The single greatest SHOT ever...?

[Ralph Oshiro]

Again, one of my favorite scenes from Apocalypse Now. I really love the part in this shot a few seconds later where you can see the shadow of the camera, dolly, camera operator, and the dolly grip--could you post a frame of that please?

 

[Alexander Nikishin]

Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull", Cinematography by Michael Chapman (1980)

 

[Weston Ford]

Definitely my favorite shot ever.

 

[Jason Murphy]

I swear my heart stopped beating when I first saw that lightning strike while watching "The New World" in theatres. It's an absolutely amazing shot.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Oh hell yes, I agree!

 

[Weston Ford]

I swear my heart stopped beating when I first saw that lightning strike while watching "The New World" in theatres. It's an absolutely amazing shot.

Yeah it was the same with me the first time i watched it. And i think the preceding part of that montage...as well as the rest of it is my favorite sequence in a film.

 

[Dan Blanchett]

Some iconic images:

View attachment 653

Yeah, this is one of my faves, too. I recall reading that the ligthing was a real challenge in this shot.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Yeah it was the same with me the first time i watched it. And i think the preceding part of that montage...as well as the rest of it is my favorite sequence in a film.

Agreed. It's a beautiful sequence. ...As you can see from my signature... heh.

 

[Policar]

Yeah, this is one of my faves, too. I recall reading that the ligthing was a real challenge in this shot.

Do you remember the article in which you read that? I was looking at the shot and wondering where they hid the lights...I couldn't figure it out at all.

Also, virtually any frame from Days of Heaven for the win. If long take action were allowed, I'd actually consider a few shots from War of the Worlds, or from the superior but less aesthetically amazing Children of Men, which was totally copping War of the Words, just doing it for real instead of through CGI. I like Janusz more than Lubezki (sp?), too, just because I think his aesthetic is more varied and more interesting...but they're both masters.

 

[Weston Ford]

Agreed. It's a beautiful sequence. ...As you can see from my signature... heh.

yeah i hadnt realized what that was from...then i watched the movie again last night and remembered. I should have known though...based on your "somewhere worshiping terrence malick"....which I would agree to as being a good thing to do.

 

[Dan Blanchett]

Do you remember the article in which you read that? I was looking at the shot and wondering where they hid the lights...I couldn't figure it out at all.

It was a book actually. I think it was this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Exorcist-BFI-Modern-Classics/dp/0851706738


(and the lights are actually in that upper room, a few feet back from the window if I recall, and very bright)

 

[Tom Lowe]

This shot of the GIs coming up a slope of grass. It was shot with a huge Akela Crane, possibly with a Libra head. I will have to dig into my Feb 1999 issue of AC issue to be sure.

Famously, the clouds and light changed in the middle of the shot. It's really impressive.

 

[Mark Thorpe]

Greatest shot ever? differing opinions, tastes and persuasions make it a hard choice. For me personally I love the shot featured in Howard Halls 'Island of the Sharks' filmed exclusively on location in (underwater) Cocos Island. One shot is at vertically 90 degrees with the perfect settings dialed into the IMAX camera using a wide, possibly fish eye, lens. Just a beautiful scene of many tens of hammerhead sharks passing overhead silhouetted against a slowly rippling Ocean surface, quite stunning.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[Tom Lowe]

CamDiver, I have been wondering what you and SharkGuy think of Malick/Toll's underwater photography in The Thin Red Line.

And also I wonder what are your thoughts are on Nestor Almendros' underwater photography on The Blue Lagoon?

 

[ericyoung]

How did I forget this one?!

Yeah that's a great one!

 

[ericyoung]

Aah, a bit of romance...

Not the greatest single shots ever, but I like them!

 

[P Andersson]

thanks to garrett brown cinema has many more interesting single shot solutions, here is the first I believe

http://www.steadishots.org/shots_detail.cfm?shotID=3

 

[Mark Thorpe]

CamDiver, I have been wondering what you and SharkGuy think of Malick/Toll's underwater photography in The Thin Red Line.

And also I wonder what are your thoughts are on Nestor Almendros' underwater photography on The Blue Lagoon?

Tom,
Personally I choose not to watch war movies. As for the Blue Lagoon, I like the feel to it, the HSL balance and contrast gives it a nice aura.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[Weston Ford]

The tracking shots in The Thin Red Line are insane. I've always wondered how they did that.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Tom,
Personally I choose not to watch war movies. As for the Blue Lagoon, I like the feel to it, the HSL balance and contrast gives it a nice aura.

Cheers,
Mark.

I understand. The Thin Red Line is kind of an anti-war war movie, though. It does not celebrate war in the way a movie like Saving Private Ryan does. Instead, it highlights the absurdity of war and at the same time showcases the beauty of nature.