Category Archives: Film

Film, Propaganda, and the Human Condition

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Bob Shepherd

Almost everyone hated high school. Why? Well, at that age, kids are busy trying, with the limited resources they have, given their youth and inexperience, to separate from their parents and to figure out or to create who they are, … Continue reading →

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Coming Soon! Film Conceptualization Made E-Z!

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

I have this psychic ability. I can predict the new season of Netflix films before these films are even announced! To illustrate, I’ve been brainstorming here, a list of great ideas for innovative new films from Netflix Studios. The elevator … Continue reading →

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Rosemary’s Baby, a Review

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

I recently saw, again, after many years, the Roman Polanski film Rosemary’s Baby, from the brilliant book by Ira Levin, a master of showing not telling in the realist/documentarian style. Levin’s books, with their detail left to speak for itself, … Continue reading →

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Some Films with a Brain on Netflix and Amazon Prime

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

A few favorites, NOT a complete list. I’m sure that there are many more that are not occurring to me now. I have not included a lot of films that I would include in a film class because of their … Continue reading →

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Thirty-Four Suggestions for Composing the Frame

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

This is a list I put together for my Film students. These are guidelines for composing a frame in a shot, but they are useful, as well, for graphic designers and painters and choreographers and other visual artists. If you … Continue reading →

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And a Little Child will Lead Them | Dialogue for a Film Short

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

Abby lied about the cookie. Yes, honey, I know. She did. And that was wrong. Yup. Yup. Why is it wrong, Grandma? Wrong to lie? Well, Sweet Pea, if you think about it, people could hardly carry on a conversation … Continue reading →

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This Just In: Almost Universal Shrug as Fiction Writers Become an Endangered Species

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

Do not, under any circumstances, read this subversive post. When Lenin and Hitler assumed power, they both immediately set up film studios. Why? Because film is a superb medium for emotional manipulation and thus for propaganda. The secret of its … Continue reading →

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MONOGAMY: A One-Act Screenplay | Bob Shepherd

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

A holographic virtual classroom meeting on a lawn on Kizhi Island in Lake Onega, Russia, 2059 CE, the onion-shaped domes of the Transfiguration Church in the background. Thirteen students, attending via remote presence avatars, sit in a circle, their professor’s … Continue reading →

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What Ever Happened to the Short Story? | Commentary

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

When I was a teenager, I thought that it would be a grand thing indeed–the ultimate validation–to publish a novel or to have a play or screenplay produced. Now I know better. Almost all the novels, plays, and films that … Continue reading →

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