‘Bloody Mary’, AKA that one where Phil Scriggcia made Jared and Jensen stumble around in a pitch-black void for the entirety of the episode, because Ambience or something. It’s fucking gorgeous, actually. There’s lush ridiculous pools of shadow everywhere. Also, this got really repetitive and kinda derpy, and I think next time I do one of these posts I’m going to have to get really, really pissed first, because then at least I’ll have a excuse for essentially saying ‘look at all the DARK’ over and over again for fifteen pages.
I bingewatched the first eight seasons over February 2015, when I was a young, fragile horror-movie-virgin, and this shot made me scared of my own house. We have this creepy light switch on a string in the bathroom and, like. Have you ever seen a light switch swinging eerily back and forth in the dead flat light of two in the morning. I’m serious, it’s horrifying.
I love how the dots on the windshield speckle their faces, and I love the fact that both of them look like absolute shit in this scene.
All that gorgeous dimness. Also, I have a suggestion: rewatch the show. Every time Venetian blinds show up, everyone takes a shot. Last one to go blind gets the honour of winning.
Silhouettes; the inversion of the idea of Sam-and-Dean as heroes.
I love it when the show uses fadeouts. They’re so rare and so evocative when they do. Like the one in ABHL part one.
This shot reminds me of Citizen Kane. I have never seen Citizen Kane. Possibly this is a memory from a previous existence.
Give me all this noir shit.
This lighting is so good! You can see right through their eyes!
I kinda love the dreamy, blurry backgrounds in this scene. It’s almost too much.
I might make the next appreciation post a drinking game. Take a shot every time eyelash shadows. (Getting drunk might help me upload faster, too.)
I love all the shit with mirrors in this episode. It works with the whole doppelganger theme and also it just looks really really good.
Did… did electric lighting not exist in 2005, or…?
RIDICULOUS CRYSTALS OF LIGHT. (I think this photo’s out of sequence, but if I try to move it WordPress is going to throw a bitch fit, so never mind.)
I kind of like this shot because everything just looks a tiny bit out of focus, and that open door is all skewed and creepy, and VENETIAN BLINDS, and that thing Sam’s holding looks like a fucking black void into the floor and hello, House of Leaves.
I love this. It’s all chiaroscuro and grimy and PORES. I love it when the dirt and the sheer grubbiness of their lives is visible like this, in details.
Just. Black pits of shadow. Ridiculous.
What a shot, holy shit. Like- the stairs and the blocking and just. PHIL.
Yes yes yes blurriness and clarity and reflections.
This is also just an amazing shot. Also, everything is kind of bleached and off-colour in this episode even when it isn’t super dark.
And this is just super dark. They look like shadows. It’s subversive.
Eyelashes. And you can only see half of her face. Everyone is fragmented, or doubled, or reflected; nothing is seen cleanly. That won’t change.
They look marooned. Which, I mean. Everyone’s lost at all times on this show.
This might actually be the most gorgeous scene. Silvery glittering rain. Again: shrouding them, concealing them.
Oopy oop more mirrors.
This is weirdly pleasurable in that most of the frame is just darkness and also how often is it that we see a chandelier and a Winchester in the same frame. And there’s a sharpness to the cut of those shadows.
Give me all the weird lampshade silhouettes.
God, I love this, and it’s symbolically resonant; Dean as the shadow going towards the light, etc etc.
This is just so cool and it actually makes me excited because you can see all the individual chips of glass what the fuck.
More dreamy weird sunrise lighting!
Just… haunting. The tree full of coins, too.
I’m officially out of things to say. But I like this shot. So whatever. Next time I’ll get drunk.
Just gorgeous! We really have had some great directors..Phil and Kim for sure
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right? kim is spectacular. & let’s not forget about t.j wright either! so GOOD
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I really miss Kim Manners. Every time I watch the show.
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me too. i’ve been watching the x-files and it’s been lovely to see his (super recognisable) style again.
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Who directed Werther Project? That was really good directing too
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Okay, that’s it! I’m watching that one again this weekend. You are in love with that episode, and I barely remember what it was about, other than Rowenna was in it. I’m gonna find out.
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Its the episode where the director toned down Rowena just a smidge and made her great. LOL Sam and Dean are great in the episode and !Benny!
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steven plezsczinski or something? i definitely spelled that wrong. yes, it’s gorgeous! i love the research montage in that ep.
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I love the purgatory scenes…the way they are lit etc.
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yes, they’re beautiful! they were one of the highlights of season eight, too. that washed-out dirty bloody look.
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We have been blessed with a lot of creative directors. I think that’s part of why the show was so popular. Although I miss the darker grittier original seasons look. Sometimes the episodes are just too bright these days!
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yeah, i miss it too, although the show always looks good (excepting the fake tan phase. we don’t need to talk about that)
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I think this is what the later seasons seem to be really missing. Earlier seasons were very atmospheric and I think that was partly down to David Nutter. A lot of the X-Files crew have now left the show, and think it shows. Purgatory was the first time that feeling really came back. Some episodes do shine through but are few and far between. I love John Badham for this reason as he knows the best angles, best lighting and does a really good job. When he’s teamed up with writer Robert Beren’s it’s a perfect match. I also miss that scare factor too. Bloody Mary really had that in leaps and bounds!
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i thought david only directed the pilot and wendigo? was he involved in another capacity?
kim defo had a hand in it. i can’t imagine him letting the horribly lit samelia flashbacks past the drawing-board. and badham + berens is wonderful- i love t.j wright, who did hitchcock’s storyboards.
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When I watched I thought the lighting made the whole storyline even harder to swallow!
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i like that mini-arc- i think it gets bad press- but the lighting certainly did it no favours, dear god
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I actually wanted to like it-but there was one scene with Sam in bed with AMElia and hes wearing a short sleeve tee shirt. What? Never! LOL
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okay, i’ll let you have that one 😂
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I forgot about John Badham! I love him too!
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those close-ups in the hunter games 😍
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that’s why these posts are so much fun- there’s a lot to admire aesthetically in every season, in various different ways. seasons 1-6 were a gift, though- every shot looks great.
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Its obvious I’m gonna have to do some “Best of..” episodes before the season premiere. I love the idea of celebrating the shows (and actor’s) beauty, because it really has had some gorgeous episodes.
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great idea!
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Great to see you back hun xx
I still find it hard to go back and watch this episode because I had nightmares about it afterward and couldn’t face re-watching I think the last time I saw it was about 7 years back. Probably only seen it three times and hated hearing anyone say bloody mary 3 times, and I also remember the board talking about when the mirror broke both Sam and Dean’s eyes bled but for what reasons, can anyone remember? Our Directors are so fabulous how they manage to grab our attention and make us notice those finer details. I love Guy Norman Bee, David Nutter, Mike Rohl, Steve Boyum,Thomas J. Wright, John Badham.
Stefan Pleszczynski directed the Worther Project Barb in answer to your question?
Serge Ladouceur is brilliant at photography!
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yeah, your eyes bled if you were responsible for someone’s death, supposedly (although it was always a little ambiguous). and all the ones you named are wonderful.
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Blind drunk on the stunning perspectives. I tweeted this out to the SPN viewers on Twitter. Welcome back.
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thank you! it’s beautiful, right? the gorgeousness just goes straight to my head.
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I would think its easier to make a scene atmospheric when its darker-all the shadows and stuff. Thats why the brightly light scenes sometimes feel lacking to me in atmosphere
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yeah, i agree. the gloomy lighting is satisfying on so many levels- it’s so gorgeous and so EASY- and it gets the atmosphere down. the beauty of the later seasons, for me, is more in the landscapes, the ironic signage, the close-ups- although there is still some lovely gloomy stuff there.
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Reblogged this on Geek Girls News and commented:
From Our wonderful wren
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