Tag Archives: video essay

Video Essay: Polly Platt – Designing the ’80s

Polly Platt is best known for two phases in her long Hollywood career. First, for her work as a production designer on some of the great films of the New Hollywood era (The Last Picture Show, What’s Up, Doc?, The … Continue reading

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Video Essay: “Pray for Mama”

“Pray for Mama”: Circumvented Trauma in Paper Moon Paper Moon (The Directors Company/Paramount 1973) is a lovely little film. Set in the Depression-era Midwest, it features charming performances by Ryan O’Neal, Madeline Khan, John Hillerman, and nine-year-old Tatum O’Neal (Ryan’s … Continue reading

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Video Essay: Pretty Baby: Faces

Pretty Baby (Paramount 1978) is a pretty drastic film. It’s beautifully shot, tragic, and incredibly difficult to watch because of its treatment of childhood sexuality. Part of what makes it work (if it does), is its total fascination with the … Continue reading

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Video Essay: Hal Ashby and the Long Shot

I’d been contemplating an audio-video essay on Hal Ashby and the long shot for ages. It should have been easy. I write about it in a section of my book, and I had ripped the clips I wanted to use … Continue reading

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Muscle: Variations on the Cinematic Car Crash

A video essay from May/Sep 2016. This video is the result of an assignment I was given at a workshop on the video essay at Maynooth University in May 2016. The workshop leaders, Catherine Grant and Liz Green, asked us … Continue reading

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Hal Ashby’s Endings

A video essay from December 2015. Of the 11 feature films that Hal Ashby directed, 9 end with one or more of the main characters’ back to the camera. His final film ends with the main characters walking towards the … Continue reading

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