Harry Merritt

Full Stack Developer | Optimist | Film lover @moonshot_film

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

https://t.co/Vja0Bp5IkV is me.

My passion for film runs deep, from the silver screen to physical film.

Back in 2019 I bought a 16mm print of "Under the Men's Tree" - a film that can't be watched online, but one I wanted to see even if it meant scanning, and restoring it myself.

[Moonshot Film @moonshot_film]

A new https://t.co/JnkZVQbKZW restoration.

Under the Men's Tree (1970). Directed by David and Judith MacDougall.

A fascinating ethnographic film focusing on a Jie cattle camp in Uganda.

https://t.co/AHshLQSbRL

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@kgcrossov3r Every single modern one is *significantly* worse than the original.

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)
North by Northwest (1959)
On the Beach (1959)
Our Man in Havana (1959)
Rio Bravo (1959)
The Crimson Kimono (1959)

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

Of the 1950s films I've seen, and there are quite a few I've yet to see, I can recommend the following:

In a Lonely Place (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The Breaking Point (1950)
The Gunfighter (1950)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

...

[bebe @huppertspiano]

what if i say 1950s was kinda an awful time for cinema

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

Search for Paradise (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
The Lineup (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@huppertspiano 50s cinema is absolutely one of the best decades, second only to the 40s and 30s of course

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@mattbramanti

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@0hour1 A ship out at sea is literally the best place to have an outbreak since you can literally guarantee it doesn't spread all while dealing with it on the ship.

Of course they didn't do that and instead docked up at every destination country they could...

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

(as seen by the accompanying video, where men are outside, doing things)

Of course reading/writing was always done indoors, but you wouldn't say that was 'execution'. To achieve anything you had to 'stand up' and go outside. An online economy allows for indoor execution.

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

Funny how in the modern era we say "sit down" when talking about execution, when for all of human history it was "stand up"

[iAm-paquetta @guesswhoiiamm]

execution is becoming the rarest skill on the planet.

ideas, capital, connections don’t matter if you cant sit down and build

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

Additionally, there seems to be a widening separation between the philosophy of photography, and that of cinematography, when really they should be very similar.

The more cinematographers diverge from the lessons of still photography the worse it gets.

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

No idea what causes it, but I've seen several modern cinematographers and colourists talk about the dullest footage you've ever seen and be like 'beautiful'

(Meaning) They think it looks good and actually aim to get this result. Their philosophy for aesthetics is all wrong.

[neet @kabhinietzsche]

Can film studies oomf explain this phenomena? It's genuinely bizarre how our society as a whole has just become so colour and light averse

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@pmarca Only true since most people have negative taste

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@BadIdeasForLife @GangsterCinema Don't be a square just release them

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@bf_crane A fake oner is equivalent to stolen valor

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@RoytaMustDie It's the exact same thing that is plaguing the film industry — if you were to speak to them they will tell you it looks better this way.

It's downstream of having a bad philosophy of aesthetics. They have the knowledge to do it, but no desire because they see no need.

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@goblinodds What an honour it is, to be in a position to inform the uninformed

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@ShitpostRock2 MPV is beautiful

[Harry Merritt @hmrrtt]

@InstantSunrise @bartonovopolis How very interesting! - I did not know that