Notes: Anna Biller is an absolute master of everything, including props and sets. I realize most of these screenshots are indoors, and also contain many people, but there’s lots we can be inspired by.
Another interesting aspect about this movie that separates it from The Blood on Satan’s Claw is the focus on the “male gaze”. I guess what I mean is — often in cinema, looking at the camera is never done. But because the Love Witch is so much about the exploitation of the “ultimate male fantasy”, a lot of the main character’s representation is very “Playboy”, staring directly at the camera — making the audience feel like the men she is seducing and driving mad. The movie is so well done, I hardly noticed this until I started taking screenshots to study.
I want to try both of these techniques: 1. the “Cinematic” look, where you don’t look at the camera, & 2. the “Model” look, where you are looking at the camera. This seems trivial as I write it, but I’m realizing more how striking of a difference it can cause in the composition & feel of the photo.
I think this entire movie is a development on the 3 of Swords, “Sorrow”:
It even shows up in the movie a few times, once in the beginning and again at the end: