Shooting Down Pictures

This is a great idea and nice post.
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That's the great article! I just pass 'n read it, two thumbs up! ;)

"I have and I like it a lot despite its oddities (the main one being the portrayal of the killer; the movement from the specificity and sympathy of the killer in M to this generalized, uninteresting psycho is a fascinating one in theory but as part of a story its a serious weakness I think)."
- I found the subplot about the killer's mother fixation rather a weak attempt to explain his psychosis. Much more interesting is the very fact that he exists, and as you say, that existence is what drives this voracious media conglomerate to exist as well.

I wasn't sure if this would have dated my entry if I had included it in my post, but when I watched the film I couldn't help but think of the VT shootings and the media feeding frenzy that took place almost immediately, and on a more general level the media's role in facilitating these tragedies from start to finish. The killer was clearly influenced by the Columbine killers -- and who knows who in the future will be influenced by him. And that he sent a tape to NBC -- and that NBC actually aired portions of the tape -- should be seen as an indictment of the media as an accomplice for this type of narcissism gone horribly wrong. All of this came to mind when I watched the scene of the killer fixated and smiling at the TV broadcast about himself, with Dana Andrews bellowing at him like an absent father (this becomes clear when the killer shuts off the news when his mother enters).

I have and I like it a lot despite its oddities (the main one being the portrayal of the killer; the movement from the specificity and sympathy of the killer in M to this generalized, uninteresting psycho is a fascinating one in theory but as part of a story its a serious weakness I think).

But I love the film's use of the media empire, each department squabbling (as you mention, like children) over success that is determined by how they exploit a serial killer. When I viewed the film I was particulary struck by the way Lang hinges every plot, subplot, theme, and character relation on the psycho. This is what I noted at the time: "Take the existence of the killings out of the picture and suddenly society as it is constructed by Lang falls apart, fails to gel, and appears sputtering, its disparate parts unrelatable."

I'm not entirely sure that Lang has equal contempt for all the male characters, but judging by the inane ending you may be on to something. I would have to see it again in this context.

Thanks Dan. I ran an input from my VCR to my DV recording deck (a videocamera does the same job), then uploaded that to my Mac and edited it on iMovie. Then I recorded my voiceover track on my videocamera, outputted the audio to Final Cut Pro and and exported it as an audio file to iMovie. I might just do it all in Final Cut in the future.

I see your point about exploiting the opportunity to go indepth when referencing the footage. Jonathan Rosenbaum expressed pretty much the same sentiment in an email to me (in which he also mentioned that he had lectured on the film recently so he watched the clip with great interest, even though he disagreed with mine and Dave Kehr's opinion that the Lang shares equal contempt for the newsmen as he does for the killer).

Have you seen the film, btw?

This is a great idea and a spot-on reading of the film Kevin. May I ask how you actually put this together? You viewed it on VHS, so how did you get the excerpts, edit them together and then provide the voice-over?

As for suggestions, I think that with the scenes right there in front of us you could provide more specific, in depth reading (like when you discuss the legs and the door locks) relating to what we are seeing. It seems to me that a kind of over-arching analysis of the film, summarizing its thrust befits a written essay where visual accompaniment is not necessary. I cam imagine Grost's fantastically detailed analysis, for example, in a more useful form with either screenshots or in your video essay style because of its roots in specific on-camera detail. Keep up the great work and I hope you do this more often!