Have you ever winced while listening to an amateur band hit the wrong notes? Have you ever felt discomfort when you’re tasked with a job that goes against your beliefs? Or have you ever stumbled over a poem’s lines that seem to just sound bad? Dissonance in its many forms is all around us. Often we think of it in a negative light, as something to avoid. But dissonance can be used in various artistic mediums to deliver a point, heighten emotion, or add texture. Let’s get to the bottom of "what is dissonance," and how we can use it…
If you’re an aspiring cinematographer or director, you know that the camera is your primary storytelling tool. How you move the camera or how you frame a subject communicates intangible information to the audience. The zoom shot is just one of these techniques and adds a very particular and nuanced message. Knowing what this message is is critical to deciding when to use it. So, what is a zoom shot?Continue reading What is a Zoom Shot and When You Should Use One
Horror movies have become subject to some of the most predictable devices and tropes in cinema. While unique filmmakers like Robert Eggers, Ari Aster, and Jordan Peele continue to innovate the genre, new horror films are riddled with horror movie tropes. Although they can still be effective horror storytelling devices, they can also become unremarkable cliches in a film. Let’s take a look at fifteen common horror movie tropes. Fair warning, spoilers ahead!Continue reading Horror Movie Tropes — Top 15 Tropes & Why They’re Effective
Have you ever seen a photograph or a shot in a film and found your eyes wandering across the frame only to land at something significant? Odds are, leading lines were used to direct your attention. Photographers and cinematographers alike use various types of lines to lead the viewer’s eyes and tell a story through an image. What are leading lines and how can you use them? Let’s take a look at how this technique can benefit a shot’s aesthetic and function and how you can use them in your own compositions. Continue reading What Are Leading Lines — Composition in…
Sometimes, a hero is only as good as their villain. Whether they’re a charismatic villain that you love to hate or pure, unadulterated evil, these villains will stick in your mind for years to come. Be sure to check out our How to Write a Villain video essay below for a breakdown of three villainous archetypes. Without further ado, please join us in counting down the best movie villains of all time.Continue reading The Best Villains of All Time — 23 Vile and Vicious Evildoers
Few films inspire as many diverse fan theories and interpretations as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Is The Shining a film that can be definitively explained? Without Kubrick around to spell out his intentions, the answer is probably not. But that hasn’t stopped people all over the world from trying. In this post, we’ll break down the six biggest theories on The Shining, including our own theory that it's actually a Christmas movie! We’ll explain each theory, why people believe it, and look at the corroborating evidence.Continue reading The Shining Explained — 6 Compelling Theories on The Shining
Perhaps more than any other film genre, a great horror movie relies on a great soundtrack. An effective horror soundtrack heightens the terror in a scene exponentially, scaring an audience before there might be anything visually to be afraid of. The best horror soundtracks are memorable, but don’t overshadow the film. They become inseparable from our favorite horror scenes. Can you hear the Psycho jabs without seeing Norman’s knife? So, brace your ears: here are the top ten horror movie soundtracks of all time.Continue reading Best Horror Movie Soundtracks — Top 10 Scary Good Scores
For the most part, filmmakers strive to make audiences forget that they are in fact an audience watching a film. They work to make the film completely immersive. But sometimes filmmakers intentionally draw attention to the medium being used by breaking the fourth wall. While not all stories benefit from such interruptions, here are the top 15 movies that break the fourth wall and became iconic examples in the process.Continue reading 15 Movies That Break the Fourth Wall (Besides Deadpool)
Some say that when the editor does their job well, the audience is not supposed to notice. This does not mean that the editor’s job is unimportant. In fact, the complete opposite is the case. Editor’s are responsible for maintaining the illusion of a film and story by hiding the mechanisms at work. The main tool they have to do this is continuity editing.What is continuity editing in film? What are the techniques used to achieve continuity in film? Is there a place for discontinuity editing? We’ll answer all of these questions and more while highlighting some key examples in…
How is a filmmaker remembered? For their best film? For their worst? Or by their complete work of movies? The latter is known as a filmography. It is a tool used by filmmakers, critics, and fans alike to understand the work and evolution of individuals or companies within the film industry.Continue reading What is a Filmography — And Why it Matters
