the digital home of

Calum Andrew Morrell

Recent Articles


"Tense" music in film
If it's not sparse, it's not working.

When music is used in film to indicate a scene should be building in tension it needs to be done sparingly or the overall effect is severely diminished. Yet so often it is heavily overdone to the detriment of the audience engagement.


Film • 6th of November, 2023 commentary, horror, mubi, music, tense
Constructing a lie
All photographs are lies. No, really.

It was Bucks Fizz that sang “My camera never lies anymore”, though I suspect most people would accept that it’s possible to present a photograph as an honest representation of the world where there’s at least some element of fabrication in it. I just want to go a little further and suggest that every photograph you’ve ever seen was, in some way, dishonest.


Humane Mouse Traps
Is catch and release actually extending their suffering?

We’re told by product marketing that catching alive and then releasing a mouse to the wild is the humane thing to do. As much as I want this to be true I’m currently not convinced. With the stress of being held captive and then released into an unknown area, is this really the best option for the mouse or is to to alleviate our own conscience?


Nature • 4th of November, 2023 humane, mouse, pest control, wildlife, winter