Larkin Seiple

Larkin Seiple
on the set of Swiss Army Man

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Swiss Army Man

Childish Gambino: This is America

Flying Lotus: Never Catch Me

Turn Down for What

I Don't Feel Alone in this World Anymore

An Oversimplification of her Beauty

"How would you FEEL."

Director: Terence Nance
Year: 2012

Alien (1979)

"This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostrumo, signing off." 

Director: Ridley Scott
Writer(s): Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Cinematographer: Derek Vanlint
Year: 1979

House

I'm not even sure what to quote... this thing is a RIDE.

ハウス Hausu

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi 

Year: 1977

Hereditary

Director: Ari Aster
Cinematographer: Pawel Pogorzelski
Year: 2018

I want to discuss what maybe is a recent trend in contemporary horror films. I am definitely not a horror film aficionado so these elements are parts of just a few horror films I've recently seen, but it's still a pretty dramatic... shift?
What I noticed from Hereditary and The VVitch is that there is nothing "supernatural" happening. They are treated as simply... things that happen. The witch in The VVitch is treated with the same amount of realism as every other character. When the mother in Hereditary begs her husband to look up in the attic for the body... it is almost a built in expectation that he will not see the body, that he will come down from the attic proclaiming that "there's nothing there! You're crazy!" This is the structure to which most horror films follow. The terror comes from the loss of self, the loss of sanity. The explanation is that she IS crazy, she's SEEING these things and losing her mind.
But that doesn't happen.  It comes as kind of a shock when he comes down, clearly shaken at the sight of his wife's mother's dead body. This is real. Paimon is real, the devil is real, demons are real, this is all just happening. Nothing these characters do will change the course of events that the occultist demon worshipping grandma has set up. They're doomed, nothing turns out okay, and the demon wins.
This reminds me of The Wailing. What we are seeing is the master plot of a demon unfolding through the perspective of the sacrificial lamb. The board is set and the pieces are already moving before the main character even knows it. We follow her as she tries to unravel it, and she fails. She dies. The perspective then changes to the omnipotent force that is sort of pulling all the strings. It's a very mind bending shift to witness.




influences:

Rosemary's Baby
Don't Look Now
Nicholas rogue
The Innocence
Ugetsu
Quidon
Empire of Passion
Kerniquo
Mike Leigh
In The Bedroom
Ice Storm
Chinatown
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover

I, Tonya

"I mean, who would do that? ... to a friend?"

Director: Craig Gillespie
Cinematographer: Nicolas Karakatsanis
Writer: Steven Rogers
Year: 2017

As I'm reading about character and characterization, some things come to mind. I should watch this movie
super quick thought.... character vs characterization in THE WAILING. How the main character is definitely not a "hero" in the traditional sense. He's a cop but he's kinda a doofus. He's constantly in trouble and clearly not the best officer in his unit by far. But this makes the lengths he is willing to go to save his daughter all the more compelling and his inevitable failure all the more compelling as well because despite his efforts, which push him to reach beyond himself, he ultimately fails BECAUSE of his nature. He is not the hero he tries to be.
ANYWHO- scene in PRISONERS with Jake Gyllenhaal.
So many things are established in that opening scene. He's alone at a diner, literally the only customer there. It's pouring out, this already establishes that he's a loner. But the waitress saying "happy thanksgiving" is awesome. He doesn't have a family. He asks the waitress playful questions, he's not got many people to talk to.

Isle of Dogs

"Wherever he is, if he's alive, we'll find your dog."

Taxi Driver "I got some bad ideas..."

"I got some bad ideas in my head."

Taxi Driver, for one, is a great movie, it's also a dangerous movie. To make things worse I find that it's also very easy to misunderstand. Much like the way violence and toxic masculinity are easy to misunderstand, and just as equally if not more so; dangerous.
The still above is from a masterfully acted and directed scene. It has everything to do with the male experience, in my opinion. This is an extremely male movie. Not that this means women can't find anything in it- appreciating a movie has nothing to do with gender, but themes do. So many things are going on in this movie that it's hard to even know where to start. What's displayed in this scene however is so commonly how men talk to other men about their emotions.
It can feel impossible. It can feel like you're shooting yourself off into some vast dark territory, totally unexplored and uncharted, and you find, in this place, that there is nowhere to stand, nowhere to plant your feet, and you float totally exposed and vulnerable. You find that in this place, the other man will not dare go there with you. You cannot stand to establish eye contact in this place because that would be to drag the other man into this place where nothing can stand between you and how you actually feel. No humor to soften the blow of being human. You then uncomfortably make general statements that are completely meaningless to confirm that the other man will just "be alright" to avoid talking about anything.
And here's what I'll say about masculinity that I feel like is maybe inaccurate. I feel like I hear a lot about how the reason for this behavior is a fear of being "weak." Or that we feel like we're not aloud to cry. I strongly disagree. I at least don't think that this is my personal experience of being male. I think that going to that vulnerable place is so hard for men not because they're afraid of appearing weak, it's that it's literally just a behavior that was never encouraged being a young boy. As a child you are taught how to deal with your problems and I don't think young boys are taught how to do that in healthy ways at all. It's all about suppression. It's all about pretending you have the strength to pretend everything is fine. I think maybe the men and women behind this sexist practice maybe did come from a place where it was a societal issue. That they believed this is how a man is strong, that his behavior reflects his place in a societal hierarchy and to succeed in this hierarchy means to rise above emotional turmoil. Meaning precisely to rise above being human, and this behavior will ALWAYS end in personal destruction. Personal destruction leading to external violence. I feel strongly that most of my male friends do not struggle with asking for help and being vulnerable and honest because they're afraid of being considered weak, I think it's because it's literally a behavior they never practiced.
This scene is uncomfortable and heartbreaking because it displays this exact issue. These men have no idea how to be human. The other man utterly lacks the tools to even talk honestly to Travis.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Cinematographer: Michael Chapman
Writer: Paul Shrader
Year: 1976

A Quiet Place

"I have always loved you."

Good Time

"How good do you feel right now?"

Director(s): Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams
Writer(s): Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein

Frances Ha

"Frances, how much longer?"

Director: Noah Baumbach
Wrier(s): Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig
Cinematographer: Sam Levy
Year: 2012

Lady Bird

"What if this is the best version?"

Director: Greta Gerwig
Writer: Greta Gerwig
Cinematographer: Sam Levy
Year: 2017

Call Me By Your Name

"Right now you're feeling a lot of sorrow. Don't kill it."

That line in the caption captured something very special. Sorrow is a measure of love. Sorrow is an expression of love.

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer(s): James Ivory (screenplay by), André Aciman (based on the novel by)Cinematographer: Sayombhu MukdeepromYear: 2017

The Wailing

"Show me your true form."

Director: Hong-jin Na
Writer: Hong-jin Na
Cinematographer: Kyung-pyo Hong
Year: 2016