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Directors' Trademarks

mnkykungfu

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Hey everyone. So I've seen a few of these videos and I really like them. I've decided to post them here periodically to share with the class, so to speak. These first couple aren't available on Youtube, so I'm not sure how many people have seen them:

I think a lot of faneditors tend to be very observant about the little touches that directors put into their films. Even still, you might miss connections and themes if they're more subtle or story-related rather than visual, or if you haven't seen enough of a director's filmography. Yorgos Lanthimos was like that for me. This video series will point some of these things out, which (for me) gives a bit more enjoyment when you're watching their other films and then notice these things for yourself.

There's also potential here to relate directly to fanediting. There are a few edits (Pulp Empire comes to mind) which take a popular work and reinterpret it more in the style of another director or film. I think that's supercool and fun, so if anyone sees a style in these vids and gets inspired to reinterpret, say, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in the style of, oh I dunno, Guy Ritchie, then the entire thread will have been worth it.

Enjoy!
 

Last Impressions

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i Love Lanthimos...Dogtooth is a masterpiece. I thought Alps was great although i don't think it has any rewatch value. And i have often wanted to edit Killing of a Sacred Deer as it just looks and feels so beautiful but somehow something is missing. I will definitely give that another viewing in the future.
Like Lynch, Malick & Wes Andersen, Yorgos really does have his own unique style.

I will give this a watch later.
 

mnkykungfu

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Below is the Youtube playlist I made for most of the "Season 1" Director's Trademark videos. There are some big ones here with very defined styles such as Spielberg, Spike Lee, Cuaron, Tarantino, the Coens, Burton, Fincher, Scorsese, and many more. It was a real joy to watch them, so I share them together with you.
Directors' Trademarks Playlist Link

If you just want to start from the beginning, here is the first episode: Luc Besson. He said he was retiring in 2000 to switch to just writing and producing, but that turned out to just be a 6 year break. His films since coming out of retirement haven't recaptured the same magic, but his initial run from '83 to '99 was such a unique voice and brought us some absolute classics...all of which are featured here:
 

mnkykungfu

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"Episode 2" of the series is a pretty pumping one on James Cameron. I love the music on this, and the way they've edited it together is pretty great.
 

mnkykungfu

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"Ep. 3"...the big dog. Few directors have a more distinct and yet influential style compared to Steven Spielberg. Probably owns more of my most treasured films than any other director. This trip through his catalogue is a joy to watch.
 

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BRAAAAAAAA{Nolan has been so successful for long enough to see himself become cinephiles' villain...his sense of style and overall excellence in presentation resonates with me more often than not though, and even his failures (Interstellar and Insomnia [and arguably the Dark Knight Rises and Dunkirk, though those might have just been too ambitious] are often cited) can be argued to be much more interesting than the modest successes of most other directors}AAAAAAM!
 

mnkykungfu

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Next up is M. "What a Twist!" Night Shyamalan... who had SUCH a distinct style that his first couple films were astounding.... until he just kept repeating the same trademarks and they became obvious and forced.
 

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Spike Lee is a filmmaker that misses with me more than he hits, but you can't deny the man has style:
 

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Peter Berg has had a really surprising directorial career. I think he's better as an actor, and was probably even better as an athlete, but my low expectations of him mean that when he does something a cut above (like The Kingdom or The Rundown), it makes for a really enjoyable watch.
 

mnkykungfu

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Cuaron is undeniably an amazing director, and especially a visually-powerful one. Here's a quick trip through some of those images:
 

mnkykungfu

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Pretty good tribute for McQueen fans... just too bad this wasn't made after the Small Axe films came out.
 

mnkykungfu

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Of course, Tarantino had to have a video in this series... even though his is longer, it's not half as long as it needs to be to cover all the elements he uses in film after film. A QT film is definitely a defined style, no matter the actual story:
 

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We're halfway through the first season of these, so it's a good time to take a break and note that IMDB still hasn't done a Trademarks video for Akira Kurosawa. The closest they got was this:

That's fun, but I did find something in the way of a look at Kurosawa's style from the infamous Every Frame A Painting account... you know, the one that hates Marvel movies. Despite Tony Zou's intentional misunderstanding of MCU films, he does give some pretty good examples for Kurosawa, so I include his video here:
 

mnkykungfu

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Someone who definitely has an almost instantly-recognizable style is Wes Anderson. The video IMDB did for him is actually really good...almost too much detail (and too many colors!) to take in when you first watch. It's short though, so rewatching is easy, especially since I post it here for anyone who comes across this. Hope someone finds it interesting.
 

mnkykungfu

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KUBRICK.


This video could easily be 20 minutes or an hour, but they do a great job of capturing the essentials of Kubrick here, and you can't come away from it not realizing what an auteur he was.
 

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This video does a great job reminding you that Peter Jackson has a lot of other, non-LOTR-related films. It connects those well to the techniques people will recognize from LOTR.
 

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How Luca Guadagnino gets a 5 minute interview video whereas Spielberg got half that is beyond me. Still, it's nice to hear a bit of Luca's own thoughts on his work as the trademarks are presented. This only derails slightly in turning into a bit of a promo for Suspiria at the end.
 

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This made me realize there's still more than a few Coen Brothers films I haven't seen. I historically have not really responded well to their comedy, but their dramatic films are amazing...
 

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I'm not much of a fan, but yeah, James Wan is a director. He did those films. He sure did.
 
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