Have you ever felt a sense of déjà vu when watching a cartoon, film, music video, or sitcom? You might be seeing something for the first time, yet elements like the dialogue, costumes, or cinematography feel oddly familiar.
Over the last year, Turner Classic Movies and Saturday daytime host Tiffany Vazquez have explored this phenomenon with the classic film community. Using the moniker of #ThisLooksFilmiliar, TCM has encouraged film fans to post examples on social media of cinematic references in popular culture. Tiffany and TCM Integrated Marketing Manager, Kristen Welch, also hosted a special event on the last TCM Classic Cruise, highlighting some of their favorite #ThisLooksFilmiliar moments.
While attending Tiffany and Kristen's presentation, I was inspired to join my fellow classic film fans in this ongoing conversation. I decided to create an original design series examining #ThisLooksFilmiliar references in TCM's "31 Days of Oscar" festival. After selecting at least one movie per day from the programming schedule, I researched that film's artistic and cultural impact. My resulting designs illustrate how each film was either influenced by a previous work or has influenced a subsequent work. For example, the Mel Brooks' film High Anxiety (1977) includes a scene where the protagonist is getting stalked and ultimately chased by birds – clearly spoofing a similar sequence in Alfred Hitchcock's classic suspense thriller The Birds (1963).
In case you missed any of my posts on Twitter, you can see the entire series in the gallery below. Feel free to share your own examples in the comments section or post them on Twitter using the hashtag #ThisLooksFilmiliar.
To TCM and the #TCMParty community, I would like to say a huge "thank you" for all of the likes and retweets of my #ThisLooksFilmiliar series. Your continued support of my work is amazing and sincerely appreciated!
Check out more of my designs under the "Work" tab of my website, follow me on Twitter at @LoraStocker, or email me at stockerdesigns@gmail.com.