850 tacks
Why Cuarón Plans Everything (And Still Feels Spontaneous)
Alfonso Cuarón operates on a paradox: the more prepared he is, the freer he becomes. For three decades, across wildly different genres — intimate family dramas, dystopian thrillers, space epics — his work is governed by a single philosophical tension. Preparation isn’t the goal. It’s the safety net that lets him fall toward the unexpected. This video breaks down that philosophy through Cuarón’s own words, drawn from interviews spanning his career. You’ll hear how Roma came to exist as a screenplay he wrote in three weeks and never read again, how Y Tu Mamá También was structured enough to allow real improvisation, and how the blood-spattered lens in Children of Men — a complete accident — became the shot that defined a generation.
You’re Not Watching the Show. You’re Watching the Clips.
In this episode of “Galaxy Brain,” Charlie Warzel talks with business writer Ed Elson about the rise of the “clip economy”—the idea that short video clips pulled from podcasts, livestreams, and other long-form content have become the dominant unit of online media, not just a promotional tool. Elson explains how figures like Andrew Tate pioneered armies of paid clippers to flood social platforms with content and how the viewership numbers on clips often perform better than the original shows. Warzel and Elson discuss what this means for legacy media organizations, as well as the broader societal costs of phone-driven attention erosion.
The Poor Man’s Process (How Movies Fake Driving Scenes)
The Poor Man’s Process is a classic filmmaking technique used to create realistic driving scenes without moving the car. Learn how cinematographers use lighting, reflections, and camera movement to simulate motion on a budget. This guide breaks down how to shoot cinematic car scenes without expensive gear.
The Power of the Wide Shot (Explained)
What is a wide shot, and why do filmmakers rely on it so heavily? In this video, we break down how wide shots work, how they establish space and story, and why they’re essential to cinematography and visual storytelling. From wide master shots to cinematic framing, this is a foundational technique every filmmaker should understand.
Looksmaxxing: Inside the dangerous trend taking over the feeds of young men | 60 Minutes
Impressionable young men under the spell of a dangerous phenomenon called looksmaxxing.
The Downfall of Skibidi Toilet
Taylor Lorenz examines the growing backlash surrounding Skibidi Toilet after its shift from an internet-native phenomenon into a studio-managed franchise. She explains how DaFuqBoom’s surreal viral series became a massive cultural hit, then lost fan confidence once Invisible Narratives took control and launched Emergence. The video explores the leaked call that deepened the controversy, the #BringBackBoom movement, and the broader tension between online creator culture and Hollywood ownership.
AI influencers are here. Can you spot them?
On this week’s “Galaxy Brain” episode, Charlie Warzel is joined by New York Times technology reporter Tiffany Hsu to discuss the rise of AI influencers—synthetic avatars, often indistinguishable from real people, that are flooding social-media feeds to sell supplements and promote brands. Hsu unpacks her reporting on the combination of forces converging around it, including the wellness industry, a historically fertile ground for scammers. The pair discuss how the volume of synthetic content online is producing a new kind of epistemic exhaustion: a fatigue so deep that many people have simply stopped caring whether what they're seeing is real. So is authenticity already beside the point? And is an audience’s emotional response—rather than the truth behind the image—the only currency that matters?
What is Room Tone? (And Why Filmmakers NEED It)
What is room tone, and why do filmmakers always stop for silence on set? In this video, we break down how room tone works, how to record it properly, and why it’s essential for smooth dialogue, sound design, and professional filmmaking. If you want cleaner edits and better audio, this is one technique you can’t ignore.
The enshittification of the internet, explained
Cory Doctorow says the internet is getting worse and he has a theory why. In conversation with The National’s Ian Hanomansing, the Canadian author explains his term ‘enshittification’ and the questions it raises about the power of big tech.
How to put text behind your subject in Premiere Pro
Using the Object Mask tool in Premiere Pro.
Showing 41 to 50 of 850 results