Orson Welles' Touch of Evil kicks off with a spectacular crane shot lasting over three minutes. It was probably the inspiration for Robert Altman's opening shot in The Player. Watch and learn.
Wow! what a great shot. Was the move done with a Titan crane? Perhaps it was the debut of the crane. this is a very impressive move for the times.
I need to stop working and stay home and watch movies. Someone told me today about a shot in "Gerry" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0302674/ That is very impressive, add that to the list with "The Darjeeling Limited" and I'm tied up for an afternoon.
Hi CB. "The Color Purple" has beautiful work (I don't know offhand who the Dolly Grip was). as well as "Empire of the Sun". The one that sticks out is Hitchcock's "Rope" which was shot in a continuous progression of long takes where the cuts are hidden in architectural features such as dollies wiping into posts etc. It was supposedly the first feature to offer a dolly grip credit because Hitcock felt that the dolly grip was so integral to the story. Also "Gone With the Wind". The crane shot over the wounded was so far ahead of it's time that I couldn't believe it when I saw it.
Somewhat off-topic: In an episode of "SCTV" John Candy playing the director Johnny LaRue who keeps getting his crane shots cut due to costs or time or other problems. He freaks out, dies and goes to Crane Shot Heaven for the episode's credits.
Wow! what a great shot. Was the move done with a Titan crane? Perhaps it was the debut of the crane. this is a very impressive move for the times.
ReplyDeleteI need to stop working and stay home and watch movies. Someone told me today about a shot in "Gerry" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0302674/ That is very impressive, add that to the list with "The Darjeeling Limited" and I'm tied up for an afternoon.
Can anyone else add to my list of A+ dolly work.
CB
Hi CB. "The Color Purple" has beautiful work (I don't know offhand who the Dolly Grip was). as well as "Empire of the Sun". The one that sticks out is Hitchcock's "Rope" which was shot in a continuous progression of long takes where the cuts are hidden in architectural features such as dollies wiping into posts etc. It was supposedly the first feature to offer a dolly grip credit because Hitcock felt that the dolly grip was so integral to the story. Also "Gone With the Wind". The crane shot over the wounded was so far ahead of it's time that I couldn't believe it when I saw it.
ReplyDeleteD, you are full of great dolly grip history, I have added all of those to my list.
ReplyDeleteThank you
Somewhat off-topic: In an episode of "SCTV" John Candy playing the director Johnny LaRue who keeps getting his crane shots cut due to costs or time or other problems. He freaks out, dies and goes to Crane Shot Heaven for the episode's credits.
ReplyDeleteI've got to look that one up.
ReplyDelete