National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Clerks was written and directed by Kevin Smith and released in 1994 through Miramax Films after its celebrated debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Shot on a shoestring budget in black and white, the film became a defining work of the American independent cinema movement of the 1990s, influencing a generation of filmmakers and establishing Smith's View Askewniverse.

This cell captures three consecutive frames of Randal Graves, portrayed by Jeff Anderson, standing inside the video store that serves as his domain throughout the film. The high-contrast black and white photography and the shelving visible behind him are immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the picture. The slight positional variation across the three frames reflects natural motion within the shot.