#MediaMonday: Vertical Cinema with Damien Chazelle

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that all of you have had some time to look over some of the resources from Vertical Video storytelling in preparation for the STN Pop-Up Challenge #4: TikTok Challenge! Remember, you still have 2 weeks to submit, so encourage your kids to start creating.

All of our videos, thus far, have been focused on simply framing and production tips for shooting vertical video. However, today, we are taking a headfirst dive into a recent project that attempted to shoot an entire film vertically by the one and only Damien Chazelle.

Created as a promotional video for an Apple iPhone release (as well as shot by cinematographer Linus Sandgren who also shot La La Land and No Time to Die), Chazelle created a homage to Hollywood with his short entitled, The Stunt Double. 9 minutes in length, this short film pushes the boundaries of traditional cinema, moving action and images in an unconventional way across the screen to create and entirely new and innovative style of vertical cinema.

This film pays tribute to classic Hollywood icons (both people and films) such as The Matrix, Buster Keaton shorts, The Searchers, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, John Wayne, Indiana Jones, North by Northwest, Singing' in the Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Platoon, and more!
Also, this film does an extraordinary job of knowing how to create movement within a frame and understanding the shape and direction of that frame. Typical cinema rules would tell us that movement needs to happen horizontally (traditionally, from left to right). However, since that distance is quite short in this framing style, Chazelle instead chose to move action top to bottom.

This film is one of the truest examples of vertical cinema instead of a horizontal film, short vertically.

Therefore, today's lesson is: Film Breakdown: the Stunt Double.

Even if you don't have students in the TikTok Challenge, this would be a really cool lesson to share with media kids because it is so different.

Below is a lesson format that could work, but please feel free to adjust as needed.

1. Set the Stage:

   1. Ask students to list out the " visual rules" for a traditional film. These rules could include traditional things like Rule of Thirds, horizontal movement, widescreen, good lighting, talking space, etc.

   2. Then ask the students how these rules change when the frame is turned vertical.

   3. Discuss.

2. Watch the Film:

   1. Have all of the students watch The Stunt Double.

      1. Ask that students not do anything while watching. I never have them even take notes because film is visual. Encourage them to keep their attention on the screen at all times.

3. Break it Down:

   1. What did they see? (First impressions)

   2. What was different?

   3. What was cool?

   4. What was confusing?

   5. What didn't quite seem to work?

4. Add to the Discussion:

   1. Watch a breakdown video of this film from a film critic. There are many online, but this one does a decent job explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the format while staying fairly neutral and G-rated.

      1. Damien Chazelle's Vertical Cinema Shot Breakdown

5. Watch the Film Again:

   1. Yup. Again. No one ever sees everything the first time. Sometimes, another watch jumpstarts the conversation in a new way because this time, you're not starting from the beginning. This adds a layer of texture to the discussion and gives new energy to the group.

   2. Before you show it again, ask the students to address the following:

      1. Why does movement keep going from top to bottom and what does this represent to the story?

      2. Are there any colors that stand out to you?

      3. Watch for vertical rectangles in the frame and why these are there.

      4. Why does it start old and come back to present-day?

      5. What is Chazelle trying to say?

6. Apply it to Yourself:

   1. Have a second discussion, but this time focus on the discussion questions above.

   2. How can this viewing and discussion change who we are as filmmakers?

      1. What inspires?

      2. What challenges?

      3. What taught us?

      4. What confused us?

I LOVE breaking down films with students and they enjoy the process of understanding how films work. Give this a shot and let me know how it worked?

Do you have any cinematic vertical stories that you would suggest showing? Throw them onto the Listserve; we'd love to see them!

Talk to you soon,
Josh Cantrell
STN Education Coordinator
Central High School-Springfield, MO.
josh@studenttelevision.com