“Leaked” set photos, teasers for teaser trailers and poster premiere dates have all become standard bits of movie marketing in the last few years. This one today from Paul Thomas Anderson, who is currently finishing up his 1950s cult-themed film The Master, is probably my favorite of them all. The director emailed photos of the film’s 65mm negative being cut by hand to Anderson fan-site Cigarettes and Red Vines. From his verse-styled accompanying text:

These shots include our lovely
Negative Cutter, Simone, imported
all the way from France to cut 65mm
negative. She does it all with a pair
of scissors from Staples.

The posts author then cropped and inverted the one picture of the film’s actual negative and shared it on Flickr:

I never thought I’d hear about a negative cut again for a major U.S. release. It should come as no surprise that I’m more excited for The Master than any other 65mm release I can recall.

Brilliant scoop from Cigarettes and Red Vines¹ and a great way for Anderson to pump up his cinematically nerdy fans.