e Title
| WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING? |
What gave us the idea to make a movie about Hell? |
Well, most "faith based" movies are too gentle,
filmed in a way not to upset anybody. To me, the
most powerful Christian films were the most visually
lethal- Mel Gibson's 2004 filmThe Passion of the Christ
and Cecil B. DeMille's The Sign of the Cross (1932).
These were films that scared us into being good.
For a visual style, I always leaned towards that
flamboyant horror master, James Whale, who gave us
Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Bride of
Frankenstein. Very often, Whale would not start a
scene off with an establishing shot, but with a close
up of somebody or something within the scene. For
a few seconds the viewer is saying "Wait, now, where
are we?" instead of "Oh, now we are in a train
station... " That draws us into a scene.
Then of course, you have the old masters, like
John Ford, and Akira Kurosawa.
filmed in a way not to upset anybody. To me, the
most powerful Christian films were the most visually
lethal- Mel Gibson's 2004 filmThe Passion of the Christ
and Cecil B. DeMille's The Sign of the Cross (1932).
These were films that scared us into being good.
For a visual style, I always leaned towards that
flamboyant horror master, James Whale, who gave us
Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Bride of
Frankenstein. Very often, Whale would not start a
scene off with an establishing shot, but with a close
up of somebody or something within the scene. For
a few seconds the viewer is saying "Wait, now, where
are we?" instead of "Oh, now we are in a train
station... " That draws us into a scene.
Then of course, you have the old masters, like
John Ford, and Akira Kurosawa.
For a visual style we revisited what has to be Rock Hudson's best film- SECONDS, directed with ominous flair by John Frankenhiemer. The film can be found on DVD. You probably never heard of it, but trust me, give it a try. |
Commander John Ford Kurosawa's 1949 (when he wasn't making noir classic great films.) Stray Dog |
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