Drive (2011) - The Quadrant System

Another great analysis of film grammar from Tony Zhou. This type of directing separates the pro's from the amateurs.

It was this level of detail that always amazed me in great films. It made me think twice about being a director back in film school too. Being able to continually layer story elements into every single aspect of the film to make it so rich, was something I personally found daunting. Many people underestimate what a director does, 'the guy that shouts', 'the guy that speaks to the actors', 'the guy who points the camera'' etc etc. Of course it is all those things (and many many more), especially the shouting, but there's a level of thought, detail and expression that is simply mind-blowing on great films.

I'll always be in awe of the talent of great film directors and how deeply they've thought about expressing their stories.

One of the many pleasures of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” (2011) is that the shots feel both tightly composed and weirdly unpredictable. Even though most of the images follow a simple quadrant system, Refn puts plenty of subtle touches within the frame. Let’s take a look. For educational purposes only. You can donate to support the channel at Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/everyframeapainting And follow me here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyszhou Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everyframeapainting Music: Desire - “Under Your Spell"

Advice if you're creating a TrueView ad

This isn't quite true, but succinctly sums up what happens if you don't think about the first five seconds of your commercial. Especially with work that is just designed for TV and whacked on YouTube. Design your content for the platform.

Bitter Lake by Adam Curtis

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Great documentary from Adam Curtis (feel that isn't the right way to describe Adam Curtis' films).
It is so intelligently assembled from a wide variety of material from the BBC archive, with which I always picture Curtis exploring like Hangar 51 in Indiana Jones.

Trailer for Bitter Lake by Adam Curtis and the BBC. Find out more at http://www.documentarygeek.org/bitter-lake/

I found it an incredibly absorbing way to tell the story of how Afghanistan became the Afghanistan we know today, all through the lens of how information is manipulated by politicians, the leading classes and the media to the public - leaving them bewildered at what the hell is going on.

UPDATE - BBC have pulled the full length doc from YouTube - so not sure where you can see this. The more adventurous shouldn't have a problem...

Chuck Norris uses beer as an energy drink

Only Chuck Norris could use a beer to wake him up from an unconscious stupor, after being buried alive. It also allows his car to have some sort of superpower to drive out from under the earth too. That's some beer.

For bonus points, this clip includes someone shouting "Freeze assholes!" - which is a must for anyone who happens to be in a position of power to scream at the unsuspecting. 

(Skip to 1:50 for the fun stuff)

The movie is Lone Wolf McQuade(1983) After J.J McQuade (played by Chuck Norris) is buried alive in his Supercharged Dodge, he manages to blast out of his grave by hammering down making it the best scene of the movie.

True Detective - Title Sequence

I’m finally getting round to watching True Detective, I’m only up to episode 3 so far, and really enjoying it. Suffering a little from all the hype I feel, and involving themes that seem to have been covered in some other recent films and tv shows. But I’m only at episode 3, so can’t judge it fully yet. 

What I can comment on is the title sequence, which is really striking. It easily passes the test of ‘pause any frame and it looks like a beautiful image’. Seriously, I dare you to find a bad frame in the whole sequence, there isn’t one. Art of the Title has done a fantastic job of giving a very detailed breakdown of the sequence, and an interview with the Creative Director Patrick Clair.

So this is short and sweet – just a link to the sequence and some of my favourite frames from it

Antibody created the main title sequence for HBO's critically acclaimed drama series True Detective. Working through our LA-based production partners, Elastic, and with compositing support from the talented crew at Breeder. See more of our studio's work at www.antibody.tv Making of article on Art of the Title: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/true-detective “True Detective” Opening Title Sequence Client: HBO Air Date: January 12, 2014 Soundtrack: Far From Any Road by The Handsome Family Opening Title Sequence: Elastic Director: Patrick Clair Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall Design/Animation/Compositing: Antibody Senior Designer: Raoul Marks Animation + Compositing: Raoul Marks Animation + Compositing: Patrick Da Cunha Production: Bridget Walsh Research: Anna Watanabe Additional Compositing: Breeder Compositing: Chris Morris Compositing: Joyce Ho Production: Candace Browne Production: Adam West