Here's an interesting film blog (conceptually at least i haven't really read through it yet) that recently posted a list of famous long take shots. It's a pretty long list with clips.
Long takes are always fascinating for what they can reveal about the relationship between story and style. There's always that moment after the start of the shot when one suddenly becomes aware that the shot is, indeed, a long take. This moment of recognition that draws us out of the narrative to focus on the bravura technique unfolding before us ... but then, if the take goes on long enough, we always succumb again to the pull of the story, slipping back into the narrative and the flow of the scene which is typically the point when we must recall the beginning of the shot to remember how we got where we are ... long takes activate spectator memory like few other devices .. flashbacks don't activate memory so much as represent it, showing us what we're supposed to remember but long takes actually activate spectator memory of what just came before .. i think all this back and forth is why long takes so often feel "edited" even while we in the midst of experiencing them ...
1 comment:
I saw that list earlier and remember thinking that some of the films other readers suggested weren't long takes but movies with long scenes....
For what it's worth, Mamma Roma has a great long tracking shot as Mamma Roma wanders the streets of Rome, interacting with johns, other prostitutes and others. I really need to buy this movie....
Post a Comment