Long shots
every filmmaker's dream
The very first Steadicam shot in a movie was Garrett's brilliant 4 minute crane step-off and track with David Carradine through the crowd of migrant workers in Bound for Glory. Not only did the lack of cutting contribute to the realism of the moment, but the shot immersed the viewer in the story in a way never seen before on screen: both the characters and the omniscient camera were bound by the same physical laws of space and time.
The best long Steadicam shots, like the one from Bound for Glory, are full of dramatic action, and there is a powerful human presence or connection to the camera that is transferred to the audience. Larry McConkey's famous Copa shot from Goodfellas has it: we are transported down those stairs and whisked around the comers, sharing in the camera's powerful moves, playful stops, humorous pans. It's us, we're there in the space, thinking, reacting, inside the scene (see page 401).
We're emotionally and physically there as well in Scon Sakamoto's cold, calculated, murderous crane shot in Road to Perdition (see page 276), and we're frantically climbing three flights of stairs with Shelly Dm all in The Shining (page 150). We're trying to stay as calm as Denzel Washington in Stephen Consemino's “checking the hostages” shot in Inside Man, or we're flying strangely close to the ground in Patrick de Ranter's train station chase sequence in Amélie. There are hundreds of examples to choose from - and many of them can be viewed on Afton Grant's wonderful website, www.SteadiShots.org.
What makes a great long shot is basically the same as what makes a great shot of any length: the conception and execution of the shot move the story along properly. Long shots require lots of preparation from everyone, but the good news is everyone from the most incidental extra to the third grip to the director understands what the work is, how his or her work can help the story, and how it all plays out. Everyone can contribute to the shot and see his or her role in its creation. It's an ensemble process; there's a clearer sense of building the movie.
Compare this to a series of shots in a complicated scene. You might be shooting from this angle or that, crossing the line, shooting out of order, punching in for the MCU's and CU's or dropping back for masters, sub-masters, and mini-masters and the pickups
and the changing light, and it's after lunch now and only the director, DP, and script supervisor might know what the heck is going on, how this bit is going to fit.
For a good long Steadicam shot, the operator must be more than physically capable of moving the camera. Primarily, he must have a solid grasp of the moment and the camera's relationship to it throughout the shot. When the camera's role or purpose flags (either from operator exhaustion or a director's lack of imagination), the shot begins to unravel. Keeping the intention clear and interesting isn't easy, and it's harder when you are tired and lactic acid is burning.
Alessandro Gentili, the other operator, and I tried every possible way to pass the gear from one operator to the other for about 2 weeks. First we went with the original idea out DP, Maurizio Calvesi, AIC, suggested — making a kind of base on which we landed the Steadicam to allow the switch, but it did not work; it ready felt like long shot landing and taking off again. Then I thought of putting a ring on the camera We fixed a hook on a rope that came down from the ceiling, and the operator number one would look the camera to the rope with the help of a grip, boom down till the rope was in tension, let another operator (number 3) hold the sled and aim it for the few seconds it took the number1 to slip off and number 2 take over. This was working wellenough that we kept on trying it until we could even get rid of the rope. The key elements: the third operator, my friend and colleague Max Ruggeri,was as experienced as the two Steadicam ops, and the switch must be made in motion. We kept choreographing the move until it was good enough for the film.
The switch was done three times. I did the longest piece 5 minutes) and Alessandro Gentili did the first one and probably the most interesting. The story begins with the Steadicam attached to the front of a the convertibte ear that carries the actors for 2 km in the city, and then goes sown in an underground parking lot where the four plastic straps holding the gear (attached to a custom made support on the open BMW) get cut by the grips in the moment the main character (actress Valeria Solarino. who won a arize for this film) jumps off the car and starts running away, promptly followed by Alessandro Gentili.
For 87 minutes the camera never stops moving, the Story is great, and shooting it was fun.
—Alex Brambilla, on the film Valzer, directed by Salvatore Maira, shot in January 2007 in Turin, Italy
The gear must also be able to withstand the shot — in particular the batteries must charged and have sufficient capacity for the duration. Many concerts and sporting events routinely have “shots” lasting an hour or more; a few movies have now been made as a single continuous take.
The worst long Steadicam shots suffer a lack of purpose and drama. One danger of long shots is that if the design of the shot is poor, the audience has plenty of time to catch on and tune out, whereas a short dull shot is over before the audience has a chance to think about it.
Many long shots are also the opening shot of a movie, where there's a lot of production effort to get the movie off to a good start. Larry's Bonfire of the Vanities is a brilliant example of the shooting taking the audience along for the ride (see page 277), as does Tass Michos's opening shot from The People vs. Larry Flint. The website wwwSteadiShots.orghas many other examples of opening shots and sequences to contrast and compare from this perspective.
I'm guilty of shooting that other son of long opening shot (many times over!), the one where the director spends the first couple of minutes showing the audience the world, but where the camera's relationship to the world is not very clear
If presented with a long shot, really think about what the audience is seeing, moment to moment. How do you look at objects or characters, how close do you get? Are you curious, bemused, detached? How long do you linger on the detail, what music moves you forward?