I watched the split-screen sequence from "Rules of Attraction" you linked to here, and I was amazed at how easy I found it to just watch James Van Der Beek the whole time and hardly look at Shannyn Sossamon at all (and I don't think it's *just* because commemorating Van Der Beek is the focus of this post). I didn't know how much the camera loved him.
In the section where they are literally side by side (but their characters are talking to one another) his head also fills the frame more than her does, I believe because they were shot at the exact same distance and Avary only noticed after that Van Der Beek was just a bigger human than Sossamon (which like, duh) but he liked their respective takes too much to go with later ones (there was a little documentary shot about this sequence for IFC that I saw a million years ago and believe that was in it, but I could also just be making all of that up). So that ALSO could be why your eye gravitates towards him, mine generally does there too, though for me there's also something infectious about Sossamon's fidgeting and laughter that is impossible for me to ignore and I'm perpetually charmed by. Maybe this is some kind of weird litmus test that everybody should be subjected to and, depending on which you watch the most, you end up on a spectrum of some kind (and not just the obvious one re: sexuality). Then again, do we really want to speculate too much on why watching Van Der Beek take a dump is somehow both really disgusting and kind of mesmerizing?
I think for me, watchig him in this sequence but also in the snowy ampitheatre scene where he confronts Paul with the pointlessness of his infatuation, what strikes me both times is how expressive his eyes are, particularly becuase his face could take on such an Easter Island statue blankness. He's hardly the first and he won't be the last film actor to have sort of mastred a "mask" look but while others, like Garbo, use "the mask" to become mysterious or alluring or distancing, Van Der Beek's somehow renders him more vulnerable and I think it's because the eyes make it obvious there's real emotional effort being expended in keeping the face of his face neutral.
I watched the split-screen sequence from "Rules of Attraction" you linked to here, and I was amazed at how easy I found it to just watch James Van Der Beek the whole time and hardly look at Shannyn Sossamon at all (and I don't think it's *just* because commemorating Van Der Beek is the focus of this post). I didn't know how much the camera loved him.
He does sort of glow, doesn't he?
In the section where they are literally side by side (but their characters are talking to one another) his head also fills the frame more than her does, I believe because they were shot at the exact same distance and Avary only noticed after that Van Der Beek was just a bigger human than Sossamon (which like, duh) but he liked their respective takes too much to go with later ones (there was a little documentary shot about this sequence for IFC that I saw a million years ago and believe that was in it, but I could also just be making all of that up). So that ALSO could be why your eye gravitates towards him, mine generally does there too, though for me there's also something infectious about Sossamon's fidgeting and laughter that is impossible for me to ignore and I'm perpetually charmed by. Maybe this is some kind of weird litmus test that everybody should be subjected to and, depending on which you watch the most, you end up on a spectrum of some kind (and not just the obvious one re: sexuality). Then again, do we really want to speculate too much on why watching Van Der Beek take a dump is somehow both really disgusting and kind of mesmerizing?
I think for me, watchig him in this sequence but also in the snowy ampitheatre scene where he confronts Paul with the pointlessness of his infatuation, what strikes me both times is how expressive his eyes are, particularly becuase his face could take on such an Easter Island statue blankness. He's hardly the first and he won't be the last film actor to have sort of mastred a "mask" look but while others, like Garbo, use "the mask" to become mysterious or alluring or distancing, Van Der Beek's somehow renders him more vulnerable and I think it's because the eyes make it obvious there's real emotional effort being expended in keeping the face of his face neutral.
I had a great rehearsal, but I’m not sure that reading this wasn’t the highlight of my day. Thanks, Stuart.
Thank you for the compliment! Any particular reason why?