N.27 | "Lucy" (juxtaposition example: creating meaning without dialogue), the “extremely crude” way of learning filmmaking plus more

JOURNAL ENTRY

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: the film storytelling library

Feb 16, 2025: we’re shooting the film school’s short film next weekend — Feb 22nd, 23rd and 24th. This past week we worked on the shoot schedule, kept the actors up-to-date (that’s my job), decided about who is going to do catering on what day and more. It’s gonna be interesting and tiring. Can’t wait to do it!

On a more personal level, I’m working on a nano film, which I’ll probably post on Instagram at some point. Reminder to self: these are not real movies, just a way for me to exercise and keep flexing those muscles.

FILM STORYTELLING

Lucy (juxtaposition example: creating meaning without dialogue)

In the film Lucy (2014), you can see a great example of juxtaposition. In this memorable scene, director Luc Besson creates meaning without explicitly spelling anything out: watch 2 min 57 sec clip here (one small section is fast forwarded for brevity).

Juxtaposition is everywhere in filmmaking. This fundamental technique allows you to place two or more objects side by side to create meaning out of their differences or similarities.

From cinematography to music, from production design to special effects, there’s always an opportunity to use juxtaposition.

A well thought-out juxtaposition can give the audience a powerful comparison, the meaning of which needs no dialogue or explanation. In short, good juxtaposition is good filmmaking.

A good filmmaker must be aware of, understand and practice this technique.

Source: From the film storytelling library.

SPONSORED BY THE FILM STORYTELLING LIBRARY

Learn storytelling from real film storytellers, not videographers — for less than $1/day

A few months ago, I got tired of the bad content I see on my feeds. Like everybody else, I get flooded with content on instagram, youtube and tiktok. Very few video creators out there are actually telling a story. It’s often just fast editing of different clips.

Nothing wrong with fast editing. It can serve the story very well. But the thing is, I want to keep my focus on master storytellers — not videographers. So, I almost entirely stopped spending time on those apps.

I started watching films with the idea of learning valuable lessons from these great masterpieces. After a while, I began seeing patterns, and I took a lot of notes.

I’m building a library of film scenes and film shots from great movies. Each card has a clip, a description and tags — for filtering. This unique collection is helping me increase my cinematic vocabulary and film grammar.

If you want in, you can.

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TIDBIT I’M PONDERING

The “extremely crude” way of learning filmmaking

In the introduction of Rebel Without a Crew, Robert Rodriguez recalls how he learned to edit as a kid.

This is a great reminder that one has to learn to work with what’s available.

Rodriguez’s father bought one VCR once, which the kid took over. Then, the father bought a second one. The kid took over that one also.

Rodriguez (kid) figured out how to hook the two together and used them as an “editing software” to cut his little films. He would play the film on one VCR and record on the other one using the pause button to edit out the unwanted footage.

Rodriguez used this approach from the age of thirteen to twenty-three.

Source: From Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez (paraphrased and/or quoted).

FILM STORYTELLING

No Country for Old Men (OTS example)

An over the shoulder (OTS) shot acts as a hybrid between a single and a two-shot. Similar to a single, we’re often only focusing on one character at a time, but we switch from one character to the other.

The OTS angle is the status quo when shooting a conversation. We get perspectives from both sides of the conversation and a sense that we’re included in the moment.

Source: From the film storytelling library.