I Am Cuba, Mikheil Kalatozishvili's masterpiece of cinematography and camera movement, can be best described as a film composed of many, many long shots strung together. The narrative itself consists of several vignettes following several different people in Cuba, but the real reason to watch the film is to see the dozens of amazing shots that are meticulously set-up and executed perfectly. What's most amazing to me about these shots is the fact that the movie was filmed in 1964, way before there was any such thing as a Steadicam...So camera rigs were invented, shots were choreographed, and the imagination and passion that was put into it is evident in every shot.
In the shot below, the camera starts out on the street as a huge funeral march is taking place, travels straight up into the building above, out the window, and soars over the street and above the hundreds of people walking below.
Click on the picture below to watch the scene. (10 MB, Windows Media Player required)
No comments:
Post a Comment