OCU Moving Image Arts

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Smith #18

Pan Shot

“Brooklyn” Cinematography by: Yves Belanger

This pan shot comes from the academy award nominated film, “Brooklyn.” This pan shot is very subtle but very intentional. It takes place at the beginning of the main character Eilis’ meet cute with the male lead Tony. He sees her across the room and starts to approach. At the beginning of this shot, our focus is on her standing alone. But as he crosses the room and gets closer to her side, the camera pans with him, focusing our attention on him and what he’s thinking. This pan shot introduces them as a romantic storyline and guides the audience to take notice of Tony.

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Smith #19

Tilt Shot

“Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” Cinematography by: Ravi K. Chandran

This tilt shot comes from the Bollywood romantic comedy, “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.” This shot is our very first introduction to the characters. This tilt shot is used effectively here because this is the reveal of the central conflict in the story. The beautiful woman seen in the last frame has just had an arranged marriage to this very plain and quite dorky man. This tilt shot reveals him to us from his slacks and sneakers, to his mustache and big glasses, so we get the full picture: he’s kind of lame. We then see this beautiful woman in a wedding sari and we get the idea: this poor gorgeous woman has just married him. This tilt shot pulls the audience in to find out how in the world that happened.

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Smith #21

Dolly Zoom Shot

"Marnie" cinematography by: Robert Burks

This example of a dolly zoom shot comes from Hitchcock's “Marnie.” This shot happens near the end of the film when Marnie is finally remembering what happened to make her a compulsive liar and thief who is terrified to be touched by men. The vertigo effect of the dolly zoom shot pulls us into Marnie’s memory, and indicates that this is, in fact, a memory, and not action taking place in the present time. 

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Smith #20

Dolly Shot

“The Borgias” cinematography: Paul Sarossy

This dolly shot comes from the tv series “The Borgias.” This dolly shot follows characters Cesare Borgia and his father, newly appointed Pope Alexander VI, as they frantically walk down a grand staircase discussing how a clergy member tried to poison him, but Cesare (with the help of a monkey) caught it and poisoned the clergy member instead. This dolly shot moves with the characters, and then pushes them out, which shows the audience their urgency, that they have a purpose for going where they’re going.

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Bruegel #22 - Ratatouille

Directed by Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava. Production Design by Harley Jessup.

This is another good example of how animated films can simulate camera movements, even such complex movements as the dolly zoom shot. This film implements camera movements very well, including the dolly zoom, which is used in several scenes to highlight important moments for the characters. In this particular scene a subtle dolly zoom is used as Remy watches his idol on tv. The dolly zoom highlights the inspiration that he feels from the chef's inspiring words and signifies to the audience how important this inspiration is for Remy.

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Jones #8 Subjective Shot

Sabotage (1936)

Dir: Alfred Hitchcock

DP: Bernard Knowles

In this scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage, Mrs. Verloc (Sylvia Sydney) has just discovered that her younger brother (Desmond Tester who is actually listed as "Her younger brother" in the credits) has been killed in a bus bombing and knows that her husband is somehow involved by reading a newspaper. She faints and as she comes to surrounded by a crowd she sees flashes of her younger brother amongst the people. The subjective view allows the audience to experience the horror, confusion and tension she feels when she wakes up surrounded by strangers and a ghost.

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Jones #9 Tilt

Rosemary's Baby

Dir: Roman Polanski

DP: William A. Fraker

In this tilt shot from Rosemary's baby, Roman Polanski shows Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) lying in bed next to her husband Guy (John Cassavetes) unable to sleep after the death of her friend/neighbor. Polanski tilts up to the wall which might have been a strange choice except it alludes to the thought of neighbors and also foreshadows a bit of future neighbor issues. This shot leads the audience to think about what Rosemary might be thinking about (the death of her neighbor) and then to question what is on the other side of the wall.

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Jones #10 Medium Long Shot

Sweet and lowdown

Dir: Woody Allen

DP: Fei Zhao

In this shot from Sweet and lowdown, Emmet Ray (Sean Penn) and his friend Billy Shields (Brian Markinson) are scoping out women on the boardwalk. They have just spotted a pair of women and decide to pursue them. In this shot, they are debating about who gets which girl. The shot size allows for plenty of body movement because they are undecided which calls for shifty movement (stepping back and forth) while displaying there expressions clearly as well as the environment of the boardwalk and beach. 

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Jones #11 Dolly Shot

Buffalo '66

Director: Vincent Gallo

DP: Lance Acord

In this dolly-out>dolly-in from Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66,  Billy Brown is being told that he is to take the fall for a crime he didn't commit because he owes money for gambling in a close up dollied out to a long shot showing his loneliness and despair. This shot immediately jumps to a long shot in the courtroom displaying Billy's back standing in court to a medium closeup of the judge establishing her power and his doom to the verdict.

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Jones #12 Abstract Shot

Easy Rider

Dir: Dennis Hopper

DP: Laszlo Kovacs

In this abstract shot from Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider Wyatt (Peter Fonda), Billy (Dennis Hopper), Mary (Toni Basil), and Karen (Karen Black) are all high on acid. The mixture of out of focus shots, strange activities, unsettling images and jarring movements allows the audience to visualize the disorientation of a drug trip and how by this point the characters are no longer coherent and have pretty much lost their minds in the story. It's like nothing is real.

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Jones #13 Pan 

Nebraska

Dir: Alexander Payne

DP: Phedon Papamichael

In this pan from Alexander Payne's Nebraska, David Grant(Will Forte) is walking his drunk father Woody (Bruce Dern) into their relative's home. I really like this shot just because it's aesthetically pleasing. The use of lines as though the characters are following them, the visible light sources creating high contrast, and I just personally love most things shot in black and white. With all of the elements combined to make this shot, I didn't find a ton of symbolism or anything about it. I just felt it was a very lovely pan. :)

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Jones #14 Extreme Long Shot

Pierrot Le Fou

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

DP: Raoul Coutard

In this shot from Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot Le Fou Ferdinand "Pierrot" Griffin is running from the law with his daughter's babysitter/his ex-lover Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina). They have happened upon a car wreck and have decided to set their car on fire to make it look as though there was a wreck in between the two and that they had died. I like this long shot because there is somewhat of a separation between the past and the future. It reminds me of Dorothy beginning her journey on the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz. I also really love the choices of color and set design.  

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Smith #22

Tracking Shot

“The Shining” Cinematography by: John Alcott

This tracking shot comes from Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.” This tracking shot follows behind Danny as he rides his tricycle down the hotel’s long hallways. This tracking shot allows us to follow Danny and experience what he’s experiencing, while building suspense about what he may encounter. The shot is motivated by Danny, therefore the audience experiences everything with Danny. This shot takes place just before he stops at room 237 and then sees the creepy twins for the first time, so it's a very effective shot for its purpose.

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Smith #23

Steadicam Shot

“Wolf of Wall Street” Cinematographer: Rodrigo Pieto

This steadicam shot comes from Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.” This shot exists to show the audience all of the crazy, busy, and obvious success of this office at this point. The steadicam moves from one end of the office to another, following different people and things, to show us how much there is going on, finally ending back on Leonardo Dicaprio’s character, who explains directly to the camera (audience) that none of what they’re doing is legal, but they’re making more money than they know what to do with.

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Smith #24

Crane Shot

“Grease” Cinematographer: Bill Butler

This crane shot is one of the final shots in the film “Grease.” This shot is in a way the final resolution of the film. For an unexplained reason, Danny and Sandy are flying away in a car, and so this crane shot is supposed to be from Sandy’s perspective, waving goodbye as she flies away, and all of her friends are happily waving goodbye from down below. This shot is the “happy ending” shot of the film.

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Smith #25

Dynamic Shot

“Atonement” Cinematographer: Seamus McGarvey

This dynamic shot comes from the 2007 film, “Atonement.” This shot has become one of the most celebrated long takes in recent history because of its complexity and detail. It’s one steadicam shot that lasts 5 1/2 minutes and it shows the audience every single detail about the location and the feeling of the location. This film takes place during WWII and this shot takes place as Robbie, the male lead, arrives at France’s Dunkirk beach, where the British retreat from the Germans, gravely ill and injured. This shot shows this beach as a sort of dark circus, chaos and death surrounding this pretty beach.

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Jones #15 Establishing Shot

La Jetee 

Dir: Chris Marker

DP: Jean Chiabaut & Chris Marker

La Jetee is a film most people aren't used to and many may not be able to appreciate because it is almost completely made up of photographs instead of video. It is a post-apocalyptic story about a man imprisoned underground in France. This shot helps give insight to the underground catacomb vibe as the narrator is describing what human civilization has become: constant human experiments to reestablish humanity through time travel based on vivid memories. The use of light to display the overhead railings as well as the low angle guide the audience to sense the industrialization of the location as well as the feeling of a lower status being.