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Shot Zero

@shotzero.bsky.social

130 followers 110 following 770 posts

We talk shot design - because shot design isn’t just how it looks and feels, it’s how it works. www.shot-zero.com Produced by Stu Willis & Mel Killingsworth

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · Sep 10

#Andor FrameWithoutFrame 2/5
Through S1, Vel and Cinta had similar ideals, but polar opposite ideas of how they could work together within the Rebellion, and this frame reminds us of this visually.

I’m also interested in how we get *into* this frame, though:

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 13h

Happy Valley 1.06 uses frames within frames within a wide shot to show how disconnected Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) feels. Her family is further back in the house and partly obscured by busy window dressing, while she’s set apart in the open doorframe; vulnerable, literally out in the cold.

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 1d

Favourite #FilmNoir character introduction . . .

Lots of dames get introduced via their stems, but the first thing we see of this mobster are his hands . . .

shotzero.substack.com/p/character-...

Reposted by Shot Zero

Tom Reagan’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 1d

RIP Adam Greenberg
He was the superb cinematographer who shot Near Dark (watch it!), Terminator 2: Judgment Day and, of course, The Terminator, which means he’s responsible for one of my favourite shots in cinema that also coined a new genre for its film:

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Reposted by Shot Zero

Mel Killingsworth @mehlsbells.bsky.social · 1d

Doing some deep dives on the 'how and why' of classic and neo-noir shots for #Noirvember over on @shotzero.bsky.social, kicking off with this window trick from Fritz Lang's M

shotzero.substack.com/p/practical-...

Practical Tricks: M

how Fritz Lang made what is now a special effects shot, practically.

shotzero.substack.com

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 1d

shotzero.substack.com/p/practical-...

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 1d

shotzero.substack.com/p/practical-...

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 1d

To kick off #Noirvember we're looking at a practical movement in one of the most influential thrillers of all time: Fritz Lang's M

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 2d

#Heatwave 3/3
The scene's final shot ends with a symbol of Stephen’s architecture project Eden superimposed over his face.

The shot, like the project’s name, is not subtle. This project has become Stephen’s whole identity; before the story ends it will threaten to ruin his life.

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 2d

#Heatwave 2/3

The blocking allows for significant closeupsL we always see Stephen by himself with his face in shadow, and the other two together with their faces brightly lit.

The garden ‘man nailed to a pole’ decoration is ominous, but perhaps less ominous than the final zoom . . .

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 2d

Relationships are summed up and arcs are foreshadowed in this 30 seconds near the start of Aussie Christmas noir Heatwave.

A moving shot brings Stephen (Richard Moir) onto the patio; then blocking immediately divides him from his girlfriend and coworker with a support beam.

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 3d

#Scream 3 bridges Spooky Season and #Noirvember

Sidney Prescott stands with a photo of her mother and poster for Kiss Me Deadly - both Scream 3 and Kiss Me Deadly open on a highway drive, and involve stabbings, an imposter, and a big explosion.

To say more would give away too much about both . . .

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 3d

#XFiles 2/2

PLOP! A jumpscare leads to a juddery (ie terrified) POV shot of the vent; now we’re identifying with Scully, and the shots / rack focus keep us with her as she grabs her gun and aims at . . . nothing.

See our Substack next week for a thorough breakdown and stills!

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 3d

#XFiles “Squeeze” makes us a voyeur, before switching to shots which identify us with — and terrify us alongside — Scully.

The first camera move glides from behind a wall to see Scully about to bathe, intimating someone/thing is watching her, and implicating us in that gaze.

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 4d

Happy Halloween!

We celebrate with a longread (well, medium read) looking at several beautiful and spooky shots from #Monsterland Episode 3, “New Orleans, LA."

shotzero.substack.com/p/five-shots...

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 5d

#DaSweetBloodofJesus 2/2
Here are some other, much more creative ways Lee creates a cross through physical items.

Pic #4 is perhaps the most obscure, but perhaps most significant as it’s made during a burial

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 5d

How many ways does Spike Lee make the sign of the cross in his vampire flick #DaSweetBloodofJesus?

Several, including the markings on a pastor’s robe (pic 1) and the body shape of a vampire’s victim as they die (no pics for spoiler reasons; also possibly general content reasons).

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 6d

#PortraitofaLadyonFire 2/2
The film focuses on women’s faces and voices, in a world where men do not have much immediate presence.

In the art studio are still shots of Marianne's art students looking at her, while on the boat are rollicking shots of rowers facing away.

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 6d

Yesterday we looked at this #PortraitofaLadyonFire scene transition, but the images in both scenes are also distinctly opposite.

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 7d

#PortraitofaLadyonFire 4/4

Specifically, the blue and white ‘panels’ created by fabric, and then sea and sky, show the vast difference in her circumstances, though she is fundamentally the same person.

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 7d

#PortraitofaLadyonFire 3/4
They’re both medium shots of Marianne looking the same direction, but everything else about the shot has shifted slightly.

It’s similar enough to be disorienting, but different enough to be distinguishing.

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 7d

#PortraitofaLadyonFire 2/4
This scene transition is slightly unusual, but the differences make it work.

It cuts from a still shot of Marianne in a studio with vertical blue and white fabric panels behind her, to a pitching shot of Marianne on a boat with horizontal blue and white lines behind her.

Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 7d

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 . . .

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 8d

"You said it was a ghost story. It isn't. It's a love story."
“Same thing, really."

#PortraitofaLadyonFire is a ghost story:

shotzero.substack.com/p/portrait-o...

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Reposted by Shot Zero

Mel Killingsworth @mehlsbells.bsky.social · 9d

and now, for something quite different!

I did an actual play podcast with some friends and talented writers; party in the front, analysis in the back!

stay tuned for further episodes as we examine the disappearance of a high-powered galactic official . . .

1dzero.substack.com/p/1dz-01?tri...

1DZ-01: Arkyvrs - A Mansion Most Vile - Ep1

An actual play podcast. In a gritty sci-fi future, a crew of ragtag filmmakers investigate the mysterious disappearance of a Corporate President. if it bleeds it ledes.

1dzero.substack.com

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Shot Zero @shotzero.bsky.social · 9d

Stanley has been the persecuted, but become the devil, and the episode’s visuals don’t beat about the burning bush to show it.