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How David Lynch Uses Subversion to Elicit Catharsis in 'Mulholland Drive'
Lynch uses expectation and subversion as filmmaking tools with the same nuance and power as another director might use light or sound. David Lynch is the master of defying audience expectations. It is...
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How David Lynch Messes With Your Head in 'Mulholland Drive'
If moviemakers weave their dreams for us, David Lynch animates his nightmares. Learn how Eagle Scout and filmmaker puts cinematic technique to manipulate audiences in his 2001 masterpiece, Mulholland...
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Watch: How to Make Your Actors Angry, Like Jack Nicholson
It's not the anger that makes the actor—it's what's boiling underneath. On the No Film School boards, we'll often get questions about how to deal with actors who aren't providing directors with the...
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Watch: This Simple Exercise Will Make You a Better Director
All you have to do is watch a bunch of movies. There's no easier way to learn how to make a movie than by watching a bunch of movies. The trick is not to be a passive audience member. As you watch,...
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Watch: How Not to Adapt a Movie
This year's remake of 'Ghost in the Shell' seemed doomed from the start. Nerdwriter knows where to place the blame. With a title like "How Not to Adapt a Movie," it's unsurprising that Nerdwriter...
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Watch: How to Write Dialogue for a Normal Person, Not a Movie Character
Nerdwriter is back to explore Noah Baumbach and the nature of human conversation. We may have lost some of the finest voices in the video essay community earlier this week in Tony Zhou and Taylor...
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Watch: How Steven Spielberg Uses Sound Design to Add Structure and Suspense
As beautiful as Janusz Kaminski's cinematography is, 'Munich' is also a film that demands to be heard. While movies are an overwhelmingly visual medium, in the words of the Nerdwriter, Evan Puschak,...
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Watch: The Nerdwriter Breaks Down Why MoviePass Doesn't Work
The well-regarded video essayist shares a common hope that a movie-goer's dream-come-true won't be ending soon. Over the past few months, we've been keeping a close eye on the ongoing struggles that...
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How Pixar's 'Real' Fake Cameras Make Their Movies Look So Realistic
You'd assume split diopters and anamorphic lenses are a live-action film thing. Just don't tell that to Pixar. The Toy Story franchise has always been ahead of the curve in terms of innovation in...
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HBO's 'Succession' Can Teach You A Lot About Writing Great Dialogue
Succession is a show built on characters worming their way in and out of situations. So how can they clearly express motivations with and without saying what they mean? Succession is probably the best...
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3 Ways 'Spotlight' Turns the 'Boring Stuff' Into Exciting Drama
Spotlight is one of the best movies about investigative journalism ever, even though it features a bunch of reporters doing research and Googling. Find out why and how this script makes it all look so...
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Is James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano the Greatest Acting Achievement of All...
Don't stop believing. Around 20 years ago, The Sopranos ushered in a new era of television. One that was no longer going to play second fiddle to movies. One that brought storytelling to the...
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Why Would Ozu Cut to a Vase at the End of This Scene?
Yasujirō Ozu is an enigmatic filmmaker who values mood and pacing. So why did he cut to this vase? Ozu is one of those directors whose work inspired everyone who came after him. He was working at the...
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