Video Essays on film and gaming

[Geostigma]

I'm not sure if this something that interests any of you guys but I often find myself watching things like this. A lot of these go into how films are shot and directed in certain ways or the different messages the film or game may have been trying convey in various methods. It's really interesting stuff and I thought I would share some of my favorite analysis (and rants) videos regarding film and to lesser extent games.


Up first is Every Frame a Painting, a youtube channel run by Tony Zhou. Dont open it up expecting daily or even weekly content but when he does deliver its very eye opening and in my opinion one of the best channels for analysing film.

If I had to narrow down one or two videos to recommend it would be these two.

With a close third being his video on Quadrants in film using Drive as an example. Though truth be told the entire channel is worth watching.

Up next is Earthling Cinema on Wisecrack. An "Alien" goes through earths historical films and analysis them from his view points. Funny premise and excellent break downs. My favorite is their take on the Dark Knight

Up next is Chris Stuckman
Now his channel isn't devoted 100% to breaking movies down but the content he does offer in that department is really good. I like his analysis on film trends as well.

^this video does have some over lap with Tony's views in his action comedy video. Namely how very few people know how to edit a fight scene in america but I think it still presents enough varied points to be worth watching in addition to Tony's video.

His video breaking down Signs is also really good. Be warned I'm a M. Knight fan and am biased. So much so that I firmly believe Avatar was his first truly awful movie.

Up next is some Vimeo video I found breaking down my favorite movie scene of all time. Jaws Beach Scene.

https://vimeo.com/122479442

It's really worth checking out if you want to see all of the little things Spielberg did to make that scene amazing.

and lastly a cool video going over Human Nature as presented in The Last of US

 

[Lex]

^

Wholeheartedly agree with everything this guy said omg. I'm alone amongst friends in having liked Oculus, and I'm sick to death of cheap false jump scares in recent horror. So much so that I don't really bother with the genre unless I'm watching at home with friends. I know that Blair Witch is kind of like marmite to horror movie fans, but I had a kind of obsession with that movie when I was younger and I thought it was terrifying. I actually think the movie itself and the marketing was a stroke of genius (the actors not doing any promotion and disappearing to make it seem real), because people were having actual conversations about whether or not it actually happened XD.

Anyway I live for suspense and psych horrors/ thrillers. I'm much more a Silent Hill 2 type of horror than anything else.

 

[Geostigma]

I liked Blair Witch Project as well. It gets slammed a lot by people these days for starting the found footage trend but heck it did it so freaking right and its timing was just perfect.

I did also see it when I was a fourth grader and scared the ever living crap out of me for that entire year. So maybe I'm biased lol.

 

[Octo]

I pretty much agree with everything too. Although, I have to say I'm not as scared of going mad/depression as I am of some sort of supernatural stuff. So I dunno. I've not seen Oujia but he seems hung up on it being about a board game, whereas if it's about communicating with spirits - malevolent spirits - then there can be mileage in that. But not if it's going to be formulaic and full of false jump scares - important disctinction (which he does make to be fair)

Also too many horror films show the monster too early (like in the fucking trailer) and have characters that you just do not give two fucks about.

EDIT:I liked Blair Witch too. The last 20 mins in particular. It's not perfect but it has an eerieness that stays with you, and I don't think that many horror films can do that these days.

 

[Geostigma]

I haven't seen Oujia yet but I would bet the real reason he really tears it down is because it's probably one of the cheap jump scare only movies that he rants about just before that segment.

Interestingly enough some of the movies that really unnerved me are ones with jump scares. Not because of the cheap scares but the premise generally makes me think about stuff that frightens me well after the movie ends. I don't fuck with ghosts and demons lol. So even though I thought every paranormal activity was an absolute borefest they do generally cause me to go hunt down a night light.


Further more I do agree with him Babadook is the all around "scarier" and better Horror movie to the recent jump scare fests. But it didn't leave me unsettled and afraid of the dark like the latter.

Maybe I just prefer and appreciate films that unsettle me through out the movie itself rather then afterward lol.


edit:

I completely forgot to mention him but I do think Your movie sucks should definitely get an honorable mention.

His "top movies of x year" videos are pretty good. Especially 2008.

His your movie sucks playlist is a really good watch if you just feel like seeing a guy nit pick and tear apart a really bad movie. Notably the After Earth and Saw movies are a good review to check out. Be warned there are also some TLS favorites there as well... Like Suckerpunch and Hunger games :<

To each their own though Still a great channel to browse when you got 30 minutes to kill.

 

[Geostigma]

adding this one to the list its kinda neat.

 

[Octo]

^Goddamnit Gabe. I was just about over P.T. and had stopped worrying about Lisa getting me when I go to the bathroom.

Looks like I'll be peeing in a Pringles tube tonight.

 

[Geostigma]

a 2 part series on the work of David Fincher. Very interesting stuff

https://vimeo.com/122990387

https://vimeo.com/124948892

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Errant Signal mostly does game reviews, but he's got several interesting essay-type videos as well.

Some interesting ones:

 

[Geostigma]

Just posting due to being curious about what you guys always thought was in the case.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I've always thought that it was just a plot device, rather than something real within the context of the film.




X

 

[Geostigma]

I agree that its definitely a macguffin and dont agree with the video maker that Vincents fate are tied to the case lol.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

The Every Frame A Painting videos about Edgar Wright & Jackie Chan and filming comedy are really good. Also, the Satoshi Kon one made me remember how much I loved Paprika and need to see his other films.




X

 

[Interslicery]

I always joked it was a case of Movie Magic. Tho really, yeah, it's a plot device

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I'm laughing at that wordplay far more than I should be, and I'm not sorry at all.




X

 

[Geostigma]

Ahhhh Earthling Cinema i love you so much

 

[Cthulhu]

He had me at the looney tunes - how did I never see that before

 

[Geostigma]

 

[Geostigma]

Also while im here Earthling Cinema did a Godfather video as per usual its excellent

 

[Cthulhu]

I like the explanation. But at the same time I'm also impressed by movies like the Avengers that are just three hours of the most insane and hard to imagine CGI ever, to the point where I don't even care that it's mostly a CGI movie anymore, .

I wouldn't mind seeing more diverse movies in the regular cinema though. Or re-runs of older ones. But, I guess I'm gonna have to build my own; I was at a colleague of mine the other day, he's got a cinema upstairs that was pretty damn impressive, .

 

[Obsidian Fire]

This is really interesting. I've never though about it, but yeah, I think this is why there isn't a whole lot of difference between movies that use a lot of CGI and video games for me. They both give off the feeling that "this is not the real world" and therefore I have more of an intellectual interest in them, instead of an emotional one. This is different compared to movies that use more minimal CGI and a lot more film tricks that non-CGI movies use and therefore feel more like how "real-life" is seen though a movie lens. As opposed to a video game environment where I'm not influencing any of the characters.

 

[Hisako]

As a late footnote, I fucking love Every Frame A Painting

I think both the current-day CGI and latter-day practical effects both have their place in film and television. To me, watching practical effects being used feels "real" in a different sense, in that subconsciously realising that item or costume was a physical, material item purpose-built for the shot gives it weight.

 

[Geostigma]

^

 

[Hisako]

Hrrrrrng that's so fucking clever

 

[Geostigma]