First impressions are the most commonly reported measure of quality and among the least reliable. What survives a second viewing is a…
Film Analysis
Films that hold up when you stop watching plot and start watching craft.
The complaint that subtitles mean reading instead of watching is offered as a preference. Measured against how attention actually works, it describes…
Dialogue is the part of a film people remember and the part that carries the least story in a well-made thriller. The…
The standard explanation for a disappointing sequel is that the idea ran out. The more common failure is structural: the sequel inherits…
Trailers are built to sell a film and openings are built to establish one. Which of the two better predicts your reaction…
The claim that practical effects age better than computer-generated ones is repeated as settled fact. When you separate technique from resolution and…
Film Analysis
Why Colour Grading Dates Faster Than Dialogue
A twenty-year-old film can sound current and look unmistakably of its period. Colour grading ages faster than almost any other element, and…
Film Analysis
The Three-Act Structure Is a Description, Not a Rule
Every film is said to have three acts, which is true in the way that every day is said to have three…
Two and a half hours is presented as evidence of seriousness. Runtime tells you about a film's relationship with its own material,…