Week 25.30 - Socials Roundup
Posts from 21 July - 27 July 2025
Week 25.30 posts include shots from Why Didn’t They Ask Evans (2022); Saving Face (2004); If I Should Die Before I Wake (1952); and two very different uses of clocks in The Bear (2022-current).
Saving Face
This waterside chat between Wil (Michelle Krusiec) and Viv (Lynn Chen) makes wonderful use of the sunset colours which would have been *rapidly* changing as they shot.
The wide shows a orange-pink sky fading into blue-ish water and darker land, then all of Wil’s shots are blue while Viv’s are against the orange-pink; clearly distinguishing both them and their emotional states as the scene progresses.
If I Should Die Before I Wake
Utterly gorgeous and tense use of stark lighting minimalistic blocking in this short shot!
We delve further into this film next week on our Substack, including how it pays homage to Fritz Lang's classic "M"
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans
What better way to accomplish three things at once — a little ‘frames within frames,’ shallow depth of field in the foreground, and distinctly separating your morally opposed characters — than using jail cell bars?
The Bear
Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of how every episode of The Bear uses clocks and other symbols of inexorable time.
Opening Clock
4.01 “Groundhogs” has a wordless cold open which transitions to the title card; a short moment which is related to a season-runner.
The first shot of the episode’s long scene after the title card is:
which is a timer we saw several times in 2.06 “Fishes,” where it was often spattered with tomato effluvia.
Just Shots Which Look Like Clocks
The Computer introduced this season’s central clock in “Groundhogs” and 4.02 "Soubise" reminds us of it . . .
while also creating several shots which are reminiscent of that clock, without showing a timekeeping device anywhere in frame.
The use of neon blue, a thick stripe through the centre of frame, and lights or words ‘breaking up’ that centre stripe, are all intentionally reminiscent of the clock which drives Season 4.
