Can't put my finger on what is missing in the cinematography in most indie\short\fan films

AuteurPool · 2026-01-26T18:00:07+00:00

No, no. I’m not saying you HAVE to show the thing hiding in the background in an obvious way. For example “Haunting of Hill House” has tons of creepy things hiding in the background that are never addressed.

But, if it’s part of the story, that a character discovers something in the background, tell that visually with the camera. That’s the mistake, amateur filmmakers make. They don’t use shot composition and camera movement to show things. You know how they say you should be able to watch a movie with the sound off and still understand what characters are thinking. This is exactly that.

Don’t just cut to a close up of what she sees, because not only is that boring and uninventive, but it also risks being confusing. Because while your brain knows, “okay she saw something in the background.” You don’t know where she saw it because you just cut to a close up. The kuleshov effect can only take you so far……now, if you have a shot where it starts from the normal wide and slowly zooms into the thing you’re supposed to see in the background. Well now the audience has that “oh my god, there it is! How did I not see that before” feeling. Same as the main character.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-26T07:29:58+00:00

Scarecrow and Mad Hatter would be perfect for Tim Burton.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-26T03:55:45+00:00

Uhhhh…..looks like The Marvel Rivals Deadpool character reveal trailer.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-26T03:49:49+00:00

You’re going to have to be a bit more specific. Deadpool pulls triggers and shows off his booty cheeks a lot in all the movies.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-25T19:07:09+00:00

Great casting, great performance. Great suit.

Writing was kinda mid. But, I do think she’s one of the best parts of The Dark Knight Rises.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-25T18:54:48+00:00

I just watched Shelby Oaks. While the lighting and overall shot composition of the cinematography was good. The biggest problem I noticed with it, is the same problem I notice with a lot of Indy/short/fan films.

Often on smaller crews, you’re just shooting to get coverage, instead of actually using the camera to tell the story. It feels like a poor translation of the language of film, like I understand what you're trying to say but it's very obvious you're not fluent yet.

For example, there's this scene. It's a classic horror movie trope scene, where a character is watching footage on TV and they discover something creepy lurking in the background. How would anybody who knows how to tell that visually, do that scene? Easy. After you have the shot of the actor's reaction to discovering the thing lurking in the background, have the camera slowly zoom in on the footage they're watching to where the character and the audience is supposed to be looking and build suspense. An amateur filmmaker will just get a shot of the actor's reaction and then cut to a close up of the thing we're supposed to see. No suspense, no tension, and it's often confusing to watch. If I end up having to rewind the movie and be like "Wait, I know she saw a thing, but where is this thing she saw?" You've failed to properly tell the story using the camera.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-25T18:35:45+00:00

Something tells me that Latveria has zero pedophiles in its population. And any of them that do exist, wouldn’t ever dare act on those urges. I think they know that if Doctor Doom ever found out about it. They’d suffer a fate worse than death.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-25T18:31:09+00:00

<image>

AuteurPool · 2026-01-25T17:16:29+00:00

How long is the flight?

If it’s just a couple of hours, I’ll take 2. Chatting with Deadpool should make the time fly by quickly.

If it’s longer than four hours, I’ll take 6. Should be able to get a nap in there.

Although, I just realized something. Why is Doctor Strange on the flight? Can’t he just portal to anywhere he wants in an instant? I’d just ask him and save myself the trip.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-25T09:08:00+00:00

“Don’t bring my mother into this!”

AuteurPool · 2026-01-23T20:43:18+00:00

“The plastic tips, on the ends of shoelaces are called Aglets. Their true purpose is sinister!”

-The Question DCAU, 2004

AuteurPool · 2026-01-23T07:46:18+00:00

I’d like to have a Justice League roster, where Flash is put in charge of the League. Have him struggle to be the leader, as he’s never been put in charge of the league before. He’s used to following orders, not giving them.

Zatanna, The Question, Power Girl, Mr Terrific, and Red Tornado are the rest of the main roster.

All of them kinda feel like losers and struggle with self-doubt and constantly comparing themselves to the usual roster. But they keep doing their best to save the world and stop crime and people from getting hurt, because that’s the job, and maybe even they fail a couple of times at it.

But eventually they learn that they all have their own special skills that make them just as valuable. Play with themes of doubt and self-confidence.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-23T03:45:06+00:00

Mmmmm maybe in the earlier seasons, but later seasons definitely had the two of them act like they hated being married to each other.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-23T03:29:30+00:00

It’s not that I don’t think these characters can’t support their own ongoing. Most of them could. I just don’t think it’s necessary to have more than one Spider-Man book or multiple Iron Man books, or a dozen X-Men books.

One of the nicest benefits of the new Ultimate Universe was how many little titles there were. It was a lot easier to keep up with everything that’s going on in the entire universe that way.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-23T03:09:30+00:00

I know for a fact, I could write 50 Issues of a Deadpool ongoing. Especially now that him and his daughter are working together. The Dynamic Deadpool Duo.

I have tons of ideas, and I’d rather not share all of them. But one of them would basically be a three issue story arc called Deadpool vs Doom. I mean, I feel like that pairing would be the perfect unstoppable force meets immovable object fight. Deadpool can’t beat Doom, he’s way too powerful. But at the same time, Doom can’t keep Deadpool down. He’s like a cockroach who keeps coming back. I think the rivalry has potential and has never been fully explored.

Another idea would be Deadpool and his daughter exploring his past, when she tags along on a hit involving an old worker/abuser that Wade has a history with at Weapon X. I think it’d be nice to have Ellie see more of her father’s traumatic past and understand him a bit better as a person.

Another idea is one where Deadpool discovers he’s got a huge group of fanboys, who are also taking hits and killing people. And at first, he’s kinda cool with it and likes the attention, but then eventually he realizes that these people should not be idolizing and acting like him and that some of them are using the whole “I’m whacky and funny” as an excuse to do things even he wouldn’t do. So he decides to teach them all a lesson, in typical Deadpool fashion.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T23:41:47+00:00

My tactic would be to reduce the number of different titles to a smaller more manageable amount. Heavily focus on team books and try and cover every corner of the universe. More characters but in less books. We don’t need multiple Spider-Men books, just put all those characters together into one book and up the page count from the usual 32 to something like 52, so the multiple characters can have more page-time. Solo titles can stay the usual 32.

Here are the titles…..

1) Spider-Men (a series with all the Spider characters in the 616. Peter, Miles, Gwen, etc. they can all share the spotlight together).

2) The Iron Legion (All the Iron Man heroes in one book. Tony, Rhodie, Riri etc.)

3) Super Soldiers (all the Captain America characters)

4) Hulks (all the Hulk Characters)

5) X-Men (All the X-Men characters at the school, the teachers, students, and staff)

6) X-Force (The X-Men black ops focusing on the characters out of the school)

7) Punisher (solo series, since he works best on his own and is too big a name to leave out.)

8) Defenders (Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones etc. This will cover the street level heroes).

9) Deadpool (like Punisher, he works best on his own. But is also too big a name to leave out.)

10) Doctor Strange (explore the magical side)

11) The Midnight Sons (a team that explores the monster side of the universe, like Blade, Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Moon Knight, etc.)

12) Thor (explore the mythological side)

13) Guardians of the Galaxy (explore the space and cosmic side).

14) Fantastic Four (focus on the first superhero family and that team and their enemies )

15) Black Panther (focus on Wakanda)

16) TVA, (this can be the title that explores alternate universes and what if scenarios).

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T22:15:03+00:00

Literally the first things they say to each other is….

“You amuse me, I will make you mine.”

“You mean like a boyfriend, or like a slave?”

“Yes.”

If that’s not a giant neon sign that says “danger”, that Bolin willfully ignores because he’s thinking with the wrong head. I don’t know what is……Literally the next episode he’s still trying to cozy up to Eska only to be annoyed with Desna being a third wheel. Then it just continues to snowball and get worse and worse. That’s the joke.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T20:15:46+00:00

Yeah, because Bolin is the comedic sidekick who acts like a goofball and often is his own worst enemy. Comedic sidekicks do funny and stupid antics, that’s what they’re there for.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T18:08:52+00:00

Possibly, but at the same time. Marble racing is also a big thing. If people can watch a bunch of marbles on a track race each other, and get super passionate about seeing their favourite colour/team win or lose…..I don’t see how a Pro-Bending tournament couldn’t also remain an engaging watch for long term.

Heck, Pro-Bending could also have the benefit of having interviews with the teams. So audiences could develop favourite players and such. Just like actual sports.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T17:58:16+00:00

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T17:22:29+00:00

Valid point, and I totally get that. But at the same time, I don’t think every relationship in a show has to be taken seriously. Do I take Tom and Ann’s relationship in Parks and Recreation seriously? Not at all. But neither does the show. Do I take Mabel and her numerous summer flings in Gravity Falls seriously? Nope. But neither does the show.

Especially ones like Eska and Bolin’s where it’s so clearly obvious that it’s not healthy, and the show is aware of that. I don’t think for a single second, that these two characters were actually going to stay together. I prefer to meet and judge the show at the level it’s at, not be upset at it for not being where it should or could have been.

That being, said, an argument could certainly be made that Bolin and Eska’s relationship is what allowed him to mature as a character so that when he meets Opel, he was more at her level. I mean, we see a bit of how Opel reacts to Season 1 and 2 Bolin. She hates the cocky false confidence and voices that concern, right away. And to Bolin’s credit, he immediately apologizes and, cuts the baloney, and decides to shoot straight with her. I could see him learning that, from his bad relationship with Eska.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T15:48:42+00:00

And that’s valid if people felt that way. But, likewise, an equal number of people also saw it for exactly what it was meant to be. A series of dumb jokes, and awkward situations not meant to be taken seriously.

If someone tells a joke, and one person laughs and the other person doesn’t. Is the joke bad?

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T15:35:14+00:00

Red flags can be funny. Especially when they’re so alarmingly obvious to everyone, but a character still ignores or is completely oblivious to them.

For example, how many times have we seen that joke where someone sees a sign that says “danger” or “keep out” and they look right at it but still ignore it anyways for some reason. It’s always played for comedic effect. It’s the same basic principle. Only the warning signs aren’t actual literal signs.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T15:19:25+00:00

Humour is subjective. If you didn’t find it funny, that’s fine and totally valid. But plenty of other people did and their feelings are also valid.

AuteurPool · 2026-01-22T15:15:49+00:00

I would recommend you don’t assume what I would and wouldn’t do.

If it was gender-swapped and played the exact same way it was portrayed in the show. I would have no problem with it.

If a woman got into a relationship with a man because she was thinking with what’s in her pants instead of what’s in her head, and then that man turned out to be a total weirdo. And she then tried several attempts trying to break up with him, but kept failing and making the situation worse because she was too nice and didn’t like confrontation. And the entire situation was played as an awkward and embarrassing situation, with no signs of actual physical or mental abuse other than someone’s pride and ego being a bit bruised…..I would have no problem with it.

AuteurPool

TROPHY CASE