Editing Spike Lee (section)

== Artistic style and themes ==
[[File:SpikeLeeSept2011.jpg|thumb|Lee in September 2011|right|197x197px]]
Lee's films are typically referred to as "Spike Lee Joints". The closing credits always end with the phrases "By Any Means Necessary", "Ya Dig", and "Sho Nuff".<ref>{{cite web |title=Spike Lee Biography |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019419/bio|access-date=February 10, 2009 |publisher=[[Yahoo! Movies]]}}</ref> His 2013 film, ''[[Oldboy (2013 film)|Oldboy]]'', used the traditional "A Spike Lee Film" credit after producers had it re-edited.<ref name="variety1"/>

=== Themes ===
Lee's films have examined [[race relations]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/films/286-do-the-right-thing|title=Do the Right Thing|website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> [[colorism]] in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/films/29007-bamboozled|title=Bamboozled|website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. His films are also noted for their unique stylistic elements, including the use of dolly shots to portray the characters "floating" through their surroundings, which he has had his cinematographers repeatedly use in his work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ceros.com/inspire/originals/spike-lee-denzel-washington-movies-cinematography/|title=Spike Lee's Secret Weapon: The Double Dolly Shot|date=August 2, 2018}}</ref>

=== Influences ===
In 2018, during an interview with ''[[GQ]]'', Lee cited some of his favorite films as [[Elia Kazan]]'s ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' (1954) and ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]'' (1957), as well as [[Martin Scorsese]]'s ''[[Mean Streets]]'' (1973). Lee says that he befriended Scorsese after attending a screening of ''[[After Hours (film)|After Hours]]'' at NYU.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfRMe-gnP6s&feature=emb_title | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/NfRMe-gnP6s| archive-date=October 28, 2021|title=Spike Lee Breaks Down His Film Heroes |website=GQ | date=August 17, 2018|access-date=April 1, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>