If you’ve worked in an office, you know… the business card means everything. In a world dominated by cell phones, tech, and social media, the business card closes the deal. No one knows this more than Patrick Bateman. Of all the business cards in history, one card reigns supreme — Paul Allen’s card from the American Psycho Business Card Scene. Today, you’ll learn all about it. What makes the scene so iconic? What’s the font? Was that typo intentional? Let's head into the conference room to find out.Continue reading American Psycho Business Card Scene — Complete Breakdown
Director Rian Johnson movies have a distinct visual and emotional style. Which is a pretty impressive feat given how young a filmmaker he is. Most directors take a few films before they solidify their style. Here’s how you can learn to create a shot list like acclaimed director Rian Johnson -- just remember that for the Last Jedi, the star wipes were someone else’s idea first!Continue reading Mastering Shot Lists: Rian Johnson’s Movies and Directing Style (with Shot List Example)
Sidney Lumet directed feature films and television for over 50 years. In other words, we can learn a lot from his perspective about the film business and film directing. We were lucky enough that Lumet decided to share these thoughts in book form. "Making Movies" by Sidney Lumet is an invaluable resource for any filmmaker. In particular, we're going to review Lumet's idea of a "lens plot," its three variations, and how you can use these concepts in your next project. Continue reading What We Can Learn from “Making Movies” by Sidney Lumet
Best Tarantino MoviesQT's Directing StyleQT Directing Tips QT DialogueOnce Upon a Time AnalysisBasterds Breakdown Is there any filmmaker whose personality is more apparent when you watch his films than Quentin Tarantino? In his own quirky way, Tarantino has introduced us to some of the most shocking and moving emotional moments on film.Of course, Quentin Tarantino’s writing style is a huge part of what’s made him so successful, but more than that, it is his shot choices that bring the audience deeper into the narrative. Tarantino, like all directors working at the top of their game, uses the camera as his…
Stephen King said, “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” Although horror movies have been effective outlets for entertainment, they have also been the ideal genre to explore the social and cultural fears plaguing societies.Continue reading How To Master A Storyboard Like Jordan Peele: Get Out
Filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has said, “Fear of the unknown is a great creative partner.”Throughout Inarritu's filmography the director has continually embraced the uncertainty of life’s moments; allowing his audiences to cry with joy and scream with fear.Here are four ways Inarritu's shooting style influences the emotions of his narratives. Continue reading Mastering the Shot List: Alejandro González Inarritu
Staging a fight scene is an undertaking all its own. But once the vision is realized, incredible preparation and planning goes into filming action scenes. Your entire shooting schedule could be affected by these fight scenes and what they demand. There are hidden elements that could prove to be a nightmare in the scheduling process. So what is the best way to schedule a fight scene? Using script breakdown software, we can make the task of scheduling your fight scene a less daunting task. In this post we’ll break down the epic fight scene from Black Panther and learn how…
