Programme Notes

The Frame says what the film is: title, year, who made it, and one sentence. The Signature shows the film's readings, each with the sentence behind it. Rhymes With names the films that feel close, and the film on the far side. The Ledger lists the facts and says where each one comes from.

The movements are Before You Enter, a spoiler-free note for a dense or oblique film. The Moment It Landed, for a film with a "then". The Long Echo, what a second and third viewing open up. How To Meet It, the posture that suits the film. The Grain, its motifs and craft. Voices, how the film has been argued about, in our own words, with links out. A movement appears only when the film's own signature warrants it and there is something true to say. The rest are named under what stayed dark.

The Long Echo is the one movement that goes past the ending. It is never on the page until you ask for it. It is not blurred, and it is not hidden by the page. It is not sent at all until you say you have seen the film.

Programme Notes are written ahead of time, stored and versioned. Nothing is composed while you read. Which movements appear is decided by the film's signature and by whether the record holds enough to write something true. If a film warrants a movement and the record is thin, the movement is named under what stayed dark with a plain sentence saying so, and is not filled. The Long Echo is withheld by the server, not the page: until a reader says they have seen the film, its words are not in the page, its source, a search snippet or a share card. Every movement names its sources. Facts in The Ledger are shown, and never used to write anything. The number of movements is not a verdict: a movement appears when the film's signature calls for it.