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.
The Night Of The Hunter aesthetics of evil in film

Evil Incarnate: The Aesthetics of On-Screen Villainy

By Meg Shields 

From black hats to psychopaths, here’s how filmmakers choose to represent evil on-screen.

Paprika Degree Rule

What is the 180° Rule, Anyway?

By Meg Shields 

It’s the golden rule of film school and one of the most reliable tools in a cinematographer’s toolkit. So, how does the 180° rule work?

David Fincher Fridges

What’s in the Ice Box? A Love Letter to David Fincher’s Fridges

By Meg Shields 

Fincher is a man of details, so let’s look at one of his most recurring calling cards.

Bound Wachowski Film Noir

How The Wachowskis Flipped the Film Noir Script

By Meg Shields 

Their debut, ‘Bound,’ announced their arrival on the scene of genre cinema.

Criterion Collection

How the Criterion Collection Defies the Decline of Physical Media

By Meg Shields 

Is the Criterion Collection a cult? If you’re selling physical media these days, you kind of have to be.

Jaws Dolly Zoom

How Does the Dolly Zoom Work?

By Meg Shields 

Here’s how cinematographers accomplish the disorienting trick also known as “the ‘Vertigo’ effect.”

Tenet exposition

What ‘Tenet’ Can Teach Us About the Limits of Exposition

By Meg Shields 

For a director as dedicated to visuals as Christopher Nolan is, you’d think he’d be a little more into “show don’t tell.”

Horror Streaming January

All the Horror You Need to Stream in January 2021

By Meg Shields 

New year, old horror. From genuinely horrifying horror comedies to a Peter Cushing retrospective, here’s our guide to the month of horror streaming.

Darth By Darthwest: Star Wars and North by Northwest mashup

More Mashups Should Send Cary Grant to Space

By Meg Shields 

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…Cary Grant still outclasses everyone.