The Spielberg Oner: One Scene, One Shot

[mrbellamy 6,306]

Cool video essay (with examples) illustrating Spielberg's frequent use of covering an entire scene in a single, complex master shot, and comparing his shots favorably to more celebrated but less subtle examples of the technique:

http://vimeo.com/94628727

http://vimeo.com/94684923

http://vimeo.com/94684922

One of my favorite Spielberg techniques and it's pretty cool to see so many of them compiled together like this. I like how the narrator mentions the "immersive" quality of these shots too, and how they even help in suspending disbelief for his genre films. I think it's one of many secrets of Spielberg's success as a filmmaker and it's true that a lot of modern filmmakers do tend to either under or overestimate its power.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

The smug narrator's really getting to me.

[nightscape94 965]

He mentioned doing this in the DGA interview he had with Abrams and Cameron a few years ago. He frequently composes a master shot that could be used without coverage and but still gets coverage so he doesn't regret it, or in case editing needs to be done and he has a way to cut out of it.

[mrbellamy 6,306]

The smug narrator's really getting to me.

I agree with that. Still, it's the first time I've seen anybody really go into this at length, in regards to Spielberg.