanley Kubrick Directing Style Explained in 8 Parts
Everyone loves to see a great scene transition, but how do you connect scenes on a deeper level? Consider using a match cut. Using similar colors, shapes, actions or even dialogue, match cuts add that extra level of meaning to create a more cohesive and seamless narrative. In today’s post, we’re going to break down… Continue reading Match Cuts & Creative Transitions with Examples – Editing Techniques
Introducing StudioBinder’s screenplay library — your one-stop-shop for reading, downloading, and analyzing the best movie scripts online. Our collection contains all the feature-length screenplays in our database as well as scripts that we have broken down by plot, character, ending, quotes, and more. Our hope is that screenwriters everywhere can have access to these iconic… Continue reading Explore and Read the Best Free Movie Scripts Online (with PDF Downloads)
From 2001: A Space Odyssey to pretty much every Edgar Wright film, some of the best films of all time have effectively used needle drops to take their films to the next level. This list runs through the best movie songs of all time, and as you go through the scenes, you will find they… Continue reading 60 Best Movie Songs Of All Time — Top Needle Drops, Ranked
Best of…20102011201220132014201520162017201820192010-2019 From grim dramas to breathtaking action films, 2018 was a great year to go to the movies. It was a year of seismic changes in the cinematic landscape as Marvel’s Black Panther was nominated for multiple Academy Awards, showing that superhero films could be serious fare, too. However, it was also a year… Continue reading The Best Movies of 2018 — The Year in Review
