Jump to content

favourite long single take


Recommended Posts

  • Premium Member

Our national broadcaster here in Australia showed Orson Welles' Touch of Evil last night (at 2 in the morning of course), and its justly famous opening sequence made me think of some other long, single take shots that I've enjoyed.

 

The opening of Altman's The Player and of course the remarkable but flawed Russian Ark sprang to mind, among others.

 

But my favourite still remains the final shot in Antonioni's The Passenger, where the camera slowly floats out through the bars of a hotel window to the courtyard, and pans back to the room it has just left. Easily done now with some CGI and stitching, but at the time Antonioni had the entire hotel cut in two, pulled apart to let the camera through, and then pushed back together for the pan around. Flawlessly executed, and a perfect match of camera move to story.

 

Anyone else have a favourite long take they'd like to share?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I second Adrian's Children of men.

 

Michael Haneke does it quite well in "Funny Games" where Naomi Watts tries to escape when the killers leave, and in "Code Unknown," where there are 2 excellent ones. A man gets into a fight with police and another where men torment a woman on a subway or bus.

 

Also, got to love the fight in the corridor in "Old Boy"

Edited by Rob Vogt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In 'Cranes are Flying', when Veronika is on the bus going to the railroad station.

The bus stops because of the crowds in the street, she gets off and fights her way through the crowd. As she's crossing the street by the station, the camera swoops up; the crane is flying.

 

Though I really think of this as my favorite handheld shot.

 

Bondurchuk's 'War and Peace' has a number of shots where the camera is passed during them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll second "Children of Men" "I Am Cuba" and Goodfellas and I'll throw in "Boogie Nights". Both the opening shot and the shot that ends up going into the pool are fantastic.

 

Love the Copacabana shot in Goodfellas, also love the corridor shot in Raising Cain . The opening of Bonfire of the Vanities also is spectacular. All of these are examples of the sublime steadicam work of Larry McConkey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Altman designed that opening shot of "The Player" as a parody of long, complex steadi-cam shots.

 

Some long takes that are marvels of simplicity: The "Kitchen Table scene" in Welles's "Magnificent Ambersons," (or the "Birthday Dinner scene in "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days"), and the empty pool scene from Tarkovsky's "Nostalghia."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check out the Argentinean flick, The Secret In Their Eyes, which won the best foreign film oscar last year. Great movie and there's an amazing "single-take" sequence that starts with a helicopter shot of a football match and culminates in a handheld foot chase through the stadium.

 

Great stuff. I think you can see the sequence on youtube.

Edited by Richard Vialet
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Humm my favorite long single take.....how about Hitchcock's Rope. :rolleyes:

 

Good call. 'Under Capricorn' has some good and intricate long single takes. None are quite as long as 'Rope'. While 'Under Capricorn' is a gorgeous movie, it's hardly Hitchcock's best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How could I forget "Nine Lives"!? Nine very well done long takes.

 

Good call Brad. I completely forgot about it. I just looked it up to see who the operator was. It was Henry Tirl. Done some amazing work. There are some Steadicam / Camera operators who fly way below the horizon, who do some spectacular work. Another one , who I've worked with on 3 movies is Klemens Becker. Phenomenal operator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

It was Henry Tirl. Done some amazing work.

Actually, I believe seven of the shots were Dan Kneece and two were Henry Tirl. They alternated takes and then the director picked the takes he liked best later. There is a little BTS of Dan talking about his rig on the DVD. Both Dan and Henry are fantastic operators.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Premium Member

Our national broadcaster here in Australia showed Orson Welles' Touch of Evil last night (at 2 in the morning of course), and its justly famous opening sequence made me think of some other long, single take shots that I've enjoyed.

 

The opening of Altman's The Player and of course the remarkable but flawed Russian Ark sprang to mind, among others.

 

But my favourite still remains the final shot in Antonioni's The Passenger, where the camera slowly floats out through the bars of a hotel window to the courtyard, and pans back to the room it has just left. Easily done now with some CGI and stitching, but at the time Antonioni had the entire hotel cut in two, pulled apart to let the camera through, and then pushed back together for the pan around. Flawlessly executed, and a perfect match of camera move to story.

 

Anyone else have a favourite long take they'd like to share?

The hotel/restaurant fight scene from "The Protector" Here it be;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXIGP6_fNZk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course, the opening sequence of The Werckmeister Harmonies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFmu7BYbthY

 

The average shot length of the film is 9 minutes, or so they say.

 

Actually, any of Bela Tarr's films, as they all have extended shots. I think he does a wonderful job with it.

 

Another clip from 'Damnation'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtSp3MpWOIc

 

His work really reminds me of Sergei Urusevsky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Not that note worthy but perhaps something that could be added to the discussion is De Palmas "Snake Eyes'

Great steadicam in that sequence (Larry McConkey), but I believe there are a couple hidden cuts in that sequence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...