How to Take a Perfect Movie Screenshot

The Conversation (1974)
Cinematography by Gordon Willis

⚫ The Magic Moment

A movie is composed of scenes.  A great movie typically has, maybe, five or six great scenes, maybe fewer.  These are frequently the fertile grounds for great screenshots.  Within each of these scenes is a moment that will provide that scene's best screenshot. This moment often appears to last for several frames or at least a few frames, but after a careful review of those frames it invariably turns out that one of them is what I call The Magic Moment, the frame where the scene lights up, where it suddenly develops a personality, where the magic happens.  In still photography, 19th century Frenchman Henri Cartier Bresson called it The Decisive Moment.  Cartier Bresson is considered the father of photography as an art form.

⚫6 Tips for Capturing The Magic Moment.

1.  Work with a movie you have seen.

If you have seen the movie at least a few times, you probably know where to go to find your first Magic Moment.  You know something of the plot and probably the scenes marked by humor or pathos or suspense. If you have seen it several times, you definitely know.  Exploit this knowledge.  Go to these places to find a Magic Moment.

2.. When you can, work with first-rate cinematography.

Our screenshots are snapshots of paused moving film.  Their quality can be no better than the work of the cinematographers who shot the films in the first place.  Bad cinematography will leave you little to work with.  Great cinematography can yield more than a hundred great screenshots from a single movie.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)
shot by Haskell Wexler. He won
an Oscar for Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Rio Bravo (1959), shot by Russell Harlan. He shot
Red River (1948), Witness for the Prosecution(1957),
and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Titanic (1997) shot by Russell
Carpenter who won an Oscar
for his work on this film.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
shot by Karl Struss who won an
Oscar for this film.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) shot by
Arthur Edeson. He shot Casablanca (1942),
Frankenstein (1931), and All
Quiet on the Western Front (1930).

Casablanca (1942) shot by Arthur Edeson. Notice the eyes of both actors: different thoughts and emotions

but both moving the story forward.

Sunset Blvd. (1950) shot by John
Seitz who had 174 credits as
a cinematographer.

Mister Roberts (1955) shot by 3-time
Oscar-winner Winton Hoch who
also shot The Searchers (1956).

3. Use the desktop or laptop computer with the best screen resolution.

4. Take several screenshots, one or two frames between each, in the span where you believe you will find The Magic Moment.

5. Examine the first photo, then the second.  Compare the second to the first, the third to the second, etc.  If you are unsatisfied when finished, try again in the same part of the scene, try later in the scene, or move to a different scene.

  

6. If your screenshots include human faces, closely compare facial expressions in your series.  Look at the eyes!  Which screenshot in the series has a pair or even a collection of eyes that grab your attention immediately?  If you have captured a Magic Moment, and you have identified the frame, it will be obvious in hindsight.  That frame will likely have an arresting look in the eyes of at least one actor.

 

Good luck.

Interview with a God Who Says He Is the One True God, the Creator, Director, Principal, the Father, Heavenly Father, Higher Power, Presence of Infinite Power and Love, and the Spirit of the Universe

(The interview occurred on July 21, 2022.  Here is the verbatim transcript of that interview.  Occasional editorial descriptions and explanations are paraenthetical and preceded by "Ed."  Nonverbal vocalizations and events are bracketed.)

What is your name?

Curious

What's curious?

Me.  I am.  That's my name.

Serious?

Curious

OK.  Where do you live?

I live in the 5th dimenson of existence.

With whom do you live?

We each live in our own house.  But the houses are so closely situated, it's as if we actually lived together.  Like sister wives in a polygamy union.

You said we and us.  How many gods are there?

All the Greek gods, the Roman gods, the Norse gods, the Hindu gods, the Aztec gods, the Druid gods, all the gods of indigenous peoples around your planet, and the many gods recruited and invested with godly powers by the EC, the Executive Council. So about 3,000.

I'm getting out of sequence with my prepared questions, but I have to follow up.  Why so many gods?

The EC decided to have a god for almost everything.  We have a god of sunsets, a separate god for sunrises―some of these are embarassing to say out loud―a god of Olympic volleyball, a god of recyclable cardboard―these are just coming off the top of my head, so to speak―a god of organic foods, a god of miniature sculptures, a god of vintage Levis, a god of microprocessors, a god of gods.  We even have a god of atheism.  The newest gods are the god of reparations for oppressed peoples and the god of Snickers.

Let's, uh, get back to that later.  Where were you born?

I don't know.  I don't know that I was born―not in any way that resembles how Earthlings are born.

I'll rephrase.  When did you come into existence?

I don't know precisely, but it must've been between 15 and 16 billion years ago.

What is your occupation?

I am a god.  I'm also chair of the EC and founder and president emeritus of the Curious School of Creation Science.

Describe your education.

All my life I have been a student in the school of hard knocks, so to speak.  Of course, I have learned quite a lot in 15, 16 billion years, as you can well imagine.  Oh, and I took a free online course from Harvard—18th-Century Opera: Handel and Mozart.

Contrary to popular belief, I am not all-knowing or all-seeing.  I see only what you see when your eyes and your mind are open.  I do have an eidetic memory, however, which means I recall everything.  If you give me any date in history, I'll tell you which day of the week it fell on.

Anything else you can do with your eidetic memory? 

I can recite the contents of any book I have ever read.  And I have read thousands.  I can recite all the dialog of all the movies I have ever seen.  And I have seen almost 2,000.  "Armageddon," the Al Pacino version of "Scarface," "The Wild Bunch"—the most atrocious dialog, each of them.  "The Wild Bunch" is a great movie with the sound off.

Anyway, I have read voraciously since Gutenberg, everyone from Aeschylus to Zwingli and everything from aardvarks to zymosans.  I have read and retained so much that some of my fellow gods actually believe I am all-knowing and all-seeing.  Their powers of discernment need sharpening.

Are you now or have you ever been in a commited relationship?

It's, uh, complicated.  But yes, I believe I was in a commited relationship for several billion years and I believe I am in one now.

Why did you qualify your answer with I believe?

You see, this is where it gets complicated.  Two billion years ago my wife, the god Lyflower, was reassigned to a distant sector of the 6th dimension.  I was offered the opportunity to take a joint reassignment and go with her.  I declined.

Why?

Well, although everything in the 6th dimension was so much nicer than what we had here, I turned it down because Aphrodite was here.  Lyflower has waged legal warfare ever since and is stubbornly refusing to consent to a divorce.

Meanwhile, I truly am in a commited relationship with the god Aphrodite.  We love each other.  And according to the Executive Council, we could quote unquote marry in a civil union ceremony while waiting for Lyflower to relent.  Fat chance of her ever doing that.

Why don't you accept the EC's offer and quote unquote marry in a civil union?

Because the further terms of the offer are that Aphrodite relinquish her status as a god, become mortal, and change her name to Feces.  It doesn't mean up here what it means down there.  But still—.

Do you have children?

Oh yes, three girls by Lyflower—Celeste, Aurora, and Quasar.

You have no sons?

God no!  Boys are pigs.  They can't pee straight, their bathrooms stink, their bedrooms stink, their feet stink.  Pigs.

I have to go off-script again.  Give me a minute.

OK.  The fax—a fax, dude!—I received from you while I was on my way out the door says you are quote the one true god, the creator, director, principal, the father, heavenly father, higher power, presence of infinite power and love, and the spirit of the universe unquote.

Yes.  That's me.

Curious.

Yes?

No, I mean I find all of this curious.  Who are you, really?  You communicate by fax.  I could understand a fountain pen or goose quill or even smoke signals, carrier pidgeons, or an IBM Selectric III.  You carry business cards, orange business cards, that quite frankly look as though you laminated them yourself with shipping tape.  Each card contains the litany of your nicknames.  And now you tell me you have no sons?  I, uh,  I—let's take a break.

Yes, good, I'm enjoying this.

[195-minute break]

If you could live anywhere, where would you live?

Aphrodite and I are so excited about the move to the 7th dimension!  We've seen the brochures!

If you could live anywhere in Earth's galaxy—the Milky Way—where would you live?

Saturn.  Those rings are dope.

If you could live anywhere on Earth, where would you live?

The Ritz-Carlton, Manhattan or Paris.

What is your favorite Earthling book?

It's a three-way tie.  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  Dune.  And Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary.

What is your favorite Earthling movie?

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 bruxelles.  Brilliant.

What is your favorite Earthling piece of music?

Enter Sandman is my favorite song.  Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is my favorite longer work.

If you could be any human being in history, who would you be?

Santa Claus.

Last question.  If you could take any god into battle with you, whom would you take?

Sweetheart, if you're watching this, I'm sorry—but you are a lover, not a fighter.

Let me see.  Let me see.  Aries would be the smart choice.  But I would choose my godfather, Zeus.

I'm, uh, I know we've already gone overtime, but—sorry to do this, but my editor and producer need me to ask one more question.  Our viewers will want to know how long you're prepared to wait for Lyflower to agree to a divorce.

I've been married 10 billion years to shrill shreaking lunacy.  How long will I wait?  Till hell freezes over.

Bookman's 101 Favorite Movies

Lee J. Cobb as Juror number 3 in 12 Angry Men (1957)

Bookman's 101 Favorite Movies is a 28-minute, 20-second screenshot video with all 101 movies, more than 300 screenshots, and rousing, familiar theme music from six of those movies.  Additional music accompanies the closing credits that will keep you glued to your seat.  These are my favorite movies, not a collection of the greatest films ever made.  I applied only one criterion to the movies that made the list.  They had to be movies that, if any of them came up in conversation, I would exclaim, "That's one of my all-time favorite movies!"  

Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Bookman's 101 Favorite Movies (Abbreviated Version) is an 18-minute, 42-second slideshow video of all 101 movies. The music accompanying the screenshots is George Gershwin's "An American in Paris."  Enjoy.

Bookman's Top Ten Movies

I was challenged by a friend to list my top ten movies and for each one to write one sentence explaining or showing why it's on my list.  I accept that challenge.

1.   Casablanca (1942).  This movie hits all my buttons—great script, love story, characters, cinematography, acting, musical score, plus that one great moment that pushes this movie over the top for me.

2.   Chinatown (1974).  Great story, acting, dialogue, cinematography, art direction, costuming—plus Jack Nicholson, whose characterization of Jake Gittes gives me the same high I get from watching Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon .

3.   North by Northwest (1959).  Cary Grant's character and performance and Ernest Lehman's script make this movie fun and exhilarating.

4.   The Maltese Falcon (1941).  Humphrey Bogart.

5.   West Side Story (1961).  This was the first serious movie I saw at the theater when I was a kid (age 7) and is the movie that has influenced me the most as a moviegoer.

6.   The Godfather (1972).  I love watching the transformation of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) through all three "Godfather" movies, and this is the best of the three.

7.   Annie Hall (1977).  Woody Allen has lost my vote as a father and a human being, gained my sympathy as a sick man, and I still laugh at every joke but one in this movie because I see Alvy Singer and not Allen on the screen.

8.   Rear Window (1954).  Over the years, this movie has steadily moved up in my esteem, mostly due to the acting of Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, and Wendell Corey.

9.   It Happened One Night (1934).  I never get tired of watching this movie.

10. The Philadelphia Story (1940).  Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn are hilarious and give standout performances, supported by a first-rate script and a motley crew of nutjobs.