THE FILMMAKER’S EYE

LEARNING (AND BREAKING) THE RULES OF CINEMATIC COMPOSITION

SECOND EDITION

TFE2.indd 1 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 THE FILMMAKER’S EYE
LEARNING (AND BREAKING) THE RULES OF CINEMATIC COMPOSITION

SECOND EDITION

GUSTAVO MERCADO

TFE2.indd 3 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 Front cover image: John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chad Stahelski, 2017). Courtesy of AF archive / Alamy Stock Photo

Second edition published 2022

by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2022 Taylor & Francis

The right of Gustavo Mercado to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by Focal Press 2010

Library of Congress Cataloging–in–Publication Data

Names: Mercado, Gustavo, author.
Title: The filmmaker's eye : learning (and breaking) the rules of cinematic composition / Gustavo Mercado.
Description: Second edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021042314 (print) | LCCN 2021042315 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367898397 (hbk) | ISBN 9781138780316 (pbk)
| ISBN 9781315770857 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Cinematography. | Motion pictures--Aesthetics.
Classification: LCC TR892 .M47 2022 (print) | LCC TR892 (ebook) | DDC 777--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042314
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042315

DOI: 10.4324/9781315770857

Typeset and cover design by Gustavo Mercado

Original illustrations and photographs (except where indicated) by Gustavo Mercado

Publisher’s Note
This book has been prepared from camera–ready copy provided by the author

TFE2.indd 4 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 This book is dedicated to my parents, Julio and Maria Mercado,
whose love and respect for film continue to inspire me.

TFE2.indd 5 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 contents

acknowledgments XI
preface to the second edition XIII

introduction 1
finding the frame 5
image systems 11
rules of cinematic composition
& technical concepts 21

SIZES
extreme close-up 43
close-up 49
medium close-up 55
medium shot 61
medium long shot 67
long shot 73
extreme long shot 79

CONVENTIONS
over the shoulder shot 87
establishing shot 93
subjective shot 99
two shot 105
group shot 111

VII

TFE2.indd 7 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 split-screen shot 117
canted shot 123
overhead shot 129
inverted shot 135
emblematic shot 141
abstract shot 147
macro shot 153
zoom shot 159

DYNAMICS
pan shot 167
tilt shot 173
dolly shot 179
dolly zoom shot 185
tracking shot 191
Steadicam ® shot * 197
crane shot 203
aerial shot 209
sequence shot 215

filmography 221
image credits 227
index 229

*Steadicam® is a registered trademark of the Tiffen Company

VIII

TFE2.indd 8 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to all the individuals who helped in the preparation of this book through their kind support,
contributions, and expertise.
I am sincerely grateful to my past and present team at Focal Press: Robert Clements, Anne McGee, Dennis Schaefer, Chris
Simpson, Dennis McGonagle, Kattie Washington, Elliana Arons, Peter Linsley, Sheni Kruger, Simon Jacobs, Stacey Carter, Siân
Cahill, and the wonderful Sarah Pickles. I am especially grateful to Elinor Actipis, who provided me with invaluable guidance
and suggestions from start to finish (including a great title), took the time to nurture a first time author, and had an unwavering
commitment to preserving the original concept behind this book.
I also want to thank my colleagues in the Film & Media Studies Department at Hunter College of the City University of New York,
whose passion and dedication to studying and teaching the art and craft of film has always been a source of encouragement
and inspiration, among them: Peter Jackson, Sha Sha Feng, David Pavlosky, Renato Tonelli, Richard Barsam, Michael Gitlin,
Andrew Lund, Ivone Margulies, Joe McElhaney, Robert Stanley, and Joel Zuker. I would also like to acknowledge the support
of Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab, Provost Vita C. Rabinowitz, Dean Shirley Clay Scott, and Film & Media Studies
Department Chair James Roman, who foster an atmosphere that encourages faculty scholarship and excellence in teaching.
I am also grateful to Jerry Carlson, David Davidson, Herman Lew, and Lana Lin at the City College of the City University of New
York, and to Ken Dancyger at New York University, who were generous with their knowledge and mentorship. Thanks should
also go to my researchers: Elvis Maynard, Lisa Chin, and Júnia Caldeira.
My reviewers provided me with wonderful suggestions and undoubtedly made this a better book than it would have been other-
wise: David A. Anselmi at the University of California Berkeley Extension, David Crossman at Ravensbourne College of Design
and Communication, David Tainer at DePaul University, and especially Katherine Hurbis-Cherrier at New York University, who
always had le mot juste whenever I needed it.
The following individuals were also extremely generous with their input and assistance during the preparation of the second
edition: Florian Ballhaus ASC, Pam Katz, Denson Baker ACS / NZCS, Claire McCarthy, Eric Steelberg ASC, Kim Sung-ho, and
Nic Sadler. I also greatly benefitted from the steadfast support of Hunter College's current administration, among them: Acting
Provost Valeda Dent, Dean Andrew J. Polsky, and Film & Media Studies Department Chair Kelly Anderson.
This book would also not have been possible without the boundless patience, support, and encouragement of my dearest wife
Yuki Takeshima, who put up with many late nights and early mornings of her husband staring at a monitor.
But I am most grateful of all to my teacher, colleague, mentor, and "brother from another mother", Mick Hurbis-Cherrier,
whose illuminating comments, ideas, and guidance were instrumental in the development of the manuscript. His teachings and
passion for cinema resonate through every page of the book you now hold in your hands.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XI

TFE2.indd 11 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 John Wick: Chapter 3 ‒ Parabellum. Chad Stahelski, Director; Dan Laustsen, Cinematographer. 2019.

XII

TFE2.indd 12 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 preface to the second edition
By most measures, ten years is a long time, but technology
advances so quickly that it feels longer. If someone had told
me in 2010 that in ten years I would shoot 4K video at up to 120
frames per second with an extended dynamic range, built-in
stabilization, with any one of three built-in lenses on a smart-
phone that would also let me edit, color correct, and add
transitions and titles, I would have thought they were crazy.
The movie industry also underwent a technological revolu-
tion during this period; in 2010, most feature films were still
being shot on 35mm film, and only a fraction on digital video.
By 2020, that proportion was completely inverted, with only
a handful of directors still shooting on film while the major-
ity of movies are shot with high-end digital cinema cameras
(like Chad Stahelski's John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, on
the opposite page, shot with the Alexa SXT Plus and the Alexa
Mini).
The prosumer market also had game-changing de-
velopments; SD video gave way to HD and 4K, with 8K and
12K cameras already coming. Video-capable DSLRs, in their
infancy in 2010, were joined by digital cinema cameras and
a slew of mirrorless cameras, while improvements in CMOS
sensor technology made it possible to shoot with dynamic
ranges (with ISOs in the hundreds of thousands) that rival,
and in some cases surpass, 35mm film. While all of these
technological breakthroughs had immense repercussions in
the professional and independent filmmaking communities,
the DSLR revolution also ushered in another major change;
it finally made it possible for amateur filmmakers shooting
on video to use interchangeable lenses, giving them access
to the same optical aesthetics only big-budget movies us-
ing expensive equipment previously had. In just ten years,
the expectations of what commercial and independent films
TFE2.indd 13
should look and sound like have been completely redefined,
especially when filmmakers like Sean Baker (Tangerine, 2015)
and Steven Soderbergh (Unsane, 2018) are shooting feature
films on iPhones. If we also consider the effect social media
platforms have had in funding, marketing, and distribution,
the picture becomes clear: it has never been easier or more
affordable to make a movie and share it with the world.
The second edition of The Filmmaker's Eye has been
completely updated to take into account all of these develop-
ments and more. Lenses in particular have been given a spe-
cial focus in the "Technical Considerations" section of every
chapter, and advice related to exposure, lighting, and pro-
duction logistics topics was revised to reflect current practice
and equipment. The entire "Rules of Cinematic Composition
& Technical Concepts" chapter was also revamped to include
extended discussions of every rule, the revival of the aspect
ratio as a more flexible narrative tool, and all of the newly
available options for shot previsualization. Additionally, every
case study was re-examined and expanded, and brand-new
shot types added.
The Filmmaker's Eye was the first book to system-
atically analyze the rules of cinematic composition while
taking into account the specific narrative contexts and tools
necessary to fully unleash their expressive power. Ten years
later, I believe this new edition is perfectly timed to inspire a
new generation of filmmakers for whom "35mm lens adap-
tors", "SD video", and "16mm film" are relics of outdated
technologies. Thankfully, although the way we make mov-
ies has changed drastically, it has not affected the rules of
composition (or how to break them) at all; they remain as
relevant today as they have been since the birth of cinema
over a hundred years ago. Here's to the next hundred years!
PREFACE XIII
2/21/22 1:36 AM
 Up in the Air. Jason Reitman, Director; Eric Steelberg, Cinematographer. 2009.

TFE2.indd 14 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 introduction
A group of friends and I went to see Jason Reitman’s Up in
the Air soon after it was released. Returning from the the-
atre, we discussed the movie; most of my friends liked it,
some found it a bit slow, and others thought it was a mas-
terpiece. At one point, the discussion focused on the cin-
ematography, and someone recalled how brilliant the shot
shown on the opposite page was. Regardless of our opinions
of the film, we were all in agreement about how particularly
poignant that image had been. Interestingly, we could recall
everything about the shot: its composition, when it had hap-
pened in the film, and most importantly why we all felt it was
so powerful. While there were many other interesting shots
and moments in the film, there was something special about
this image that really resonated with all of us, regardless of
how we felt about the film as a whole. What was it? Was it the
shot's composition? The actor's performance? The art direc-
tion? Or was there something else that made this specific
shot so memorable?
To understand why this shot works so well, we need
to know a bit about the context in which it appears. Lead-
ing up to this scene, Natalie (Anna Kendrick), a corporate
up-and-comer who devises a way to fire employees remotely
using webcams, was asked to join Ryan (George Clooney),
a corporate termination specialist who feels her system is
too impersonal, so she could experience what it takes to fire
people face to face. After a heart-wrenching montage of em-
ployees reacting to news of their termination, the film cuts
to this shot of Natalie sitting alone in a room full of office
chairs as she waits for Ryan. When he arrives to pick her
up he casually asks her if she is OK, but she shrugs off the
question and they leave. Now that we know the backstory, we
can better understand what makes this image so effective.
TFE2.indd 1
Composition-wise, the shot does not appear to be particu-
larly complex: a long shot shows Natalie in an empty office
surrounded by office chairs. If we look closer, however, and
break down the shot into its visual elements, the rules of
composition used to arrange them in the frame, and its tech-
nical aspects, a more intricate picture emerges.
The use of a long shot (a shot that includes a sub-
ject’s entire body and a large portion of their environment) al-
lowed a large number of empty chairs to be seen clustered
around Natalie, which, given the context of the scene, suggest
the number of people she fired that day. The high angle from
which the shot was taken not only lets us see all of the chairs
in the room (if it had been taken at eye-level only the chairs
in the foreground would have been visible) but also makes
Natalie look defeated, vulnerable, and even distraught (high
angles are often used to visualize these emotions in charac-
ters). Her placement in the frame follows the Rule of Thirds,
creating a dynamic composition that gives her looking room
on the right side; however, she does not have the standard
amount of headroom for a long shot, a technique commonly
used to reinforce an unusual or awkward dramatic moment.
Additionally, her placement and comparatively small size
also make it look as if the chairs are cornering her, seem-
ingly in retaliation for the people she fired (placing her at
the center of the composition would not have conveyed this
idea); the haphazard chair arrangement could also be in-
terpreted as a visualization of the turmoil Natalie caused in
their lives that day. Every one of these compositional choices
was perfectly complemented by a precise camera to subject
distance, focal length, and aperture combination that result-
ed in a depth of field that allowed everything in the office to
be in sharp focus, ensuring the audience could concentrate
INTRODUCTION 1
2/21/22 1:36 AM
 their attention on not just Natalie, but also on everything else
sharing that space with her (if a shallow depth of field had
been used instead, the chairs in the foreground and in the
background would have been out of focus). When all of the
visual elements in the composition of this shot are consid-
ered, they reveal that, behind the corporate, no-nonsense
exterior Natalie projects, she hides an emotional side of her
personality that is deeply affected by the real human fallout
of her profession. But the beauty and dramatic weight of this
image was not achieved by mechanically applying the rules
of composition; this shot works as well as it does because
its technical elements, compositional choices, and narrative
context were considered in equal measure to communicate
a very specific idea. This brilliant moment made a strong and
lasting impression on my friends and me because it was not
just visually striking, but also narratively resonant and elo-
quent.
The Filmmaker's Eye presents an integrated ap-
proach to understanding and applying the rules of cinematic
composition, one that takes into account both the techni-
cal and narrative aspects that make shots like the example
from Up in the Air so powerful. This new method provides a
deep and discursive exploration into one of the fundamental
elements of the visual language of cinema—the shot. By
focusing on the rules of cinematic composition as they ap-
ply to each of the most widely used shots of the cinematic
vocabulary, examining the tools, techniques, and know-how
necessary to create them, and analyzing their narrative func-
tion within their respective films, we will develop a deeper,
more functional understanding about what it takes to cre-
ate visually compelling and narratively meaningful images.
But why focus on the rules of composition as they apply to
TFE2.indd 2
specific shot types instead of looking at these principles in
a broader, more general sense? The answer is simple. As
the language of cinema expanded its vocabulary, the way
certain rules of composition and cinematic techniques were
applied to some shots became standardized, in the same
way certain shot sizes developed specialized narrative func-
tions (like using close-ups to showcase emotion and ex-
treme long shots to introduce locations, for instance). For
these reasons, examining how compositional rules func-
tion in a general sense could never demonstrate their full
narrative potential, since their application and execution in
cinematic storytelling is often context-specific. Only a de-
tailed analysis of each specific shot type can fully reveal the
mechanics that contributed to their becoming conventions
in the first place. These so-called "rules" are not written in
stone (and thank goodness or our art form would calcify);
they are, in fact, remarkably flexible and not only can, but
should be subverted when appropriate to create shots that
have a fresh impact and resonate in surprising or even
contradictory ways. Sometimes, analyzing the exception to
a rule can reveal a valuable lesson about why and how it
works in the first place. For this reason, every chapter in-
cludes an example where rules were purposely ignored in
creative, unexpected, and narratively compelling ways. You
will find that the old adage “learn the rules so you know
how to break them properly” works just as advertised.
This book's focus on the basic building blocks of
the cinematic vocabulary precludes a comprehensive dis-
cussion of every possible technical and aesthetic concept
related to visual composition in movies; however, key terms
shown in italics are defined in the "Rules of Cinematic
Composition & Technical Concepts" chapter. For a super-
2/21/22 1:36 AM
 lative guide to the technical aspects of film production, I ing of what makes the rules work, one that takes into ac-
highly recommend a book I was fortunate to work on as count the synergy that inevitably happens when they are im-
an illustrator and research advisor, written by my friend, plemented within a given narrative context. I sincerely hope
mentor, and colleague Mick Hurbis-Cherrier, titled Voice the case studies in this book will inspire you next time you
& Vision: A Creative Approach to Narrative Filmmaking. In are faced with the creative challenge of framing your next
many ways, The Filmmaker’s Eye book series was inspired shot.
by Voice & Vision's look at how every technical, aesthetic,
narrative, and logistical aspect behind the making of a film
can be harnessed to develop a cohesive creative vision. I
would also suggest checking out Michael Rabiger and Mick
Hurbis-Cherrier's Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthet-
ics, to get a broader sense of a director's perspective
on not just cinematic composition, but every tool at their
disposal to develop a unique artistic identity and directo-
rial style, from idea development and working with actors, to
editing techniques and distribution strategies. Lastly, for an
in-depth understanding of how master cinematographers
use lenses with the rules of cinematic composition to cre-
ate visually captivating and meaningful images, you need to
look no further than the second installment in The Film-
maker's Eye series, The Language of the Lens: The Power
of Lenses and the Expressive Cinematic Image, currently
the only book that systematically analyzes narrative lens
techniques and their storytelling applications from a film-
maker's perspective.
The Filmmaker’s Eye takes a new approach to un-
derstanding the rules of cinematic composition (and how to
break them) that goes beyond technical descriptions and
basic utilitarian narrative conventions. This is most definitely
not a “paint by numbers” recipe for shot composition; the
aim is to make you aware of the tonal impact and thematic
resonance that is possible with a more nuanced understand-

INTRODUCTION 3

TFE2.indd 3 2/21/22 1:36 AM

 The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola, Director; Gordon Willis, Cinematographer. 1972.

TFE2.indd 4 2/21/22 1:36 AM

References
1984. Dir. Michael Radford . Virgin, 1984.
2001: A Space Odyssey. Dir. Stanley Kubrick . Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1968.
3 Monkeys. Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan . Zeynofilm, 2008.
The 400 Blows. Dir. François Truffaut . Les Films du Carrosse, 1959.
A Hidden Life. Dir. Terrence Malick . Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2019.
Agora. Dir. Alejandro Amenábar . Mod Producciones, 2009.
Amélie. Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet . Claudie Ossard Productions, 2001.
Apocalypto. Dir. Mel Gibson . Icon Productions, 2006.
The Avengers. Dir. Joss Whedon . Marvel Studios, 2012.
“Bad Choice Road”. Better Call Saul, created by Vince Gilligan , Peter Gould , season 5, episode 9, High Bridge Productions, 2015.
Ballet mécanique. Dir. Fernand Léger . Synchro-Ciné, 1924.
Beau Travail. Dir. Claire Denis . La Sept-Arte, 1999.
Being John Malkovich. Dir. Spike Jonze . Gramercy Pictures, 1999.
Being There. Dir. Hal Ashby . Lorimar Film Entertainment, 1979.
“The Betrayal”. My Brilliant Friend, created by Saverio Costanzo , season 2, episode 5, Fandango, 2018.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu . New Regency Productions, 2014.
The Bourne Supremacy. Dir. Paul Greengrass . Universal Pictures, 2004.
Brazil. Dir. Terry Gilliam . Embassy International Pictures, 1985.
Broken Embraces. Dir. Pedro Almodóvar . Universal Pictures International, 2009.
Caché. Dir. Michael Haneke . Les Films du Losange, 2005.
Children of Men. Dir. Alfonso Cuarón . Universal Pictures, 2006.
City of God. Dirs. Fernando Meirelles , Kátia Lund. O2 Filmes, 2002.
Clockers. Dir. Spike Lee . Universal Pictures, 1995.
Confessions. Dir. Tetsuya Nakashima . Toho Company, 2010.
The Conversation. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola . American Zoetrope, 1974.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Dir. Ang Lee . Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, 2000.
Die Hard. Dir. John McTiernan . Twentieth Century Fox, 1988.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Dir. Julian Schnabel . Pathé, 2007.
Dogville. Dir. Lars von Trier . Zentropa Entertainments, 2003.
Don’t Look Now. Dir. Nicolas Roeg . Casey Productions, 1973.
The Elephant Man. Dir. David Lynch . Brooksfilms, 1980.
Enter the Void. Dir. Gaspar Noé . Fidélité Films, 2009.
Event Horizon. Dir. Paul W. S. Anderson . Paramount Pictures, 1997.
Ex Machina. Dir. Alex Garland . A24, 2014.
Exiled. Dir. Johnnie To . Media Asia Films, 2006.
Fallen Angels. Dir. Kar-Wai Wong . Block 2 Pictures, 1995.
Flowers. Dirs. Jon Garaño , José Mari Goenaga . Departamento de Cultura del Gobierno Vasco, 2014.
Full Metal Jacket. Dir. Stanley Kubrick . Warner Bros., 1987.
Gattaca. Dir. Andrew Niccol . Columbia Pictures, 1997.
The Godfather. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola . Paramount Pictures, 1972.
Gomorrah. Dir. Matteo Garrone . Fandango, 2008.
Goodfellas. Dir. Martin Scorsese . Warner Bros., 1990.
The Graduate. Dir. Mike Nichols . Lawrence Truman Productions, 1967.
The Grand Budapest Hotel. Dir. Wes Anderson . Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2014.
Gretel & Hansel. Dir. Oz Perkins . Orion Pictures, 2020.
Hot Fuzz. Dir. Edgar Wright . Universal Pictures, 2007.
The Hurt Locker. Dir. Kathryn Bigelow . Voltage Pictures, 2008.
I Am Not Madame Bovary. Dir. Feng Xiaogang . Beijing Skywheel Entertainment Co., 2016.
In Bruges. Dir. Martin McDonagh . Focus Features, 2008.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dir. Steven Spielberg . Paramount Pictures, 1981.
Into the Wild. Dir. Sean Penn . Paramount Vantage, 2007.
Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Dir. Chantal Akerman . Paradise Films, 1975.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Dir. Chad Stahelski . Lionsgate, 2019.
Joker. Dir. Todd Phillips . Warner Bros., 2019.
Kagemusha. Dir. Akira Kurosawa . Toho Company, 1980.
La Haine. Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz . Le Studio Canal+, 1995.
Last Year at Marienbad. Dir. Alain Resnais . Cocinor, 1961.
Léon: The Professional. Dir. Luc Besson . Gaumont, 1994.
Let the Right One In. Dir. Tomas Alfredson . EFTI, 2008.
Lichtspiel Opus 1. Dir. Walter Ruttmann . Ruttmann-Film, 1921.
The Lighthouse. Dir. Robert Eggers . A24, 2019.
The Lives of Others. Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck . Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion, 2006.
The Marriage of Maria Braun. Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder . Albatros Filmproduktion, 1979.
Marshland. Dir. Alberto Rodríguez . Atípica Films, 2014.
The Matrix Reloaded. Dirs. Lana Wachowski , Lilly Wachowski . Warner Bros., 2003.
Memories of Murder. Dir. Bong Joon-Ho . CJ Entertainment, 2003.
Michael Clayton. Dir. Tony Gilroy . Castle Rock Entertainment, 2007.
Mission: Impossible. Dir. Brian De Palma . Paramount Pictures, 1996.
Mystery Train. Dir. Jim Jarmusch . JVC Entertainment Networks, 1989.
Naked. Dir. Mike Leigh . Thin Man Films, 1993.
Napoleon. Dir. Abel Gance . Ciné France, 1927.
Oldboy. Dir. Park Chan-Wook . Show East, 2003.
Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood. Dir. Quentin Tarantino . Columbia Pictures, 2019.
Once Upon a Time in the West. Dir. Sergio Leone . Rafran Cinematografica, 1968.
Paris, Texas. Dir. Wim Wenders . Road Movies Filmproduktion, 1984.
The Passenger. Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni . Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1975.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Dir. Tom Tykwer . DreamWorks Pictures, 2006.
The Piano. Dir. Jane Campion . CiBy 2000, 1993.
The Proposition. Dir. John Hillcoat . UK Film Council, 2005.
Pulp Fiction. Dir. Quentin Tarantino . A Band Apart, 1994.
Raise the Red Lantern. Dir. Yimou Zhang . Century Communications, 1991.
Ratcatcher. Dir. Lynne Ramsay . Pathé Pictures International, 1999.
Reconstruction. Dir. Christoffer Boe . HR. Boe & Co., 2003.
Requiem for a Dream. Dir. Darren Aronofsky . Artisan Entertainment, 2000.
Reservoir Dogs. Dir. Quentin Tarantino . Live Entertainment, 1992.
The Revenant. Dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu . New Regency Productions, 2015.
The Rock. Dir. Michael Bay . Hollywood Pictures, 1996.
Rocky. Dir. John G. Avildsen . Chartoff-Winkler Productions, 1976.
Rope. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock . Warner Bros., 1948.
The Royal Tenenbaums. Dir. Wes Anderson . Touchstone Pictures, 2001.
Russian Ark. Dir. Aleksandr Sokurov . The State Hermitage Museum, 2002.
The Secret in Their Eyes. Dir. Juan José Campanella . Tornasol Films, 2009.
Sex and Lucía. Dir. Julio Medem . Canal+ España, 2001.
The Shawshank Redemption. Dir. Frank Darabont . Castle Rock Entertainment, 1994.
The Shining. Dir. Stanley Kubrick . Warner Bros., 1980.
Sicario. Dir. Denis Villeneuve . Lionsgate, 2015.
Sid and Nancy. Dir. Alex Cox . Zenith Entertainment, 1986.
The Silence of the Lambs. Dir. Jonathan Demme . Orion Pictures, 1991.
Snatch. Dir. Guy Ritchie . Columbia Pictures, 2000.
The Social Network. Dir. David Fincher . Columbia Pictures, 2010.
Solaris. Dir. Steven Soderbergh . Twentieth Century Fox, 2002.
The Soloist. Dir. Joe Wright . DreamWorks Pictures, 2009.
Stalker. Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky . Mosfilm, 1979.
Star Wars: Episode IV ‒ A New Hope. Dir. George Lucas . Lucasfilm, 1977.
Suspense. Dirs. Phillips Smalley , Lois Weber . Rex Motion Picture Company, 1913.
Swimming Pool. Dir. François Ozon . Fidélité Productions, 2003.
Taxi Driver. Dir. Martin Scorsese . Columbia Pictures, 1976.
Thelma & Louise. Dir. Ridley Scott . Pathé Entertainment, 1991.
The Thin Red Line. Dir. Terrence Malick . Fox 2000 Pictures, 1998.
Timecode. Dir. Mike Figgis . Screen Gems, 2000.
Touch of Evil. Dir. Orson Welles . Universal International Pictures, 1958.
Trainspotting. Dir. Danny Boyle . Channel Four Films, 1996.
The Truman Show. Dir. Peter Weir . Paramount Pictures, 1998.
Uncut Gems. Dirs. Benny Safdie , Josh Safdie . A24, 2019.
Up in the Air. Dir. Jason Reitman . Paramount Pictures, 2009.
Vertigo. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock . Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, 1958.
WALL-E. Dir. Andrew Stanton . Pixar Animation Studios, 2008.
War and Peace, Part I: Andrei Bolkonsky. Dir. Sergey Bondarchuk . Mosfilm, 1965.
What Time Is It There? Dir. Ming-liang Tsai . Arena Films, 2001.
Wings of Desire. Dir. Wim Wenders . Road Movies Filmproduktion, 1987.