Crimson and Clover

SPN Pilot (1.01): Influences + Bridges

Will Wilson (American,b.1957)

Strawberries and Cream, 1979 

Its use dates back centuries, where devout individuals chose to physically experience discomfort to atone for their sins or draw closer to divinity.

[...]The chain is simply a strip, more or less wide, stitched, not made of fabric, but of metal. It is made of small wire links whose ends are cleverly curved to form pins. (X)

O K A Y. Huh. I shouldn't have been given this information. I fear that I am not looking at it through the lens of spiritual devotion and penitence. At all.

One of the inspirations for cinematographer James Laxton for his work on the film Moonlight was Dutch art photographer Viviane Sassen. Her work had a huge influence on Laxton’s choice of colors for some of the film’s most iconic scenes like the swimming lesson, set in it high contrast colors and crystalline blues. The moment feels biblical as Juan holds Chiron in what looks like a pieta over the waves. As Juan releases him to float, Chiron quickly steadies himself and Juan says, “Right there, you’re in the middle of the world”. In the midst of this pivotal moment of self-discovery there’s a real awareness of the camera as the water is lapping against the lens. Laxton had to maneuver a 200-pound camera in an underwater housing for the scene. The waves distort the lens to accentuate the feeling of being present at such an intimate moment.