#do i want to do a film degree? do i want to be a filmmaker?

[burningflash]

God I thought it wouldn't happen to me, I don't know why I thought I was special. I feel like I'm at that cliche point in life where I have to figure out if I want to pursue a stable 'sensible' career path that may make me enough money to live on, or to indulge and trust myself and maybe make the leap into a creative path. But am I good enough? Self esteem and creative motivation has been at an all time low for the past few months. This could be partly to devoting so much of my time to uni work.

[deadpoetsandlivinglegends]

Y’all respectfully don’t mind what this person is saying, please keep posting all your interpretations even if this one person isn’t having fun cause I for one quite enjoy them. I like reading them even if people might see them as ‘mundane’ or ‘basic’ takes because they encourage us to use critical thinking and look deeper at the characters within the media we consume. Seeing tons of interpretations can help me personally think deeper about the media and forces me to determine what my own opinions are, whether from agreeing or disagreeing. Also people trying to say their interpretations is them trying to demonstrate in their own lives the whole point of this movie, like even if people do happen to wrongly label it ‘unpopular opinion’, like literally who cares, people may be running in different sides of the fandom which may have differing opinions on things so to this person they may be under the impression that this is unpopular, which is exactly why we should encourage them to speak up when they have a different opinion because speaking your mind when people hate on you for doing so or for having thoughts on things that may differ from the people around you is an important thing, so like everyone, especially the young adults, please keep giving your interpretations and don’t feel discouraged bout it 🫶

And just so homie can maybe have a little more fun in this fandom and stop *checks notes* ‘gatekeeping interpreting media one consumes from teenagers’ because they *checks notes again* ‘haven’t had enough experience interpreting media so they therefore “don’t understand” how to properly interpret media they consume and therefore should stop trying instead of practicing to get better at it’, I’ll give them one of the ‘character x is misunderstood’ posts based on what they in the tags outlined and determined to be ‘unpopular’ enough for an interpretation.

Despite what the fandom things, Neil’s father was a relatively good father, the best parent out of all the poet’s parents, but he had flaws that caused his downfall. Neil’s father actually cared about his son, but he had faulty ideas because he was failed by the same systems that oppress Neil so he didn’t realize in trying to protect Neil from those systems, he was suppressing and in a way killing his son. Mr. Perry’s own traumas affect his relationship with his son and his decisions he makes in the movie, even if Neil never could see it in that light because he was being taught different than his father.

His father grew up in an environment where he was made to believe that the only way to protect his son and make sure he lived life to the fullest was by trying to help him succeed in the world they were in rather than try to change the world to fit Neil’s needs. His way of showing he loved his son, although we know it was misguided, was by trying to help his son succeed so he doesn’t have to face difficult hardships in life. Mr. Perry likely would have had to live during the Great Depression, watching people struggle to get by, knowing firsthand what it was like and not wanting that life for Neil. He tells Neil that he had opportunities his father didn’t, as we know his father likely lived through this difficult economic time in America followed by likely being affected by World War 2, whether through enlisting or through the draft. Mr. Perry, through pushing Neil into medicine, was trying to open up opportunities for Neil so he wouldn’t feel stuck like those people Mr. Perry had to watch live through these difficult times in history, and the dramatic irony is that through trying to make Neil not feel stuck in the future, he only made Neil feel more stuck now because Neil constantly felt micromanaged and that his desires were plowed over in favor of what his father thinks is best for a future Neil that we know will never exist. Everyone thinks Mr. Perry is too strict for the sake of being strict or is trying to live through Neil, but it’s clear he is a man driven by fear and beliefs stemming from his own trauma of growing up in these flawed systems, trying to make sure his son has a good life. The tragedy comes in when in trying to make sure his son has a good life, he is unknowingly killing his own son.

That is also why he tells keating in that deleted scene that he blames him, because he truly believed he was giving his son the best life his son could get in the world they were in, but then his son had this teacher who encouraged him to pursue a risky career that would cause him to live a tricky life barely getting by if getting by at all, which his son threw away the whole ‘safe’ future Mr. Perry had laid out for him in order to follow this risky barely thought out plan, and when Mr. Perry tries to push his son away from this unsafe and unsuccessful life, his son is so overdriven by emotions that he kills himself.

He didn’t believe the world could be changed and he believed his son trying would only result in him being crushed so he was trying to protect him, but unknowingly was only shutting his son out and causing his son to feel unloved and unheard. This doesn’t make him a bad person or a bad father, but merely a caring father who was a victim of the world he lived in misguidedly trying to force his son to adhere to the system against what his son needed, forcing his son to feel the only way out to be death as his father couldn’t listen due to his own fears. He was a loving father with a fatal flaw that caused not only his downfall but the downfall of those around him too. This does not make Mr. Perry inherently bad as we know he is just as much a victim as those who were hurt by his actions, but that does not mean he was right in his actions.

This story shows us despite our initial beliefs, perhaps adults don’t always know better than children, and it is through listening and open dialogue between the two that these systems work best. Maybe we should sit and think deeply about this before we tell children online to shut up because them having opinions on a topic only results in ‘mundane takes’, just some food for thought, ya know

sometimes i have fun, sometimes i see a post of someone claiming to have an unpopular opinion and then saying the most mundane shit about people "not understanding x character" and i remember this fandom is full of Literal Children

[cheralith]

— these violent delights

feat ; director!nanami kento x assistant director!reader | word count ; 1.9k contains ; gn!reader, no pronouns used, angst, pining (men who yearn are men who earn), mild making out (suggestive) a/n ; some minor errors possible sorry! (シ_ _ )シ

RENOWNED WORLD CLASS DIRECTOR KENTO NANAMI commands his production teams of every movie he creates with an iron fist, and his hard work pays off considering the majority of his films and their actors have been nominated for tonys, BAFTAs, golden globes, you name it. and when it's rumored that he'll be directing his largest project yet—a modern re-enactment of romeo and juliet. it's no doubt that many people are anticipating for its arrival, considering that despite shakespeare's most famous production having multiple versions, but nanami's style of production is distinct that it will for sure stand alone as its own film that isn't just another lazy and cliche remake.

which is why the production studio figures that he may need some extra aid, which is why they hand-pluck an upcoming creative genius that may just rival his own—a young filmmaker a few years fresh out of grad school. your short films have won some minor awards since you earned your first degree and the studio thought that your mind with his would be a perfect match.

and ultimately, they're right. introductions were a little awkward, of course, it was clear you were trying not to burst at the seams when you met one of your all-time favorite directors, but you eventually prove yourself worthy and dependable. your input proves to be the most valuable out of everyone's on the team. nanami seems to only listen to you whenever he needs a second opinion, blatantly shooing away anyone else in line.

you work with nanami privately at times, joining him at his townhouse to discuss the next project on the movie. others that have worked with him for a while have never seen the normally stoic and stern director be so... warm to another person before. even his closest colleagues often don't see nanami so unbelievably attentive when someone suggests for him to do something even the slight bit different from what we original had in mind.

"i don't know," you murmured to him once, shifting the different panels of the storyboard around. "i think we can have this scene first, it'd build more suspense."

from behind you, nanami grew quiet, scanning the order of the frames before nodding and agreeing and gently cupping your smaller hand that grips the plastic frame, shifting it backwards. "i agree, i think having a pause between romeo and juliet's first interactions will keep the viewers on their toes just a while longer. especially since that's what they're all waiting for."

it was clear to everyone—except you and nanami—that there was something more between you and him. it was difficult to hold a conversation with nanami that wasn't about the film production, but when you spend the first few shy hours of the morning yapping about a new restaurant you visited over the weekend, it shocked everyone when he showed you a soft smile and said he'd like to visit it sometime (he says the "with you" part in his head).

his affections for you were rather apparent, considering he'd always ask aloud, "where's my AD?" before shooting every single scene, like your approval was the only one that mattered. at some points in time during the production, some of the crew members witnessed you and him alone at certain moments both in and out of the studio. you ate lunch with him, went out with him for a seemingly casual dinner, usually worked on him alone in his trailer that was always locked to him and him alone, until one stage manager discovered you had a spare key to it when you fetched a spare script for him that he left on his desk.

rumors spread fast, but when interrogated about it, nanami simply told them that he just wanted to help out an aspiring young director out by his own means.

"a potential like that must be nurtured in the best possible way," he'd retort. "rest assured that everything is professional between us. teetering that line benefits no one."

but oh, how nanami despised saying that. how nanami wish those rumors of you being his secret lover were true, that you and him had a relationship beyond just mere co-workers. how you and him consistently teeter the lines between what is appropriate. how he so badly wants to cross it with you, envelope you in his arms and kiss you just as passionately as romeo and juliet did when they first met at the ball.

you're a more free version of him, more passionate, more loving—all the things he wishes he was more. his ideas and ways of going about were traditional, but he found a spark with how rambunctious and spontaneous you were. he adored how you would do something on the whim and how so utterly unique your ideas were. he'd never met anyone like you before.

he caught himself staring at your back when you carefully direct the actors in such a way that accomplishes his vision in one-go, how you weren't afraid to try new things to see what would happen. you were poised and meticulous about your craft, despite your disposition. and it proved to be more difficult than it seemed when nanami tried to fight his affections off for his assistant director.

because at the end of the day, he knew you and him were much too different. he knew that it would be unprofessional to be running about behind scenes with a fellow, esteemed co-worker, knowing how that may look to everyone else; a younger, amateur director fooling around with a distinguished, honored one. while you were only a sparse few years younger than him, from the naked eye, you could just simply be another young creative using their charm to get ahead in the game, despite nanami knowing all too well you had more than just charisma to you and that there was no such flattery involved between your relationship.

and even though his own films their actors have been nominated and won a plethora of awards, he has yet to receive a credential of his own name. all of nanami's work and energy was pouring into this project to prove himself as a director worthy of one of the highest titles the film industry could offer—the academy award for best director. love is distracting, relationships are distracting. and he can't be having distractions for his most highly-anticipated film yet.

he can't afford to ruin his and your reputations at the cost of his pleasure, for these violent delights and have violent ends.

he knows he should put a distance between you and him. that the line of professionalism and personalism should be kept strictly at bay.

until it all comes tumbling down one night. choosing to film the most tense scenes last so the actors had proper time to get comfortable with each other, you and him are quietly rehearsing a very loose version of act two, scene two—the famous balcony scene—to properly get a grasp of what he was looking for before the official shooting.

you're seated beside him on the couch, a script for each of you, rehearsing the lines of a longing juliet. "how camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore? the orchard walls are high and hard to climb."

your eyes flicker up when you pause, your former diction faltering a bit when you notice his hazel eyes staring at you so... warmly through his reading glasses, as if he's hanging on to each and every word despite hearing these lines a plethora of times.

"um," you clear your throat, feeling a slight shiver go down your spine when you and him bump knees on the couch, neither of you moving. "a-and the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here."

nanami adjusts his script before speaking his lines as romeo.

"with love's light wings, did i o'erperch these walls," he begins and you quietly admire at how punctual his delivery is when he delivers his lines. his eyes go up to share your gaze again and he curses himself when he briefly looks at your lips, plump and almost inviting.

suddenly he remembers how close you are to him, that only a hairs breadth lie between your body and his. amidst the yellow light of the lamp and the quiet night that stirs outside the trailer, suddenly you appear a little more beautiful than usual.

"... kento?" you call out quietly, tilting your head oh-so charmingly to the side when he falters from his continuing line. the way you say his name startles him, even though he's been allowing you to call him on a first-name basis for a few months now. but even though, it stills feels so right when you say it.

"sorry," he coughs, adjusting his glasses and returning his gaze back to the script. "for stony limits cannot hold love out; and what love can do..."

he can't help himself. his head doesn't budge, but his eyes still return back to your visage, where a look of what seems to be yearning is painted over. he swallows. although he's reading these lines as romeo, something about them seems so sentimental that he feels like he's saying it to you directly, not juliet.

without looking back at the script and instead, meeting your eyes, he mutters, "... that dares love attempt."

it's your turn to swallow thickly, trying your absolute best to regulate your shallow breathing as his body nears yours.

he knows, he knows damn well that there's still the line between you and him. it wears down with every interaction he has to you to his dismay, and it still stands before you and him, but it's thin. it's so thin that it's barely there. akin to a strand from a spider's web, all nanami has to do is wave it over and it's knocked down—it's just his decision whether he wants to leave it alone and let it stand as it or destroy it down completely from his urges.

his body moves on his own. with the only border separating you two being the space between the two couch cushions you and him sit on, he crosses it with his arm that is moving on its own to the warmth of your cheek. his mind is screaming to not go further, to respect the line, to ensure no distractions, to secure that academy award, but his heart's longing overpowers it, and nanami isn't so sure if he wants to silent it. not when you look this ethereal from the light of the lamp.

you don't seem frightened. you're actually allowing him to do what he wants, and that you don't move away when his hand gently cups your cheek, his thumb stroking the cusp of your cheekbone so tenderly, so lovingly.

"therefore," he whispers, his skin on fire when your own hand goes to hold his that holds your face in the same manner. your eyes hold a certain longing, one that he mirrors from behind his reading glasses.

the line reduces to an invisible, flimsy string.

"...thy kinsmen," he brings your face closer to his and he drops his script entirely on the floor, your own following shortly after. the distance closes in; it's still there, but it's so small enough that you're able to feel his breath on your lips, and the gap between you shrinks with each millisecond. up until your hearts conjoin as one with each other through your chests.

"... are no stop to me."

the line is now nothing but a concept.

and he kisses you so deeply, hungrily, ardently. until his lungs are pining for air other than your own. parting is such sweet sorrow, indeed, because when you disconnect from him for a brief moment, it only takes a short second before nanami pulls you into him again.

[spaghettiposts]

To be loved

Tara Carpenter x Reader

Summery: You’ve never known love, until Tara.

Warnings: Fluff, lovey dovey words, mentions of Ghostface attacks, fluff fluff fluff, wlw, neglectful parents, hurt/comfort.

Word count: 2.1k

A/n: This was just a bunch of word-vomit I came up with in the spam of 3 days, reader definitely has been neglected but Tara’s here to fix that <3

You’d say love was one of the things you missed most, a missing puzzle piece to your emotions. Absent parents tended to do that being busy with work and all, love only feeling like a distant concept because of it. Sure, you knew they cared for you—deep down somewhere, but not enough to take a day off. The more you thought about it, the more that nagging voice in your head mocked you; not once did they take a day off. 

There were fleeting moments of jealousy you felt, gazing desperately—longingly—at your friends and their mothers, wishing for just a fraction of that affection. The ache of longing never quite left, as you watched them being cared for, held close, and repeating the same wishful thinking. You never truly got to experience that, but swiftly pushed those feelings aside, burying them.

 By high school, you became pretty good at patching up your own wounds and learning to live on your own. Maybe that was for the best.

You learned to rely on yourself. 

That was until college, Blackmore University. A relatively close college to your house, the commute was doable and hey, you actually liked some of the classes. Your parents had encouraged you to attend first, explaining how getting a degree in engineering would really help you take over their business someday.

You hesitated to tell them that wasn’t what you wanted. Not if it meant having to put work before others, you didn’t wanna be like them. 

Still, you went along with it, taking the classes they suggested. Amidst the sea of blueprints,  you had picked up an appreciation of the art of film. Deciding to take a class for yourself, you signed up for Film History. Later, it was the best decision you ever made. 

And the first time you met Tara Carpenter. 

She was undoubtedly beautiful, anyone with eyes could see, but it was the radiance surrounding her that truly mesmerized you. Indisputably, you folded like a table. The effortless confidence she emitted during class discussions, the stubborn fire inside her, and her unabashed passion for something as simple as filmmaking—it seemed like the whole world to her. 

It only took a group project for her number to end up in your phone, and it only took a party for her to slam her lips against your own.  

With her, you found a happiness previously unknown to you. Every moment turned into the highlight of your week,  you were absolutely head over heels for your girlfriend. From tender first dates ending in soft slow kisses on her doorstep, to the cozy movie nights leaving your lips swollen and your cheeks flushed, and between those; gentle moments of care. They blossomed a newfound sense of joy in you, and in Tara. 

Day after day you effortlessly fell into new habits, soaking up every second of them. You learned Tara loved to smile between kisses, while she, in turn, learned you enjoyed the feeling of your hair being toyed with. It was all just perfect. 

However, as time went on, you couldn’t shake the feeling of Tara drifting away. Her sudden coldness left you stunned and hurt. The more you tried to talk, the more she pushed you away. But you weren’t one to back down so easily, confronting her in her apartment one last time, seeking some closure. 

 It only took a month for Tara to be honest with you, and fearfully so. Through shedded tears and shaking hands, she explained to you, and you listened. It hurt you to see her hurting, expressing vulnerability she hadn’t allowed you to see. Her arms came up to hug herself and you’d never wanted to punch Ghostface more. 

Tara half expected you to walk away, laugh at her, and leave her like the rest of them but you made it clear you weren’t leaving. You spent the entire afternoon by her side, determined to prove her wrong and keep her safe, whispering murmurs of promises between kisses. Holding her close until tears subsided and drifted off to sleep, thoroughly exhausted from it all, peacefully in your arms. 

Following her confession, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off Tara’s shoulders and your relationship picked up from where it stopped. Your bond with the shorter girl only grew stronger, surpassing previous boundaries as you both delved into a deeper understanding of one another. Tara clung to you, unwilling to let you slip away, and gradually, you found yourself spending more nights at her place than your own. And truth be told, you didn’t mind that one bit. 

As much as you wished everything could continue perfectly, a coward in a mask would only try to ruin it all. 

——

It had been a week since the latest run-in with Ghostface, A week since your left arm got slashed up. Tara was absolutely livid, and you wondered if her anger was directed more at the attacker or at you. Either way she let Chad hear it when she learned you had “heroically” taken the hit for him — though she preferred to call it stupid rather than heroic. You didn’t argue with her on it. Fortunately, Chad was able to pick himself up and knock out the idiot before he could do more.

Despite that fury she held inside her, you could see the worry etched on her face, bordering on tears, during your hospital stay.

Days later you’d learn he was just some deranged kid trying to be “Funny”. He was promptly arrested by the police and sent to a hospital. You’d never seen Sam so disgusted. 

Considering the circumstances, you were fine. Mentally? Probably not, you hadn’t had time to reflect on it. Physically? That’s where it was hitting most. The scars left by his knife only got progressively worse as time passed. Chad was quick to call an ambulance for you, and you thanked the man greatly, holding onto his shoulders for support. 

The doctors affirmed the bone wasn’t too severely damaged but it would need time to heal. Hence the blue cast hanging from your shoulder. 

But the strangest part wasn’t your injured arm - it was Tara’s behavior. You understood that she was reliving the whole ordeal all over again and tried your best to comfort her. But it seemed just being around you, without fail, brought tears back into her eyes. With time, she was starting to recover too, but she stayed unusually quiet. Despite this, she never left your side, not even for a moment. Like right now, she sat beside you, on your good side, as you watched a movie together in her room. 

You didn’t want this attack to get in the way of your relationship or mess things up, so you insisted on keeping things normal - like movie nights and when you were both up for it, date nights. 

Tonight, Tara picked a Disney movie, probably to keep things light after what happened. You tried not to let your heart swell too much at her consideration. 

“Sit up for me,” Tara mumbled out of nowhere, pulling you out of your thoughts. You furrowed your eyebrows but did as she asked, watching as she disappeared into the bathroom and came back holding a familiar red box. 

“Tara, I’m okay.” You lied. 

She arched an eyebrow, reading completely through you but didn’t say anything, simply opening the kit and motioning for you to swing your legs off the bed. 

You sighed, complying with her words knowing better than to argue. 

“You’ve been scratching at your shoulder this entire time. I know it’s bothering you. Let me change it.” She said softly.

Pursing your lips, you nodded, giving her the go-ahead. You understood that helping you made her feel better, even though you constantly reassured her that it wasn’t her fault.

Sitting straight up, you watched as she delicately unwrapped the gauze, marveling at her gentle touch. A shiver ran down your spine as the fresh air hit the wound, her eyes softening as they fell upon the scar. She then grabbed some cotton balls and applied alcohol to them, causing you to hiss at the burning sensation.

“Sorry.” She murmured, leaning in to press a kiss on your cheek before blowing softly on the cut. “I don’t want it to get infected, it’ll just get worse.” 

You nodded, biting the inside of your cheek. It felt good, having someone care for you like this. More than you’d ever admit, really. The thought of how much you secretly loved Tara fussing over you was too embarrassing to acknowledge fully. 

You couldn't help but relish in the feeling of being looked after, of having someone fuss over you with such genuine concern. It was comforting, reassuring even, to know that you weren't facing this ordeal alone, that someone was there to support you every step of the way. 

As her fingers delicately adjusted the bandage, ensuring it was snug yet not too tight, your heart spoke before you could stop it. And just like that, the words spilled out, unfiltered and sincere: “I love you.”

Tara froze, the silence turning deafening. Her fingers pressed slightly harder against you, fingernails digging into your shoulder but you didn’t comment on it, too overwhelmed by your own anxiety and fear that she could hear how fast your heart was beating. After a beat of silence, she continued wrapping the fabric, cutting it off once she finished. Yet, her touch lingered, eyes fixated on the injury, her thumb softly rubbing against your shoulder. 

A small sniffled escaped her, and she stood up abruptly. Covering herself with her arm to wipe away tears. Your heart sank, fearing you had ruined everything.

“You shouldn’t.” She whispered, her voice barely audible, as she rubbed her arms in search of comfort. “I’ll just get you hurt.” 

Your eyes softened, heartbreaking at the sight of her vulnerability. It was a side of her you had only seen once before, the last time you nearly broke up. A look you didn’t want to see.

“Tara, don’t say that.” 

“It’s the truth, everywhere I go he follows.” She choked out, her eyes glistening, “You’ll never be happy constantly looking behind your shoulder, living in fear.” 

You stood up, pausing in front of the shorter girl. Tara sighed, shaking her head and turning away. Your hand gently lifted her chin, and you leaned down to press a kiss against her cheek, coaxing her shaken eyes to look at you. Very seriously you uttered, “Every time I'm with you I feel more secure than ever in my entire life. We take care of each other, I’ll take care of you. I love you, Tara.” 

Tara shudders, her head leaning against your forehead, letting the words wash over her. Your arm rubs softly against hers, while you pepper kisses along the side of her face, expressing your feelings through touch. 

Shakingly, her nails grip tighter against your back. “If you’re gonna keep saying that- you have to mean it.” She affirms, pulling back to look at you,  “You can’t just say that and leave, not anymore.”

You nod in agreement, finally, leaning down to capture her lips between your own, pulling her into a loving kiss. “I mean it, I love you.” You whisper against her lips. 

Tara swallows, before letting out a watery laugh. “I love you too, god I do.” 

Her hands find a home between your neck, pulling you in closer into a much firmer and passionate kiss. Your stomach tightens, and you shiver when her tongue slides in effortlessly, melting at her touch. 

Getting lost in the moment, your feet move before you realize it, and your knees hit the bed. Tara gasps in surprise, clutching onto you for support and you wince at the sudden pressure to your cast. 

You let out a breathy chuckle, sinking back into the mattress, Tara quickly joining in to meet you. The room fills with shared laughter, a moment of light amidst it all. Being mindful of your arm, Tara moves to lay by your side once again, draping an arm across your chest. She presses a lingering kiss to your neck, sighing against you.

You recall your previous conversation. And you wanted to say she had nothing to worry about—nothing to be scared of. But you both knew the truth of the cruel world you lived in. Safety wasn’t something you could guarantee, not to Tara, and not to yourself. 

Instead, you pulled the girl closer, her body adjusting to fit with yours, her head resting on your neck. If physical contact was what she needed to sleep for tonight and any night, you could provide that. Pressing a tender kiss to her head, you placed your chin on top of her, reveling in the moment, focusing on the small patterns she traced on your skin. 

And just for once, without fear, Tara let her eyes close. Slowly falling asleep in your warm embrace, completely reassured that you wouldn’t be leaving her.

[applestorms]

ok actually fuck it i'm talking about this too. so, the ivantill kiss, right? there are a lot of beautiful stylistic choices that make that scene just incredible, but the one thing i'd like to zoom in on in particular for this post relates to the 180 degree rule specifically.

if you're not familiar with filmmaking, essentially-- the 180 degree rule sets up a line that the camera typically is not supposed to cross. the clearest example of this in the case of scenes where you have two characters in a room talking to one another. for the sake of smoother continuity, you generally want to stick to having dude A on the left and dude B on the right, otherwise it feels wonky or gets confusing to follow, both as an audience and as an editor. this is particularly true when you're doing some kind of shot/reverse shot conversation between two characters and need to ensure that it Feels like they're consistently looking at one another in the same direction, even if they aren't actually both visible in the same shot. basically, the 180 degree rule is meant to help keep your left & right from getting mixed up while filming, and to make sure that the physical space both on- and off-screen are clear to the audience.

in round 6, most of the shots we get of ivan & till while they're on the actual performing stage are close-ups, though we do get a couple of establishing shots. early on we have this very quick frame:

which is very quickly followed up by a close up of till's face, and then a medium close up also displaying his name in the background.

the majority of shots that take place in this setting (not flashbacks) stick to similar shot sizes, putting emphasis on till himself rather than the mostly empty background and stage.

ivan is presented very similarly. we begin with a shot of his feet as he walks up to the mic:

and then a couple extreme close ups of his face, both from the side and the front to emphasize his mouth and eyes as he begins singing.

i think it's this side view in particular that really helps set up the space in terms of how ivan is positioned to the left of till, especially since we also see till from the same side earlier. note the similarities:

we also often see them positioned like this in the flashbacks, ivan on the right and till on the left, a good example being when ivan licks the blood of his face like a fucking freak.

later on, we also get this fairly short establishing shot of the stage from the back, again setting up just how empty and vast this place is:

(this one is actually a bit odd since we're viewing them from the back. bit of a teaser, i guess? the importance of this will be made clear shortly.)

POINT IS. in the minutes leading up to the kiss, we have a very clear line established, wherein till is always on the left and ivan always on the right. a couple flashbacks may buck this trend, but this is consistent for all the shots that we see of them on the actual stage.

notably, though, we very rarely ever actually see them in the same frame in this setting-- again, only in flashbacks, or the extreme wide shown above do we actually see them together.

this changes as soon as ivan decides to start walking towards him:

but still, we haven't crossed the line. always, it's till on the left, ivan on the right

UNTIL.

BAM. it switches.

why? so glad you asked, i have a couple theories. it all comes down to two big points: making the scene more jarring + audience perspective.

in terms of the first point... till is clearly caught off guard by this move, so literally jumping the line right at the moment when their lips touch is a great way of showing how ivan has also just crossed a line, emotionally. it is also, again, somewhat off-putting and confusing. even if you don't fully consciously notice the switch, it takes a moment to reorient yourself within the scene and realize what's happening. it's a very subtle move, but it really emphasizes that OH SHIT moment in a fantastic way.

in terms of audience perspective... alien stage is a story about a bunch of 20 somethings (and one 30 year old) singing and then getting murdered on stage. it is performative to its core, not to mention incredibly voyeuristic. on a meta level, as human viewers, we are to some degree put into the same position as the in-universe aliens, watching and delighting and being horrified over the exact same performance as them. in the earlier shots for this video, when we see ivan and till from the front, we are watching the show from the seat of the audience (which is, notably, not especially present/visible in this round, in comparison to some of the previous ones).

by flipping around to the other side, we are also seeing the details of this moment from a much more intimate perspective. note how the light shines behind them in this moment, particularly in conjunction with this next frame:

ivan wants this to be a moment special to the two of them, not something done for the sake of adding to the performance. so he blocks off the spotlight, and angles their faces away from where (presumably) the majority of the audience is. he can only get so much privacy when they're right smack in the middle of this great big empty stage, but he takes what he can get.

this also helps him get a better look at the scores behind them:

and it's perhaps interesting to note that after this, we jump right back over the line-- specifically, right at the moment ivan is shot.

the fact that the choking itself is also prominently displayed with this orientation (till left, ivan right) seems like additional support for the idea that ivan was doing that for the Performance and the audience.

especially since, when he takes his hands away, they're right back in that ivan left/till right orientation, on the more intimate/genuine side of the line.

this all ends off with another interesting perspective switch, one that is so quick you almost don't even get the chance to notice it. as soon as ivan hits the floor, we move from the usual left-side looking in angle from before to one that puts till in the foreground.

a shift from a POV where ivan dominates, to one where till does, only after ivan passes away. this shit is rich, fellas.

[claimedcrossbows]

Weyler IS BACK in S2 Of Wednesday (Teaser Analysis)

Alright ladies and gentleman, I really don't even know where to begin. We got a 5 second teaser of the upcoming season.

And for our first real teaser who do we have?

Wednesday and Tyler Galpin!!

Look, I've said for the longest that the Wednesday filmmakers went out of there way to hide Hunter Doohan's role as Tyler in the Behind The Scenes and I felt the only possible reason was because they wanted his role to be a mystery.

The fact that we actually got a teaser centered around Wednesday and Tyler is absolutely huge for a lot of reasons.

For one, Usually a teaser is to give an audience a general concept of what to expect this season without really spoiling too much. That's why often I feel movie/tv show trailers give away too much of the overall plot because it really wants to give your every huge moment to keep the audience engaged. Which is why in this particular case I would argue that this teaser might be more important to the weyler fanbase than whatever trailer is eventually released.

Why do I say that?

Well I doubt too much of anything Weyler related is going to be in the trailer because they do want to keep his role secret to some degree for shock value. BUT they didn't want to leave us completely in the dark, so they gave us just enough to answer some questions as well as provoke some.

So what did this 5 second teaser tell us?

Well for one...

Tyler DID NOT escape out of the truck.

So it was pretty heavily debated on rather or not Tyler escaped custody and would be on the run, I think it's safe to say that this is not the case and that's he's actually been locked up for at least a little while considering how his hair has grown longer.

His scar from Enid is still visible so unless it's permanent I really don't think it's been too long, I don't think a 2 year time jump sounds logical but maybe I'm wrong, it still feels like from what I'm seeing he's only been locked up at Willow Hill for maybe a couple months?

Anyway I'll theorize more about that later..

Moving on

The scene has no dialogue present but a lot can be told with music and facial expressions alone. (Trust me I know, I minored in Film Studies In College 😉) And what this music is saying too me is that it is building up to something.

And from the looks of Wednesday that something could only be a question right?

From the way the music builds, to cutting to Wednesday she looks confident, calm, collected, so we can assume whatever reason she's visiting Tyler isn't too yell at him for betraying her or torture him or anything like that.

I think she's there to ask him a question and maybe even a favor.

(I do however think at some point he's breaking out of Willow Hill either by his own accord or with help from Wednesday but again I'll cover that later)

Now looking at Tyler in this clip...

*Sighs*

Tyler overall looks sick.

Like sick and tired.

And I honestly couldn't tell you if it's the conditions of Willow Hill OR the effects of his master being gone wearing down on him..but he doesn't look good at all. Notice how sweaty he looks? Also paler, eyes darker, and his hair looks greasier..he overall doesn't look like he's well.

Side Note: Where is his shirt?? I mean unless it's an absolutely sauna in there I don't know why he wouldn't have a shirt? This makes me think this is specifically not only for the audience to have eye candy, but for Wednesday's as well..I know even through betrayal she's probably still got some attraction to him, So I'm sure at some point during this scene, she'll be glancing at him shirtless, otherwise why not put a shirt on him? It's to show the attraction is still there between them I would guess...

Anyway back to the main point.

I know we don't get Tyler looking at Wednesday for long really just a second actually, but he doesn't seem to have any type of immediate reaction to seeing her.

Which makes me wonder if he's starting to lose his own consciousness and by that losing his mind/memories?

Again I know it's kind of a stretch to claim this from a split second look he gives Wednesday but I don't know.. it just seems like Tyler isn't really all there..

Which again makes me think that for whatever reason Wednesday is visiting Tyler is probably for another Quid Pro Quo on her part.

Tyler helps her and She helps him, not only break out of Willow Hill..but also probably save him from himself. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤔

Anyway to conclude.

I think this 5 second teaser is probably going to be the most we get out of this Weyler situation before the season starts, but I do think this teaser says a lot about Weyler in Season 2.

Tyler WILL play a big role in S2, and this is just a little taste of something bigger to come!

Anyway what are YOUR thoughts?

[cirphu]

4 Minutes: Storytelling Through Camera Angles and Movements

Disclaimer: I did not study film nor do I work in the industry. This brief info dump is just what I found while doing some research to feed my current obsession with the show.

It goes without saying that the film crew is using many different techniques to aid in storytelling. These are just the two that caught my attention.

Dutch Angle

Often used in horror and psychological thrillers, this cinematic technique creates the feeling that viewers are tilting their heads to the side and that everything is off-kilter.

The Dutch angle is used by filmmakers to:

Portray uneasiness or tension

Make the audience feel on edge

Create a dark or ominous mood

Heighten emotion, especially when done in close-up

Whether a character is in peril or in the process of discovering something disturbing, the Dutch angle creates a sense of abstraction, subjectivity, mystery, and disorientation—just from slanting the camera a tiny bit.

Source: backstage.com; you can also read more about it here

Camera Roll Movement

The camera roll is a rotational camera movement that rotates the camera over its side on its long axis. Rolls can be dizzying and unnatural. For this reason, filmmakers use it to disorient the audience or create uneasiness. It’s specific effect makes it a very intentional camera movement that should only be used when wanting to elicit a discomfort in the audience.

Sometimes these effects tie in to a film’s theme, such as in this scene from one of the best Marvel movies, Black Panther. When Killmonger takes the throne, the sense of uneasiness in Wakanda is echoed to the audience through a slow camera roll.

Source: studiobinder.com; you can also read more about it here

Combining Techniques

In the scene below, both the Dutch angle and camera roll movement are used to emphasize the tension and uneasiness Great is feeling as he wakes from his nightmare.

Also, starting the shot at an angle and leveling out to 180 degrees reinforces the fact that Great is coming out a dream-state and is returning to reality (is he though? that remains to be seen).

[danileepearce]

hey, do u miss forums

ive been meaning to post here for what feels like forever, but i've been so busy for so long now that i've just forgotten to until now

from october to november i got heavily involved with building a forum website alongside 5 others, as a very deliberate return to creating a new internet third space at a time where we are sorely lacking in them. it's called "yellowtealpurple.net." (link in image)

this site is built and designed with the intent of making a space for artists and creatives who don't want to deal with the chaos and uncertainty of social media. its entirely self owned and funded with yours truly as one of the central admins under the alias of "dani_phantump". its meant to be a guaranteed space where creatives can share their work and know that it will be seen, as well as a space meant to intentionally nurture a close sense of community online, which i also feel we are sorely lacking in the present day.

we also have a very clearly outlined policy about AI absolutely not being welcome, as we've seen that this is something artists everywhere seem to grieve over and we think we are greatly in need of a space that allows art to be art without trying to "generate" anything from it. social media circles/cliques for me just don't cut it. if you've been around online for as long as i have, you'll know on a deep level that this is the some form of real thing, warts and all. obviously forums are not for everyone, but what we have just has never felt satisfactory. corporate entities controlling online space has just never been what ive vibed with so this is essentially acting as my own lil circumvention

there's spaces here outlined for artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, game devs, programmers, video artists, sound artists, even archivists. with social media and other sites being so corporate with their design, this site is deliberately made with a more old-school "homespun" online aesthetic. much of the direction of this site's purpose, functionality and look has been dictated by my instruction, as i approached this project with probably the clearest vision of all the admins. ive found lately that this kind of community organizing is one of my true callings and i want to use what i know from experience to try to make at least one site on the internet a more colorful and human place to be again.

as an admin i am deeply committed to maintaining a degree of safety, harmony and quality for my site and for the community that organizes on it. my dream is to rally together creatives of all stripes and have us cross pollinate in ways that social media doesn't really allow. we've already got some big site-wide creative projects underway that allows everyone to each show off our creative talents in cool ways, such as art quilts, a collaborative experimental film, and a lot of other stuff. i want people to feel like they're a part of something meaningful, as i also want for myself, because we all deserve that today.

sign-ups officially opened last November and we've already reached almost 400 members! i greatly encourage everyone i know, not just creatives, to consider checking this place out and all of our hard work. we would love for you all to join us and add whatever it is youre willing to contribute to this community!

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

I was in the first ever audience for Companion!

Here are some of my reactions! (Spoiler-free because I want to be respectful to the filmmakers!)

•I genuinely loved this movie, it was surprisingly hilarious (I would call it a sci-fi horror comedy?) and the cast were all fantastic in their roles

•The movie expertly shifted between a light, comedic tone and a dark, tense tone throughout. Sometimes the shift would happen on a dime and it would still feel natural to the progression of the story

•The costume design was great! It really stood out to me. I know Sophie Thatcher said she got to have a lot of creative input into her character’s outfits and it shows! Her character had a very 50s-60s inspired look with big headbands and color coordination, I could definitely see the Jane Birkin inspiration. I thought it fit really well with some of the themes of the movie and the nature of her character

•There are some twists in this that I absolutely was not expecting at all and I could tell by the rest of the audience’s reactions that they were just as caught off guard as I was. But they feel very natural and seamless at the same time!

•Sophie. Thatcher. Is. An. Incredibly. Talented. Actress. Her character goes through a major shift halfway through the film and her ability to play both the light and dark— and the meek and powerful— parts of Iris was stunning

•Also love sociopathic Jack Quaid and puppy dog Lukas Gage

•No one drops an F bomb like Sophie Thatcher

•Love that this movie doesn’t take itself too seriously

•There was a QA with the director/writer and producers of the film after the screening (with the director of Juno as a moderator which was exciting for me!) and the director, Drew Hancock, said this is his directorial debut! He praised Sophie Thatcher extensively, calling her extremely talented and otherworldly. He also told a funny story about filming a particular scene outside in 27 degrees Fahrenheit with Sophie only wearing shorts and a short sleeve top (and she had to speak a foreign language convincingly throughout it!) and I am so impressed by that alone because I think I would cry if I had to do that (I’m convinced I’m going through hypothermia when it’s 65 degrees outside)

Highly highly recommend going to see this movie whether you’re a Sophie Thatcher obsessive or not, it’s a really fun watch.

In theaters January 31st!

[bloodismymedium]

Mona Lanius Headcanons Part IV because I’m actually obsessed with her 💀

🩸 Mona finds the rain very comforting, she’ll stand out in a storm and risk pneumonia to get completely soaked, her head pointed directly at the sky, eyes closed and a soft smile on her face. It’s also the closest thing to a bath that she will ever take.

🩸 Mona’s favorite book is Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and she relates to the Monster a lot since she too feels like an inhuman outcast not meant for a world that hated her since birth.

🩸 Mona wishes she could sing but her voice is too raspy for it but her humming is flat out ethereal, her voice becomes beautiful and soothing when she hums and she could easily lull someone to sleep with it.

🩸 Mona inherited her parents’ drug problems. She takes so much drugs and so many different kinds that it’s nothing short of a miracle that she hasn’t overdosed yet. She also takes a lot of pain killers but that’s for her back and joint pain on account of her Kyphosis and double-jointed limbs.

🩸 Mona prefers cold, damp climates, she can be completely comfortable in below thirty degree weather and is cold as ice to the touch 24/7. She absolutely hates being hot because it makes her bromhidrosis act up and she hates the sensation of being sweaty in general.

🩸 GG Allin is Mona’s personal hero, she legitimately wishes she could’ve met him and do heroin with him. She often cites GG Allin as one of her biggest inspirations along with Valerie Solanas, Albert Fish and the Zodiac Killer.

🩸 Mona doesn’t care for makeup or jewelry in the slightest. On rare occasions she’ll wear lipstick but only if it’s as black as her soul. She’s always been interested in getting piercings though and she isn’t against the idea of body modification either.

🩸 Mona also HATES wearing shoes because she has large and oddly shaped feet caused by her Marfan syndrome, which makes wearing shoes very uncomfortable for her. Years of walking barefoot has caused her feet to become very tough and calloused to the point where she can walk on broken glass and feel nothing.

🩸 Mona has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder and Sexual Sadism Disorder. Her NPD is genetically inherited and she had symptoms since she was very young but she developed Antisocial Personality Disorder from years of abuse and trauma and her sexual sadism was formed over years of exploring her sexuality while committing murders during her teen years.

🩸 On top of painting and her arts and crafts projects involving human flesh, Mona is an aspiring filmmaker of sorts as she has made hundreds of snuff films and stag films with a video camera she stole from Mark and has an impressive collection of VHS tapes containing her and Bill’s twisted home movies. Mona takes them pretty seriously too, she’s always looking for the perfect light to really capture the pained and horrified look of her victims actors.

🩸 Mona has genuinely developed an underground fandom after her capture. Her murders and paintings captivated the country as it is but as soon as it was made public that she is a woman, people went rabid. The amount of “I can fix her” and “I love a woman who would actually just kill me” memes that would come out of it would break the internet.

🩸 Some of Mona’s paintings would even start being purchased by members of her “fanbase” for thousands of dollars a piece and she would already get dozens of people ranging from psychiatrists to E-celeb content creators wanting to get interviews with her, and you better believe Mona is LOVING all this attention.

🩸 Mona was born on December 24th. Her birth on Christmas Eve was actually planned by her parents as planning births to be on Christmas Eve was one of many odd, semi-religious rituals the Lanius family practiced as part of their agenda to achieve genetic and cultural purity, along with practicing incest and drinking each other’s blood.

🩸 The Lanius family are nonspecific Pagans who believe in a lot of strange superstitions and worship no particular deity but believe in a more nonspecific idea of spiritualism that feels like it’s composed of bits and pieces taken from many different religions. Mona is not religious to any capacity but still practices some of the odd traditions her family had out of nostalgic reasons.

🩸 Mona has tried dozens of times to send letters to Tina while she is incarcerated, still under the delusion that they’re an item and that Tina loves her like she loves her. The letters range from poems, to fucked yet strangely romantic drawings, to really horny ramblings of how much she wants to seek her teeth into Tina’s flesh while she weeps into her chest 🥰

[artfilmfan]

Jonathan Glazer at last years Oscars, just recently Tilda Swinton at Berlin Film Festival, we'll need more of you. One award winning acceptance speech after another. Till this world is ridden of warmongering, racist, colonialist, imperialist, genocidal, apartheid like policies and politicians worldwide, we will not have peace or justice of any kind. Hats off to all the filmmakers, actors and actresses from the film world so eloquently speaking out. Silence is also complicity. The upcoming Academy Awards will be another test of humanity and bravery. Whoever dares to speak out...I'm seriously at a point where i dont even bother watching, attending, participating in any projects whatsoever that involve warmongering cheerleaders in the film business (its pretty obvious by now who they are). Not a single penny out of my pocket will ever go to them (again). Let them feel financially the consequences of their disgusting agenda. Since i have not seen a single case of anyone regretting signing those letters of support for Israel (totally disregarding decades of their own crimes and policies that led to much bigger civilian deaths than anything done by any other "terror" group, plus state terrorism has caused much more suffering worldwide) i can only assume they are all still fully behind US foreign policy (and whatever their military or even police does) and the crimes done in their name. Maybe if their fanbase eventually turns against them, they would probably rethink their stance. But doing it for financial reasons instead of principles would be just admitting they've failed as human beings. I really hope and believe history will judge them accordingly.

Let me add this important quote from another award winning filmmaker in last years Venice film festival, Sarah Friendland (words that should haunt some people for the remainders of their careers):

“As a Jewish American artist working in a time-based medium, I must note, I'm accepting this award on the 336th day of Israel's genocide in Gaza and 76th year of occupation. I believe it is our responsibility as filmmakers to use the institutional platforms through which we work to redress Israel's impunity on the global stage. I stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and their struggle for liberation.”

Personally i'd also add USA (both major parties!) in this context of impunity on the global stage. Its been the key enabler of it all on almost every possible level (financially, military, politically). What they do on the United Nations level alone is a crime of itself along with all the votes and the faces put behind it. I always questioned the "spreading democracy worldwide" mantra. Now we've all seen thru countless instances worldwide the hypocrisy and lies behind it without anyone ever being held accountable for it. USA has also failed on international level. To a horrifying degree. Wake up folks, before its too late. Complete and radical overhaul of the political system (and dismantling the lobbies behind it) will be a necessity if we ever want to see changes. Until then, intensifying the activism and speaking out on every single stage and using every single opportunity to voice the disgust and opposition will be a must for anyone that cares about justice and true equality. So many talented, intelligent, creative and original artists getting key awards for their work and speaking out can't be wrong, can they?

I'm so disgusted by it all i totally abandoned most of social media (it was a miracle i even stumbled upon Tilda's speech) Twitter/x will never see me again, Facebook is a waste of time, instagram is also owned by Meta, whose owner is part of the problem with censoring anyone that doesnt follow his personal agenda (Zuckerberg is just a refurbished version of Musk and is just as dangerous for silencing the dissenting voices), even here i see less and less desire to engage. I will never be consumed by hate (as tempting as it sometimes is when i see what happens) but enraged i am and i wil never be quiet about it even if it means that those who have been reading this expecting only purely film related stuff devoid of any social or political commentary abandon me. My activism will define me for the remainder or my life. I must do it for grandpa who was sent to a German concentration camp Dachau during WW2 and experienced all the nazi horrors that have been used decades later as an excuse (blank cheque) to do the same to other people of another religion. Which in itself is profoundly sad and disturbing. Makes you fundamentally question humanity. Just to be clear, this is not purely about Israel. It is just as much about USA. And to a degree also countries like UK, France and Germany and their disgusting treatment of dissent (even in media that once pretended to be selfcritical, BBC and NYT reaching their lowest point in history). Its all a culmination of everything that is wrong with this world. Its easy to point to countries like North Korea or Iran being a problem and mocking their leaders or regimes. But what happens when your own supposed "democratic" country has become in many ways a charicature of it. Including the elected leaders. The irony of it all.

[kenisle]

(free of spoilers until the read more)

i like how deadpool and wolverine was able to work with audiences’ associations of actors + characters.

it’s not something that can really be done with comics, where between changing artists (or just each artist’s evolving style/human inconsistency), so many characters having the same base design (eg how almost all the robins, bruce wayne, and clark kent are just White Guy With Short Black Hair and Strong Jaw), and the same distinctive costume getting passed around to various characters (eg the captains america).

if you want a comic reader to know who a character is, you almost always have to explicitly introduce them, or else it could be damn near anyone under all the layers of ambiguity listed above.

with movies/tv though, aside from a few recasts, actors’ faces aren’t subject to nearly the same degree of variance that a drawn character is, so if an audience member recognizes the actor from a previous film, they automatically know the character on the screen. any explicit introduction of a returning character is for the more casual viewer but usually isn’t necessary as long as the character’s basics are established up front.* the smaller, contained scale of established movie/tv show canon compared to the amorphous behemoth that is comics canon helps a lot as well.

this means reintroductions are short and sweet, if present at all (and in this film can be explained easily by dp’s fellow fanboy enthusiasm when necessary, rather than just the writers blatantly using him as a mouthpiece), and simply the face of a returning actor affords a ton of depth to a character that couldn’t be developed in this installment. it doubles as a way to devote more time to other things in the movie and a way to reward returning viewers.

DP+W SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

*in dp+w, seasoned viewers recognize pyro from X2, but we also get a refresher of his deal, both new (his allegiance in the void) and old (he has fire powers), so while his trajectory is a bit more clear with the wider context from X2, nothing he does is totally out of left field/unsupported by the text in this film.

so, while previous marvel movies have taken advantage of this shortcut to reduce weighing down the runtime with exposition, dp+w also snatched the golden opportunity to play a prank on the audience with it which i adored.

see, while there have been many cases of the same character being recast with different actors during marvel’s long run, very rarely was there one actor who played two DIFFERENT (major)** characters.***

**looking at you, stan lee.

***the only other example i can think of atm is oscar isaac, but he was basically unrecognizable under all the makeup and costume for apocalypse, so this trick wouldn’t have really worked with him anyway. hence “golden opportunity.”

so when chris evans’s cloaked form strode onscreen, audiences (and deadpool) were already well familiar with the cameo game and reasonably assumed he’d be reprising his more recent, more popular marvel role of steve rogers, only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath them at the fateful “flame on!”

not that there weren’t hints, of course (ie evans’s hair its natural brown rather than rogers’s more blond, the uncharacteristic taunt of “dick-for-brains” that even caught dp a little off guard, not to mention the total lack of signs outside the movie that evans and rogers would be returning to the mcu, or the illogic of doing so in a movie about deadpool and wolverine of all things), but the filmmakers know their audience and their expectations very well, resulting in what i found to be a hilarious and effective bait & switch. it was also, in my opinion, a much better direction to take the movie.

instead of nonsensically reviving such a central character that has already been given a complete arc almost as an aside in this movie that had little to do with him in the first place, they brought back a relic of movies left unfinished, remembered fondly but distantly (if at all) under the barrage of newer, flashier franchises. AND they did this knowing the old fantastic four films would soon be replaced (again), so it’s not like this johnny was ever gonna stick around. this was simply a lovely homage — a bid not to forget that we cared for those movies, too, and they’re still important to us even when the story gets rebooted.

instead of doing the same mcu bullshit we’ve grown tired of, they fed another line back to a central thesis of the movie: dying timelines (old, discontinued films) who have lost their anchor being (popular interest, production, etc.) shouldn’t be cut short (forgotten, discarded, disregarded) just because they’re not the prime timeline; there are still people living there (fans and creators caring about them) and value to be found in them.

and they were able to execute it in such an exciting, funny, and memorable way because of this connection between actors and characters that doesn’t exist in comics.

[olderthannetfic]

The main problem that I have with Youtubers who attempt to approach media analysis and fandom through theory and academia is that the vast majority aren't academics. Just being in undergrad isn't actually enough, contrary to the thoughts of many. Reading a Wikipedia article and reiterating what one may find in some Google, even Google Scholar, searches. Ideally, these would be topics approached by people involved in academia as a profession, people with doctoral degrees, who can discuss complex topics in a way that is easily understood by the masses. "What is the negotiation between gender and sex in BL?" "How does CMBYN articulate/complicate hierarchal roles within the gay novel?" "Could SnK express an alternative reading of the formerly isolated Japan?" These are complicated questions they attempt to answer in their video essays when they seldom ever understand the theories they employ.

Yes, I understand this can sound elitist, but as a Black afab person who is currently in a doctoral program for literature, there aren't "easy" answers to any of the questions they attempt to pose, and many Youtubers who primarily make long-form video essays lack the life experience and expertise to sufficiently discuss anything. They're usually too set in their thoughts to answer or explore the broader implications of their claims. Defending a dissertation forces you to do this. Forming a committee of experts in various fields and convincing them to aid you in the development of your dissertation forces you to do this. Being in academic and cordial communication with your peers from all over the world in your field forces you to do this. It's not easy to constantly intake new information from various eras and nations (depending on your topic), meld this information into a coherent essay, and continually make edits as you learn new information, thus changing your outlook on things. Also: it's really petty of me, but it's also incredibly annoying to grade poorly researched undergrad essays who, after some prompting in office hours, say they got these ideas on books, movies, and shows from breadtubers like Somerton, SZ, FD Signifier, or hbomberguy. Cue: me going to watch their videos and realizing they have no idea what they're talking about 88% of the time in terms of theory and application of said theory. Even the ones who frame themselves on being educators in real life, like Signifier, lack any nuance, depth, or media literacy to make a compelling argument if you know even the slightest bit of information. On the bright side, I now know why I've encountered several students with ideologies that are basically conservatism with a veneer of progressivism, or "conservatism in a queer hat."

This concludes my long-winded way of saying "Don't turn to Youtubers for media analysis. You're better off just reading articles by people who have to actually know what they're talking about. The majority of Youtubers (especially the breadtubers) don't have the bandwidth to discuss anything more complex than an episode of Blue's Clues."

--

I mostly agree, but I'd point to a slightly different problem. I'm hesitant to say that the PhD itself is the deciding factor, but I do think a lot of video essayists are insufficiently prepared.

I'm a big fan of Folding Ideas who does have some formal schooling in film, but I don't think it's that education per se that makes him great. He sets himself apart from other video essayists by actually doing his research and having an in-depth approach to his subjects. He doesn't resort to clickbait, and—here's the key—he often takes months or even a year to work on something.

Honestly, I think that's a big part of it: the hoops most youtubers who want to make a living at it have to jump through involve a lot of clickbait and pandering and a fast production schedule. They don't involve reputable peer review except by the court of shriek-y public opinion on twitter.

They'd like to present themselves as documentary filmmaking (which is essentially what Folding Ideas' longer videos are), but they don't actually live up to any of the usual standards of that either.

I think it can be elitist to say that someone needs to have certain letters after their name, yes, but what really strikes me about your average youtube media analysis type and the fanbase is that they want shortcuts.

Exploring the whole history of the gay novel so that you have enough background to talk about CMBYN means reading quite a few novels. Even if you decide to throw out all past scholarly opinion on the topic (which you shouldn't), if you're going to have a meaningful personal theory, you need to have read a lot of novels first. How can you hope to be the person providing the neat overview of the whole genre if you haven't familiarized yourself widely with said genre, and not just through a summary by someone else? That amount of reading doesn't happen overnight.

The trite, surface-level media analysis online is often from people who want to be hailed as great intellectuals but who aren't willing to put in the years it takes to do all the background reading and to develop their skills in argumentation, writing, etc.

Grad school is a convenient and probably faster way to go about all that, but I think you could do it outside of a formal framework... But you would need to actually do it.

I think it's driven by a bunch of people who were The Smart One in grade school and never learned how to work hard on long-term projects instead of pushing through in a sprint. They're used to relying on being the smartest to cut corners and do things before they get bored, only they probably aren't the smartest anymore anyway, and they mistake being smart at one thing for being smart at all things.

There's a real lack of respect for the entire concept of expertise.

[aliusfrater]

what do u major in and what do u wanna do when u grow up

film studiessss !!! i wanted to be an astronomer till i was 16 so i didn't really get into The Arts academically until around that time and it was already too late. had to take subjects i didn't like in 6th form but it's fine. i did cape literature which was hard as FUCK because it's marked at the masters level but it's come in handy so far bc the film classes ive taken have lots of essays and i can crank out 900 words in 20 mins if i feel like it. i applied to a bunch of art universities with just my hobby photography as a portfolio and even though they accepted me, none of them gave me scholarships so i had to go with one that Did (research university). would much rather be majoring in something specific like film/tv production but that's not available here. the classes i had in my first year were fun tho :) my favourite was 302 experimental moving images that i took in my 2nd semester bc my 107 basic video prof would show us experimental stuff all the time. i have no idea what i'm gonna do with my degree though. all my profs so far are either doing their masters, have a phd in something that has to do with media arts, are niche filmmakers with film festival awards with credits like. working at pixar or some shit or are curators. the last one seems fun and one of my profs who is a curator asked to work with me this one time and it was cool so maybe i'll go for that orrr being a director

[mariacallous]

In the 2020s, love triangles are all the rage—at least in American literature. The last five years have seen a proliferation of novels about non-traditional triads. Raven Leilani arguably ignited the trend with Luster, followed by Torrey Peters’s Detransition, Baby, Julia May Jonas’s Vladimir, and Jen Beagin’s Big Swiss, among others. Each novel featured a female protagonist armed with a sardonic voice, and each used a love triangle to probe social issues related to sex, power, race, gender, and class.

Mostly, these novels have been about American lust. But a new addition to the list, The Lady Waiting by Polish novelist and filmmaker Magdalena Zyzak, offers an international spin on the genre. This mischievously delightful caper centers on the love triangle between a wealthy American couple and their Polish assistant, who conspire to steal a Vermeer.

Although Zyzak, like her predecessors, is interested in the dynamics of sex and power, she throws a new element into the mix: globalization. The Lady Waiting is, beneath the sex, a story of the global economy, where workers from countries on the periphery do most of the labor for a tiny slice of the pie, while investors from the core economies feast.

The Lady Waiting is the second novel by Zyzak, who was born in Poland but has lived in the United States since she was an undergraduate in the early 2000s. Zyzak writes in caffeinated English: On the spectrum of foreign-born writers who switched to English, she is far closer to Vladimir Nabokov than Joseph Conrad—she never passes up a chance at puns, chiasmus, or word play.

The novel opens when a 23-year-old Polish immigrant, Viva, spots a posh woman in a green cocktail dress standing on an island of Los Angeles’s 101 freeway. Viva stops to offer a ride to the woman, who turns out to be a rich Polish-American named Bobby. Soon, Bobby and her husband, Sleeper, a retired U.S. film director, offer Viva a job. They want her to be their live-in help. “Sleeper says our household needs a wife,” Bobby explains.

Viva has been in the United States for a year and is floundering, going unhired because of her faltering English and her failure to absorb American social norms. (When an interviewer asks what her greatest weakness is, Viva answers, “manipulating”; she doesn’t get the job.) Viva never wanted to come to the country in the first place. But a boyfriend convinced her to enter the green card lottery; when she won, everyone told her she’d be crazy not to cash in the ticket. In Poland, she has a “teaching degree, though nothing to teach”; in America, the only job she can get is as a home aid for an older woman who soon dies.

Viva’s reasons for being in the United States crystallize when she meets Bobby, who strikes her as the kind of woman you see on Los Angeles billboards. Bobby is rich and comfortable being rich. She charms Viva at an expensive lunch in Beverly Hills. The waiter brings out rosé and sharing plates, and Bobby says, in characteristically gleeful free association, “People hate rosé but I love it … Doesn’t give you as much of a headache, as long as it’s a quickie, not an affair. Never date a socialist unless he’s the champagne kind. Oh, hey, socialism! We’re going to share all the plates!”

Viva is intoxicated not just by Bobby’s money but also her command of English. When Viva speaks, she is hobbled by her adopted tongue; in Viva’s narration, though, her internal monologue sounds kind of like Bobby’s dialogue. Explaining her origins, Viva narrates: “The man who had impregnated my mother in a rapeseed field—not a metaphor, a major Polish crop—had ridden a motorcycle.”

After lunch, Bobby takes Viva to an expensive boutique, where she steals a $9,000 dress for her. Viva is distraught—she could lose her green card if she’s an accomplice to a crime.

“Why did you steal it?” Viva asks.

“Because I could afford it,” Bobby says with a shrug.

The dress turns out to be a harbinger. Bobby convinces Viva to steal—or fake-steal, in a move that she claims is “neutral legally”—a Vermeer that went missing from a museum nine years earlier, from her ex-husband, a Russian mobster. The fictional Vermeer, “The Lady Waiting,” is a small portrait of a woman seated in front of a window, gazing at her hands. The ex-husband recently acquired it as repayment for a debt, and he’s looking to return it to a German museum that’s offering a 10 million euro reward.

Her ex is outsourcing the job because it would be difficult for a Russian on the Magnitsky list to claim the reward. If they succeed, the Russian ex will get the majority of the 10 million, paying out a million each to his German lawyer as well as the Americans—Bobby and Sleeper. In a mirroring of globalization, Viva, the laborer brought in to do the actual work and assume the actual risk, will get only 1 percent. But 100,000 euros is a life-changing amount for Viva. It might buy her a ticket on the elusive route from immigrant to expat.

As for the love triangle, Viva sleeps first with Bobby, who excites her in context if not action. (“It was not the technique but the situation—that she was my boss—that aroused me.”) Sleeper excites her in a much more straightforward way: “It was remarkable that other men had never made me come, because the whole thing had taken less than two minutes.” It’s Bobby who pushes her to Sleeper—each of them knows of Viva’s involvement with the other—and every time Viva sleeps with Sleeper, it seems to bring him closer to Bobby. She begins to fall for Sleeper, but also for Bobby, in a confusing way: “Sometimes I like you so much I want to be you,” she tells the latter.

Sleeper and Bobby are idle rich. They live like “nineteenth-century aristocrats,” working little and drinking often, in constant pursuit of drollness. Viva is paid $1,000 a week for an unwritten and varying set of tasks that includes making breakfast, bringing ice to cocktail hour in the hot tub, breaking in Bobby’s shoes, and, implicitly, sex. She is alternately ignored, fawned over, spoiled, and humiliated. “Was their behavior an abuse of power if that power was the very thing that turned me on?” she wonders.

Through Bobby, she gets a taste of American opulence. When she tries on Bobby’s expensive boots, she feels a “desire to own them that was akin to lust or hunger.”

“Poor girls from Poland, Russia, Ukraine in my generation had little to no inoculation against luxury products, communism having wiped out most hereditary wealth,” Viva says. “We’d kill for a pair of designer shoes.” When Viva later climaxes with Sleeper, she fantasizes that she is Bobby, surrounded by designer shoes.

The plot to retrieve the painting goes smoothly, but—spoilers ahead—after Viva brings it back, it is stolen from Bobby’s closet. Viva, Bobby, and Sleeper travel to Venice to hunt down the Vermeer, all the while being tailed by a Russian mafia thug. Abroad, their affair turns more overt, and Viva begins sleeping with the couple together. At one point, she catches Bobby watching her have sex with Sleeper. Viva later tells Bobby that she wants to be the one spectating. Bobby replies, “do you really think I care to know what’s in your bird brain? This is my fantasy. Mine, not yours.”

This is when Viva begins to realize, if she hadn’t already, that she is on the lowest rung of this ladder, and if she wants money, power, or choice, she’ll have to break out of the system. She tracks the now thrice-stolen Vermeer to a mining town in Poland, where she buys it from an old lady storing it in her car for a little more than $1,000. The woman lives in a communist housing bloc where, “in an apathetic nod to individualism, each cube was painted a different, faded underwear color: gray-white, dull red, brown-pink, lint blue.” When Viva talks to the woman, she notices in her mouth “a gap from a missing canine, a tiny black door to the mean world I’d escaped, a world where you’re reduced, one indignation at a time, by cheap dentists, expensive priests, needy parents, treacherous children.”

Viva’s emigration isn’t easy for the Americans in the novel to understand. She didn’t leave Poland to pursue a dream: “Where I’m from, fantasies tend to be about revenge, not aspiration.” Nor is she, as a friend of Bobby’s assumes, fleeing “some hellhole where men raped sheep and women gave birth in ditches.” Poland, which acceded to the European Union in 2004, is something of a development success story, and it’s often seen by its neighbors to the east as a land of prosperity and opportunity. But opportunity is relative.

In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2013 novel Americanah, a Nigerian émigré says of the white people in his adopted country:

they would not understand the need to escape from the oppressive lethargy of choicelessness. They would not understand why people like him, who were raised well fed and watered but mired in dissatisfaction, conditioned from birth to look towards somewhere else, eternally convinced that real lives happened in that somewhere else, were now resolved to do dangerous things, illegal things, so as to leave, none of them starving, or raped, or from burned villages, but merely hungry for choice.

Viva ambivalently left the “shabby comfort” of home for opportunity. But once she’s walked in the shoes of her U.S. employers’ blend of boundless optimism and reckless shortsightedness, she can’t go back. She swipes the painting, cuts off contact with Bobby and Sleeper, travels to Berlin, gets her own German lawyer, and claims the reward. The consequence of her actions quickly becomes clear when she sees that Interpol has declared Bobby and Sleeper missing, last seen in Russia.

In the real world, it would likely be the worker who bore the consequence of a scheme gone sideways. But Zyzak’s world is more just than ours, in a sense, while still adhering to the hierarchy. Here it’s the wealthy American investors who must answer for their actions and Viva who claims their spot as the aspirational rich.

Toward the end of the story, Viva’s German lawyer recommends that she give up her green card and settle in a tax haven such as the Cayman Islands to keep more of her reward money.

“I think I want to keep my green card,” she says.

“May I ask why?” the lawyer asks.

“Because,” Viva says, “I won it in the lottery.”

Viva may be a millionaire now. But more importantly, she’s an American.

[harkeepitreal]

I want to clear some stuff up. What is going with Tim and Lucy is NOT necessary this much angst does NOT need to happen. It doesn't take a lot to write stories like this. It takes talent to be able to write characters not having so many conflicts. This is not realistic. So yes this much AGNST is NOT necessary it is ridiculous. If they were a real couple and fighting this much I would question why are they still together. I get it couples have their ups and downs and they do fight. But if you have ever seen a happy, healthy relationship it is not like this. We had one episode of fighting then make up then back to fighting again. That is not real life and if it is then they really need to re-evaluate whether they belong together or not.

I studied film and television in college I hold two college degrees in film and television including an MFA. I have studied film and television my entire life. I have written, produced, directed, edited, starred in, created my own sound tracks and scores for both film and television. I have even built a show from the ground up. I know what I am talking about this much AGNST is not necessary at all or is not realistic.

When you take screenwriting classes (one of my best friends is a writer and holds an MHA and has also written scripts) says the same thing I do there are ways to write drama with out having people fight all the time. In screenwriting class they ask you 3 basic questions: 1) What is the story? 2) What are you trying to say? 3) How are you going to tell this story, is it with Humor, Drama, song and dance, Sci Fi, etc? I was taught by some of the best Indy filmmakers and screenwriters in the business.

I will never forget a time in college. For one of my screen writing classes I wrote a script that was about what happened to Cinderella after she married the prince. I did exactly what so many people unfortunately love I made it all angsty, fighting etc...and my professor almost failed me. He told me you don't need to write like this it is not necessary for it to be a great script. This was coming from an award winning Indy filmmaker. So I was lucky enough that he allowed me to rewrite the script and I did with a lot less AGNST and you know what I aced the project. Afterwards he said to me now this is how you write a script. It had humor, heart, and a tiny bit of conflict. After the rewrite he said it was one of the best scripts he had read from a student in a long time, because there was NOT so much drama and angst. I kept in touch with him over the years and we had many conversations about this until he passed away and he agreed this much AGNST is NOT necessary.

There are ways to get them to the point that they need to be at and keep them happy. For example: Let them actually have a conversation instead of fighting or accusations flying around. Let them go and talk to a therapist, etc... But that takes to much effort no it is much easier to write fighting.

Look at Monica and Chandler on Friends yes they had their fights on occasion but for a majority of the time they were happy and OMG they were together for 5 seasons. Same with Booth and Brennan, Castle and Beckett, Tom and B'elanna on STVOY they had the occasional fight but for the majority of the time they were happy. All those shows lasted for years after they got together. So it can be done. So don't BS me and tell me it can't be done.

The other issue we as Americans are so preconditioned to accept this on our tvs and films. If there is no drama filled happening people get bored. It makes me ask do people start drama in their relationships when things are going great because they get bored? I am sure some people do but not everyone that is unhealthy. The occasional conflict can happen even in a comedy but this is ridiculous. I know drama fills seats etc... but it doesn't have to if we say no we don't want this anymore. Happy relationships are not condosive of so much fighting, drama and AGNST. You want to see that crap go and watch all the garbage reality shows.

Rant done!!! Love to all ❤️❤️❤️❤️