How To Analyze Movies – Film Studies 101

[00:00] this video is brought to you by

[00:01] curiosity stream and

[00:05] nebula hey folks so this video is a

[00:08] little bit different than usual it is

[00:11] not part of the ongoing season it is not

[00:14] canon within the universe of the show it

[00:17] was actually originally written almost a

[00:19] year ago as one of our nebula classes

[00:23] but I changed my mind and decided to

[00:25] make a different class instead that one

[00:27] is about how to make a movie and it's a

[00:29] ailable now so I figured I would hold on

[00:32] to this and at some point just make it

[00:34] as a regular video here on the channel

[00:37] and that's what I did and that's why in

[00:39] case you're wondering the video seems a

[00:42] lot more like an academic class than

[00:45] most of the videos usually do so anyway

[00:48] with that explanation out of the way

[00:50] enjoy my class on how to analyze movies

[00:55] [Music]

[01:05] hi I'm Patrick Willams and today I want

[01:08] to talk to you about movies or if we

[01:12] want to sound fancy we're going to be

[01:15] discussing Cinema compared to other art

[01:18] forms like literature or painting or

[01:21] music that have been around for hundreds

[01:23] of years Cinema is relatively young

[01:26] moving picture cameras weren't invented

[01:29] until the late 1800s and the first movie

[01:31] with recorded sound came out less than a

[01:34] 100 years ago so we're still in the

[01:37] early days of the medium for the past

[01:40] Century movies have been the most

[01:42] popular art form in the world we've been

[01:45] watching them and enjoying them our

[01:47] whole lives and for a lot of people

[01:50] movies are just a fun thing to watch to

[01:52] kill some time and that's fine but maybe

[01:56] you want to look at them a little more

[01:58] deeply I mean if weirdos like me can get

[02:01] a whole college degree in something

[02:03] called Cinema studies there must be more

[02:06] going on here and that's what this video

[02:10] is about because pretty much every movie

[02:14] ever made has more to it than just the

[02:17] surface level story like any art form

[02:20] Cinema is the result of artists making

[02:22] deliberate choices and those choices

[02:25] influence how the movie affects us

[02:27] emotionally and what ideas or meanings

[02:30] it's expressing we are not here to

[02:33] decide whether a movie is good or bad

[02:35] and then move on what we're going to do

[02:38] here today is talk about how to

[02:40] interpret these aspects of a movie the

[02:44] story the shots and editing and how it's

[02:47] all put together to understand how it

[02:50] works and what it all means now this

[02:53] kind of analysis doesn't just apply to

[02:55] cinema we're really talking about

[02:58] analyzing works of art and narrative art

[03:01] like Cinema warrants the same level of

[03:04] serious analysis as paintings hanging in

[03:07] the Lou and folks I am not only talking

[03:11] about fancy art films by Batar or rasuk

[03:15] hamaguchi we can apply this same level

[03:18] of analysis to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or

[03:22] Megan and once we're done here you can

[03:25] be that insufferable pretentious person

[03:28] at a party who tells every everyone what

[03:30] movies are really about how Lord of the

[03:34] Rings is actually about addiction how

[03:37] Top Gun is about struggling to figure

[03:40] out one's sexuality and how every

[03:42] Christopher Nolan movie is really about

[03:45] how he misses his

[03:47] family I mean that last one I actually

[03:49] do

[03:53] [Music]

[03:55] believe okay look I'm going to be honest

[03:57] with you you can probably turn this

[03:59] video off after this one chapter because

[04:03] this is the only rule that really

[04:05] matters if you learn this you're pretty

[04:07] much set to go and start analyzing all

[04:10] the movies you want so let me start with

[04:12] a little story back when I was in

[04:14] college taking a lot of Cinema studies

[04:17] courses for a while I honestly wasn't

[04:20] very good at interpreting meaning from

[04:22] movies I could break down technical

[04:25] aspects and story structure but for some

[04:28] reason I was resistant to the idea of

[04:31] giving every element some deeper

[04:33] subtextual significance and then what

[04:36] finally made it click for me was this

[04:38] art history class I took where the

[04:41] professor realized that I wasn't fully

[04:44] getting it so we had a meeting at the

[04:46] college Art Museum and she finally got

[04:49] through to me by breaking it down in a

[04:51] way I understood so in simplest terms

[04:55] analyzing art really just comes down to

[04:58] two steps

[05:00] step one look closely at the piece and

[05:04] just describe what you're seeing what

[05:07] the piece is and what's happening in it

[05:10] and step two ask why treat every part of

[05:15] that piece as a choice the artist made

[05:18] and ask why they made that choice what

[05:21] was their goal what purpose does it

[05:23] serve how does it make me the viewer

[05:26] feel so if you're looking at a painting

[05:29] you're doing this with the overall

[05:31] composition of the piece the choice of

[05:33] colors the size of the piece the

[05:36] perspective and style of brush Strokes

[05:38] the degree of realism versus abstraction

[05:41] all of these things should be examined

[05:45] and questioned and yes I am aware that

[05:48] frequently in art you get happy

[05:51] accidents things that end up in the

[05:53] finished work but were never a

[05:55] deliberate part of the artist's design

[05:58] what do we make of those do we ignore

[06:00] them because of their accidental nature

[06:03] nope those deserve just the same level

[06:06] of analysis it could even be worth

[06:09] analyzing how the technique used led to

[06:11] an environment in which this kind of

[06:13] accident could be possible because

[06:16] analysis does not end at what the artist

[06:19] intended that's the fun thing about art

[06:22] the artist gives it meaning but so do we

[06:25] as viewers we can totally say that the

[06:28] artist is wrong about their own work

[06:31] that regardless of what they intended it

[06:33] means something different because

[06:36] remember folks and say it with me Al

[06:39] together now art is

[06:45] subjective and that said it doesn't mean

[06:49] that I have to agree with every single

[06:51] Take You can tell me that I don't know

[06:54] that like Toy Story is an allegory for

[06:58] Western imperialism and if you can argue

[07:00] that I would love to hear it but also I

[07:04] don't think you're going to find a lot

[07:06] of evidence to present

[07:10] [Music]

[07:12] there okay so now let's actually get

[07:15] into how we analyze a movie I want to

[07:19] start in the broadest most General way

[07:22] how do we look at a movie and identify

[07:25] its primary themes movies are

[07:28] complicated and there's 's always a lot

[07:30] going on but how do we interpret what

[07:33] it's saying because look regardless of

[07:36] what the movie is good movies or bad

[07:39] movies every movie is about something

[07:43] every movie has some kind of core idea

[07:46] it's expressing or at least trying to

[07:49] express for the rest of this video I

[07:51] want to focus primarily on one movie to

[07:55] show you how you can take a pretty

[07:57] ordinary film something that that does

[08:00] not seem like a deep artart film and

[08:02] actually extract a ton of meaning from

[08:05] it so today we are going to be focusing

[08:09] on the 1990 Chris Columbus film Home

[08:13] Alone which was written and produced by

[08:15] John Hughes starring mccauly culin

[08:18] Katherine O'Hara and Joe pesi I assume

[08:22] most people watching this are familiar

[08:24] with home alone and what it's about but

[08:28] let me ask you this what is it really

[08:32] about what is the main theme of Home

[08:36] Alone well to find it the first step is

[08:39] to just look at the events of the movie

[08:42] and describe in simplest terms what

[08:46] happens what is the story how does it

[08:49] begin and how does it end so here's how

[08:53] I would describe what happens in Home

[08:55] Alone a kid and his mom are mad at each

[08:57] other then they get separated

[09:00] and they realize that they miss each

[09:01] other so while she tries to get home to

[09:04] him he has to protect his home against

[09:07] Invaders okay okay that was that was

[09:10] pretty good but let's make it simpler so

[09:13] how about a kid defends his home while

[09:18] his mother tries to get home to him okay

[09:21] that's better but it's still too

[09:23] complicated let's break it down even

[09:26] more so like home loone is about the

[09:30] lengths we will go for our families okay

[09:34] good good I think we're almost there but

[09:37] we can go one step further and make it

[09:40] even

[09:41] simpler home alone is about the

[09:45] importance of

[09:48] [Music]

[09:50] family that's it we did it we found the

[09:54] main

[09:56] theme great job guys but look

[09:59] movies don't always just have one theme

[10:03] there are actually multiple themes here

[10:06] that are all connected so again breaking

[10:09] this movie down to a very simple

[10:12] description it's about an immature kid

[10:14] left on his own and put in a dangerous

[10:17] situation who learns to fend for himself

[10:20] get over his fears and defend his

[10:22] family's home to put that in simplest

[10:25] terms it's a story about learning to

[10:28] take responsib ability we can do it

[10:30] again it's a movie about people who end

[10:33] up in a terrible situation because

[10:36] they're mad at each other and then they

[10:38] realize how much they love each other

[10:40] and go to Great Lengths to reunite in

[10:43] simplest terms it's a story about

[10:46] forgiveness so basically home alone is

[10:50] about responsibility forgiveness and the

[10:53] importance of

[10:55] family boom we did it see that's not so

[10:59] hard and that's how it works for just

[11:01] about every movie you step back and look

[11:05] at the movie on a macro level what are

[11:07] the main conflicts how are they resolved

[11:11] how do the characters change and

[11:13] generally from just answering those

[11:16] questions you can extract the theme and

[11:19] figure out what the movie is trying to

[11:25] [Music]

[11:27] say Okay so we've talked about the big

[11:29] picture stuff and how to interpret the

[11:32] story but the story itself is just a

[11:35] small part of a movie you can write a

[11:38] story in a few sentences on a piece of

[11:40] paper what's really important is how

[11:43] it's told Cinema is a visual medium if

[11:47] all you care about is the plot then go

[11:49] read the synopsis on Wikipedia it's

[11:52] faster the point of a movie is to tell a

[11:55] story with images and those images can

[11:58] do a lot more than just showing actors

[12:01] delivering dialogue where the camera is

[12:04] placed how it moves how a shot uses

[12:07] light and color how the actors are

[12:10] positioned these all have a

[12:12] psychological and emotional effect on

[12:14] the audience changing any one of those

[12:17] elements can radically affect how we

[12:20] interpret something these seemingly

[12:22] small choices can create meaning and

[12:25] subtexts that you would not just find in

[12:28] the thought synopsis so it's time to

[12:31] bust out a fancy French expression

[12:34] you've probably heard about this one

[12:35] before it's a big one it is time to talk

[12:39] about Mison sen essentially what Mison

[12:43] sen means is what is in the frame it's

[12:47] the dozens even hundreds of choices from

[12:50] costumes to locations to lenses to

[12:53] lighting that result in what we see on

[12:56] screen what we're trying to do here is

[13:00] understand the form how the tools of

[13:03] Cinema are deployed the film

[13:10] [Music]

[13:12] language it's often been said that a

[13:14] movie teaches us how to watch it when

[13:18] looking at the early scenes in

[13:20] particular we're being given Clues as to

[13:23] the tone and language of the movie as in

[13:26] the visual language if you look at a

[13:28] movie and try to impose the rules of

[13:31] other movies onto it you're just not

[13:35] having a productive experience so for

[13:37] example back in 2008 when the movie

[13:41] speedracer came out a lot of people

[13:43] looked at it and recoiled in horror they

[13:46] were like this looks weird it's like a

[13:48] cartoon it doesn't look real this must

[13:51] be a mistake which means the movie is

[13:53] bad now the problem with this take is

[13:56] that it's assuming that the movie is

[13:59] trying to look realistic and failing

[14:02] it's ignoring what is actually going on

[14:05] which is that the aesthetic was a

[14:07] deliberate choice and part of analyzing

[14:10] film is treating every aspect of it as a

[14:13] deliberate choice now this is not to say

[14:16] that you have to like every choice and

[14:18] maybe you think a choice doesn't work

[14:20] and was a mistake but give the

[14:22] filmmakers some credit assume they chose

[14:25] to do it that way and then figure out

[14:29] why so this starts with the overall

[14:32] style and aesthetic a starting point for

[14:35] analyzing this is considering where it

[14:38] falls on the scale of realism versus

[14:42] formalism now without getting into the

[14:44] whole long history of film Theory and

[14:46] where these approaches came from the

[14:49] short version is this one extreme

[14:52] approach to cinema is pure realism

[14:56] basically a reproduction of reality with

[14:59] with no intrusive elements you know

[15:01] workers leaving the factory then on the

[15:04] other end of the spectrum is like a

[15:07] surreal animated musical something

[15:10] entirely artificial that doesn't attempt

[15:13] to imitate reality at all most movies

[15:16] exist kind of around the middle in an

[15:19] area called

[15:20] classicism this uses realist elements

[15:23] like naturalistic performances and

[15:26] locations and subtle unobtrusive editing

[15:29] to create a linear sense of continuity

[15:32] but it combines them with formalist

[15:34] elements like a musical score different

[15:37] camera angles and camera movement and

[15:40] classicism is pretty much where Home

[15:42] Alone Falls it has the glossy Hollywood

[15:46] lighting it's shot on 35mm film it has

[15:49] the aesthetic and look that we accept as

[15:52] general movie reality and the sets

[15:56] costumes locations and performances are

[15:59] designed to resemble the real world but

[16:01] there are also several formalist

[16:03] elements throughout there's the music

[16:06] the iconic John Williams score and

[16:09] several Christmas songs and then there

[16:11] are the various exaggerated angles point

[16:14] of view shots the slow motion when the

[16:16] tobogan flies out the door this split

[16:19] diopter shot and of course the part

[16:22] where Kevin is remembering the mean

[16:24] things his family members said to him

[16:26] and we see their faces floating at the

[16:28] sides of the frame and the purpose of

[16:30] all those things that I just listed is

[16:33] the same it's to show us Kevin's

[16:36] perspective anytime the film shifts a

[16:39] little bit toward formalism it's to

[16:41] communicate to the audience how Kevin is

[16:44] feeling and perceiving

[16:49] [Music]

[16:50] things and this brings us to another

[16:53] major component of a film's visual

[16:56] storytelling perspective and more

[16:59] specifically is it a subjective

[17:02] perspective or an objective perspective

[17:05] I know I just threw out a whole bunch of

[17:07] rhyming words at you but I promise it's

[17:09] actually pretty simple when a film uses

[17:12] an objective perspective it is doing so

[17:15] as if it is an outside Observer with no

[17:18] emotional involvement in the story

[17:20] simply seeing the events from an outside

[17:23] point of view a subjective perspective

[17:27] is when a film uses its visual language

[17:29] to convey how a character is feeling and

[17:33] telling the story from their perspective

[17:36] and this can change from scene to scene

[17:39] so let's look at an example from Home

[17:41] Alone early in the movie when Kevin

[17:43] wakes up after his family has gone to

[17:45] the airport without him this is all shot

[17:48] from an objective perspective it's the

[17:51] static wide shots that emphasize the

[17:54] vast emptiness of the house and how

[17:57] small Kevin looks inside it it because

[17:59] right now he doesn't realize that he's

[18:02] home alone we know more than he does and

[18:05] so we're standing back as an outside

[18:07] Observer waiting until he notices

[18:10] something is off and then as he starts

[18:13] to realize what's happening the film

[18:15] moves into a subjective perspective I

[18:18] mean it literally visualizes his mind as

[18:21] he remembers things his family members

[18:23] said to him and then the film language

[18:25] changes to express His Manic excitement

[18:28] at having the house to himself we are

[18:30] now firmly in Kevin's perspective for

[18:33] the rest of the movie but to understand

[18:36] how this perspective is actually done we

[18:39] need to get a bit more

[18:44] [Music]

[18:46] technical you don't need to know exactly

[18:49] how to make a movie to be qualified to

[18:51] analyze them you don't need to know how

[18:53] to work a camera or read a light meter

[18:57] but it does help to have a basic

[19:00] understanding of some of the technical

[19:02] aspects of film making so that you can

[19:04] understand the creative choices being

[19:06] made and what they mean so lenses those

[19:11] pieces of glass and gears that control

[19:14] how the camera sees the image we could

[19:16] do a whole class on how lenses work

[19:19] since there is so much to talk about but

[19:21] we don't have all day I want to go home

[19:23] and eat dinner after this so here's the

[19:25] simple version every lens has what's

[19:29] called a focal length which is expressed

[19:31] in a unit of millimet right now this

[19:35] camera is shooting me on a 35 mm lens a

[19:40] lower number focal length means it's a

[19:43] wider lens and a higher number means

[19:46] it's a longer lens every lens has its

[19:49] own qualities and the choice of lens can

[19:52] radically change what a shot looks like

[19:55] here's me on a 16 mmm lens

[19:59] and then here's me in the same position

[20:01] on a 105 mm lens in general longer

[20:06] lenses have a narrower field of view and

[20:09] compress the image so the background

[20:12] looks closer to the foreground they also

[20:15] have a shallower depth of field meaning

[20:17] the part that's in Focus so if a long

[20:20] lens is focused on a person in the

[20:22] foreground everything behind them will

[20:25] be totally blurry and because of this

[20:28] long l tend to be used for close-ups

[20:31] because they isolate the subject in

[20:33] focus and also just make it look more

[20:35] flattering wide lenses on the other hand

[20:38] capture a much wider field of view

[20:42] fitting more of the environment into the

[20:44] frame the depth of field is much deeper

[20:47] so the outof focus parts are not as

[20:49] blurry as they would be with a long lens

[20:52] and especially with really wide lenses

[20:55] there's a slight warping to the image

[20:57] the world looks slightly exaggerated

[21:00] through a wide lens and so they're often

[21:03] used for comedy close-ups with a

[21:05] wideangle lens can look crazy and also

[21:09] wide lenses emphasize motion so if the

[21:12] camera is moving forward quickly like if

[21:14] it's strapped to the front of a moving

[21:16] car the movement looks way faster and

[21:19] more intense with a really wide lens

[21:21] there's no one correct way to use these

[21:24] lenses like sure the Cohen Brothers like

[21:27] to shoot common with wide lenses but

[21:30] then the Revenant was also shot all on

[21:33] super wide lenses Terren Malik mostly

[21:37] uses super wide lenses these are just

[21:40] different choices that affect how the

[21:42] audience interprets the image and so how

[21:46] are lenses used in Home Alone in general

[21:50] there aren't any really extreme choices

[21:53] no 11 mm lenses and no 1,000 mm lenses

[21:58] and definitely no fisheye lenses mostly

[22:01] the lenses stay around 21 to 35 mm

[22:05] relatively wide so that we can see the

[22:07] environment as well as the characters

[22:09] because obviously the house is very

[22:12] important what's notable though is the

[22:15] way that Chris Columbus and

[22:16] cinematographer Julio MCAT use wider

[22:20] lenses they are almost exclusively used

[22:23] when shooting scenes subjectively from

[22:26] Kevin's perspective so every time he's

[22:28] looking looking up at an adult those

[22:30] adults are shot with a wide angle lens

[22:33] which exaggerates the distance making

[22:35] them look like these huge imposing

[22:37] people towering over Kevin in the scene

[22:40] in the church when Kevin finally meets

[22:42] old man Marley who he's been terrified

[22:45] of for the whole movie wideangle lenses

[22:47] make Marley seem huge and scary and they

[22:51] make Kevin look tiny and weak but then

[22:54] when Marley sits down and reveals

[22:56] himself to actually be a nice person the

[22:59] exaggerated wide lenses are replaced

[23:02] with longer lenses making the characters

[23:05] appear more natural more like humans and

[23:08] less like cartoons the only times that

[23:11] much longer lenses are used are the

[23:14] scenes when Kevin walks Home Alone from

[23:16] the grocery store these lenses isolate

[23:19] him against the background so he is

[23:22] sharply in Focus while the background is

[23:24] totally blurred out the shots emphasize

[23:28] his isolation the frame is pretty much

[23:30] empty except for him and the first time

[23:33] we see this the camera is higher up

[23:36] looking slightly down at Kevin so he

[23:39] appears small the second time which

[23:41] comes later in the story at this point

[23:43] he's feeling better taking on some

[23:46] responsibility and so now the camera is

[23:49] placed lower down looking up at him a

[23:52] little bit so he appears more confident

[23:57] [Music]

[24:00] color it's a vital part of Cinema

[24:03] filling every frame of every movie you

[24:06] see except all the black and white ones

[24:10] obviously color is something that just

[24:12] exists in reality so the camera is going

[24:15] to capture it automatically but it's

[24:18] also an incredibly powerful storytelling

[24:21] tool the color of light of sets and

[24:24] costumes color manipulation and post-

[24:27] production all of these things done

[24:29] deliberately can affect the audience

[24:32] emotionally and create meaning and

[24:34] subtext within a film now to be clear

[24:37] there is not only one single meaning for

[24:40] each color depending on the film colors

[24:43] can mean pretty much anything in Star

[24:46] Wars red is associated with evil but in

[24:50] other movies it represents passion and

[24:52] love in The Matrix green is associated

[24:56] with an oppressive system of control but

[24:58] in other movies it represents hope and

[25:01] fertility and nature colors can be

[25:04] anything the filmmakers just need to

[25:07] know how and why they're using them so

[25:10] now let's talk about the colors in home

[25:13] alone right from the opening scene the

[25:16] mallister house is portrayed in warm

[25:19] colors it's lit with glowing amber light

[25:23] it's decorated with lots of Reds red

[25:26] patterned wallpaper red bed spreads red

[25:29] napkins red leather chairs and so we

[25:32] associate these colors with home and

[25:35] family in general warm colors tend to be

[25:39] appealing and comforting we associate

[25:42] them with sunsets Autumn Leaves and

[25:45] fireplaces human skin is made of warm

[25:48] colors even for really pale people like

[25:51] me most comedies and uplifting movies

[25:54] tend to have warmer color palettes

[25:57] because this makes us feel good it puts

[26:00] us at ease and gets us ready to laugh

[26:03] now obviously there are exceptions like

[26:05] Mad Max Fury Road cranks up its warm

[26:08] colors so much that they feel hot and

[26:11] oppressive but these are generalizations

[26:14] not science so if the home in Home Alone

[26:18] has a warm color palette what happens

[26:21] when we go away from the home well in

[26:24] the whole storyline with Kevin's mom she

[26:27] is stuck far away trying to get back

[26:30] home and every location she and the rest

[26:34] of the family are in has this cold color

[26:37] palette when she gets on the airplane

[26:39] before she realizes Kevin isn't there in

[26:42] each scene blue becomes more and more

[26:45] dominant the airports are all blue the

[26:49] apartment in France is furnished with

[26:51] teal Furniture even the Christmas tree

[26:54] there is white with blue lights and yet

[26:58] Katherine O'Hara playing Kevin's mom is

[27:01] always in the warm color palette of

[27:03] their home she has red hair she's

[27:06] wearing a camel coat and cream colored

[27:09] sweater she clashes with the colors of

[27:12] these environments this is the movie

[27:14] telling us with color symbolism that she

[27:17] doesn't belong here she's meant to be at

[27:20] home and this same color coding

[27:23] continues throughout the movie The Wet

[27:25] Bandits van is blue in the opening scene

[27:29] Harry is disguised as a police officer

[27:31] in a blue uniform and then when John

[27:35] Candy shows up to help Kevin's mom get

[27:37] home he's in a yellow jacket the warm

[27:41] colors return to help bring her home

[27:44] this is honestly a pretty well-made

[27:49] [Music]

[27:50] movie up to now we've been talking about

[27:53] misison sen what's in the frame but now

[27:57] it's time to talk about the frame itself

[28:01] if we're going to analyze the visual

[28:03] choices of a film that doesn't just mean

[28:06] the smaller stuff like lights and lenses

[28:09] this goes all the way to the top and by

[28:11] the top I mean the shape of the movie

[28:13] itself and by the shape I mean the

[28:16] aspect ratio the aspect ratio is simply

[28:19] put the ratio of the frames width to its

[28:23] height in the early days of Cinema all

[28:26] movies were shot and projected pretty

[28:28] pretty much as a square and then as

[28:31] technology evolved wider aspect ratios

[28:34] became available and these days pretty

[28:36] much anything is possible depending on

[28:38] what the filmmakers want so you could

[28:40] have something like the Grand Budapest

[28:42] Hotel which uses three different aspect

[28:45] ratios this might seem like a small

[28:48] decision but it changes the whole way

[28:50] that shots are framed since the shape of

[28:53] the image is fundamentally different I

[28:56] know that 2.39 to one also known as

[28:59] cinemascope has become this shorthand

[29:01] for cinematic like by throwing black

[29:04] bars on the top and bottom of the movie

[29:06] and editing it suddenly looks important

[29:09] but generally when movies are shot in

[29:12] that aspect ratio it's a delate decision

[29:15] made to utilize The Wider frame home

[29:18] alone is shot in the common 1.85:1

[29:21] aspect ratio which is taller than

[29:24] cinemascope and is closer to filling a

[29:27] standard 16 by9 TV now this aspect ratio

[29:30] is used for all sorts of movies ET and

[29:33] The Godfather used it but one of the

[29:36] most common uses for it is for comedies

[29:40] comedy movies are often shot with wide

[29:42] lenses that slight Distortion I

[29:44] mentioned earlier can add a comedic

[29:46] undertone to the shots and since this

[29:49] aspect ratio reveals more of the frame

[29:52] like we can see more of the characters

[29:53] with the environment around them it

[29:56] works well for capturing physical

[29:58] [Music]

[30:01] comedy I would theorize that while the

[30:04] comedic potential of this aspect racio

[30:06] is part of why director Chris Columbus

[30:08] chose it I think the other reason is the

[30:11] same reason it was used for Jurassic

[30:14] Park see this aspect ratio is taller

[30:18] there's more image at the top and bottom

[30:20] so it was used for Jurassic Park because

[30:22] the dinosaurs are so tall that this

[30:25] allowed the film to capture them better

[30:27] and have them fill more of the frame and

[30:29] in Home Alone this extra height to the

[30:32] frame emphasizes how small Kevin is we

[30:35] see how big the environment is around

[30:38] him and how huge all the adults seem

[30:41] obviously there's not as much to analyze

[30:44] here compared to like color since it's

[30:47] just one single choice but I wanted to

[30:49] bring it up to demonstrate that

[30:52] literally every creative choice is worth

[30:55] thinking about

[30:58] [Music]

[31:00] after the camera maybe the most powerful

[31:03] tool a cinematographer has is lighting

[31:07] honestly the only things you really need

[31:10] to make a movie are a camera and some

[31:13] source of light lighting helps create

[31:15] the reality of the film it gives it mood

[31:18] and atmosphere it directs our eye and

[31:21] tells us where to look most of the time

[31:24] we're not supposed to notice the

[31:26] lighting it's meant to establish a

[31:28] cohesive reality that doesn't distract

[31:30] us from the story but even if we're not

[31:33] noticing the lighting it's still having

[31:36] an effect on us most of Home Alone is

[31:38] lit with what's known as highkey

[31:41] lighting this essentially means it's

[31:44] very well lit like I am now there's a

[31:47] key light a backl probably fill lights

[31:50] too there are minimal shadows and

[31:53] contrast it's designed to resemble

[31:55] reality but like a better looking more

[31:59] appealing reality where everyone's face

[32:01] is always nicely lit this is a fun

[32:04] family comedy with a happy ending and

[32:07] the highkey lighting immediately creates

[32:10] this nice comforting tone but on the

[32:12] flip side some scenes use what's called

[32:15] lowkey lighting which is pretty much the

[32:19] opposite it often uses only a single

[32:22] light source and has heavy shadows and

[32:24] contrast it feels more dramatic and

[32:27] suspenseful so look at this scene where

[32:30] Harry and Marv are trying to break into

[32:32] the house they're lit with this single

[32:35] hard light outside their faces are

[32:38] partly in Shadow there's lots of

[32:40] darkness and inside Kevin is lit only by

[32:44] the dim blue glow of the TV suddenly it

[32:48] feels like there's real danger and

[32:51] Stakes now imagine if this scene was lit

[32:54] like this it would have a totally

[32:56] different feeling and it really wouldn't

[32:59] feel so dangerous at

[33:03] [Music]

[33:05] all we've already talked about the shape

[33:08] and framing of shots but the thing is

[33:11] composition of images isn't really

[33:13] unique to film these same principles

[33:16] apply to photography and painting and

[33:18] even comic books but the component that

[33:21] makes Cinema unique is movement in

[33:25] particular the movement of the camera

[33:28] and the movement of actors within the

[33:30] frame which is known as blocking now

[33:33] there are movies with no camera movement

[33:36] at all composed entirely of static shots

[33:39] like the work of Roy Anderson but the

[33:42] majority of movies you'll see will have

[33:44] some degree of camera movement so now

[33:47] this might seem basic but I want to run

[33:50] through the different types of camera

[33:53] movement just so we have a vocabulary we

[33:56] can use panic

[33:58] is when the camera turns on the x axis

[34:01] going right or left tilting is when the

[34:05] camera turns on the Y AIS going up or

[34:09] down a zoom is done within the lens

[34:13] where the camera is fixed to one point

[34:16] but the focal length is increasing or

[34:19] decreasing a tracking shot is where the

[34:22] camera moves through space either on a

[34:26] steady cam or G gimbal or a dolly a

[34:29] crane shot is when the camera moves

[34:32] through space vertically and an

[34:35] extension of this is a helicopter or

[34:38] drone shot and handheld obviously is

[34:42] when a person is holding the camera

[34:45] which can add a looser degree of

[34:47] movement to what might otherwise be a

[34:50] static shot now this is not a test to be

[34:53] able to identify exactly how any shot

[34:57] was done but when you're analyzing a

[34:59] movie it's helpful to have the

[35:01] vocabulary to be able to discuss the

[35:03] storytelling choices being made and what

[35:06] they're doing sometimes this can be as

[35:09] simple as a pan from one thing to

[35:12] another like look at this shot we're in

[35:15] a wide shot looking at Kevin from an

[35:18] objective perspective as he is walking

[35:20] home feeling defeated and then the

[35:24] camera pans to show Harry and Marv in a

[35:28] van driving right toward him this one

[35:31] shot is telling a story our main

[35:34] character is unknowingly about to run

[35:37] into and maybe get run over by the

[35:39] villains it's saying Kevin is at a low

[35:43] point but uh-oh things are about to get

[35:47] worse and by doing this within one shot

[35:51] it's telling us where they are in

[35:53] relation to one another within the

[35:55] physical space obviously ly a lot of the

[35:58] time camera movement is happening to

[36:00] follow the action moving with characters

[36:04] as they move through the space but

[36:06] that's still a choice that's being made

[36:09] look at the way the camera moves through

[36:12] the airport as Kevin's family rushes to

[36:14] catch their flight now this could have

[36:17] been shot objectively in a static wide

[36:20] shot like from an anonymous person's

[36:22] perspective in the airport watching this

[36:25] crazy family but by having the camera

[36:28] move with them at the same speed it's

[36:31] making it subjective capturing how

[36:34] they're feeling the opening sequence of

[36:36] the movie is filled with constant

[36:39] movement the house is full of people

[36:41] rushing around packing for the trip and

[36:44] the camera is constantly in motion

[36:47] usually following characters from one

[36:49] room to the next on a steady cam now

[36:51] this serves a few purposes it's bringing

[36:54] us inside to make us feel like a member

[36:57] of the family it's creating this frantic

[37:00] energy to contrast the Stillness and

[37:03] quiet that will come when Kevin is left

[37:05] home alone and by using so many wide

[37:09] long tracking shots it's teaching the

[37:12] viewer the geography of the house which

[37:15] will become extremely important as the

[37:17] story goes on but let's look at a

[37:20] specific example to show how some simple

[37:23] movement of actors and the camera can

[37:26] give a scene meaning and emotion at one

[37:30] point in the movie while Kevin is hiding

[37:32] under his parents' bed he realizes that

[37:35] since he's the only one there he needs

[37:37] to toughen up stop being afraid and face

[37:40] his problems so he marches outside to

[37:43] declare to the world that he's not

[37:46] afraid anymore now look at this shot

[37:50] Kevin starts in the distance very small

[37:52] in the frame but as he walks toward us

[37:55] the camera tracks in at a low angle

[37:59] generally when the camera pushes in like

[38:02] this on a subject it's telling us that

[38:05] thing is important as if the camera is

[38:08] interested and is actively getting

[38:10] closer and so Kevin and the camera move

[38:13] toward each other until we arrive here

[38:17] in what is known as the cowboy shot a

[38:21] medium shot framing a character from the

[38:23] hips up usually to make them seem heroic

[38:27] you can see this in basically any

[38:30] Western or more recently this scene in

[38:33] Wonder Woman so this shot is visualizing

[38:36] Kevin's Newfound bravery he's feeling

[38:39] like a pretty big guy and then a shadow

[38:42] starts to pass over him and the camera

[38:45] begins moving up not tilting up but

[38:49] actually craning up vertically we cut to

[38:53] a shot from Kevin's point of view

[38:56] starting down with with old man Marley's

[38:58] scary Boots then tilting up the blade of

[39:02] the shovel which he thinks is a murder

[39:04] weapon and then it cuts back to Kevin as

[39:07] the camera keeps Rising with Marley

[39:10] Shadow now totally covering him

[39:13] immediately all that bravery is gone and

[39:17] he is a scared little boy even though

[39:20] this Cuts back and forth a couple of

[39:22] times it's really only two shots they're

[39:25] cutting between so you can see how that

[39:28] movement of the camera pushing in and

[39:31] then craning up is telling an entire

[39:34] story without any

[39:39] [Music]

[39:40] words in general we're not supposed to

[39:43] notice the editing when watching a movie

[39:46] it's meant to be invisible to tell the

[39:49] story clearly with good pacing so we get

[39:52] swept up in it and aren't thinking about

[39:54] the technical aspects are the cuts

[39:57] between the shots usually when we notice

[40:00] editing it's for disorienting

[40:02] distracting editing in an action scene

[40:04] like this

[40:10] thing what you'll generally encounter in

[40:13] most movies is what's called continuity

[40:16] editing editing that establishes a clear

[40:18] sense of spatial geography as well as

[40:21] time so when you're cutting between

[40:23] people talking they seem to be looking

[40:26] at each other the person on the left is

[40:28] looking right the person on the right is

[40:31] looking left and each shot

[40:33] chronologically follows the one before

[40:35] it it feels natural so we don't even

[40:38] think about it the basic idea of editing

[40:41] is that when a film cuts from one shot

[40:44] to another we subconsciously understand

[40:47] the connection between them so when Home

[40:50] Alone cuts from a TV to Kevin covering

[40:53] his eyes with his fingers even though

[40:55] they're in separate shots we understand

[40:58] that he is watching the TV and reacting

[41:01] to it especially because at the

[41:03] beginning of the scene we saw a wide

[41:06] shot that established Kevin and the TV

[41:09] in the same room like I said before

[41:12] movies teach us how to watch them this

[41:15] same idea applies to situations that

[41:18] don't necessarily have that wide shot to

[41:21] establish the direct connection so one

[41:23] scene in the film Jaws cuts from a kid

[41:27] calling for his dog on the beach to a

[41:31] closeup of a stick floating in the water

[41:34] from the context as in this is a movie

[41:37] about a shark attacking this location we

[41:40] can infer that the shark ate the dog

[41:44] we'll miss you pippet rip to a real one

[41:47] and sometimes within a scene the film

[41:50] will suddenly get more abstract and cut

[41:53] to a totally different place like in

[41:56] Gladiator when the film cuts from a

[41:58] closeup of Maximus to this shot of the

[42:02] camera moving toward these big doors but

[42:05] we understand that this is not literally

[42:08] happening this is inside maximus's head

[42:11] it's what he's seeing as he's dying

[42:14] spoilers for the last scene of gladiator

[42:18] when this sort of thing is done it's

[42:20] usually to represent a character's

[42:22] thoughts their memories or their

[42:24] imaginations when a movie shifts its

[42:27] editing style once again we just need to

[42:30] observe what it's doing and ask why the

[42:34] shower scene in Psycho is so legendary

[42:37] yes because it's a shocking violent

[42:40] scene but it's also this very sudden

[42:43] shift in the movie's visual language the

[42:46] whole movie up until this point has been

[42:49] told in mostly wide shots and medium

[42:51] shots that are held for a while and now

[42:55] here we suddenly have this frantic rapid

[42:58] cutting with lots of extreme close-ups

[43:01] it's jarring and chaotic which is

[43:04] exactly the point of the scene look

[43:07] whole books have been written about

[43:08] editing like here are a few and with

[43:11] most movies you see the editing is clear

[43:14] and effective and mostly invisible it

[43:18] delivers spatial and temporal continuity

[43:20] like it intends to and it doesn't really

[43:23] need much analysis Like Home Alone the

[43:26] editing by future Scooby-Doo director

[43:28] Roga Gosnell is really effective

[43:31] throughout it tells the story clearly

[43:34] and engagingly the pacing is good the

[43:37] comedy lands but on its own it usually

[43:40] isn't providing much additional meaning

[43:43] it's more that it's clearly delivering

[43:45] the meaning created by the visuals and

[43:48] script but there are a few examples that

[43:52] I think are worth highlighting first

[43:54] there's the Montage we take montage for

[43:57] granted since we've seen a million of

[43:59] them but consider this the sequence of

[44:02] Kevin setting up traps around the house

[44:05] and the reality of the film that

[44:07] probably took an hour or so but for us

[44:10] watching the movie it lasts 1 minute and

[44:13] 10 seconds we understand that these

[44:16] shots are compressing time at the

[44:19] beginning of the sequence we see Kevin's

[44:21] overall plan and then each successive

[44:24] shot is a small portion of the that plan

[44:27] coming together the bigger piece of

[44:29] editing that I want to highlight is

[44:32] crosscutting this is when a film Cuts

[44:35] back and forth between two or more

[44:37] scenes which we understand to be

[44:39] happening

[44:41] simultaneously this is the thing that

[44:43] Christopher Nolan does in all his action

[44:45] scenes where there are usually a few

[44:47] different storylines happening and the

[44:49] film keeps cutting between them all in

[44:52] Home Alone the film crosscuts between

[44:54] Kevin's family on the plane from Chicago

[44:57] to Paris and then Kevin waking up alone

[45:01] back home in Chicago the static wide

[45:04] shots of Kevin at home linger holding

[45:08] even after Kevin has walked out of the

[45:10] shot before then cutting to the plane in

[45:14] motion these Cuts feel jarring and serve

[45:17] to emphasize the massive geographical

[45:20] distance between Kevin and his family

[45:23] that is getting larger by the second

[45:25] each time it cuts the gulf feels greater

[45:29] and one other thing we must discuss is

[45:32] the cross fade you know the transition

[45:35] where one shot Blends into the next some

[45:38] filmmakers and editors hate them and yes

[45:41] they can be lazily used sometimes but

[45:44] it's still a choice and we should

[45:46] consider what it means they're most

[45:48] commonly used to show that time is

[45:51] passing or to create a dreamlike feeling

[45:55] and here with home alone since we were

[45:57] just talking about the hard abrupt Cuts

[45:59] between the scenes of Kevin and his mom

[46:02] that underline the distance between them

[46:04] I want to look at another transition

[46:06] from about 15 minutes later in the movie

[46:10] at this point Kevin's mom has realized

[46:12] what happened and is actively trying to

[46:15] get home and now this shot of her in the

[46:19] airport crossfades to this shot of the

[46:23] house and if you pause it in the middle

[46:26] of the transition

[46:27] we're seeing both of them together on

[46:30] screen at the same time it's creating a

[46:33] visual link bringing them closer

[46:36] together even if they're not there quite

[46:42] [Music]

[46:44] yet as much as Cinema originally existed

[46:47] only as moving pictures with no audio

[46:51] sound has come to be an essential part

[46:54] of the medium it can be just as

[46:56] important to the experience as the

[46:59] visuals now we tend to take audio for

[47:02] granted unless there's some really

[47:04] catchy music or at something like tenet

[47:07] where you can't hear the dialogue most

[47:10] people don't tend to give the sound of a

[47:12] movie much thought because usually it

[47:15] just feels like the sound that would

[47:17] naturally correspond to the visuals

[47:19] we're seeing dialogue and sound effects

[47:22] but it's also a thing that they give out

[47:24] multiple Oscars for every year so

[47:27] clearly there's a lot there to dig into

[47:30] look I am not saying that when you're

[47:32] analyzing a movie you are required to

[47:34] have a 30 minute discussion focusing

[47:37] only on the audio a lot of the time

[47:40] audio is like editing it does its job

[47:43] invisibly and you don't pay attention to

[47:45] it but it's worth being able to

[47:48] understand the choices being made and

[47:50] how they affect us when it comes to

[47:53] sound in movies there are very big

[47:56] obvious examp examples that you can't

[47:58] help but notice like how atonement

[48:00] Blends the diagetic sound effect of the

[48:03] typewriter into the musical score are uh

[48:08] everything David Lynch does but most of

[48:11] the time it's simpler and more subtle

[48:14] than that like in home alone so here I

[48:17] want to Spotlight a few interesting

[48:19] instances of audio choices let's go back

[48:23] to the scene we were discussing in the

[48:25] last chapter where the film is cross

[48:27] cutting between Kevin waking up alone at

[48:30] home and his family on the plane now pay

[48:33] attention to the

[48:39] sound I mean it's kind of hard to miss

[48:43] but think about what it's doing the

[48:46] Parts with Kevin have barely any sound

[48:48] at all just the ambient quiet of an

[48:52] empty house each individual sound like

[48:55] the Click of a door being opened stands

[48:58] out clearly against the nothingness and

[49:01] then when the film cuts to the plane

[49:08] Mom it's this massive Roar of a jet

[49:12] engine there's no cross fade between the

[49:14] scenes it is abrupt and it's jarring and

[49:18] it creates a distance between the

[49:20] characters just through audio every time

[49:23] we hear the airplane it's telling us

[49:25] that Kevin's family is getting further

[49:28] away by the second they now each exist

[49:32] in totally different Sonic Landscapes

[49:35] it's emphasizing Kevin's isolation then

[49:38] there is what is known as Foley which is

[49:42] when sound effects are created in post-

[49:44] production to match what is happening on

[49:47] screen things like footsteps leaves

[49:50] rustling water pouring stuff like that

[49:53] because the fact is that in real life

[49:56] the sounds a lot of things make aren't

[49:59] very exciting they need that extra layer

[50:02] of movie sound to give it the impact the

[50:04] filmmakers want and one of the major

[50:08] uses of Foley sounds in Home Alone are

[50:11] to once again help create this thing we

[50:14] keep coming back to Kevin's perspective

[50:18] especially when he's scared of things

[50:20] we've already discussed how the camera

[50:21] work with wide- angle lenses shot from

[50:24] exaggerated angles help create the

[50:26] feeling that we're experiencing this as

[50:29] Kevin is but the sound is also a major

[50:32] part of that listen to the sound of

[50:34] Marley's boots when he steps into the

[50:37] store with the squeezing of leather and

[50:40] the rattle of the metal buckles or the

[50:43] scrape of him dragging the trash can

[50:45] full of salt on the pavement or the

[50:48] Monstrous Roar of the Furnace listen to

[50:51] this moment without the visuals

[51:00] shut

[51:02] up see it's still telling the story just

[51:06] through sound the Foley work is also a

[51:09] key part of the comedic violence in the

[51:12] movie again when Joe pesi and Daniel

[51:15] Stern are slipping on ice and getting

[51:17] shot with BB guns we're not usually

[51:19] thinking about the sound but look

[51:22] closely at the very important needle

[51:25] that it's threading here's the part

[51:27] where Marv gets shot in the head with

[51:29] the BB gun now that is absolutely not

[51:32] the sound it would make in real life the

[51:34] real sound would be more like a pop from

[51:36] the gun and then we'd probably barely

[51:39] hear him get hit and so the moment would

[51:41] be less impactful because it wouldn't

[51:44] sound like all that much was really

[51:46] happening the thing about this and

[51:48] pretty much all the sounds throughout

[51:50] this sequence is that they never go full

[51:53] cartoon and break the reality of the

[51:55] film like we're not getting a slide

[51:57] whistle sound effect the BB gun doesn't

[52:00] make a goofy Ricochet sound when it hits

[52:03] Marv but the sounds are also still

[52:06] exaggerated the slips on the ice the hit

[52:09] of the iron they feel real but not too

[52:13] real for comparison look at this video

[52:16] that Corridor made called R-rated Home

[52:19] Alone where they re-edited scenes from

[52:22] the movie and used visual effects to

[52:24] make it well R-rated listen to their new

[52:27] sound design for the iron hitting

[52:34] Marv even without seeing it you can tell

[52:37] that's way more brutal so the sound

[52:39] design is doing a lot of heavy lifting

[52:42] in creating the comedic tone and keeping

[52:45] it within a believable reality if it

[52:47] strayed too far in One Direction

[52:50] cartoony or realistic it would break the

[52:53] whole sequence and then there's the

[52:55] matter of the music this movie has a

[52:58] score by John Williams the most famous

[53:00] film composer of the last 50 years so

[53:03] there's a lot to discuss here the music

[53:06] in a movie can do a lot it can create

[53:08] subtext underline the mood of a scene

[53:12] Express a character's feelings comment

[53:14] ironically on the story look film music

[53:17] is its own entire field of study home

[53:20] alone has a big sweeping classic John

[53:23] Williams score it's exciting it's

[53:27] sentimental and it feels like what we

[53:29] think a Hollywood movie is supposed to

[53:32] sound like but the score is making some

[53:35] interesting choices too this movie is

[53:38] generally thought of as a fun family

[53:40] Christmas comedy and the first 8 Seconds

[53:43] of the score have this warm magical

[53:46] feeling that sound like an early preview

[53:48] of the theme Williams would later right

[53:50] for Harry Potter but then the music

[53:54] immediately shifts into this ear

[53:56] ominous tone it starts sounding almost

[53:59] like a creepy music box and then these

[54:03] dark strings and what I think are obos

[54:06] come in and it sounds kind of scary then

[54:10] sleigh bells come in signaling the

[54:13] Christmas setting and the score

[54:15] simultaneously sounds playful but with

[54:18] these odd atonal string sounds looking

[54:21] at just this opening piece we have some

[54:25] warm sentimentality some creepy

[54:27] dangerous stuff Christmas what sounds to

[54:30] me like a nod to chaikovsky The

[54:32] Nutcracker and a light playful feeling

[54:35] which is a pretty solid encapsulation of

[54:38] what this movie is and as soon as we

[54:40] transition out of the titles as the

[54:43] first shot Fades Up the Music becomes

[54:46] lighter and more upbeat but it has

[54:49] already signaled to us that some danger

[54:52] lies ahead the music is a major part of

[54:55] the storytelling here there's one more

[54:57] thing about the musical score that I

[54:59] would like to mention Harry and Marv's

[55:02] theme sounds like a deliberate nod to

[55:05] Sergey prv's Peter and the Wolf like

[55:09] here's Peter and the

[55:14] Wolf and here's home

[55:16] alone go around back down the basement

[55:19] come on follow

[55:21] me and this isn't just because it sounds

[55:24] good prv's original work is telling the

[55:27] story of a young boy on his own who must

[55:30] defend himself against a dangerous

[55:32] attacker so assuming Williams did this

[55:35] intentionally and as we've already said

[55:37] assume everything is intentional he's

[55:40] drawing a connection to a classic

[55:43] children's story and reframing the film

[55:46] as a continuation of that tradition look

[55:49] I know we say this a lot but John

[55:51] Williams is very good at this

[55:56] [Music]

[55:59] okay so now that we have covered how to

[56:01] interpret the visual language the

[56:02] editing the sound and music of a movie

[56:06] let's put all of these ideas together

[56:08] and look at an actual scene and see what

[56:11] we can interpret from it let's start

[56:14] right at the beginning the very first

[56:17] shot of Home Alone is an exterior shot

[56:19] of the mallister house at night what

[56:22] does this shot tell us well first off It

[56:25] intro uces us to the primary setting of

[56:28] the film since most of the story takes

[56:31] place in that house and secondly it

[56:34] establishes that it's Christmas also

[56:37] consider the perspective of the shot

[56:40] it's being filmed straight on at ey

[56:42] level from across the street as if from

[56:45] the perspective of an outside Observer

[56:48] it is an objective perspective then the

[56:51] very next shot brings us inside but it's

[56:54] shot right from the doorway as if we've

[56:57] stepped through the front door in the

[57:00] foreground we see this police officer

[57:02] who based on the uniform clearly doesn't

[57:05] live there so we're now seeing things

[57:08] from his perspective an outsider who has

[57:11] entered this home and is observing

[57:13] what's happening within and then each

[57:16] successive shot takes us deeper into the

[57:19] house with the family that lives there

[57:22] dominating more of the frame essentially

[57:25] the film is welcoming us inside as we go

[57:28] from an outsider looking in to being

[57:30] immersed in the home and the family now

[57:33] in this next part we are introduced to

[57:36] Kevin mallister the main character of

[57:38] the movie it's always good to pay close

[57:41] attention to how a movie introduces its

[57:44] characters this scene starts by focusing

[57:46] on his mother Kate as the camera follows

[57:49] her dollying from a medium shot to a

[57:52] wide and then pause it here Kevin and is

[57:56] in the background he looks tiny in the

[57:59] frame and is at the very edge of the

[58:01] shot his mom doesn't even react as he

[58:04] enters so let's analyze this shot what

[58:07] is the Mison sen telling us well he is

[58:11] quite literally in the background he's

[58:14] being overlooked and ignored by his

[58:16] family if we generally assume that the

[58:19] most important thing is in the center of

[58:21] the frame he is clearly less important

[58:25] he's a nuisance

[58:26] but then he enters the scene hops on the

[58:29] bed and moves from the background into a

[58:32] closeup in the foreground and here is

[58:35] where the movie shifts now the

[58:38] perspective changes we are no longer

[58:40] seeing the story as an impartial

[58:42] Observer we are now seeing it from

[58:45] Kevin's perspective so look at the

[58:48] placement of the camera over the next

[58:50] few scenes it always stays at Kevin's

[58:53] eye level so we see the world he does

[58:57] when characters talk to him they are

[58:59] filmed from a low angle so they're

[59:01] towering over the camera looking down at

[59:04] us the most obvious instance comes in

[59:07] this scene in the kitchen when Kevin

[59:09] causes a big old mess and everyone gets

[59:12] mad at him and here the film switches

[59:15] over completely to a point of view shot

[59:18] the camera is now Kevin's eyes and so

[59:21] now suddenly everyone is looking

[59:24] directly into the camera

[59:26] this is something that movies generally

[59:29] avoid when an actor looks at the camera

[59:31] it's breaking the fourth wall that

[59:33] exists between the reality of the movie

[59:36] and our reality looking in which can

[59:39] sometimes be used deliberately like when

[59:41] Eddie Murphy does it in this scene in

[59:43] trading places bacon which you might

[59:46] find in a bacon and lettuce and tomato

[59:49] sandwich there's something jarring and

[59:52] usually sort of uncomfortable about it

[59:55] suddenly the characters aren't looking

[59:57] at each other they're looking at us we

[1:00:00] feel sort of exposed like the safety of

[1:00:03] being an invisible Observer is gone this

[1:00:06] is something that Jonathan Demi used

[1:00:08] deliberately for years like in the

[1:00:11] Silence of the Lambs where he has all

[1:00:13] these conversation shot in close-ups

[1:00:15] with the actors looking right down the

[1:00:17] barrel of the camera it's uncomfortable

[1:00:20] and it's supposed to be and that's what

[1:00:22] home alone is doing here suddenly

[1:00:25] everyone is staring right at us we feel

[1:00:29] like Kevin feels like we're the center

[1:00:31] of attention and not for a good reason

[1:00:34] and we haven't noticed it up to this

[1:00:36] point but through this whole sequence

[1:00:38] there is just this General ambient noise

[1:00:41] happening of just all the chaos and

[1:00:43] people running around and talking within

[1:00:45] the house and right here all of that

[1:00:48] background Ambient sound cuts out there

[1:00:51] is silence and that helps emphasize how

[1:00:55] uncomfortable this moment is now that

[1:00:57] we've spent the past like hour talking

[1:01:00] about how to actually interpret meaning

[1:01:02] from a film what do we do with that well

[1:01:06] this is the fun part this is where we

[1:01:08] choose what lens we want to use to

[1:01:11] discuss the movie and I'm not talking

[1:01:14] about camera lenses here this basically

[1:01:17] means what context we want to look at

[1:01:20] the film in within the fields of film

[1:01:23] Theory and literary Theory there are a

[1:01:26] lot of different lenses and theories you

[1:01:28] can apply but for now I just want to

[1:01:30] bring up a

[1:01:35] [Music]

[1:01:37] few okay we need to talk about a

[1:01:40] controversial topic here called Ur

[1:01:43] Theory or otter Theory or however you

[1:01:47] want to pronounce it otor theory is an

[1:01:50] aspect of film studies that began with

[1:01:52] writers like franois truo and Andre an

[1:01:56] writing for laaya in the 1950s and then

[1:02:00] in the 60s American Film writer Andrew

[1:02:03] saris actually gave it a name in his

[1:02:06] essay notes on the otur theory some

[1:02:09] people will be like screw Ure Theory

[1:02:12] it's just a pretentious way of deifying

[1:02:14] a bunch of old white guy directors and

[1:02:16] justifying egomaniacal behavior and yeah

[1:02:19] I understand what you mean but like it

[1:02:22] or not oture theory has become so baked

[1:02:25] into people talk about film that you

[1:02:28] can't ignore it and while I think there

[1:02:30] are bad readings of oture theory I don't

[1:02:34] think it's inherently bad so what

[1:02:37] exactly is it in simplest terms Ure

[1:02:41] theory is about assigning a primary

[1:02:44] author to a film generally the director

[1:02:47] and looking at the film in the context

[1:02:49] of their body of work the idea is that

[1:02:53] an aour injects their own personal ity

[1:02:56] worldview and style into their work give

[1:02:59] the same script to like Alfred Hitchcock

[1:03:02] or Stanley Donan and you'll get very

[1:03:05] different films but here's the thing the

[1:03:08] otor does not necessarily have to be the

[1:03:12] director in fact you can even apply otor

[1:03:16] Theory to multiple people within a given

[1:03:19] film it could be an actor like I would

[1:03:22] argue the primary aour of the mission of

[1:03:25] possible franchise is Tom Cruz by

[1:03:29] selecting the directors and having a

[1:03:31] huge amount of input on all the stories

[1:03:34] and major creative decisions his is the

[1:03:37] primary Vision shaping the series The

[1:03:40] aour of much of the Marvel Cinematic

[1:03:43] Universe is Marvel itself in other words

[1:03:46] Kevin feige and like in that case

[1:03:50] sometimes the producer is the otor like

[1:03:52] David O selnik and Gone with the Wind I

[1:03:56] don't think the point of UR theory is to

[1:03:58] treat the director like a God and

[1:04:00] attribute every single creative decision

[1:04:03] made during the production to them the

[1:04:06] point is really just to provide a

[1:04:08] context through which to examine the

[1:04:10] film it is looking at the film within

[1:04:13] their larger body of work to find

[1:04:15] recurring themes and ideas and stylistic

[1:04:18] elements that show an artist with a

[1:04:21] distinct perspective and I do think it

[1:04:24] can be a really useful and also fun lens

[1:04:27] through which to discuss movies and this

[1:04:30] requires keeping a couple things in mind

[1:04:34] number one the studio like it or not

[1:04:37] film is a commercial art and sometimes

[1:04:40] the studio that's funding the movie will

[1:04:43] override the director in regards to

[1:04:45] certain choices and two film is a

[1:04:49] collaborative medium even if the

[1:04:52] director is the boss and their vision

[1:04:54] for the film is what everyone is trying

[1:04:56] to realize you've still got a huge cast

[1:04:59] and crew with everyone making choices

[1:05:02] and bringing their own perspectives to

[1:05:04] the work ignoring that and the impact

[1:05:07] made by each person is just cutting off

[1:05:10] fascinating aspects worth exploring like

[1:05:13] yeah George Lucas was the oour of Star

[1:05:16] Wars and made the decision to hire John

[1:05:19] Williams but are we really going to

[1:05:21] credit Lucas for all of williams' music

[1:05:24] Williams is no for in his own way who

[1:05:27] radically impacted just about every film

[1:05:30] he worked on which brings us finally

[1:05:33] back to Home Alone which features a

[1:05:36] score by John Williams home alone is

[1:05:39] actually a fascinating example because

[1:05:42] here the otur theory can be applied to

[1:05:45] multiple people and the biggest one is

[1:05:48] not actually the director so I'm sorry

[1:05:51] Chris Columbus but we're talking about

[1:05:53] John Hughes here the writer and producer

[1:05:57] home alone came at the end of an

[1:05:59] incredibly busy decade for Hughes in

[1:06:02] which he wrote more than 10 hit movies

[1:06:05] and there are a lot of recurring

[1:06:07] elements across those films home alone

[1:06:10] like almost every Hughes production is

[1:06:13] set in the suburbs of Chicago it

[1:06:15] involves a large dysfunctional family

[1:06:18] like in the vacation movies one family

[1:06:21] member feeling neglected like in 16

[1:06:23] candles and people desperately trying to

[1:06:26] get home for a holiday like in Planes

[1:06:29] Trains and Automobiles and it also

[1:06:31] represents a shift in his interests

[1:06:34] after Home Alone he would write several

[1:06:36] movies featuring villainous criminals

[1:06:39] such as career opportunities baby day

[1:06:41] out and Dennis the Menace and most

[1:06:44] notably after Home Alone Hughes would

[1:06:47] spend the rest of his career primarily

[1:06:49] writing PG rated family films instead of

[1:06:53] the movies for adults and teenagers he

[1:06:56] had focused on for the previous decade

[1:06:58] that said we can do the same thing with

[1:07:01] director Chris Columbus before this he

[1:07:04] had written the screenplays for Gremlins

[1:07:07] about young people having to deal with a

[1:07:08] dangerous situation at Christmas time

[1:07:11] and The Goonies about kids facing off

[1:07:14] against a gang of criminals and you can

[1:07:16] draw a straight line between home alone

[1:07:19] and the first Harry Potter film which

[1:07:22] Columbus again largely shoots from a

[1:07:24] child's perspective Ive who is

[1:07:26] overwhelmed by this huge world around

[1:07:29] him so remember aour Theory isn't

[1:07:32] actually so bad if you do it the right

[1:07:38] [Music]

[1:07:40] way every movie ever made is in some way

[1:07:44] a small part of film history these

[1:07:47] movies don't exist in a void they exist

[1:07:50] in conversation with other movies movies

[1:07:54] before it movies contemporaneous with it

[1:07:57] and movies that came after look every

[1:08:00] movie no matter how original is

[1:08:02] influenced by other movies and when

[1:08:05] analyzing a movie it's helpful to be

[1:08:08] aware of this this isn't a matter of

[1:08:10] treating the movies like Easter egg

[1:08:12] hunts the way some people do for Quenton

[1:08:14] Tarantino movies trying to find the

[1:08:17] original source for every shot this is

[1:08:20] about trying to better understand the

[1:08:22] thought process of the filmmakers what

[1:08:25] they're influences were and how they

[1:08:27] used them it's helpful to look at where

[1:08:29] certain elements came from and how they

[1:08:32] might have changed in Home Alone there

[1:08:34] are a handful of Fairly overt deliberate

[1:08:37] film references the old gangster movie

[1:08:40] Kevin watches angels with filthy souls

[1:08:43] is a reference to the 1938 crime movie

[1:08:45] angels with dirty faces this shot of

[1:08:49] Harry and Marv's Shadows looks like an

[1:08:51] homage to the shot in no Fatu of the

[1:08:54] vampire Shadow moving up up the stairs

[1:08:56] Harry getting his hand burned plunging

[1:08:58] it in the snow and getting his palm

[1:09:00] branded is modeled on a similar moment

[1:09:03] in Raiders of the Lost Arc the M on his

[1:09:06] hand is also a Nodge to the movie poster

[1:09:09] for Fritz Long's classic film M but then

[1:09:13] there are the deeper film connections

[1:09:15] like the similarities it has to Sam

[1:09:17] Pena's

[1:09:19] 1971 violent psychological Thriller

[1:09:21] Straw Dogs which also features a clima

[1:09:25] IC sequence in which the protagonist

[1:09:27] rigs a house with traps to fight off

[1:09:29] Intruders this is something that would

[1:09:31] appear again in the 2012 James Bond

[1:09:34] movie Skyfall or there's the premise in

[1:09:37] which a physically outmatched hero is

[1:09:40] trapped alone in a building and must

[1:09:41] fight off a Band of Thieves in order to

[1:09:44] reunite with his family at Christmas is

[1:09:47] pretty much the same as Die Hard which

[1:09:49] was released 2 years earlier the point

[1:09:52] of this is not to accuse movies of

[1:09:54] ripping off off one another it's that

[1:09:57] these films are in conversation with

[1:09:59] each other sometimes deliberately like

[1:10:02] according to home alone's production

[1:10:04] designer on the set of the movie they

[1:10:06] were well aware of the straw dog

[1:10:08] similarities but even if not

[1:10:10] deliberately it's worth exploring and

[1:10:13] comparing how different movies explore

[1:10:15] similar ideas another angle you could

[1:10:18] explore is home alone's physical comedy

[1:10:21] and its roots in silent film you could

[1:10:23] write a whole essay on the evolution of

[1:10:26] slapstick Pratt fall Falls from Charlie

[1:10:29] Chaplain and Buster Keaton all the way

[1:10:31] up through home alone this is why one of

[1:10:33] the most important aspects of analyzing

[1:10:36] movies is to just watch a lot of movies

[1:10:40] because the deeper your knowledge gets

[1:10:42] the more patterns and Trends and

[1:10:44] influences become apparent you can

[1:10:46] understand something better when you

[1:10:48] know where it came from which brings us

[1:10:51] to genre

[1:10:55] [Music]

[1:10:58] on one level genre doesn't matter all

[1:11:00] that much it's essentially a system for

[1:11:03] categorizing movies based on a

[1:11:05] collection of elements and tropes mostly

[1:11:08] to make it easier for people browsing

[1:11:10] Netflix or in the good old days the

[1:11:12] video rental store like the label of the

[1:11:15] genre drama is applied to basically

[1:11:18] anything that doesn't fit into another

[1:11:21] genre if it's not comedy or horror or

[1:11:24] sci-fi or fantasy and it features like

[1:11:27] adults having conversations then it must

[1:11:29] be a drama whatever that means genre is

[1:11:33] mostly about audience expectations the

[1:11:37] genre is extremely important when

[1:11:39] marketing a movie because by selling it

[1:11:42] as a specific genre it's telling the

[1:11:44] audience what to expect since Decades of

[1:11:47] watching movies has conditioned us to

[1:11:50] expect certain things from certain

[1:11:52] genres so sometimes you have a case like

[1:11:55] Darren aronowski 2017 film mother which

[1:11:59] was marketed as a horror movie so people

[1:12:02] went to see it expecting a horror movie

[1:12:05] and then it turned out to be sort of an

[1:12:08] allegorical art film that's like a

[1:12:10] Darkly funny surreal Thriller and so

[1:12:13] when opening weekend audiences were

[1:12:15] surveyed by the polling company Cinema

[1:12:17] score they gave it an f and it's not

[1:12:21] that the movie is bad it's that it

[1:12:23] wasn't what audiences expected it to be

[1:12:26] they were led to believe belonged to a

[1:12:28] genre and were disappointed when it

[1:12:31] didn't meet the expectations of that

[1:12:33] genre genre is another filmmaking tool

[1:12:38] because we've seen a lot of movies

[1:12:39] during our lives we immediately

[1:12:42] associate genres with specific images or

[1:12:45] sounds or locations within a film

[1:12:48] filmmakers can use the language of

[1:12:50] different genres to quickly communicate

[1:12:53] certain feelings

[1:12:55] so how does this apply to home alone

[1:12:58] well above all else this movie is a

[1:13:01] comedy you can tell right from the first

[1:13:03] scene the film is shot with bright warm

[1:13:06] lighting it's flattering to the actors

[1:13:08] the scene looks inviting it puts us at

[1:13:11] ease making us happy which is conducive

[1:13:14] to laughing if the movie was shot like a

[1:13:16] David Fincher film with a desaturated

[1:13:19] bluish color palette and heavy Shadows

[1:13:22] but still had the same performances and

[1:13:24] dialogue

[1:13:25] we'd be confused the different aspects

[1:13:28] of the film would be working against

[1:13:30] each other now even though I just said

[1:13:32] that wouldn't work something similar is

[1:13:35] actually done pretty effectively in the

[1:13:37] movie game night which is a comedy shot

[1:13:40] like a thriller so as to make the

[1:13:42] genuine danger and Stakes of the movie

[1:13:44] feel more real but also this visual

[1:13:47] style is part of the comedic design of

[1:13:50] the movie since for a long time the

[1:13:52] characters in it don't realize their

[1:13:55] actually in a thriller anyway back to

[1:13:57] home alone so even though most of the

[1:14:00] movie looks like how we expect a comedy

[1:14:02] to look it occasionally borrows from

[1:14:05] another genre horror throughout the film

[1:14:09] some scenes will borrow visual language

[1:14:12] and sound design from horror movies old

[1:14:15] man Marley looks scary the sound of his

[1:14:18] shovel scraping the ice on the sidewalk

[1:14:20] is creepy the furnace in the basement

[1:14:23] looks and sounds like a monster

[1:14:25] so again let's follow the usual strategy

[1:14:29] now that we've observed what is

[1:14:31] happening in the film we have to ask why

[1:14:35] why is Chris Columbus choosing to play

[1:14:37] these scenes like a horror movie inside

[1:14:40] his wacky family comedy because as I've

[1:14:43] said repeatedly throughout this video

[1:14:45] the film wants to put us in Kevin's

[1:14:47] perspective and communicate how he's

[1:14:50] feeling he's 8 years old he's young and

[1:14:53] immature and scared of a lot of things

[1:14:56] we as adults know that these things

[1:14:58] aren't really dangerous that's just an

[1:15:01] old man that's just a furnace but this

[1:15:03] is Kevin's story and the most effective

[1:15:06] way to make us empathize with him and

[1:15:08] show what he's scared of is to portray

[1:15:11] these things with the filmmaking

[1:15:13] language of the horror

[1:15:18] [Music]

[1:15:20] genre but that said part of the fun of

[1:15:23] analyzing art is that there are an

[1:15:25] infinite number of ways you can

[1:15:27] interpret it remember back at the start

[1:15:29] when we talked about how the main themes

[1:15:31] of Home Alone are responsibility

[1:15:34] forgiveness and the importance of family

[1:15:36] now these are the most obvious commonly

[1:15:39] accepted themes they're probably what

[1:15:41] Chris Columbus and John Hughes would

[1:15:43] tell you the movie is about but let's

[1:15:46] dig a little deeper and get a little

[1:15:49] weirder and see what else we can find

[1:15:52] okay so what if we want to look at home

[1:15:54] alone through through a lens of gender

[1:15:56] studies and queer Theory again we start

[1:16:00] by just looking at what's there but this

[1:16:02] time we're focusing on certain aspects

[1:16:05] of the story if we do this we can see

[1:16:08] that at the beginning Kevin is confused

[1:16:11] about whether he wants to get married or

[1:16:13] live alone when he grows up for much of

[1:16:15] the movie he is intimidated by women who

[1:16:18] are more powerful than him especially

[1:16:21] his mother and in the end he eventually

[1:16:24] is able to to find Salvation by

[1:16:26] connecting with an older man who

[1:16:28] eventually saves his life so you could

[1:16:31] theoretically argue that this is a story

[1:16:33] about a young person's struggle to

[1:16:35] figure out their sexuality okay look I

[1:16:38] really don't think that's it but for

[1:16:40] instance you could apply that same lens

[1:16:42] to Harry and Marv's relationship I'm

[1:16:44] pretty sure there's a valid queer

[1:16:46] reading of that but here's another

[1:16:48] reading the kind older man that Kevin

[1:16:51] befriends this happens in a church and

[1:16:54] that man with his long white beard

[1:16:57] matches the popular Christian depiction

[1:17:00] of God and earlier in the film Kevin

[1:17:03] escapes danger by hiding among the

[1:17:05] figures in a nativity scene by becoming

[1:17:08] a witness to the birth of Christ and of

[1:17:11] course the whole movie is set at

[1:17:13] Christmas so one way to interpret it is

[1:17:16] that home alone is a movie about finding

[1:17:19] salvation in God and Christianity but

[1:17:22] wait there are more it could also be

[1:17:25] about class Warfare in America with

[1:17:28] Kevin McAllister a privileged upper

[1:17:31] class kid threatened by two poor

[1:17:34] workingclass men who travel around in a

[1:17:36] symbol of blue collar America a van for

[1:17:40] a plumbing and heating company okay look

[1:17:43] do I really think that all of these are

[1:17:46] really what the movie is about no but

[1:17:50] any of them could potentially be valid

[1:17:53] interpretations if if you can provide

[1:17:56] enough evidence within the film to argue

[1:17:58] it persuasively and all of this comes

[1:18:01] down to Simply observing what you see

[1:18:05] and what happens in the film breaking it

[1:18:08] down in simplest terms then asking why

[1:18:13] what does this

[1:18:16] [Music]

[1:18:18] mean the thing about analyzing movies

[1:18:22] and this really goes for analyzing art

[1:18:24] in general en is that even though we

[1:18:26] have all these fancy pre-existing lenses

[1:18:29] that various Scholars came up with over

[1:18:31] the years we are all going to interpret

[1:18:34] things slightly differently because

[1:18:37] every time we watch a movie we are

[1:18:39] bringing with us not just our existing

[1:18:42] taste in movies and the knowledge of all

[1:18:45] the movies we've ever seen but also our

[1:18:48] own personal experiences our cultural

[1:18:51] background and inner emotional life and

[1:18:54] all of those things affect how we feel

[1:18:57] about a movie The only wrong way to

[1:19:00] analyze a movie is to insist that your

[1:19:03] way is the only way remember this is all

[1:19:06] just a matter of observing what you're

[1:19:08] experiencing even if that means

[1:19:10] observing your own reaction and asking

[1:19:13] why after all art can be a great way to

[1:19:17] learn more about yourself look home

[1:19:20] alone is not an especially deep movie

[1:19:23] this is not a piece of art house Cinema

[1:19:25] it's an extremely mainstream family

[1:19:28] movie best known for Joe peshy getting

[1:19:31] shot in the nuts with a BB gun but the

[1:19:33] whole point of this video is to show

[1:19:35] that any movie is worth studying and

[1:19:38] analyzing and finding meaning in not

[1:19:41] just serious art films and you don't

[1:19:43] have to do this with everything you

[1:19:45] watch that would get exhausting if you

[1:19:47] want to just watch a movie for fun

[1:19:49] without thinking too deeply about it go

[1:19:51] for it I do it all the time too but the

[1:19:54] meaning is always there if you want to

[1:19:56] look for it even if the people who made

[1:19:59] the movie didn't intend all that meaning

[1:20:01] to be there it's still there you just

[1:20:04] have to find it and so now go forth

[1:20:09] re-examine all your favorite movies and

[1:20:12] impress people at parties by telling

[1:20:14] them how home alone is really about

[1:20:17] class Warfare and finding salvation in

[1:20:21] God and stuff like that it's a great way

[1:20:24] to make new friends trust

[1:20:28] me oh okay welcome back and thank you

[1:20:31] for sticking with me through this whole

[1:20:33] thing that was a bit more like fully

[1:20:35] academic than the regular videos usually

[1:20:37] are so I mentioned at the start that

[1:20:40] this video was originally written as a

[1:20:43] class for nebula before I changed my

[1:20:45] plan and made a different class instead

[1:20:48] well if you enjoyed this class I have a

[1:20:51] whole other one on nebula right now it

[1:20:54] is 80 minutes long an entire

[1:20:56] featurelength class on how to make a

[1:20:59] movie like sure you can join master

[1:21:03] class and watch Ron Howard's class on

[1:21:05] film making it's pretty good I've seen

[1:21:07] it but his class also assumes that you

[1:21:10] have a budget and a crew and so it isn't

[1:21:13] entirely relatable for people doing no

[1:21:16] budget film making but you know whose

[1:21:19] class is all about making a movie with

[1:21:21] little to no budget and how to actually

[1:21:24] get it finished finished Min is oh and

[1:21:26] if you would actually like to watch the

[1:21:28] micro budget feature film I released

[1:21:30] last year night of the coconut it is

[1:21:33] also available exclusively on nebula and

[1:21:37] so are all the bonus features that we

[1:21:39] recently released like three different

[1:21:41] commentary tracks featuring the cast and

[1:21:43] crew and an extended scene featuring

[1:21:46] even more surprise cameos than in the

[1:21:48] actual movie see nebula is a platform

[1:21:51] built by a bunch of creators like me to

[1:21:54] give us a place to experiment and make

[1:21:56] different more ambitious projects than

[1:21:58] we do on YouTube it's a place where I

[1:22:01] can make a featurelength narrative film

[1:22:03] where you can watch jet lag episodes

[1:22:05] early it's the only place Lindsay Ellis

[1:22:08] is releasing new videos it's the place

[1:22:10] with dozens of classes taught by your

[1:22:12] favorite creators and yes I am finally

[1:22:15] working on my next narrative short film

[1:22:18] which will Premiere exclusively on

[1:22:20] nebula nebula is the best place to watch

[1:22:23] my videos there are no ads there is so

[1:22:26] much great new exclusive stuff coming

[1:22:28] out all the time and if you join you are

[1:22:31] supporting this community of independent

[1:22:34] creators and helping make it possible

[1:22:36] for us to keep growing and expanding the

[1:22:38] scope of what we do I'm sorry but I am

[1:22:41] legitimately passionate about this so if

[1:22:44] you sign up for nebula at the link below

[1:22:47] down there in the description you can

[1:22:49] get it for just over $3 a month which

[1:22:52] honestly is a pretty great deal for

[1:22:55] something that's pretty great okay that

[1:22:59] is all for now good night all right I

[1:23:03] guess it's still daytime but uh

[1:23:06] bye hello it's me one more time I feel

[1:23:09] like this is turning into a Russian

[1:23:11] nesting doll of segments where I talk to

[1:23:14] the camera but I'm here because I want

[1:23:16] to let you know something very important

[1:23:17] which is that the vinyl night of the

[1:23:20] coconut soundtracks produced by Mondo

[1:23:24] are in stock and shipping now if you

[1:23:27] want one because um if I'm being honest

[1:23:29] I think these are pretty much the

[1:23:30] coolest thing that has ever come from

[1:23:33] these videos and this channel uh I mean

[1:23:36] we have this incredible gorgeous artwork

[1:23:39] by Colin Murdoch uh the obviously

[1:23:42] amazing music by Brian molus featuring

[1:23:45] on vocals Khloe Holgate and Matt torpy

[1:23:48] and um I just think it's so cool that

[1:23:50] these exist and uh and I love them so

[1:23:54] much much uh the the special editions

[1:23:57] are available from the nebula merch

[1:23:59] store those have the yellow vinyl and

[1:24:02] all of them are signed by Brian and

[1:24:06] myself uh and then the regular editions

[1:24:08] uh featuring brown coconut vinyl um are

[1:24:12] available from the Mondo store so you

[1:24:15] can get whichever one you want or both

[1:24:17] but that seems like Overkill um anyway I

[1:24:20] just want to let you know because I love

[1:24:21] these so much I'm so thrilled that this

[1:24:24] happened and uh and that's all so you

[1:24:27] know whether you're an avid vinyl

[1:24:29] collector or maybe you don't even have a

[1:24:31] record player but you just want this on

[1:24:34] display as a cool piece of art in your

[1:24:37] home um you know it works for everybody

[1:24:40] great gift as well okay I'm Shilling too

[1:24:42] much now um the other thing that I want

[1:24:44] to mention is that for those of you who

[1:24:45] are following along with the topic

[1:24:48] Tournament of 2023 the big tournament to

[1:24:51] decide which fans submitted video topic

[1:24:53] would get turned into a real video um

[1:24:56] Muppet Cinema one and so by the end of

[1:24:59] the year I will make and release a video

[1:25:03] about Muppets and movies I think it's

[1:25:06] going to be great so that's all there's

[1:25:08] a lot to get excited about um I got to

[1:25:11] go work on the next video the the stuff

[1:25:13] we have coming up I think is going to be

[1:25:14] really fun anyway that's that's enough

[1:25:17] of me talking goodbye