Meg Shields

Based in the Pacific North West, Meg enjoys long scrambles on cliff faces and cozying up with a good piece of 1960s eurotrash. As a senior contributor at FSR, Meg's objective is to spread the good word about the best of sleaze, genre, and practical effects.
Horror Streaming April 2021

All the Horror You Need to Stream in April 2021

By Meg Shields 

April isn’t just the cruelest month…if you put your mind to it, it can be one of the spookiest, too.

The Exorcist oscar horror movies

The Oscars’ Bias Against Horror Should Scare Us

By Meg Shields 

Because there’s nothing scarier than systemic bias.

Full House yellow TV graphics Title Card

And It Was All Yellow: The Color Theory of TV Graphics

By Meg Shields 

Watch a video essay explaining why old TV shows tended to feature yellow title cards.

Carrie New Hollywood

Earnestness and Irony: The Double-Minded Cinema of ‘Carrie’

By Meg Shields 

New Hollywood. I might have known it would be New Hollywood.

Inglorious Basterds editing natural

What Makes a Cut “Feel Right”?

By Meg Shields 

And what even is a “natural” edit, anyway?

A Space Odyssey Stargate

How They Shot the Stargate Sequence in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’

By Meg Shields 

My god, it’s full of stars! And innovative slit-scan photography!

Speed Movie Explosions

The Art of Movie Explosions (And Why They Don’t Look Like Real Ones)

By Meg Shields 

Fire in the hole! Or…multiple holes, safety padded with foam, and directed towards the camera.

True Grit Chiaroscuro film lighting

Shadow Play: The Art and History of Cinematic Chiaroscuro

By Meg Shields 

There’s a reason chiaroscuro lighting has been around for hundreds of years. It’s effective and dynamic, and it tells a story.

Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings Rotoscoping

A Beginner’s Guide to Rotoscoping

By Meg Shields 

What do a dancing walrus and a long-legged ghost have to do with jazz superstar Cab Calloway? Well, in a word: rotoscoping.