Samurai, Tower, Autotune, Cosmic, Sword
Seven Samurai: A Masterpiece In Eight Minutes
Arttective | YouTube | 7th October 2020
The opening of Seven Samurai, analyzed. Kurosawa has a whole bevy of technical tricks up his sleeve – a telephoto lens to compress the background and foreground into a vivid, detailed image, an editing technique known as "axial cutting" to efficiently set the tone and layout of the scene, and lateral motion to subconsciously establish the heroes and villains (21m 25s)
Ten Meter Tower
The New York Times | YouTube | 17th January 2018
Fantastic Swedish mini-doc: the trials and tribulations of swimmers standing on a diving tower, contemplating whether or not to jump into the pool 33 feet below. They quake in fear, bicker with one another, tear themselves apart ("a 70 year-old woman jumped, but not me!")... and only some decide to make the leap of faith. An encapsulation of the human condition in 16 minutes (16m 16s)
The Problem With Autotune
Sideways | YouTube | 2nd October 2020
Pitch correction plays a nearly ubiquitous role in modern pop and musicals. It's the aural equivalent of "nude" makeup – ever-present, but intentionally hard to notice (T-Pain's in-your-face autotune style is no longer in vogue). But the craze for "real" sounding vocals, partially sparked by the no-filter performances of 2012's Les Mis, has led to a dilemma in the music production world (27m 10s)
Cosmic
Meredith Hama-Brown | Vimeo | 6th October 2020
Short film about a man and woman in their 60s going on a second date. The basic conceit is nothing groundbreaking – two lonely souls strive to break the barrier of social awkwardness and forge a genuine connection – but the detached camerawork and moments of quiet, subtly observed emotion make this a compelling humanist vignette (12m 57s)
Mind-Boggling Video Of The Week
An elaborate card trick from the legendary, late magician Ricky Jay
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