Greatest continuous takes ever

Michael Struthers · November 17th, 2007, 03:03 PM

"Touch of Evil" - really does take the cake. It blows me away every time I see it. More modern films - "Children of Men" some incredible camera work there, a super long car chase take. It's just amazing.

I liked Van Sant's "Elephant" long slow drifty takes as well. Great film.

Heath McKnight · November 17th, 2007, 03:42 PM

I watched the first 40 minutes, so far, of CHILDREN OF MEN, and you don't realize the awesome shot until it's almost over, because you feel like you're in the car!

heath

Victor Kellar · November 17th, 2007, 05:36 PM

Another shot came to mind but maybe its more "odd" than "great"

Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" There's a long shot of a conversation in a car driving thru this Mexican town. One long shot of the car as the conversation goes on .. what's odd is that it is just an exterior shot of the car, we never get shots of the interior and the characters involved. Whether that was Altman's creative decision or budget restraints .. we'll never probably know

Greg Girardin · November 24th, 2007, 02:31 PM

I didn't consider it a particularly good movie, but "The Invisible" has a pretty clever and long shot at the beginning.

When I first watched it I wondered if it was "real", because there was an obvious mixture of crane and steadicam. I guess they just put a steadicam operator on some sort of platform at the end of a crane so he could get on/off during the shot.

Nathan Quattrini · November 24th, 2007, 08:34 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K06wDn3XsZE

theres the protector clip

Charles Papert · November 24th, 2007, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Girardin

When I first watched it I wondered if it was "real", because there was an obvious mixture of crane and steadicam. I guess they just put a steadicam operator on some sort of platform at the end of a crane so he could get on/off during the shot.

been there, done that, many times...quite a few notable versions of Steadicam/crane stepoff, such as the beginning shot of "Boogie Nights", the end shot of "Much Ado About Nothing", the opening of "The Birdcage". It was actually done in the very first movie Steadicam was used for, "Bound for Glory" in 1974. I did one for the opening shot of the credits for "Big Love" currently on HBO.

Charles Papert · November 24th, 2007, 10:31 PM

Actually the coolest (and most dare-devilish) Steadicam/crane combo is the Strada, which has a 72 ft reach in this mode, where the operator is hung from the end and then can be released at the bottom via a sophisticated system. Watch this video to see my fearless friend Colin executing such a shot for a Tiger Woods commercial...

(nope, I haven't done that and probably never will, even if asked).

Heiko Saele · February 2nd, 2008, 02:25 PM

I dug out this thread because I just saw an amazing continous take that had not been mentioned here.
The movie is "Atonement" and the take is a steadicam shot about 5 minutes long. I guess many of you have seen it - I haven't watched it yet, just took a peak at this take. It's about 1 hour into the movie and it uses hundreds of extras and whatnot. Pretty amazing.

Ian Planchon · February 10th, 2008, 11:22 PM

there is a good one in kevin beacons latest, I think it was called "death sentence" or something like that. he was being chased through a parking garage and the steady cam op ran along with him, and as kevin beacon ran up a flight, the cam op jumped on a lift that was on the outside of the garage and went up one floor and caught up with kevin on the next level, then ran clear across the level, jumped on another lift and went DOWN a level to catch up with the bad guys who were chasing him....or something like that, but you get the idea. pretty cool looking at least, it really makes you feel tired, which I guess is the idea since he had been running for like 10 minutes by then.

Niall Chadwick · February 13th, 2008, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Papert

Actually the coolest (and most dare-devilish) Steadicam/crane combo is the Strada, which has a 72 ft reach in this mode, where the operator is hung from the end and then can be released at the bottom via a sophisticated system. Watch this video to see my fearless friend Colin executing such a shot for a Tiger Woods commercial...

(nope, I haven't done that and probably never will, even if asked).

blimey Charles, that is amazing. And scary at the same time.

I will admit Im not a fan of heights...doing such a shot would be a little un-nerving :)

Charles Papert · February 13th, 2008, 12:22 PM

Yeah, I'm not a fan of them either. I'm not particularly fond of doing crane-stepoffs anymore since a colleague of mine was thrown off one a few years back and fell 15 feet, wearing the Steadicam. He was lucky to walk away from the accident but it took him 2 years to heal enough to be able to work as an operator again.

November 17th, 2007, 03:03 PM	#16
Michael Struthers Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: SF, Ca Posts: 421	Long Takes "Touch of Evil" - really does take the cake. It blows me away every time I see it. More modern films - "Children of Men" some incredible camera work there, a super long car chase take. It's just amazing. I liked Van Sant's "Elephant" long slow drifty takes as well. Great film. __________________ Michael Struthers www.buzzdigital.com

November 17th, 2007, 03:42 PM	#17
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	I watched the first 40 minutes, so far, of CHILDREN OF MEN, and you don't realize the awesome shot until it's almost over, because you feel like you're in the car! heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

November 24th, 2007, 02:31 PM	#19
Greg Girardin Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nashua, New Hampshire Posts: 25	I didn't consider it a particularly good movie, but "The Invisible" has a pretty clever and long shot at the beginning. When I first watched it I wondered if it was "real", because there was an obvious mixture of crane and steadicam. I guess they just put a steadicam operator on some sort of platform at the end of a crane so he could get on/off during the shot. __________________ http://www.facebook.com/gregorygirardin

November 24th, 2007, 08:34 PM	#20
Nathan Quattrini Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Warwick, Rhode Island Posts: 740	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K06wDn3XsZE theres the protector clip __________________ Cinematography Site

November 24th, 2007, 10:31 PM	#22
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	Actually the coolest (and most dare-devilish) Steadicam/crane combo is the Strada, which has a 72 ft reach in this mode, where the operator is hung from the end and then can be released at the bottom via a sophisticated system. Watch this video to see my fearless friend Colin executing such a shot for a Tiger Woods commercial... (nope, I haven't done that and probably never will, even if asked). __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com

November 17th, 2007, 05:36 PM	#18
Victor Kellar Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Toronto Ontario Canada Posts: 239	Another shot came to mind but maybe its more "odd" than "great" Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" There's a long shot of a conversation in a car driving thru this Mexican town. One long shot of the car as the conversation goes on .. what's odd is that it is just an exterior shot of the car, we never get shots of the interior and the characters involved. Whether that was Altman's creative decision or budget restraints .. we'll never probably know

February 2nd, 2008, 02:25 PM	#23
Heiko Saele Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wurzburg, Germany Posts: 316	I dug out this thread because I just saw an amazing continous take that had not been mentioned here. The movie is "Atonement" and the take is a steadicam shot about 5 minutes long. I guess many of you have seen it - I haven't watched it yet, just took a peak at this take. It's about 1 hour into the movie and it uses hundreds of extras and whatnot. Pretty amazing.

February 10th, 2008, 11:22 PM	#24
Ian Planchon Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: an Alaskan living in Des Moines, Iowa Posts: 513	there is a good one in kevin beacons latest, I think it was called "death sentence" or something like that. he was being chased through a parking garage and the steady cam op ran along with him, and as kevin beacon ran up a flight, the cam op jumped on a lift that was on the outside of the garage and went up one floor and caught up with kevin on the next level, then ran clear across the level, jumped on another lift and went DOWN a level to catch up with the bad guys who were chasing him....or something like that, but you get the idea. pretty cool looking at least, it really makes you feel tired, which I guess is the idea since he had been running for like 10 minutes by then.

February 13th, 2008, 12:22 PM	#26
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	Yeah, I'm not a fan of them either. I'm not particularly fond of doing crane-stepoffs anymore since a colleague of mine was thrown off one a few years back and fell 15 feet, wearing the Steadicam. He was lucky to walk away from the accident but it took him 2 years to heal enough to be able to work as an operator again. __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com