UPDATES

April 14, 2025

The Single Shot: Old Boy

Today we started class by introducing the concept of the single shot, and the complexity of pulling off compelling visual narratives without any camera breaks. The iconic single-shot fight scene in Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy has been celebrated and discussed since first viewed on the big screen in 2003. This scene from Oldboy is a brutal and visceral display of the raw determination and pent-up rage of the main character, Oh Dae-su, after years of imprisonment. Armed with only a hammer, he navigates a narrow corridor filled with multiple adversaries, each encounter a flurry of desperate swings, dodges, and grunts. The extended, unbroken camera shot intensifies the

April 9, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Fictional Narrative

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

Fictional Narrative

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

April 2, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Classroom

Editing as Storytelling

Today’s class features a guest lecture and discussion from Oregon-based filmmaker Ian Berry, who was recently awarded “Best Narrative Feature Film” at the 2024 Toronto Arthouse Film Festival for one of his fictional narrative films. In addition to writing and directing fictional narratives, Mr. Berry is also an accomplished documentary filmmaker and stage director. He also produces and hosts several community-focussed film events every month in Astoria, Oregon. In today’s class, Mr. Berry will showcase how editing –often referred to as the “invisible art”– is a crucial storytelling tool in filmmaking. At its core, editing is the process of selecting,

March 30, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Classroom

UNIT 7 – Commercials/PSAs

In this unit of study, students will focus on the details of their first project, which is producing a promotional advertisement for a local business, as part of a team of students constructed under my direction. During this unit, students will also:

March 21, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Fictional Narrative

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

March 12, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Classroom Commercial Promos

Visual Rhetoric in Promotions

Today’s class welcomes Mr. Ryan Hume as our guest speaker. Ryan been teaching writing for nearly two decades, including more than eight years as an instructor at Clatsop Community College, where he taught composition, literature, and language arts, while also serving as the faculty advisor to Rain Magazine, Oregon’s longest-running literary journal, which is produced annually by the students of Clatsop Community College. In today’s discussion, Ryan will help us dissect advertising videos as prime examples of applied rhetoric, carefully crafted to persuade viewers. These ads operate within a specific rhetorical situation, shaped by the historical period, social setting, and

March 10, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Commercial Promos Fictional Narrative

Directing Art + Science

Today’s class kicked off with an excerpt from the 2019 film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma, leading us into a discussion on the captivating world of film and television directing. Directing is a fascinating dance between artistic vision and meticulous execution. Imagine a conductor leading an orchestra, but instead of instruments, they’re shaping performances, camera movements, lighting, sound, and every other element that culminates in the stories we see on screen. At its heart, directing is about translating a written script into a living, breathing reality, imbuing it with emotion, rhythm, and a unique point

March 4, 2025

Jeremy Towsey-French

Classroom Commercial Promos

Framing & Composition Basics

In today’s class, we analyzed the below scene from Lars von Trier’s 2000 masterpiece, Dancer in the Dark, which leveraged more than 100 digital cameras on set to capture the resulting scene from 100 different angles. Instead of shooting the scene multiple times from multiple angles, the scene was composed in the editing room. The following video from Studio Binder explores the nuances of camera framing –a fundamental aspect of cinematography. While selecting a subject for each shot might appear straightforward, the art lies in how you choose to frame them. Do you opt for the isolation of a single, or introduce