Saturday, October 23, 2010

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Cure

Bigger than Life (1956)
dir. Nicholas Ray


A Clockwork Orange (1971)
dir. Stanley Kubrick

The Tiger Cage

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
dir. Werner Herzog


Apocalypse Now (1979)
dir. Francis Ford Coppola

The Semiotic Standard and the Creature's Lifespan



Ron Cobb's design for Alien's spaceship, the Nostromo, incorporated pictogram utility signs which he referred to as "Semiotic Standard". These symbols, stick figures wrapped in red boxes, lurk in the background of scenes. Two examples:


The Auteurs posted a wonderful article about the foreshadowing in one of these designs.


Original designs for the derelict alien spaceship called for hieroglyphics explaining the creature's lifespan. I submit that this idea materialized in Ron Cobb's signs, and that this Semiotic Standard anticipates the whole film.














Alien (1979)
dir. Ridley Scott

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Trip Home

The Trouble with Harry (1955)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Stand by Me (1986)
dir. Rob Reiner

The First Corpse

Young and Innocent (1937)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Frenzy (1972)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock

The Hitchcock Profile



The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Saboteur (1942)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Rear Window (1954)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Vertigo (1958)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho (1960)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Marnie (1964)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1965)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock

The Purse

Dial M for Murder (1954)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Marnie (1964)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock

The Couple Under the Bridge

Vertigo (1958)
dir. Alfred Hitchcock


Manhattan (1979)
dir. Woody Allen

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Top of the Hill

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
dir. John Ford


How Green Was My Valley (1941)
dir. John Ford

The War Face

"The shout is the most important part."


If... (1968)
dir. Lindsay Anderson


"Let me see your war face. Ahh! That's a war face."

Full Metal Jacket (1987)
dir. Stanley Kubrick

The Nude in the Arch

If... (1968)
dir. Lindsay Anderson


The Shining (1980)
dir. Stanley Kubrick

The Bar

Stagecoach (1939)
dir. John Ford


My Darling Clementine (1946)
dir. John Ford

The Prairie Fence (2)

Until They Get Me (1917)
dir. Frank Borzage


Stagecoach (1939)
dir. John Ford


The Searchers (1956)
dir. John Ford