Mandy was so fucking good. The cinematography, the soundtrack, the cast, everything went so good together. Listening to Mandy's Love theme gets me in tears.
Fantastic film. Fantastic video essay! As always, thanks for being you. Never stop uploading... or there will be eternal consequences. Love you. Stay blessed. 😇
the quality of this video essay is absolutely insane man. the aspect ratio, editing, scripting, tension release, the subtle audio effects and the chosen clips were all on absolute point.
Over the past several years, the content on this channel has grown and evolved to something that is truly incredible. The first vlogs posted to this channel were great in their own right, but recently, the quality of these video essays has made them as much of works of art as their topics. Thank you Evan, for enriching all of our lives with new and beautiful insights into the wonderful world we are so lucky to live in.
One of my top 100 movies of all time. There's something about the film I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps its the cinematography, the story, the slowness of the pace, the revenge aspect, the nostalgia of early 80's, the psychedelicness....whatever it is; amazing film. Cheddar Goblin!
@@therealOXOC i felt that way too but after rewatching it i felt I got more out of it than the first time, and aoprrciated it more. Still think Beyond the Black Rainbow is better though.
@@therealOXOC How does it lack in every other place? The acting is phenomenal. The score is phenomenal. Its fun. Its creepy. Its innovative while also paying homage to classic grind house films. The character depth and plot were basic but I truly believe that was intentional since there was so much going for the viewer to take in. I really think if there were some super complex plot with deep characters it would alienate the audience from the true beauty of this film. Maybe this movie wasn't what you were hoping for which is fine, but to say it lacks in everything besides the visuals isn't true at all.
You're one of my biggest inspirations for making video essays, and I brought up your name at a job interview for my first official writing job this week as one of them. Thank you so much for this work. Btw *I GOT THE JOB*
Films tend to fall into three categories for me: 1 - This felt like a waste of time. 2 - This was a movie. It's fine, good or middling. 3 - *This* is why I watch movies. After beginning to watch this video when it was uploaded, I heard the spoiler warning and immediately went to rent the film (I don't currently live in the US so it was the only way I could see it) to see what was going on. Suffice to say, Mandy may just be my favorite film of 2018 owing to its atmosphere, music, lighting, post-processing, acting, editing, pacing, and of course, grain (among many other touches). Films like this are rare, but serve a greater emotional weight and purpose due to their scarcity. Thank you for making this video and bringing my attention to this incredible film. This is why I watch movies.
@@luuketaylor Oh...I really wish I could support some artists, but even if I could, most of the profit goes to the studio, recording label, art dealer and so on. Most directors and screenwriters are paid a retainer, but sometimes they are also producers or sacrifice a secure wage to convince the studio to make the film...and eventually end up earning a percentage of the films profit (but this is rare). Except for the obvious rules and limitations capitalism imposes on artists, my budget is also limited here in the shithole of a country where I live. Cinemas only screen the biggest action and comedy blockbusters (waste of time as you say). Videotques only sell video games nowadays, or have a few dozen DVDs of the same blockbusters screen in cinemas. Netflix only has about 200 films, which are all Indian and Turkish b-movies, while HBO, Amazon and other services are completely unavailable here. Considering I'm a student and all of what I can afford comes from my parent's pocket, it'd be impossible for me to afford buying these DVDs on ebay. Average monthly wage is about $300 here, but my family is well off compared to the general population. I've bought tracks in the past, mostly from Bandcamp since it's the download service which gives the biggest percentage to singers, bands and producers...and I've only done this to support the artist. Discovered some great techno and electro producers as well through Bandcamp. But a track (or song) only costs $1-2, a film costs upwards of $15...and independent filmmakers who fund films out of their own pockets are virtually inexistent. Hence, I'm a proud pirate...and even if I weren't, torrents would be the only way for me to acquire great works of art, experience them, learn from them and so on. I'm a film student by the way, so I'm basically required to watch and study as many films as I can, even those I don't like. Take care mate, and keep supporting your favourite artists...even if less than 10% of the total profit goes to them...
@@Albanez39 Well, that sure was a bunch of long-winded bullshit in a weak attempt to justify you being nothing more than a common thief. I'm sure most of the artists you're stealing from would disagree.
@@DarthMohammedRules There's a difference between digital files and physical objects. If I borrow a film or a game from you, is that stealing? I'm doing the same thing, borrowing something from someone...it doesn't matter if they're borrowing the same thing to hundreds or thousands of others. Your name is Mohammed, but you sure seem to come from one the richest countries of the Middle East, or you're an immigrant in some wealthy western country. Perhaps if you lived another life and were forced to endure financial stagnation and debt, you'd be more open to this kind of stealing. You'd be able to understand our perspective...regardless of all the reasons why I think it's not wrong, all the justifications and complaints...honestly, I just can't afford it :)
Wow dude, seriously awesome production quality on this bad boy. Using the same aspect ratio, making your graphics blend with the style of the film, using effects to mirror what you're talking about to really hit home the concepts, godamn. You need to have your own masterclass on the art of making a video essay.
Yeah sponsors usually don't really care about swearing and the like Neither does youtube, sometimes, but youtube is just weird and unpredictable in general
Thank you for referencing Beyond the Black Rainbow. I’m such a beautiful piece of art and not many people give it the love it deserves. I’m so happy Mandy is doing well and hope Panos continues to get the recognition he deserves.
Bold move to make a video about grain when most of it will get compressed out by youtube. Watch in 1440p for the best experience - even if you don't have a screen that large.
I just saw this film today and it is easily one of the most visually striking I've seen in a long time. Even if you're not a fan of Nicolas Cage, you can't deny that the production design team and the lighting team and the editors put so much effort into making this look so one-of-a-kind.
I love what you pointed out at around 6:40, that the film would "literally fall apart" if the aesthetics of the film weren't there. So many pieces of media have an interesting style but no reason to have it; its just there because its "pretty" or "creepy" or "modern" ect. Choosing a visual style for your media should be as important as choosing a theme or creating a narrative arc. It's not just something that's tacked on like an instagram filter, it should have weight and meaning.
It be interesting to do a video on what makes a great narrator a great narrator. For instance why do I like your voice so much when you narrate these? I feel like there is something in the voice.
Tempo, enunciation, and pitch are key things that I notice, that's one of the reasons Morgan Freeman is such a good narrator, he speaks slowly and clearly in a (relatively) deep tone
I've always wanted to see a War film do something like this; use such visual flare and style to really get into the sheer unpleasantness of the act of fighting and killing. I think it'd work great for an adaptation of something like Blood Red Snow, an autobiographical account of a German machine gunner on the Eastern Front and my favorite book of all time. It'd really help you get into his mind as he evolves from a young bright eyed Soldat, ready to fight and die for a cause he himself admits he doesn't really believe in, into a dreary and terrified boy, who's more scared of being captured than dying, who sees death on a scale that one who has never seen it simply cannot imagine, and who wants for nothing more than the war to end so he can go home and maybe, just maybe, start living again.
Yeah, I'm 30 and I've always loved the smell of books. Libraries were a huge influence on that part of my senses. I feel like 'nostalgia from the smell of books' might be a myth that has gain popularity somehow?
yeah, i stopped the video right there and scrolled down to see if someone had mentioned this lol when i was a child there were no ebooks, but even in middle school we would all sniff our new manuals and storybooks. book smell has always been a thing.
Perhaps it's my OCD; perhaps it's my Asperger's, but I prefer physical books way more over a digital e-book everytime, especially when it comes to academic textbooks. I tried looking at digital e-books in a number of bookstores, but small things, like the typesetting, page layout, etc, seems just ... wrong ... to me ... Maybe it's just my perception ... I don't know ... but to me, there is something to be said for having half a dozen, maybe more, textbooks laid open in front of me, where I can flip through the physical pages to find to right information to make draft notes on the papers I used to write, way back between '95-'99 ...
Same here, and not only books... the smell of wood, the dust after the rain, different floor cleaners, mornings in a rural area, bed clothes kept in the closet, some random perfumes, the smell of old places... it's like instant childhood moments and memories, I remembered what I ate on a day around 20 years ago at a cousin's place because of the floor cleaner scent, lol.
My family's home was a renovated Farmhouse. It had a library/reading room, which became my teenage years bedroom. The books in the wall length dated anywhere from the late 1800's to the 1980's. The scent of aging paper and colonial age frames in the walls and floors is something so rare that I never forget how lucky I am.
Dude, you have surpassed my ability to pass up on of your videos. I don't think I could have been less interested from the title, but from 10 seconds in I was hooked. You're an awesome writer and I love coming back to get lost in your content.
The distortions you put behind your voice was amazing. Those kinds of things you do makes your content some of the most interesting on youtube, to me. Great piece.
Here's a problem with this video - the grain does NOT translate to youtube. It just gets blurry. Not even the 1140p setting has enough bandwidth to deal with all those tiny changes from frame to frame. Grain and noise needs A LOT of keyframes in digital encoding to be visible.
it's visible just fine especially 6.28 yeah it's not the same as watching it in your monitor from the movie or a photo but it's there .i use grain all the time, I'm shooting with old vintage lenses ,if used right it gives so much to the end result
In video it interacts. It isn't just a series of jpegs. When exporting video to a mp4 file you set the number of frames between each keyframe, the only frames that gets entirely redrawn. All the ones in-between are sort of a morph between the current keyframe and the next. Exporting something with a lot of grain, and setting a high keyframe interval will result in a blurry file, much akin to what you see on youtube (and yes youtube uses mp4 compression). Setting a very short interval, for instance 1, every frame is a keyframe, will result in a perfect rendering retaining all the grain information, but a gigantic videofile which would use up a lot of bandwidth in streaming.
Haven't tried this, but I imagine upscaling the uncompressed 1080p video of this to 4K before uploading could give a much better reproduction of the grain, watching it in 4k off course, since the bandwidth of that stream is way higher.
"as history becomes nostalgia and nostalgia becomes aesthetic" -- I've been watching your videos for a while now and I always get so lost in the way you monologue. I'll be watching the video and listening and catch myself so lost in your words. It's written so eloquently, yet concise and clear. Keep up the great work! As a designer who grew up in the 80s, I can't get enough of this aesthetic. I think our desire to return to a time where we can touch and feel things and not everything is digitized will always be present because that is what our entire reality represents -- the ethereal consciousness interacting with a physical world. I think the 80's are going to represent an important moment in history and in film though, because it's a time period that sits right in the middle of analogue and digital tech, yet before cell phones and the internet. Consequently, I think filmmakers will use this as a 'tool' for storytelling for years to come.
After I saw this video, I stopped it halfway. I went to the store and bought Mandy on dvd, I just watched it with headphones on in midnight. Saw the deleted scene's and the behind the scene's after watching the whole movie. I am BLOWN AWAY. I never experienced this before. Thanks to this video I found this gem. Thanks so much for this video, so awesome!
puts a video about grain on youtube, where grain is mostly filtered out by the video codec :/ Kind of a shame, really AV1 (the new videocodec), will be able to readd grain after it's removal though (when the source was grainy)
Mandy was one amazing work. Subtle things. Like Mandy having 2 different colored eyes. That incredible soundtrack, especially the softer parts. THe art style. The way it was shot. Far more interesting than movies with 6 times the budget. And of course, the Cage, obviously "all in" with this role. Instant classic. Nice vid.
Your visual essays always have such a profound message and gives me a new way of looking at things. I started film school at the end of the 90’s and actually shot on 16mm for the first two years before we went digital and never though much about film grain until now. I say all of this to say… This movie was crazy! Off the wall bonkers.
Dantess26 I was the exact same as you only a few weeks ago, I binged through it just as the new season came out, I’ve enjoyed it sooooo much! It gets better as the seasons progress too. 10/10 would recommend :)
Thanks for the video, plenty of food for thought. As an animator, you always hear how static holds don't work in CG the same as they do in traditional hand drawn animation. This could be something worth playing with to see what results I get. I also always felt 'The Fellowship of the Ring' had an extra quality 'The Two Towers' and 'Return of the King' didn't because they switched to digital. What I would give for them all to be on film.
Had to rewatch it but the audio for this vid is spectacular. You somehow managed to aurally simulate the visual sensation of grain. Y u no has mo subs?
I can't tell you how happy it makes me that a channel of this size continues to offer substantive, insightful content on a consistent basis. Thank you nerdwriter!
I find myself being pulled in to each and every one of your videos, the way you display information and reflect it back to us. Keep doing great work man
I've always been fascinated by visual artifacts that are abhorred in one medium and yet fetishised in another. Take something like the lense flare. You try to avoid it in film (usually), and yet, in gaming, where there IS NO LENSE, you see it everywhere. Ditto for chromatic aberration, it is added purposefully to 2d game engines, while being actively canceled out for VR. Or how about scanlines? We got rid of them ASAP on our TV's, and yet now you see them pasted over the top of video in film to denote "oldness." I could go on all night . . . how about HDR photography that collapses every possible exposure into a single image, while early HDR rendering purposely overexposed the image! I just hope nobody ever fetishizes the judder caused by playing a 24fps film on a 60hz display with no interpolation!
do you know how to they could achieve that phantasmagoric FX at ua-cam.com/video/4PcpGxihPac/v-deo.html? I tried Echo but it does not blend as good as the movie.
FPS does not belong here. 24 is the one and only FPS that can be used for film and documentary. Use 60p with news, games, reality shows and maybe porn, but don't ever use it when shooting a serious and artistic film. Slow motion is a different thing, that gets downsized to 24p in post.
Some TV shows have actually had very organic looking grain by using a process called LiveGrain on digital footage. A lot of shows on HBO have used it like The Deuce, Vinyl and The Leftovers.
Nerdwriter, I am at a place you were 8 years ago when you started your channel. I like to create content and I like to do it on my own terms. You are so lucky to have a wonderful community support you in this endeavor. May the force always be with you, and you keep on inspiring the world to make more and more enriching content.
I'm in the same place you are @all things fascinating ! (even though you have 4 more subscribers than I do, hehe). Just checked out your channel and your stuff is superb. Subbed. Would love to have you on my podcast to chat sometime if you're down. Let me know!!
You pack more information into 8 minutes than most half hour documentaries can achieve. I feel like I've learned so much in the time it took to smoke a cigarette.
I loved smelling books as a kid over a decade before ebooks. Definitely recognized the smell of libraries. And I know a lot of other people that said the same things back then.
“Our nostalgia becomes an aesthetic” 1:46, I personally find this in my addiction to cassettes and Walkman’s which I find really cool and interesting mechanisms that bring music to my ears with actual physical copies of songs unlike a name in a list of songs in my phone.
I’d love you to look at Kubricks film Barry Lyndon, the specific lenses used to use candlelight in film. I loved reading about it, even if you dont make a video about it, just have a look. Polite request by the way, not a demand. Love all your videos so far my dude.
They don't filter it - it's how the mp4 algorithm works. Upon encoding you set a certain number of frames between each keyframe. In the keyframe every pixel is drawn anew. In between keyframes the video kind of morphs into the next one. Noise and grain however do not like this enviroment. It needs a keyframe on every frame to translate properly since every pixel changes even if nothing is happening. And no setting on youtube has that yet. Maybe if you upscaled a video from 1080p to 4k before uploading it would retain the grain, I dunno.
excellent video. Mandy is one of the most gorgeous films not only of this year, but that I've ever seen. I love it so much and this video does it justice!
Vinyl recordings are inferior to digital recordings. It's been proven time and again. There is a lot of misinformation out there by people who do not study music and don't understand how music gets produced and reproduced digitally. Nothing is lost when music is digitized (until you start compressing to save space) but vinyl degrades, gets scratches and dust. People who think vinyl sounds better are essentially taking sugar pills for their ears. That's not to say there's no place for it. I love experiencing music on vinyl. But for Nerdwriter to gloss over it and say "the sound quality of vinyl is amazing", when in fact it's objectively inferior to digital music, just perpetuates the misinformation.
I always thought the "sounds better" appeal of vinyl comes from it being analogue rather than digital, so there is no resolution that you would get from discretizing the sound waves when they are digitally recorded --- the resolution is infinite.
While the digital medium is potentially better, the music is pretty much worse across the board. Why? Dynamic range compression. Vinyl usually averages 10db or more dynamic range since it can't handle the insane compression down to 5db dynamic range that digitally mastered music nowadays have. Plus spotify and most other streaming services adding another layer of compression to normalize volumes so people don't have to touch their phones and turn volume up or down depending on track and what you get is just...complete shit. Digital music could very well surpass analog like digital video can if more people in the music industry weren't zack snyder cranking nobs, changing color and compressing to pursue "aesthetics".
Sometimes, what's "best", is not something that can be quantified in a laboratory. If the degradation of vinyl adds something fleeting and ephemeral to the music, and stamps your personal copy with unique and individual characteristics.... that CAN be better sounding than a lossless digital format which remains the same, play after play. Plus, music made in a era where it was mastered specifically FOR vinyl, sounds great on vinyl... Remastering analogue recordings for digital format can strip away their identity, lossless or not. Digital is awesome. It'll last. Sure. Vinyl has buckets of charm and a sound that's rich and warm, like the crackling of an open fire.
@@jwnj9716 Refn has been ripping off Panos's style for the past few years, so it's really the other way around. The only Lynch film that losely fits Panos's particular era and genre of reference is "Erasherhead" (1977), while all of Lynch's later film don't fit Panos's specific point of references anymore. Panos's true points of references are a lot of psychedelic and disturbing sci-fi and horror cult films from the 70s and early 80s, especially Kubrick, Tarkovsy, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Jodorowsky, Trumbull, and Roeg.
It is said that every little thing in the world is beautiful through the eyes of a dying person. Don't we learn to appreciate the vast majority of things, only when they are no longer there? Or at least, when we are threatened losing them? We should appreciate every little "wow" and show it. Nerdwriter definitely does that with his videos. I have to watch Mandy!
HOLY SHIT THANK YOU. I've never been able to see film grain before because, turns out, my eyes do that to everything all the time for me. I've only even seen it described in text. You have no idea how useful this is for me.
Hey man! I love your videos, and I really don’t want to come off as a turd here, but Mandy was shot digitally on an Arri Alexa. I think everything you say in this video still applies, I just thought it might be interesting to note that the grain was added in post, or they underexposed to add extra noise. All of this still really speaks to our nostalgia for tactile things. Even in a digital movie, they’re still trying to emulate film grain. Love your stuff! Keep up the good work!
I loved Mandy. It was such a visually inspiring movie. I've been using some of these effects before the movie was released drawing ideas from horror movies and using over saturated colors, so it was a bit surprising and a joyous moment watching it all unfold and to share work with such an amazing film.
Man, your videos are always top notch, I have gotten me a lot more critical when watching movies, and I absolutely had my appetite for them reborn thanks to discussions and analysis born by a lot of the ideas you present!
為さねば成らぬナサニエル（nasa） It’s always been a thing but it’s never been a ‘feature’. It’s just been assumed. The smell of paper hadn’t been a bonus to reading a book before it was possible to read a book without it.
Totally agree. I've been smelling books, especially new ones, for over 25 years. Learned it from my mom who's been doing it since 1958 so I got lost as well.
Film grain (the noise) on videos just look bad imho, doesnt do anything for me, the splotches and imperfections have their aesthetic on the other hand work well in certain settings.
Wow, I love your essay on Mandy, I think it's really comprehensive and helpful for the understanding of the dimension and achievements of the movie. Thanks for creating this exceptional piece of work.
Video: _Check out these tactile visuals, all the grain, notice the details_
UA-cam compression: _Just imagine it_
lmao. Haven't laughed out that loudly in quite some time!
word though
You'll just have to imagine the fire - Bane
Imagine a world of *pure* imagination...
Plus im watching on a phone don't think I'll see it even if the compression didn't kill it
film grain and youtube compression don't play well togther. 😞
Yeah this video needs to be downloadable to really translate what it's trying to communicate. You say grain - we see blur. :/
At least it looks better than watching the movie on your phone on Amazon with a shitty internet connection.
But it misses the point.
ua-cam.com/video/r6Rp-uo6HmI/v-deo.html
Why not use youtube compression as an aesthetic
"Every aesthetic of the past is the palette for the future"
brilliant quote
The subtle distortions on your voice at certain points are an amazing detail.
I thought I was just hearing things at first ha
I noticed that as well :)
The fuck you mean subtle?
not really. to me its more annoying if anything
My ass smells like shit
When i saw Mandy i looked up the Director and i thought "Of course his name is Panos Cosmatos"
Mandy was so fucking good. The cinematography, the soundtrack, the cast, everything went so good together. Listening to Mandy's Love theme gets me in tears.
the soundtrack to beyond the black rainbow was amazing too, i have the album by senoia caves downloaded it was so great lol
Fantastic film. Fantastic video essay! As always, thanks for being you. Never stop uploading... or there will be eternal consequences. Love you. Stay blessed. 😇
Love you bro
thank you Jesus very cool
Jesus christ
the quality of this video essay is absolutely insane man. the aspect ratio, editing, scripting, tension release, the subtle audio effects and the chosen clips were all on absolute point.
This movie is criminally under announced. It was truly a work of art and needs more representation. Thank you for the video!
Over the past several years, the content on this channel has grown and evolved to something that is truly incredible. The first vlogs posted to this channel were great in their own right, but recently, the quality of these video essays has made them as much of works of art as their topics. Thank you Evan, for enriching all of our lives with new and beautiful insights into the wonderful world we are so lucky to live in.
One of my top 100 movies of all time. There's something about the film I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps its the cinematography, the story, the slowness of the pace, the revenge aspect, the nostalgia of early 80's, the psychedelicness....whatever it is; amazing film. Cheddar Goblin!
Mandy blew me away. Insanely refreshing. Also, cool icing with the voice distortion.
I'm really glad one of my favorite film analysis channels is covering probably my newest favorite movie in a long time
do check out apichatpong! he's a great thai film maker :) especially cemetery of splendour!
This movie needs so much more love and attention. Thank you for making it known to more people!
But why? I was so hyped for it after all the praise. While visually very interesting the movie lacks in every other place.
@@therealOXOC i felt that way too but after rewatching it i felt I got more out of it than the first time, and aoprrciated it more. Still think Beyond the Black Rainbow is better though.
Love you guys Breaking Banter!!!
@@therealOXOC How does it lack in every other place? The acting is phenomenal. The score is phenomenal. Its fun. Its creepy. Its innovative while also paying homage to classic grind house films. The character depth and plot were basic but I truly believe that was intentional since there was so much going for the viewer to take in. I really think if there were some super complex plot with deep characters it would alienate the audience from the true beauty of this film. Maybe this movie wasn't what you were hoping for which is fine, but to say it lacks in everything besides the visuals isn't true at all.
@@shaneth138 Watch Blue Ruin and tell me it isn't a million times superior.
You're one of my biggest inspirations for making video essays, and I brought up your name at a job interview for my first official writing job this week as one of them. Thank you so much for this work.
Btw *I GOT THE JOB*
Congratulations
Yayy congratulations 🎉 well done!
Keep it up. Proud of you
Congratulations! May I ask what the job is?
Hey, what was the job and how did you get it? Congrats btw
Seriously can't get enough of Jóhannsson's score. A beautiful parting gift. RIP, good sir.
Films tend to fall into three categories for me:
1 - This felt like a waste of time.
2 - This was a movie. It's fine, good or middling.
3 - *This* is why I watch movies.
After beginning to watch this video when it was uploaded, I heard the spoiler warning and immediately went to rent the film (I don't currently live in the US so it was the only way I could see it) to see what was going on. Suffice to say, Mandy may just be my favorite film of 2018 owing to its atmosphere, music, lighting, post-processing, acting, editing, pacing, and of course, grain (among many other touches). Films like this are rare, but serve a greater emotional weight and purpose due to their scarcity. Thank you for making this video and bringing my attention to this incredible film. This is why I watch movies.
You could have downloaded it...
@@Albanez39 For a film like this? Not a chance. Gotta support the creators!
@@luuketaylor Oh...I really wish I could support some artists, but even if I could, most of the profit goes to the studio, recording label, art dealer and so on.
Most directors and screenwriters are paid a retainer, but sometimes they are also producers or sacrifice a secure wage to convince the studio to make the film...and eventually end up earning a percentage of the films profit (but this is rare).
Except for the obvious rules and limitations capitalism imposes on artists, my budget is also limited here in the shithole of a country where I live. Cinemas only screen the biggest action and comedy blockbusters (waste of time as you say). Videotques only sell video games nowadays, or have a few dozen DVDs of the same blockbusters screen in cinemas. Netflix only has about 200 films, which are all Indian and Turkish b-movies, while HBO, Amazon and other services are completely unavailable here. Considering I'm a student and all of what I can afford comes from my parent's pocket, it'd be impossible for me to afford buying these DVDs on ebay. Average monthly wage is about $300 here, but my family is well off compared to the general population. I've bought tracks in the past, mostly from Bandcamp since it's the download service which gives the biggest percentage to singers, bands and producers...and I've only done this to support the artist. Discovered some great techno and electro producers as well through Bandcamp. But a track (or song) only costs $1-2, a film costs upwards of $15...and independent filmmakers who fund films out of their own pockets are virtually inexistent.
Hence, I'm a proud pirate...and even if I weren't, torrents would be the only way for me to acquire great works of art, experience them, learn from them and so on. I'm a film student by the way, so I'm basically required to watch and study as many films as I can, even those I don't like.
Take care mate, and keep supporting your favourite artists...even if less than 10% of the total profit goes to them...
@@Albanez39 Well, that sure was a bunch of long-winded bullshit in a weak attempt to justify you being nothing more than a common thief. I'm sure most of the artists you're stealing from would disagree.
@@DarthMohammedRules There's a difference between digital files and physical objects. If I borrow a film or a game from you, is that stealing? I'm doing the same thing, borrowing something from someone...it doesn't matter if they're borrowing the same thing to hundreds or thousands of others.
Your name is Mohammed, but you sure seem to come from one the richest countries of the Middle East, or you're an immigrant in some wealthy western country. Perhaps if you lived another life and were forced to endure financial stagnation and debt, you'd be more open to this kind of stealing. You'd be able to understand our perspective...regardless of all the reasons why I think it's not wrong, all the justifications and complaints...honestly, I just can't afford it :)
Wow dude, seriously awesome production quality on this bad boy. Using the same aspect ratio, making your graphics blend with the style of the film, using effects to mirror what you're talking about to really hit home the concepts, godamn. You need to have your own masterclass on the art of making a video essay.
6:55 "Welp, there goes the monetization"
7:18 "Oh, nevermind"
Yeah sponsors usually don't really care about swearing and the like
Neither does youtube, sometimes, but youtube is just weird and unpredictable in general
OOPS
@@damarh what does Object Oriented Programming & Systems have to do with this?
@@this_is_japes7409 everything.
Thank you for referencing Beyond the Black Rainbow. I’m such a beautiful piece of art and not many people give it the love it deserves. I’m so happy Mandy is doing well and hope Panos continues to get the recognition he deserves.
Bold move to make a video about grain when most of it will get compressed out by youtube. Watch in 1440p for the best experience - even if you don't have a screen that large.
Gothingbop maybe that’s the issue on my phone... it didn’t look like grain, just a buzzy mess of pixels. Maybe because it was digitally added? 🤷♂️
@@bthemedia nah, the real movie looks cool as heck. It's just UA-cam compression
That subtle low-pitched voice at the background was a really nice touch :)
I just saw this film today and it is easily one of the most visually striking I've seen in a long time. Even if you're not a fan of Nicolas Cage, you can't deny that the production design team and the lighting team and the editors put so much effort into making this look so one-of-a-kind.
Mandy is, without a doubt, my favorite film of the year. Thank you so much for bringing attention to it.
never clicked on a video quicker in my life. Some of your best work, absolutely loved it.
I love what you pointed out at around 6:40, that the film would "literally fall apart" if the aesthetics of the film weren't there. So many pieces of media have an interesting style but no reason to have it; its just there because its "pretty" or "creepy" or "modern" ect. Choosing a visual style for your media should be as important as choosing a theme or creating a narrative arc. It's not just something that's tacked on like an instagram filter, it should have weight and meaning.
It be interesting to do a video on what makes a great narrator a great narrator. For instance why do I like your voice so much when you narrate these? I feel like there is something in the voice.
Tempo, enunciation, and pitch are key things that I notice, that's one of the reasons Morgan Freeman is such a good narrator, he speaks slowly and clearly in a (relatively) deep tone
I've always wanted to see a War film do something like this; use such visual flare and style to really get into the sheer unpleasantness of the act of fighting and killing. I think it'd work great for an adaptation of something like Blood Red Snow, an autobiographical account of a German machine gunner on the Eastern Front and my favorite book of all time. It'd really help you get into his mind as he evolves from a young bright eyed Soldat, ready to fight and die for a cause he himself admits he doesn't really believe in, into a dreary and terrified boy, who's more scared of being captured than dying, who sees death on a scale that one who has never seen it simply cannot imagine, and who wants for nothing more than the war to end so he can go home and maybe, just maybe, start living again.
Maybe you din't, but I've always loved the smell of books, ever since I was a child.
Yeah, I'm 30 and I've always loved the smell of books. Libraries were a huge influence on that part of my senses. I feel like 'nostalgia from the smell of books' might be a myth that has gain popularity somehow?
yeah, i stopped the video right there and scrolled down to see if someone had mentioned this lol when i was a child there were no ebooks, but even in middle school we would all sniff our new manuals and storybooks. book smell has always been a thing.
Perhaps it's my OCD; perhaps it's my Asperger's, but I prefer physical books way more over a digital e-book everytime, especially when it comes to academic textbooks. I tried looking at digital e-books in a number of bookstores, but small things, like the typesetting, page layout, etc, seems just ... wrong ... to me ... Maybe it's just my perception ... I don't know ... but to me, there is something to be said for having half a dozen, maybe more, textbooks laid open in front of me, where I can flip through the physical pages to find to right information to make draft notes on the papers I used to write, way back between '95-'99 ...
Same here, and not only books... the smell of wood, the dust after the rain, different floor cleaners, mornings in a rural area, bed clothes kept in the closet, some random perfumes, the smell of old places... it's like instant childhood moments and memories, I remembered what I ate on a day around 20 years ago at a cousin's place because of the floor cleaner scent, lol.
My family's home was a renovated Farmhouse. It had a library/reading room, which became my teenage years bedroom.
The books in the wall length dated anywhere from the late 1800's to the 1980's.
The scent of aging paper and colonial age frames in the walls and floors is something so rare that I never forget how lucky I am.
Dude, you have surpassed my ability to pass up on of your videos. I don't think I could have been less interested from the title, but from 10 seconds in I was hooked. You're an awesome writer and I love coming back to get lost in your content.
Thumbs up for the 2.35:1 ratio 🔥
Yes!
Ur like the unbox therapy of the middle east i like that
why?? WTF
وش السالفة؟
sorry I’m in love with 4:3 for now
The distortions you put behind your voice was amazing. Those kinds of things you do makes your content some of the most interesting on youtube, to me. Great piece.
Here's a problem with this video - the grain does NOT translate to youtube. It just gets blurry. Not even the 1140p setting has enough bandwidth to deal with all those tiny changes from frame to frame. Grain and noise needs A LOT of keyframes in digital encoding to be visible.
it's visible just fine especially 6.28 yeah it's not the same as watching it in your monitor from the movie or a photo but it's there .i use grain all the time, I'm shooting with old vintage lenses ,if used right it gives so much to the end result
Image quality has nothing to do with keyframes. What matters for grains is image compression.
In video it interacts. It isn't just a series of jpegs. When exporting video to a mp4 file you set the number of frames between each keyframe, the only frames that gets entirely redrawn. All the ones in-between are sort of a morph between the current keyframe and the next. Exporting something with a lot of grain, and setting a high keyframe interval will result in a blurry file, much akin to what you see on youtube (and yes youtube uses mp4 compression). Setting a very short interval, for instance 1, every frame is a keyframe, will result in a perfect rendering retaining all the grain information, but a gigantic videofile which would use up a lot of bandwidth in streaming.
Haven't tried this, but I imagine upscaling the uncompressed 1080p video of this to 4K before uploading could give a much better reproduction of the grain, watching it in 4k off course, since the bandwidth of that stream is way higher.
Yes it does it's called MUD, But its the tradeoff, One Day we might be able to get a better algorithm in the compression and a low Size... One day
"as history becomes nostalgia and nostalgia becomes aesthetic" -- I've been watching your videos for a while now and I always get so lost in the way you monologue. I'll be watching the video and listening and catch myself so lost in your words. It's written so eloquently, yet concise and clear. Keep up the great work! As a designer who grew up in the 80s, I can't get enough of this aesthetic. I think our desire to return to a time where we can touch and feel things and not everything is digitized will always be present because that is what our entire reality represents -- the ethereal consciousness interacting with a physical world. I think the 80's are going to represent an important moment in history and in film though, because it's a time period that sits right in the middle of analogue and digital tech, yet before cell phones and the internet. Consequently, I think filmmakers will use this as a 'tool' for storytelling for years to come.
Love the effects you put on your voice throughout the video
Good ear.
it's more noticeable with headphones
After I saw this video, I stopped it halfway. I went to the store and bought Mandy on dvd, I just watched it with headphones on in midnight. Saw the deleted scene's and the behind the scene's after watching the whole movie. I am BLOWN AWAY. I never experienced this before. Thanks to this video I found this gem. Thanks so much for this video, so awesome!
puts a video about grain on youtube, where grain is mostly filtered out by the video codec :/
Kind of a shame, really
AV1 (the new videocodec), will be able to readd grain after it's removal though (when the source was grainy)
I am so thankful you're uploading in the correct aspect ratio unlike so many other users.
UA-cam's algorithms removes almost all grain from uploaded videos, so I'll just try to imagine how grainy this video should be.
It's impossible to imagine how grainy this movie is.
Mandy was one amazing work. Subtle things. Like Mandy having 2 different colored eyes. That incredible soundtrack, especially the softer parts. THe art style. The way it was shot. Far more interesting than movies with 6 times the budget. And of course, the Cage, obviously "all in" with this role. Instant classic.
Nice vid.
I used to like grain but became gluten intolerant...
Lol
lol 2
delet
should'a seen this coming
Gluten isn't even bad its pretty much a scheme by a company to make more money
Nerdwriter1's videos are some of the best written/created videos on UA-cam.
não tem como, o nerdwriter é o melhor nisso
Olha só kkkk
experimentem essa distorção de voz, viajei demais aqui kkkkk
@@lugrisa realmente...
Um exemplo pra encontrar inspiração, vcs chegam lá um dia
@@lugrisa já conheço o Every Frame... e Lessons from the Screenplay e os acho excelentes. Vou conferir suas indicações!
Your visual essays always have such a profound message and gives me a new way of looking at things. I started film school at the end of the 90’s and actually shot on 16mm for the first two years before we went digital and never though much about film grain until now. I say all of this to say… This movie was crazy! Off the wall bonkers.
Please do a video on First Man! The movie was amazing I would love to hear you analyze it or a part of it.
Nerdwriter is the absolute epitome of what UA-cam should be. The best youtuber there is, don't @ me.
I love the subtle voice effects during the hallucinogenic parts. Well done, Evan
This is what I come here for, every time you watch a Nerdwriter video, a part of it stays with you. You learn something.
Make an essay on Better Call Saul man
Yup! that's just too good every frame is perfectly planned and planted.
One of those rare shows/movies you can watch on silent and can follow the story and be effective
I absolutely loved Breaking Bad but never gave Better Call Saul a chance. Should I give it a go? I'm a big fan of Fargo as well.
@@dantess2693 Yeah I think there's a good chance you'll like it
Dantess26 I was the exact same as you only a few weeks ago, I binged through it just as the new season came out, I’ve enjoyed it sooooo much! It gets better as the seasons progress too. 10/10 would recommend :)
Thanks for the video, plenty of food for thought.
As an animator, you always hear how static holds don't work in CG the same as they do in traditional hand drawn animation. This could be something worth playing with to see what results I get.
I also always felt 'The Fellowship of the Ring' had an extra quality 'The Two Towers' and 'Return of the King' didn't because they switched to digital. What I would give for them all to be on film.
Had to rewatch it but the audio for this vid is spectacular. You somehow managed to aurally simulate the visual sensation of grain. Y u no has mo subs?
I can't tell you how happy it makes me that a channel of this size continues to offer substantive, insightful content on a consistent basis. Thank you nerdwriter!
*When Nicholas Cages came out from his cage, you know it's going to be lit as heck.*
Why did you do this?
And when he came out of his cage... was he doing just fine?
Despite all his rage, he is still just Nicholas Cage.
He goes all out in this. We're talking crazier than anything hes done before.
@@xanderholland6086 still not as crazy as 'vampires kiss'
I find myself being pulled in to each and every one of your videos, the way you display information and reflect it back to us. Keep doing great work man
I've always been fascinated by visual artifacts that are abhorred in one medium and yet fetishised in another. Take something like the lense flare. You try to avoid it in film (usually), and yet, in gaming, where there IS NO LENSE, you see it everywhere. Ditto for chromatic aberration, it is added purposefully to 2d game engines, while being actively canceled out for VR. Or how about scanlines? We got rid of them ASAP on our TV's, and yet now you see them pasted over the top of video in film to denote "oldness." I could go on all night . . . how about HDR photography that collapses every possible exposure into a single image, while early HDR rendering purposely overexposed the image! I just hope nobody ever fetishizes the judder caused by playing a 24fps film on a 60hz display with no interpolation!
do you know how to they could achieve that phantasmagoric FX at ua-cam.com/video/4PcpGxihPac/v-deo.html? I tried Echo but it does not blend as good as the movie.
FPS does not belong here. 24 is the one and only FPS that can be used for film and documentary. Use 60p with news, games, reality shows and maybe porn, but don't ever use it when shooting a serious and artistic film. Slow motion is a different thing, that gets downsized to 24p in post.
Some TV shows have actually had very organic looking grain by using a process called LiveGrain on digital footage. A lot of shows on HBO have used it like The Deuce, Vinyl and The Leftovers.
Nerdwriter, I am at a place you were 8 years ago when you started your channel. I like to create content and I like to do it on my own terms. You are so lucky to have a wonderful community support you in this endeavor. May the force always be with you, and you keep on inspiring the world to make more and more enriching content.
all things fascinating Much classier way of advertising your channel. I’m checking it out right now. Your thumbnail game is on point.
Your channel looks fantastic! Subscribed!
I'm in the same place you are @all things fascinating ! (even though you have 4 more subscribers than I do, hehe). Just checked out your channel and your stuff is superb. Subbed. Would love to have you on my podcast to chat sometime if you're down. Let me know!!
You pack more information into 8 minutes than most half hour documentaries can achieve. I feel like I've learned so much in the time it took to smoke a cigarette.
Same XD
Anyone know the name of the track in this video?
Children Of The New Dawn - Johann Johannsson
Oh my gosh, im so glad you made a video on the movie! I thoroughly enjoyed it and i wish more people saw it.
Would you mind doing a piece on Beyond the Black Rainbow? There are probably a few things to analyze there you may find interesting.
I really like the way you did your audios on this. It really added to it.
This video deservers a download version. No grain visible at all on youtube :( completely killed by compression.
Haven't watched a Nerdwriter video in a year. Holy crap, you've stepped your game up!
I loved smelling books as a kid over a decade before ebooks. Definitely recognized the smell of libraries. And I know a lot of other people that said the same things back then.
I am so grateful for you making your videos in true 21:9 ratio.
On behalf of all ultra-wide screen users, thank you.
One of Nick Cage’s best movie
“Our nostalgia becomes an aesthetic” 1:46, I personally find this in my addiction to cassettes and Walkman’s which I find really cool and interesting mechanisms that bring music to my ears with actual physical copies of songs unlike a name in a list of songs in my phone.
I’d love you to look at Kubricks film Barry Lyndon, the specific lenses used to use candlelight in film. I loved reading about it, even if you dont make a video about it, just have a look. Polite request by the way, not a demand. Love all your videos so far my dude.
I love the hallucinatory effects on the voiceover that match & corroborate the visuals.
Except that UA-cam filters noise so you can't add grain on UA-cam videos.
Yeah, unfortunate that the quality of grain on the YT vid can't quite capture the amount of grain apparent in the film
They don't filter it - it's how the mp4 algorithm works. Upon encoding you set a certain number of frames between each keyframe. In the keyframe every pixel is drawn anew. In between keyframes the video kind of morphs into the next one. Noise and grain however do not like this enviroment. It needs a keyframe on every frame to translate properly since every pixel changes even if nothing is happening. And no setting on youtube has that yet. Maybe if you upscaled a video from 1080p to 4k before uploading it would retain the grain, I dunno.
Loving the Ultrawide presentation, really adds to what you want to show.
Nerdwriter: let's make a video about grain.
UA-cam compression: "I'm about to end this man's whole career"
excellent video. Mandy is one of the most gorgeous films not only of this year, but that I've ever seen. I love it so much and this video does it justice!
Vinyl recordings are inferior to digital recordings. It's been proven time and again. There is a lot of misinformation out there by people who do not study music and don't understand how music gets produced and reproduced digitally. Nothing is lost when music is digitized (until you start compressing to save space) but vinyl degrades, gets scratches and dust. People who think vinyl sounds better are essentially taking sugar pills for their ears. That's not to say there's no place for it. I love experiencing music on vinyl. But for Nerdwriter to gloss over it and say "the sound quality of vinyl is amazing", when in fact it's objectively inferior to digital music, just perpetuates the misinformation.
Nobody listens to uncompressed music anymore. All the videos music and pics you see on the internet are always compressed
I always thought the "sounds better" appeal of vinyl comes from it being analogue rather than digital, so there is no resolution that you would get from discretizing the sound waves when they are digitally recorded --- the resolution is infinite.
He didn't say that vinyl is better than digital recordings. What's you're arguing about?
While the digital medium is potentially better, the music is pretty much worse across the board. Why? Dynamic range compression. Vinyl usually averages 10db or more dynamic range since it can't handle the insane compression down to 5db dynamic range that digitally mastered music nowadays have. Plus spotify and most other streaming services adding another layer of compression to normalize volumes so people don't have to touch their phones and turn volume up or down depending on track and what you get is just...complete shit. Digital music could very well surpass analog like digital video can if more people in the music industry weren't zack snyder cranking nobs, changing color and compressing to pursue "aesthetics".
Sometimes, what's "best", is not something that can be quantified in a laboratory. If the degradation of vinyl adds something fleeting and ephemeral to the music, and stamps your personal copy with unique and individual characteristics.... that CAN be better sounding than a lossless digital format which remains the same, play after play.
Plus, music made in a era where it was mastered specifically FOR vinyl, sounds great on vinyl...
Remastering analogue recordings for digital format can strip away their identity, lossless or not.
Digital is awesome. It'll last. Sure.
Vinyl has buckets of charm and a sound that's rich and warm, like the crackling of an open fire.
Some of his ideas in these videos are so profound and illuminating, I literally write them down
Its like if Gaspar Noé & David Lynch had a baby.
Jw Nj I just attended the festival of Disruption last Sunday I met Francis Ford Coppola there
Lucky you.
No it's like david lynch,gaspar noe and nicholas winding refn had a child
Yeah I agree.
@@jwnj9716 Refn has been ripping off Panos's style for the past few years, so it's really the other way around. The only Lynch film that losely fits Panos's particular era and genre of reference is "Erasherhead" (1977), while all of Lynch's later film don't fit Panos's specific point of references anymore. Panos's true points of references are a lot of psychedelic and disturbing sci-fi and horror cult films from the 70s and early 80s, especially Kubrick, Tarkovsy, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Jodorowsky, Trumbull, and Roeg.
It is said that every little thing in the world is beautiful through the eyes of a dying person.
Don't we learn to appreciate the vast majority of things, only when they are no longer there? Or at least, when we are threatened losing them?
We should appreciate every little "wow" and show it. Nerdwriter definitely does that with his videos. I have to watch Mandy!
i just watched this movie an hour ago....
ARE YOU WATCHING ME NERDWRITER!?!?!?!?!?!?
HOLY SHIT THANK YOU. I've never been able to see film grain before because, turns out, my eyes do that to everything all the time for me. I've only even seen it described in text. You have no idea how useful this is for me.
visual asmr? 😰
Hey man! I love your videos, and I really don’t want to come off as a turd here, but Mandy was shot digitally on an Arri Alexa. I think everything you say in this video still applies, I just thought it might be interesting to note that the grain was added in post, or they underexposed to add extra noise. All of this still really speaks to our nostalgia for tactile things. Even in a digital movie, they’re still trying to emulate film grain. Love your stuff! Keep up the good work!
Nerdwriter grew up with the grainy look of mandy
Wrong channel
@@luxurybuzz3681 Tell that to Zod's snapped neck
OH MY GOD PLEASE STOOOOOOOOPPPPP!!!
What the fuck. This isn't Chris Stuckmann!
Amazing video! I loved the way modulated audio and amazing visuals coming together
One of the best films with Nick Cage in it in recent years. Then again, that's not saying much.
I loved Mandy. It was such a visually inspiring movie. I've been using some of these effects before the movie was released drawing ideas from horror movies and using over saturated colors, so it was a bit surprising and a joyous moment watching it all unfold and to share work with such an amazing film.
If only we'd gotten that Superman film...
I once came here to learn about old movies and now I'm here to learn about the new ones. Bravo!
"Ruin my shirt!!!"
44
Those distortions in your voice combined with the visuals gave me goosebumps 😍😍🙌 absolutely incredible analysis video!
This film was weird , and kinda Awesome
Man, your videos are always top notch, I have gotten me a lot more critical when watching movies, and I absolutely had my appetite for them reborn thanks to discussions and analysis born by a lot of the ideas you present!
You lost me at the smell of books... that has always been a thing
為さねば成らぬナサニエル（nasa） It’s always been a thing but it’s never been a ‘feature’. It’s just been assumed. The smell of paper hadn’t been a bonus to reading a book before it was possible to read a book without it.
為さねば成らぬナサニエル（nasa） you must be young
@@casswedson2892 stfu
Totally agree. I've been smelling books, especially new ones, for over 25 years. Learned it from my mom who's been doing it since 1958 so I got lost as well.
Same. I’ve been doing it since I could read, old books especially
Okay the Nerdwriter stepped up his videos game by 200%! This is insane.
Film grain (the noise) on videos just look bad imho, doesnt do anything for me, the splotches and imperfections have their aesthetic on the other hand work well in certain settings.
Love this. Same thing is happening in music. Vinyl distortion and lofi aesthetics are really popular right now.
You've won me back with this Nerdwriter. As long as you're not dropping unannounced spoilers i'm all in.
2:10 THIEF!! Thank you, this movie is criminally overlooked
Wow, I love your essay on Mandy, I think it's really comprehensive and helpful for the understanding of the dimension and achievements of the movie. Thanks for creating this exceptional piece of work.
“As history becomes nostalgia and nostalgia because anesthetic” the blending of your words are poetry