Tracking Shots In Films – Part I

Yesterday, director Alfonso Cuaron released a new trailer for his film Gravity. Cuaron is the chap behind films such as Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the one everyone likes), and that God-awful remake of Great Expectations. Critics have been blown away by Gravity – the story of an astronaut (played by Sandra Bullock) who is stranded in space. From first premises, that sounds lame. What will make it sound lamer is that she has to be rescued by George Clooney. All this aside, watch the trailer below and see what you think.

The first thing you will probably notice is that there’s not a lot of cuts, it’s far more streamlined than a traditional scene. In fact, the opening shot of Gravity is reportedly one long take lasting 17 minutes. That’s pretty impressive. It also brings in the subject of today’s post: tracking shots. Basically, a tracking shot is like the one seen in the trailer for Gravity – it’s a long piece of footage with no breaks (‘cuts’). You may be asking, ‘So what? What’s the deal? Why all the fuss?’ but just consider how much work has to go into setting up one of those shots: everything has to be in the right place, everyone has to remember their cues and come in on the right time, everything has to be perfect. This is why some directors tend to shy away from them, but when they do include them in film, it just makes them more impressive. Today and tomorrow, I’ll be looking at some of my favourite tracking shots in film. Enjoy!

1. Children of Men

As I’ve mentioned above, Children of Men is another one of Alfonso Cuaron’s films – if you haven’t seen it then DROP EVERYTHING AND BUY THIS FILM! It’s fantastic. Plus, it has a whole heap of tracking shots in it. Take the opening of the film, for instance:

There are so many potential places for ‘cuts’ in that sequence – it could have made it a lot easier to film, in terms of the explosion – but the fact that it’s one straight piece of footage just makes it that much more visceral. And it makes for a brilliant opening to the film.

Later on in the film there is, arguably, one of the best tracking shots in modern film. It involves cars, fire, motorcycles, ping-pong balls, and Julianne Moore getting shot. Take a look:

Just think how many things had to go right to make that shot: the motorcycles, the blood, the reactions, the camera movements. It’s mind-boggling. They even released a behind-the-scenes video to show just how they managed to achieve this complex shot.

2. Goodfellas

This film is a classic, one of director Martin Scorcese’s greats. Practically everyone has seen (or is about to see, after reading this) this film. There’s a brilliant example of a tracking shot as Henry makes his way into the club. Enjoy.

3. Hugo

This is another of Scorcese’s films – critics have called it ‘an extravagant, elegant fantasy’ and have praised its use of technology and 3D. Now, this next clip isn’t an exceprt from the film, but rather a behind-the-scenes look at how the tracking shot was accomplished. It’s still definitely worth a watch.

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It suddenly occured to me how ‘YouTube’-heavy this post will be, so I’ve decided to split it into two parts. Stick around for Part II tomorrow for more tacking shot goodness!

Tom