Most people who love movies can remember the one film that flipped a switch inside their head and awoke the movie nerd within them. But falling in love with cinema is hardly a one-and-done procedure, it's an evolution—at least it has been for me.

Blue Velvet showed me movies could be art, but it was The Graduate that showed me movies must be crafted. The shot composition, the wardrobe, the needle drops—everything you see and hear is the result of a decision being made. Movies are made on purpose.

The final shot in The Graduate is iconic for a reason, and I obsessed over it for years. Everything about that movie is so meticulously designed, so I knew in my heart that this frame-within-a-frame shot had to be intentional—but I couldn't prove it. Until one day I found the answer. It wasn't quite the answer I was looking for, but it was the one I needed.

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Thanks for coming to Movie Practice, where I make short films and explore ideas related to cinema as a way of putting myself through DIY film school. Because to me the two main things you get from film school are access to a community of fellow filmmakers and a safe space to fail and learn quickly. To burn your first few pancakes, so to speak. So that's what I'm doing. I'm giving myself an assignment, going out and making a short film, and posting it on here. And hopefully through sharing this process with you all, I might supplement that community part too.

FOLLOW ME
Instagram |   / granti_panti  
TikTok |   / grantdougharty  

WATCH MY SHORT FILM — ZIP
   • A couple's argument turns into a Wild...  

WATCH MY VIDEO ESSAY ON NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
   • Set-Ups, Punchlines, and No Country F...  

WATCH MY PREVIOUS SHORT FILM — SENSE
   • A man begins to suspect he's being wa...  

Movies Referenced:
The Graduate (1967)
Mirror (1975)
Barney & Friends (1995)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
iCarly (2007)
Dolemite is My Name (2019)
The Fast and The Furious (2001)
Oceans 11 (2001)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Eraserhead (1977)
Amélie (2001)
Mad Max Fury Road (2015)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Vertigo (1958)
The Master (2012)
Rashomon (1950)
A Few Good Men (1992)
The Hidden (1987)

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Meet Bill and learn more about his famous bus!
‪@Unit2345‬

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Music made by yours truly.

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Chapters:
00:00 The Awakening of a Movie Nerd
01:20 Stage 1: Blue Velvet | Film as an Artform
03:06 Stage 2: The Graduate | Film as a Craft
05:32 The Bus | Movies Are Made On Purpose
08:44 Zip | Caring About The Details
09:37 The Curtains Are F*cking Blue
11:21 Stage 3: Film as an Experience