Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers.
Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus…
CHILDREN OF MEN
Imagine if all your movies started like this:
CHILDREN OF MEN is a criminally underseen film about a dystopian future in which the abiity for humans to procreate has vanished. No more children are being born. In 2027… all that we are now is all that we have left.
Until one day… a young girl becomes pregnant.
Alfonso Cuaron is an extremely versatile director. From A LITTLE PRINCES to GREAT EXPECTATIONS to Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN to HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (often cited as the best of the series)… Cuaron is a director of vision.
To help emphasize Cuaron’s excellence at his craft… it occurred to me that there may be some readers may(or may not) need a bit more clarification on what ‘fluid’ masters are and why they’re so damned awesome.
Those of you already familiar with film terminology can scroll on down to the clips. But for those who need a quick refresher or overview… here’s a short breakdown of the different types of shots a filmmaker needs to use to properly photograph or ‘cover’ a scene:
BREAKDOWN:
Master Shot: A long take of an entire scene, from start to finish, from a single locked-off camera position. The editor can always fall back on the master shot if necessary.
Full Shot: A shot that shows the human figure from head to feet, with some part of the body to give context.
Medium Shot: A fairly close shot showing the human body from the waist up.
Close-Up Shot: A shot that includes only a person’s face or head.
Generally speaking, if a filmmaker uses all four of these types of shots, then he/she will provide the editor with a number of options in which to edit the scene.
A ‘fluid’ master shot serves the same purpose as a regular master shot… yet does it with much more style, skill, and finesse.
Instead of doing the master shot from a locked-off camera position – the camera stays ‘fluid’ throughout the scene, changing positions and angles to match an actors’ choreographed movements or to better illustrate the the director’s interpretations of a scene. It also allows the viewers to get caught up in the moment and become sucked into the ‘reality’ of the story
A good ‘fluid’ master can last from one minute to ten minutes or more (before you have to change the film out of the camera – unless you’ve gone digital – but I digress)… and the longer the shot…. the more intricate the camera movements… the more choreographed the actors’ blocking… the more elaborate the special effects (if any) are… and the greater the length of the entire shot….
…the greater the level of difficulty. A great ‘fluid’ master shot is extraordinarily time consuming to choreograph, and is truly an all-for-one effort from the entire cast and crew. One flubbed line… one missed mark… any error that throws off the illusion of the shot… and the entire sequence has to start over from the very beginning. An 8 minute ‘fluid’ master shot can take days to set up and shoot.
End of lesson.
Now… keeping ALL THAT in mind…
…watch these two brilliant shots. And really ponder with awe the effort and intelligence and creativity it took to construct these sequences. There’s no CGI – well, maybe a little – but used minimally to maintain the illusion – otherwise, it’s all done in-camera.
Keep in mind that Cuaron’s team had to design a special rig in order to do the fluid from inside the car. Keep in mind all the moving pieces that had to be coordinated and choreographed during the second sequence. Look at the blocking of each actor – the production design – the angles – the effects.
But please – do not overlook the most important thing – the glue that holds each sequence together: the performances. From Clive Owen to the unnamed extra.
Enjoy.
WARNING! THESE BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED SHOTS CONTAIN SPOILERS! IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM – JUST GO RENT IT INSTEAD!
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Major thankies for the article.Really thank you! Much obliged.
Glad you liked it – make sure to check out the others and see if they ‘oblige’ you just as well.
Welcome!