The Twilight Zone - A Lesson in Storytelling
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- čas přidán 4. 08. 2024
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This week's video essay is an analysis and breakdown of The Twilight Zone. We look to the fundamentals of storytelling, and how the filmmakers use the fundamentals of the universal cinematic language to tell a great story.
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Special thanks to Christian for Voice Over post processing, check out his channel here:
/ @truefilm1556 - Krátké a kreslené filmy
"Time Enough to Last" is one of my personal favorites
"That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was-was all the time I needed…! It's not fair! It's not fair"
I love that one!
"Time enough at last," you mean. 1960.
Burgess Meredith. Aka Rocky's trainer.
There were also 3 others with him.
I often will bring this episode up since things like this happens often to me but not as bad . My favorite too
Futurama did a good parody of it lol
@@throwoutable Thanks for Sharing....Gonna check it out...
I once won a bet with my dad, He said the name of the Twilight Zone creator was Sterling and I corrected him that it was in fact Serling...no T. I WON!
Calling this show ahead of its time would be an understatement
It's ahead of our time as well
The best written tv show ever.
Lost Age Comics with The Sopranos and The Simpsons (s1-20)
The Bronze Age of DC Comics yes this is possibly the best tv show ever written. You could spend hours discussing/debating the morals, themes, real world parallels and messages. Just one episode could serve a class of English students several periods of discussion.
Always in the top 6 of TV drama’s top 100 list.
Breaking Bad and the Wire.
They don’t make em like this anymore
0:32 "Rob Sterling.." REALLY??!! I think you mean Rod Serling.
And that's where he lost me.
I was done when he said Rob Sterling. I went straight to comment section...lol
Right? I immediately scrolled down for comments when I heard that!
Why is everybody so pissed? I mean you need to admit that Rod Serling is an easy name to misremember
I laughed a bit to hard at that
The woman in "Eye of the Beholder" was named Janet Tyler. Maxine Stuart was the actress who played her under wraps. When she was uncovered she was played by Donna Douglas.
Welcome to a world of annalysis, beyond the gates of the first watch of a film, a world that exist in the visuals of the screen and in the sound of the speakers...welcome to the twili....I mean Jack's movie reviews
Vicente Ortega Rubilar Best comment
Vicente Ortega Rubilar Ii
You are a genius.
Imagine a place
As it waits to be found
A different dimention
Of mind sight and sound
Where you unlock a door
Through all space and all time
Where you hear through deaf ears
And light shines to the blind
A middle ground
Between day and night
Where nothing seems wrong
And yet nothing seems right
For reality itself
Is merely a dream
In this land of shadows
And substance and things
And you push past the boundaries
And borders you find
Through the depths of your fears
And the lights of your mind
There's a sign up ahead
You feel lost and alone
But like so many
You have just entered
The Twilight Zone.
I always enjoyed Reb Starling's writing. On the Twirling Zone, as well as his later show, the Note Gallery.
I love your sarcasm and sharp wit. You earned a thumbs up! I hope to catch your sarcasm somewhere else on the internet. I bet you could make some awesome protest signs.
It note gallery any good?
Or is it night gallery?
Rod Serling.The Twlight zone and Night Gallery.😁🤣😁🕯🙏🦋🌠✨🌻✌🖖🙂👋. Nj.
its night gallery
The Obsolete Man
Chancellor: “You have no function, Mr. Wordsworth, you're an anachronism, like a ghost from another time.”
Romney Wordsworth: “I am nothing more than a reminder to you that you cannot destroy truth by burning pages!”
I remember watching this series on repeat since I was a little girl.
Sir Isaac Newton I guess newton becomes gay. Ok then ?..
My favorite too. 😁
Me too
@@madmaxz4921 You must be new to the internet.
@@mc_zittrer8793 forgive me, I was like 13 at the time😅
Most of TZ's twist endings I'd already absorbed through cultural osmosis long before actually watching the episodes. Except for 'Five Characters in Search of an Exit', that one actually pleasantly surprised me. 'Midnight Sun' is also fantastic.
xxsilentreatmentxx The "Five Characters" episode is genius.
GREAT examples...
I agree, you should watch "what you need" and also "the mind and tbe matter"
I love the midnight Sun
You know reading those episode titles I knew exactly the ones you were talking about and both of those were brilliant indeed xxsilentreatmentxx. What made them so good is they were sucker punches as you thought they were one thing but in reality they were completely different. These make for good twists and causes the mind to explode. I actually loved the Sucker Punch movie from 2011 for that same reason. A lot of people didn't like it but my family did for the same reasons we loved TZ. btw, the official title is "The Midnight Sun".
I love the Twilight Zone! My favorite would probably be "Will the Real Martian please stand up?" Great episode.
I love that one!
thats my favorite one, i remember watching it in class
I don't know if it is my favourite, but I did find "Midnight Sun" to be memorable.
The episode with Rod Taylor "And When the Sky Was Opened" WAY underrated! BEST episode!
I agree! It definitely covered the perspective that everything found can be lost again. This is a superb episode, in a way that embraces a wide range of surprise revelations.
"Time Enough at Last", "A Stop at Willoughby", and "The Obsolete Man" are a few of my favorites
Lorien Waymire Bonus points for citing "The Obsolete Man"! In the same vein, I've a fondness for "Deathshead Revisited".
Johnathon Haney another great episode!
A Stop At W is me after some days at work. Ready to jump off the train while dreaming of escaping.
A Stop at Willoughby is a favourite of many a down trodden worker. It's definitely my fave.
A Stop at Willoughby was one of my favorites too.
Now this is the video I've been waiting for. Love this show so much
Me too! Glad you enjoyed!
The episode"An occurrence at owl Creek bridge" is a great take on the original short story which I find really good because of the sense of illusion that it creates. This episode translates perfectly all the elements of the original story to a visual medium. Great video as always.
Thank you!
When I was school, this is what we watched instead of reading the actual story. Left a chill in me for the rest of the day.
the Alfred Hitchcock version is great also...and different (more faithful to the original story, I think)
My favorite episode is Night Call.
The increasing, eerie calls a lonely old lady gets and where they came from was so disturbing.
And the ending was both heart breaking and terrifying.
Rod Serling was brilliant. Superb & iconic show. His impact lives on.
Sadly, season 4 of The Twilight Zone is not on Netflix. This was the season they did hour long episodes instead of half hour. It was not typically licensed with the others in syndication, so that may have something to do with it.
My favorite episode is the other Shatner one: Nick of Time.
I am sorry to spread false information. I have a box set and usually just watch from there.
@@JacksMovieReviews it's fine not everyone knows that
Its maybe on Hulu
It's on Netflix now
@@basedmadlad6740 season 4 isn't though
The twilight zone is so iconic how could it not fill you with nostalgic vibes?!
🚬 🤵🏼 💨
A favorite episode? Wow, there were so many that were outstanding, but "A Passage For Trumpet", and "The Big Tall Wish" immediately come to mind. There's another one, but I can't remember the title. It's about a group of neighbours having a party when the radio announces that a nuclear attack is imminent and they all rush down to the cellar to try to get into the bomb shelter, only there isn't enough room for everyone, so they turn on each other. That was a great episode.
Picking my favorite episode is tough! Changing of the Guard was a great tear jerker. Howling man, and To Serve Man are up there near the top, as was the episode with the Mardis Gras Masks. What I love most about the Twilight Zone is not so much the cinematics, which are great on their own. No, for me, it is Serling's love of literature, poetry, and humanity which seep through episodes like "No. 12 Looks just like you." and "Obsolete Man". There just isn't anything out there now that has that unique flavor.
To serve man, second place, my baby sisters fave episode is the masks.
The Obsolete Man is an underappreciated classic.
absolutely love the twlight light zone... it is my go to show. since I was in high school ( im 36) i watch these shows over and over. great shows
IT'S A COOK BOOK!
To serve man, second place.
Will all be on the menu...
Munkylaw that episode shook me to the core
That line
omg thats one of the classics
This is my all time favorite t.v. show!!!
Wow back in high school I remember someone in my class turned in a short story assignment that the teacher was so impressed with that she read it out to the class - it wasn't until seeing this video that I found out they copied it from an episode of the twilight zone! The plot of Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge verbatim except in WW2 or something. I guess that kid cracked the code for winning on shorty story assignments.
Disgusting! The teacher should have known better -- "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an _incredibly famous_ short story by Ambrose Bierce!
my favourite episode must be '5 characters in search of an exit' which I think is the peak of twilight zones writing talent and acting. Others would be 'the stranger' which is the first episode I ever saw, 'Night call' which still terrifies me, and 'walking distance'
walking distance was so poignant. my fav episode.
5 characters is freaking overrated
Favorite episodes are hard to pick, but "A Kind of Stopwatch", "The Invaders", and "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" certainly left the biggest impressions on me as a child.
0:33 "Rob Sterling"
It's Rod, not rob.
Scripturegirl1990 And Serling
@@Scripturegirl. And Serling, not Sterling.
Shadowplay and Perchance to Dream are my favorites! Love the video!
Submitted for your approval a Mr. Rod Serling genius
In all honesty, this has to be one of the best film analysis channels on CZcams. You not only capture the essence, the value and the artistry behind each film you analyze; but you do so in a way that is inspirational to anyone seeking to tell stories through film. I know I've made similar comments before in other videos of yours, but it bears repeating. Thanks again for another excellent commentary.
Rod Serling was inspired by Ambrose Bierce, the author of An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, as well as “The Devil’s Dictionary” and “The City of the Gone Away”. Bierce was the link between HP Lovecraft and Poe.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾thank you!
owl creek bridge is one of my favorite pieces of film ever made
It has no rival, none whatsoever. Rod Serling was a master storyteller, way ahead of his time. They never get old, that's the mark of quality. They are glimpses into the heart and soul of humanity. His writing exposed our fears, insecurities and flaws. Forced us to be introspective of our own existence. Genius, plain and simple.
My favorites are back there, I shot an arrow into the air, dust, the rip van winkle caper, the silence, will the real Martian please stand up, the four of us are dying, and a world of his own.. sadly, these dont tend to be other fans' favorites :(
My favorites
1.The Obselete Man
2.Its a good life
3.Deaths Head Revisited
Shadow Play is one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes. It's one they did a remake of in a later TZ series.
One of my favorite Tv shows of all time. Thanks for the wonderful video!
Thank you for watching!
I'll be honest I did not know of the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" until I watched this show and the episode cleverly explored that concept. Same as "its a nice place to visit but I wouldn't live there" from ep. A Nice Place to Visit when the guy thinks he's in heaven but is actually in hell and he's tortured of boredom. You'll see the world differently after watching TW. This show was revolutionizing!
Twilight zone is timeless. I loved this show as a kid in the 80’s and 90’s and still love it today!!
"Rob Sterling"????? LOL!!!
Fantastic analysis! I’m a writer and look to The Twilight Zone as a shining example of elegantly executed storytelling. Every episode an entirely new story, new characters, essentially a new world, though tone and style clearly established overall. Within minutes we meet a new character, quickly glean enough information as to their personality, become invested in that character and arrive at catharsis with that new character we knew nothing of just a half hour ago.
There are so many classic episodes, it’d be great if you made a series of these videos breaking down the beloved stories and the commonalities that emerge.
A consistent and defining trait of the show was the cinematography as well as the music.
My favorite episode is
“The Big Tall Wish”.
A beautiful and tragic tale of a washed up boxer and the little boy who believes in him. A tale of loosing the magic and innocence from life.
One for the Angels, I always liked the more positive episodes (not that their were a lot).
bbr64 bbr64 No, not a lot of them. Of those, I count "The Changing of the Guard" as my fave.
This was a great analysis, you captured the structure of the episodes very well.
Hey, Jack! I immensely enjoy your videos! Great work!
By the way, love how you included Blade Runner 2049 in the selection along with 12 Angry Men and other masterpieces. Definitely my favorite movie of the year. Hope you'll make a video about it some time.
You got the iconic part rite, top 5 shows of all time.
Well done... "The Odyssey of Flight 33" has always been a favorite, many more, most episodes an ingenious integration of suspense and the timeless human theme to find a solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem...
William Shatner introduced to America.
My favorite is Night of the Meek with Art Carney. I tear up every time.
Was going to call you out on “Occurrence “ but you covered it nicely. Good job. You’ve given me a new appreciation for the episode.
There’s so much nuance to these stories that you could easily make a video for each one.
Rip John.
Repeating myself here (because it's true): awesome as always! Had no idea that these pristine looking 35mm full frame prints [Edit: or perhaps even original camera negative footage where avaiable] existed and are available as impeccable, flawless restorations. Just gorgeous! All I ever watched (through the years as re runs) were grainy, blurry TV distribution prints (or copies on video tape thereof) with limited sound quality. Awesome breakdown and true insight! Now I'll have to watch all episodes. Anyway: fantastic - thanks for uploading your top notch work!
Thank you and enjoy!
Brilliant examination. As a fan lucky enough to actually become connected to this series, and having watched it during its original run, I am very grateful for your insight.
This is my favorite show hands down.
Thank you for sharing this video and the excellent and enriching content on your channel.
It's always fascinating for me to see someone younger who has apprehended and enjoyed these little gifts of joy.
In England, we never saw The Twilight Zone. We watched The Outer Limits, which was fabulous, but I feel my childhood missed out big time by never seeing Twilight Zone.
my all time favorite show ....PERIOD !
I am so glad you discussed this, There are so many films that when I watch them, I always feel like its a descendant of the twilight zone I.e. Blade Runner, Oblivion, Source Code, Trainspotting etc. Have you seen Blade Runner 2049? interested in seeing your take on it. I loved the deep-dive on reusing a scrapped script introduction of Deckard and using it for Officer K. loved it and the way it unfolded. keep up the great work
thanks for sharing. another great break down
The best of the best series ever produced hands down!
Changing of the Guard and Five Characters in Search of an Exit are just a few of my favorites!
My favorite episode? Walking Distance. Great review - thank you!
My favorites, in addition to “Eye of the Beholder”, would be “The After Hours”, “In His Image”, “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” and “Mirror Image”.
I like the first episode. I had a patient whose father was in the Air Force working on that project. Pretty cool.
One of my second younger sisters does too, it's called where is everybody.
'The Lonely' is my personal favorite episode! I never see anyone talk about that episode in particular and it's such a shame because I swear I could write an entire dissertation about that episode alone.
It's Rod Serling, not Rob Sterling.
0:33 it's Rod Serling not Rob Sterling
Love The Twilight Zone! This was a joy to watch as I study film still, I love cinema inordinately.
Yes, a lesson in storytelling. But you also need to remember the time period it was created in. People who wrote these scripts were avid readers of books. TV was a new medium. The writers weren't constantly bombarded with images from TVs and computers. They actually read books and used their imagination when creating this series.
Good point.
Truth.
Excellent video dude, I just discovered you and i'm glad. I'd love to see you do an analysis vid on The Wire, Black Mirror or The Leftovers
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was actually a short story back in the 1890’s. So a lot came from the actual story,
but still translating that into visual is pretty tough. So showing that is pretty tough. Yet they did it. Pretty good on their part.
My favorite episode will always be Dead Man’s Shoes.
Great show.
In the last few years, I have come to appreciate the episode "Nick of Time." Excellent!
Nick of Time, Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up, Living Doll. Definitely my top three picks.
I saw the hanging story as a kid when it was first televised. I thought at the time that it was the best thing that I had ever seen, but I didn't exactly understand why. I just knew that it had shown me something about the world or about thought or about the mind that I hadn't known before. I think that it was when I first began to understand that we not only live in a physical world, we also live in an imaginary world that sometimes seems more real to us.
Two of my other favorites, which you showed were "How to Serve Man" and "Gremlin". When Mickey Spillane was asked what was his favorite book, he indicated one in which the killer and motive were revealed in the last sentence of the book. That's a good story.
Great vid. My favourite show of all time.
imitators focus only on the twist. but not the deeper things like how for the most part the story focuses on a characters trials, redemtion, state of mind etc. take for example the Grimlain ep you mention at the end. the movie version of this story only focuses on the monster and a man terrorfied by it. but the episode focuses more on the fact that this is a man trying to prove his sanity
Yes, there is also a ton of misogyny in the show as well.
He was called Rod Serling, not Rob Sterling
The best episode has been kept from us. I would call it the button in the box. The working-class couple is not doing well.... A knock at the door... A man in Black asks to come in. He shows them a small wooden box with a red button. If they press the button someone they don't know will die. Someone who doesn't know them. If they press the button they'll receive $1000000. After agonizing over what to do,, they press the button. There's a knock at the door... It's the man in Black, he comes in and gives them the money. As he takes the little box with the button in walks towards the door the woman asked him what are they going to do with the box, Man in Black replies they're going to reprogram it and give it to somebody that they don't know and who doesn't know them. I considered the twilight zone to be the best of poetic justice. It's still the best.
My favorites are The Hitchhiker, The Four of Us Are Dying, One For the Angels, A Quality of Mercy, The Night Call, and Time Enough At Last
The Hitchhiker, the Grave, the Passer by, and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Five characters in search of an exit. “WHERE ARE WE!? WHO ARE WE!?”
My favorite episode from the twilight zone definitely has to be “elegy”. They land on an asteroid that’s a human cemetery
My brother and I used to watch a lot of episodes of "The Twilight Zone" in reruns while we growing up. Some of my favorite episodes are "A Game of Pool", "Time Enough at Last", "Mr. Dingle, the Strong", and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" are a few of my favorites.
Great cover. Love to see/hear more from you on Mr. Serlings work. Thx
Rod Serling was a visionary and genius writer.
"Five Characters in Search of an Exit" and "A World of His Own" are all favorites of mine that don't get enough buzz.
“Mirror Image” is one creepy nightmare. And strangely, though it is not liked by many, I’m a huge fan of “Come Wander with me”, which stayed in my thoughts for years.
I was thinking about talking about Mirror Image in the video!
I am the night, color me black is a great episode
Seeing your channels videos and how many they are, i guess i'll binge watch most of them xD.
Enjoy!
"A nice place to visit" is such a great episode.
Awesome...!!!
Suspense is like a rubber band..
I love your reviews for their in depth analysis. I use films like 12 Angry Men, Vertigo, Rear Window, and Shadow of a Doubt for the visual analysis essay in my composition courses. My husband Jack and I were English majors in our BA degrees so we love to analyze films and novels. I love The Twilight Zone; I grew up with the show, and I have re-watched the seasons through Amazon Prime. My favorite episodes are "Time Enough at Last" and "The Obsolete Man" with Burgess Meredith, "Occurrence at Owl Creek," and a sentimental favorite is "The Hunt" written by Earl Hamner, Jr. of The Waltons. Hamner wrote many episodes for the Twilight Zone as well as Ray Bradbury "I Sing the Body Electric" and Richard Matheson "A Young Man's Fancy," who also wrote the book Bid Time Return which is the basis for the film Somewhere in Time. Serling employed great talent in writing. Maybe he gave these authors their start.
Thank you Patti! Also-your husband has a great name!
Oh my God I saw nightmare at 20,000 feet when I was like five and it traumatized me. Even the theme song would send me crying in terror. Infact I completely forget about it until this video popped up in my recommend. Unfortunately it's currently 2 am and now I'm crying for some reason. I guess I'm still scared of it lol.
My favorite TZ episodes is "The Obsolete Man" and " Changing of the Guard".
You sir, are a treasure.
You are too kind Clint!
Who is Rob Sterling?
My favorite part of the twilight zone, is the timelessness. You look at many modern tv shows that have parodied or been inspired by, spongebob’s gone is totally like where is everybody, strange hill high’s episode about the templeton aliens is just ‘to serve man’
Recently found it on Netflix (USA) and I love just watching it on my phone because it feels so... ironic. Watching a pre-moon landing-show-or any show before 9/11 for that matter- just feels old, and watching it on my phone makes it feel like old and new at the same time
Brilliant analysis
The one stated here where the guy is hung and escapes often is a good example of our mind expects to do . This episode is one of the shows favorite of mine .
I watched ONE episode of this show yesterday for a class and now this is in my recommended
Damn