I love movies.
I will always remember the first “big” movie I went to see. It was ‘Star Wars (A New Hope).’ From then on I was hooked, and aside from musicals which I loathe, I’ll watch all different genres.
Filmmaking is an art, but it can be a tedious process at times. There’s a reason it will take 2-3 months to complete a 90 minute film. A two minute scene can take up to 3 hours to shoot due to multiple takes and the changing of camera angles. To me, it makes the long take that much more of a demanding process.
When it is done right, it’s a thing of beauty.
Here are some of my favorites:
Touch of Evil
One of the earliest from one of the best ever, Orson Welles. The opening scene is around three minutes long. The genius of this one is that it was done 15-years before the movie making world was introduced to the steadicam.
[tentblogger-youtube Yg8MqjoFvy4]
Goodfellas
Perhaps the best mob movie of all time (it shows the mob for what they truly are – a bunch of ruthless thugs and not the romanticized version that exists in ‘The Godfather.’), it features what has become to be known as simply, ‘The Copacabana Shot.’ This video is cool as it talks about it with a few people including Martin Scorsese prior to showing the actual scene.
[tentblogger-youtube IBMKyNJvNV8]
Children of Men
There are actually several long takes in this stunning film, but the scene in the car stands out to me. This one is amazing not only because it was shot from the interior of a car (well, sort of), but that it’s also a big action sequence with crazy things going on around the car.
[tentblogger-youtube QfBSncUspBk]
Here is how they did it:
[tentblogger-youtube EjNk-nxHjfM]
Snake Eyes
Another favorite of mine is the opening sequence of the Nicolas Cage movie ‘Snake Eyes.’ It’s not available because it is a stunning 13-minutes long and manages to introduce all of the key characters and several different plot lines all at once. Director Brian de Palma deserves kudos for this one.
Do you have any favorites?
Eric J says
Some of my favorite long takes are the old spice commercials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
how it is done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDk9jjdiXJQ
Jay Caruso says
Haha! That’s great!
Tom McFarlin says
There are also a couple of single-camera sitcoms that have begun doing single-take sequences.
It’s one of those things that you don’t realize you’re watching unless you’ve seen one done before or the scene goes on ridiculously long.
With DVD extras, it’s always fun too just how many takes they have to do before they nail the whole sequence, too.
Love this kind of stuff – dig the post :).
Jay Caruso says
Thanks man. Funny how they did the ‘Goodfellas’ scene 7-8 times. And if you watch closely, they take this route that goes through the kitchen, but it takes them out a door that is 2 feet away from the door they went in.
Chandos says
No love for Hitchcock’s “Rope”? The whole movie is 10 long takes! And made in the ’40s! And the only reason there’s so many cuts is the film spools ran out 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_(film)#Long_takes
Jay Caruso says
Well, Rope did have the long takes….but…(and I suspect I might get some heat for this)…I didn’t think Rope was a very good movie. And I watched it 3 times. But to be fair, ‘Snake Eyes’ pretty much fell apart after the opening sequence.
Chandos says
Maybe I’m just a sucker for Jimmy Stewart 🙂
Jay Caruso says
Oh don’t get me wrong. I love Jimmy Stewart. “Rear Window’ is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Tristram says
Try some Jean Luc Godard from the early 1970s. In ‘Weekend’ there’s a famous long take of a motor car pile-up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BySdtZWDCwI
In another of his films, there’s one of supermarket checkout tills.