Your favourite piece of cinematography.

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Seen as the two, photography and cinematography, are directly related, I'm wondering what you most memorable or favourite piece of movie cinematography is.

For example, my favourite piece would be the scene in Black Hawk Down is when the two Delta snipers volunteer to secure the second crash site on their own. So intense. Followed very closely by the scene with the helicopters going into the target area for the first time, flying over the beaches and going through the tire smoke. Stunning.

But there are so many to choose from.
 
Black hawk down is full of amazing cinematography. My fav bit of that film however is where they IR strobe the gunmen on the roof at night...typical yankee stuff! :D

Saving Private Ryan, A Very Long Engagement, Schindlers List, Band of Brothers (TV series technically), Battleship Potempkin (soviet film - 1920's), Das Boot, Full Metal Jacket, Apocolypse Now....just to name a few other war films, which in my opinion, are generally amongst the best cinematographed films ever. Usually as they're made by people who have a passion for telling the story...not McG and Charlies Angels :lol:

The Pianist I feel I must pay special recognition to...beautiful!
 
I am normally impressed by more technically tricky stuff or firsts - like the steadycam scenes of the tricycle in "The Shining" or stupidly the Spice Girls erm can't remember the song, but think it was their first video, where it is the same shot for the whole video, no edits or anything...so yeah, really crap stuff like that :p
 
Not necessarily my favourite, but definitely sticks in my mind - Children Of Men. The scene where the main characters are running through the derelict buildings whilst under attack. It is one continuously filmed scene without a break, lasting some minutes, and the longest ever made.
 
MisterE said:
Not necessarily my favourite, but definitely sticks in my mind - Children Of Men. The scene where the main characters are running through the derelict buildings whilst under attack. It is one continuously filmed scene without a break, lasting some minutes, and the longest ever made.
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I remember that scene. That was a fantastic movie also.
 
Hitchcock's 'viewpoint' filming always impresses me - the camera shows the protagonist face on moving towards the house/car/whatever then cuts to see their viewpoint of the house/car as they close in on it.

Psycho was a prime example of that.

Or single take stuff like Tom's Spice Girl Example - very clever stuff!
 
Grant said:
And American History X - that's my favourite, by far.
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The seagulls scene with the orange sky is fantastic. It's one of the scenes I remember the most despite what goes on in the movie.
 
Pretty well anything made by Stanley Kubrick - genius!
 
I love every film mentioned here... :D

My favourite would be Once Upon a Time in America
 
Most of 'Collateral' - ok, so it's a big budget Hollywood job, but it's a beautiful looking film and the shots inside the cab are just so well done it's worth watching for that alone.

Cheers,
James
 
Moos3h said:
Most of 'Collateral' - ok, so it's a big budget Hollywood job, but it's a beautiful looking film and the shots inside the cab are just so well done it's worth watching for that alone.

Cheers,
James
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Agreed about Collateral, did you read the recent strobist post on how they shot the cab scenes, interesting stuff.

In the past couple of years I think the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has fantastic cinematography. The tilt/shift lensbaby type shots are beautiful.

Also, the cinematography on Thin Red Line is awesome, very little lighting was used, it was all diffusers and reflectors.
 
Got to be some of the brilliantly snappy shot compositions and techniques of Requiem for a Dream


Or any of Darren Aronofsky's work for that matter
 
Ah, being an avid film studies student, this is a really exciting topic for me ahah :D

So, cinematography. Are we talking just a favourite scene because of a particular mixture of angles, shots, lighting? Or are we talking cinematography as slang for a film?

Scenes? As above, 'Assassination of Jesse James', those beautiful tilt-shift narrative sections really added to the film, which made no sense because they were so random.

Saving Private Ryan's opening sequence is a fantastic piece of work, too.

I love Kubrick's work, and I think that his set of recent films are all amazing in their own right, and all so vastly different. A really talented director there.

I can't think of anymore that have struck me! I always have this problem. In our classes, we end up going so off topic talking about films (and I think it's brilliant because I did so much better in my A2 exams than my AS exams, all because of a greater understanding of film rather than just the topic areas), and I can talk for hours about films in that environment, but after that the films are lost in the abyss that is my mind.
 
I thought the cinematography in 300 was EPIC.

Loved Amilie too.
 
Bladerunner... A level Film dissertation 5000 words on it and its still one of my favourites.

I dont know what were talking about though. I have so many film that ive studied and like for different reasons.

Foodpoison, were do you study?
 
the pan shot in 'atonement' was a great piece of cinema, as was the opening shot of the city in 'bladerunner'.

the cinematic framing in 'last of the mohicans' was inch perfect, and the scene in 'the birds' where they're running from the school.
 
Dom_Cabarete said:
Bladerunner... A level Film dissertation 5000 words on it and its still one of my favourites.

I dont know what were talking about though. I have so many film that ive studied and like for different reasons.

Foodpoison, were do you study?
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It's overwhelming, isn't it.

People say to you, "But don't you watch films and just analyse them the whole way through? doesn't it annoy you?"

But it's the opposite. I enjoy films 1000x more than I did pre-a level. And I was a film fanatic before!

I study at Farnborough Sixth Form. Fantastic college, with really enthusiastic teachers.
 
Awesome and i totally agree, ive taken a break to travel but i want to study cinematography at uni in paris.

Im the same mate i love films and post a level i love them even more. I own almost 500 dvds which is a little exessive but theres nothing better than spotting errors in films that others would not even see.
 
danbroad said:
the pan shot in 'atonement' was a great piece of cinema, as was the opening shot of the city in 'bladerunner'.

the cinematic framing in 'last of the mohicans' was inch perfect, and the scene in 'the birds' where they're running from the school.
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Seamus McGarvey, the DoP for Atonement, is bloody good.
 
I like Foodpoison am a film studies (GCSE level) student, find this quite interesting topic.

But anyways, my favourtie bit of cinematography is in "Oldboy" the panning shot as Dae Su breaks out of his "prison" and fights all the thugs in the coridoor. All done in one take aswell. Best scene in any movie I have seen

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BxZenU-R84U
Heres the scene for reference, You will love it !
 
Ah awesome! I'm going off to Southampton Solent in september to study Media and Communication Advertising HND followed (if i'm up for it) a Promotional Media BA(Hons) top up after the 2nd year.

I want to get into the advertising game because I'm not up to the task of trying to live a happy life as a world-wide famous director, because it's just not what I want to do. I've never made a film in my life (not even as a kid), and for me it's always about being witty and clever to attract the audience's attention - advertising is suited for me, it seems! After uni, travel america, get into the biz!

So, back on topic, what are some of the best films you've seen recently?

I saw Frost/Nixon last night and Seven Pounds last week.
Seven Pounds first - class performance by Smith, as per usual, but it was the director who really shone in this. Typical of Muccino to leave all of the emotions up until the very last, most crucual scene, before unleashing it on the audience.
We as the audience knew exactly that he was going to get the job in Pursuit of Happyness, but matched with a stunning performance by Smith, it just makes you explode with emotions. Similar to Seven Pounds, I won't spoil it for you :)

Frost/Nixon, however, was a completely different game. Once again, fantastic acting, made all the more believable by the lack of a star persona. The fact that it is most likely mostly factually incorrect is irrelevant, simply because of the fact that it is so enthralling you couldn't give a shiny turd whether or not any of it actually happened (especially since it was based on a play).
 
There are LOADSs, some are so subtle (Amelie), some are so in your face (Band of Brothers), they are all good in their own way.
 
Jordie said:
I like Foodpoison am a film studies (GCSE level) student, find this quite interesting topic.

But anyways, my favourtie bit of cinematography is in "Oldboy" the panning shot as Dae Su breaks out of his "prison" and fights all the thugs in the coridoor. All done in one take aswell. Best scene in any movie I have seen

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BxZenU-R84U
Heres the scene for reference, You will love it !
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Beautiful. Reminds me of the 2d shooters seen in arcades.
I love that it was all one take. I love it when films just try that. Like in Raining Stones by Ken Loach, Bob (Bruce Jones) cocks up his lines. But because Loach carries on rolling, it looks completely natural. People don't talk perfectly - they stutter, they pause (and not just for dramatic effect), etc.
Similar to what Peter Berg does when filming (Hancock) - just rolls the camera hoping that the actors mess up to make it all the more natural.
 
Hero. In fact many Chinese films are filmed with a grace and elegance you don't see anywhere else.

Black Hawk Down and Amelie have already been mentioned. Two of my favourite films.
 
Showing my age here but it has to be..if.
From '68 directed by Lindsay Anderson.
Wonderful b+w scenes and haunting sound track.
Not the same now but as a 13 year old it was incredible.:coat:
 
dlh said:
Hero. In fact many Chinese films are filmed with a grace and elegance you don't see anywhere else.

Black Hawk Down and Amelie have already been mentioned. Two of my favourite films.
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i totally agree film such as hero and crouching tiger are amazingly filmed such a different style of grace and elegents
 
Too many to mention them all but if I had to pick one then its Omar Sharif in the distant heat haze oh so slowly arriving out of the desert in David Leans Lawrence of Arabia---------------------Just stunning.
Pete.
 
I think the most effecting piece of cinematography for me is the two scenes in Schindler's List with the girl in the red coat. I fealt genuine distress when the camera picks up the red amongst all the other dead bodies on the cart.
28 days later has some superb moments that really stick in my mind, apart from the desolate London scenes there's the rooftop with all the different coloured buckets, the taxi driving past the wind turbines, the scene where Cillian Murphy's escaped the soldiers and then sees a plane flying overhead and one of my favourite juxtapositions with the young girl drugged up in the brightly coloured evening dress running through the dark and dank stately home.
There's many more scenes in movies but i cant be bothered to go into them.
 
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