Articles for tag: Directing, Inspiration, Narrative, Society

May 7, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Tension & Tone

In today’s class, we analyzed a scene from Taika Waititi’s 2019 film, Jojo Rabbit, where Stephen Merchant’s character, Captain Herman Klenzendorf, arrives to inspect Jojo’s home. The resulting scene showcases Waititi’s use of context and tone to build a subtle tension that builds rapidly with each character beat. In the events before the scene unfolds, Jojo has recently discovered that his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), is secretly harboring a young Jewish girl, Elsa Korr, in the family’s attic. Jojo is grappling with this discovery, torn between his ingrained Nazi beliefs and the reality of Elsa as a person. He’s been

April 25, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

The Narrative Power of Costuming in Film

In today’s class, our Big Screen Video Inspiration opener focussed on costuming as the main event of a motion picture. For this, I selected the following clip from the fantastic 1994 Australian film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert  (Directed by Stephan Elliott / Costumes by Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner / Cinematography by Brian J. Breheny). This film introduced us to Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving, while reintroducing the world to the great Terence Stamp. Backed by a meager $20,000 budget (Oz dollars), Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner won the Oscar for costume design at the 1995 Academy Awards.

April 9, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Scene Analysis: Moonlight

Today’s class kicked off with an analysis of the beautiful water scene in the 2016 film, Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins. I’ve included some analysis slides below for a summary of our analysis. The water scene in Moonlight, where Juan teaches young Chiron (“Little”) to swim, is a pivotal moment of cinematic and storytelling excellence. Director Barry Jenkins uses the ocean as a powerful symbol of transformation and acceptance. The cinematography, often placing the camera at water level, immerses the viewer in Chiron’s experience, highlighting his vulnerability and the burgeoning trust he places in Juan. The natural light and the fluid

April 7, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Women Behind the Camera

We kicked off today’s class with a fantastic clip from the 1991 film, Point Break, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. This piece sums up some of the insights on the scene and the challenges Bigelow overcame to deliver a seminal foot chase scene. Kathryn Bigelow established herself as a prominent director known for her intense action-thrillers, a genre traditionally dominated by men. Beginning her artistic journey as a painter before studying film, Bigelow’s work consistently explores themes of violence and power. Notably, she was the first woman to have won an Academy Award for directing (of three total female winners as

March 21, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Silent Terror in Performance

Today’s class kicked off by viewing the opening cabin scene of Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film, Inglourious Basterds –a masterclass in tension, largely due to Tarantino’s deliberate pacing and Christoph Waltz’s mesmerizing performance as SS Colonel Hans Landa. Tarantino employs long takes and a slow, methodical approach, enabling the dialogue and the subtle shifts in power to take center stage. The camera focuses intently on the characters’ faces, capturing every flicker of emotion and creating a palpable sense of unease. This cinematic control, combined with the confined setting of the cabin, amplifies the claustrophobia and the feeling that any moment could erupt