Riley Stearns
Film director · 3 films (2014–2022)
Riley Stearns is a director whose work here spans Faults (2014) to Dual (2022), across drama and comedy. 3 of those films were photographed by Michael Ragen. All 167 frames from 3 films are indexed here, searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, colour and mood.
Riley Stearns is an American writer-director, best known for his feature films "Faults" (2014), "The Art of Self-Defense" (2019) and "Dual" (2022). He was married to actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead from 2010 to 2017.
Born 29 June 1986 · Austin, Texas, USA
Directing style
Stearns establishes a tense, lonely atmosphere by confining his characters to interior spaces, primarily capturing them in medium shots framed at eye-level with a shallow depth of field that isolates them from their surroundings. The lighting relies heavily on practical fixtures, window light, and fluorescent sources to cast a cool, desaturated grade over a muted palette of slate grays, drab olives, and earthy, desaturated ochres. This flat, objective camera placement combined with dim interior lighting—frequently leaning into night scenes and screen glows—underpins the dry, deadpan tension of his dark comedies and thrillers.
Films directed by Riley Stearns
About Riley Stearns
When was Riley Stearns born?
Riley Stearns was born on 29 June 1986 in Austin, Texas, USA.
What films has Riley Stearns directed?
FrameThrower holds stills from 3 of them: Faults (2014), The Art of Self Defence (2019) and Dual (2022).
Search every frame of Riley Stearns’s films
All 167 indexed frames from 3 films directed by Riley Stearns — searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, mood or plain language.