Solid Snake

FUCK YES. We sorely need more modern directors to understand editing of action. It also shows how Jackie used to be a master for the genre. Fuck. He was insane. Love those old flicks.

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JackBurton

Although I don't buy all of it, many of Ager's film analysis videos are fascinating.

dhmac

I like the Filmmaker IQ channel on YouTube ( link ) which is hosted by John Hess and is mostly about the technical aspects of filmmaking instead of analysis of individual films or filmmakers.

Here's its video on how the "Slit Scan" special effect was done for the stargate sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey

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dhmac

Every Frame a Painting ( link ) recently released a short analysis video of composition in the film Drive called "Drive (2011) - The Quadrant System"

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Solid Snake

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lukewarmwater

Wim Wenders' Rules of Cinema Perfection | Stella Artois

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YZqrFlFPvJE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

David Mamet on film

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THE THING film analysis

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SppG-I_Dhxw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ridley Scott: Searchlab Lecture

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YWj4Ac9wW6s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Top 10 Practical Movie Effects of All Time

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NEAihk8QaVc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Rian Johnson/Jason Reitman Q&A

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5dchOMz4lJs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
On the Violence of Seven Samurai

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THE RULES OF FILM NOIR (BBC Documentary, Starts at 1:20)

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There are also a few interesting film documentaries like Visions of Light, The cutting edge: the magic of movie editing, and side by side.

inri222

One of Kurosawa's best films IMO. The shot framing as you can see in the video is top notch.

hanshotfirst1138

Kurosawa trained as a painter before he became a filmmaker, it's not at all surprising that he has such incredible compositions. He evidently pretty accomplished, he often used canvas paintings as the storyboards for his films. By the time you get to his later films like Ran, there are shots that look like landscape paintings. And the colors in that film are breathtaking too.

dhmac

Chris Stuckmann created this film essay called "The Problem with Action Movies Today"

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(I particularly like the section of this video ~10mins in where he talks about Shaky-cam)

inri222

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That was good and very true, except that most people don't care. This is Hollywood catering to the "I just want to watch a turn-your-brain-off-at-the-door popcorn flick".

hanshotfirst1138

As a fan of action films who's sat through God know how many bad DTV punch'em ups in search of a good fight scene, I've never understood why so many people tolerate incoherent editing or shaky cam. A stupid action film is one thing. A stupid action film with bad action sequences serves no purpose at all.

Solid Snake

The problem is that most didn't consider an action film to be you know...an art form, of sorts. Same goes w/ horror. Comedy, Horror, and Action are the lowliest forms of genre. I'm not talking about pretentious artistry as a focus, you know what I mean, but as a form to actually make a good movie. Not just "good (insert genre)" is but a good film.

Groucho

Another good video from Chris Stuckmann! I liked it when he called Tom Cruise the "American Jackie Chan". I hadn't thought about it before, but he's totally right.

I have always been annoyed by the "turn your brain off at the door" argument because there is absolutely a difference between a good action movie and a shitty one.

Solid Snake

The Expendables is crap action while Dredd, Edge of Tomorrow, and John Wick is good action.

Groucho

I didn't even finish The Expendables. I'm not sure why having a revolving door of cameos makes an otherwise unremarkable movie worth having two sequels.

PhantomStranger

I have to agree, it was apparent they secured the actors first and had no planned script for the film. That was a paycheck for everyone involved and nothing more, which is a shame.

Solid Snake

barely a paycheck for most of them aside for Sly.

dhmac

I actually liked The Expendables just as a dumb action movie in an '80s-like mold that brought back some Old School action stars again. And then I saw The Expendables 2 and, aside from its opening action scene, it was completely awful. It was just a campy excuse to let the aging stars recite some old catchphrases again. After seeing that, I think it should've been just one movie and out. No sequels at all.

(I haven't seen The Expendables 3 yet and am not even sure if I will ever watch it.)

dhmac

This is the 1st episode of a new film analysis series titled The Discarded Image and it's off to a great start with this video essay examining the beach scene in Jaws in detail:

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The Discarded Image: Episode 01 - Jaws (Spielberg, 1975) from 1848 Media on Vimeo.

(EDIT: the account also includes "the original beach scene" for viewing unaltered after seeing this essay)

dhmac

The only thing I think that analysis of the beach scene from Jaws missed was what (IMO) is a clear Kurosawa influence on the motion wipes when Chief Brody is sitting there watching the ocean, as the camera focuses on the stationary character(s) while other people move to the left or right in front of him (them).

(Here's an example at the 8 min 43 sec time mark of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai -
LINK - though not sure how long this link will be out there)

dhmac

a new video essay from "Every Frame a Painting" titled "In Praise of Chairs"

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Solid Snake

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dhmac

That video essay makes me want to create one on why Chuck Jones gets far too much credit these days for the comedy style of WB cartoons. Others such as Tex Avery and Bob Clampett did the most to innovate the style, while Chuck Jones just eventually adopted the style (after finally abandoning his attempts to be cutesy like Disney) and helped keep it going after those guys left the company.

dhmac

How Terminator Defined Action Movies - Frame By Frame (from "The Film Theorists" YouTube channel)

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(this is a better than typical offering from The Film Theorists)

PhantomStranger

I think Avery probably deserves most of the credit for innovating that classic cartoon style. Jones' stuff gets more publicity because his cartoons were popular when the biggest current generation was growing up, the Baby Boomers.