N.30 | "No Country for Old Men" (building tension through stillness - hotel shootout scene) plus more

JOURNAL ENTRY

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: the film storytelling library

Mar 09, 2025: this week I had a film school class on how to make money in the film industry. I learned a lot of stuff I didn’t know about. Here are some key points I really want to keep in mind:

• The general idea: making money in the film industry by yourself is extremely hard. You must become a good filmmaker and make films that win festival awards. At that point, the right industry people will find you and give you a career.

• Streaming vs. renting: streaming will never make you any money. Not sure how you do that, but you’re better off renting your films on Prime, Stan etc. There’s no money in streaming.

• Build a following: you don’t need 1M followers. You need an engaged audience that enjoys your films and supports you. Focus on 2-3 channels, like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Your followers might pay to watch your films and share them if your movies are good.

• Never underestimate the power of marketing: you should put aside a good chunk of money to market your film.

FILM STORYTELLING

No Country for Old Men (building tension through stillness - hotel shootout scene)

While I was doing research on the cut-to-movement technique, I came across the hotel shootout scene from No Country for Old Men.

Besides cut-to-movement, this scene is very special for another reason. It delivers high tension through moments of stillness: watch 5 min 34 sec clip here Note: unfortunately, this video is blocked on YouTube in some countries. Apologies to people in Canada.

Here’s a little context to understand the scene: Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) has just found out that the money in the satchel is tracked. He has just heard a noise outside the door of his hotel room. Someone is after him. He takes out his shotgun and prepares for battle.

There is a lot of action going on in this scene. Yet, notice how this scene uses moments of stillness to build rising tension.

1. We have a first long moment of stillness at the start of the scene

2. A second moment of stillness in the middle of the scene when Moss is on the street and finds a ride

3. And a final moment of stillness when Moss prepares to ambush Chigurh (Javier Bardem)

Why is this scene so well done?

If you take the average shootout scene from the average action movie, you’ll notice how the scene is designed for maximum visual impact. They’re trying to get you drunk with action. You have guns shooting, shaky camera movement, things exploding, debris flying everywhere, people shouting and more.

Some filmmakers think that we, the audience, need 1000 dynamic shots and 1 static one to remember a scene.

But, that’s not always true.

This scene from No Country for Old Men is not like that at all. It’s very well balanced, and I cannot get it out of my mind. The Cohen Brothers and Roger Deakins created something special.

Source: From the film storytelling library.

FILM STORYTELLING

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (an insert POV shot example)

The insert shot is not only about going extremely tight on a specific detail or showing something in an extreme closeup. What’s most crucial here is the way the information is framed. Inserts can also be combined with POV shots. This is usually a first person perspective.

Use the insert shot when the details in the frame have the utmost importance.

Source: From the film storytelling library.