See Films Differently · Nº 01
Why PlayTime’s Doorman Keeps Opening a Door Without Glass
Why does PlayTime’s doorman keep opening a broken door? Separate the passage from the gesture with Don Norman’s distinction between affordances and signifiers.
Journal topic
Film Craft
Essays connecting film craft with cinema and the act of looking.
See Films Differently · Nº 02
Love Toy Story? Discover the Living Doll in A Christmas Dream
Love Toy Story? Discover A Christmas Dream, an eleven-minute black-and-white short where an old rag doll turns a piano into music, skating and play.
See Films Differently · Nº 03
Minions and Silent Comedy: Why the Jokes Work Beyond Words
Why can Minions make sense without translation? Follow their looks, voices and mistakes alongside Chaplin’s The Gold Rush and Keaton’s One Week.
See Films Differently · Nº 04
Why Are Old Movies Square? Aspect Ratios and Black Bars Explained
Why old films look square, what 4:3 and Academy ratio mean, and why the black bars on your TV may be keeping the whole picture intact.
See Films Differently · Nº 05
Why Do Actors in Old Movies Sound Different?
Hear the difference between an old-film accent, a performance and a recording, with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and two comedies from 1940.
See Films Differently · Nº 06
Why Do Silent Films Look Sped Up? Frame Rate Explained
Silent films can look too fast at the wrong frame rate. Learn how capture, projection and restoration shape motion—and why there was no single silent speed.
See Films Differently · Nº 07
Why Was Some Like It Hot Filmed in Black and White?
Some Like It Hot was not black-and-white because colour was unavailable. Wilder preferred it; monochrome also protected the disguises and made 1929 cohere.
See Films Differently · Nº 08
Why Watch Black-and-White Films Today?
Black-and-white films do more than remove colour: they reshape light, faces, texture and space. Here is what to look for, and where a beginner can start.
See Films Differently · Nº 09
Why Was Night of the Living Dead Shot in Black and White?
Colour was too expensive—but black-and-white made Night of the Living Dead look like news, sharpened its effects and made its ending feel like evidence.
See Films Differently · Nº 10
Why Does The Wizard of Oz Change to Colour?
Why does The Wizard of Oz change from sepia to colour? See how the doorway shot worked, why the film saves Technicolor for Oz, and what it changes.