[Konvas] Dollies and Cranes (was: Bleu screen) off-topic

[Adam Frey]

Speedbirdmgh at aol.com wrote:
> Seems to be aimed at CGI users and novice Video types. Not a great
> fan of Hollywood 'TV production' style of shooting using dollies,
> cranes etc to create movement all the time. In Europe dollies and
> cranes are frowned upon.

Funny you should mention this. We just talked about this in my classes 
after watching the Korean film, "Oldboy". If you haven't seen it yet, I 
highly recommend it. But be warned, it's rated "R" - it's violent, a 
little twisted, and somewhat graphic in places (but not horribly so - 
they actually don't show a lot of the things, leaving them just 
off-screen).

But, it's a hell of an action film! I mean, it's really well put 
together. What I like about this film is the way the cameras are often 
planted and the *lack* of cutting. There's also very little CGI in the 
film. It's one of the most brilliantly done action movies I've seen in a 
while - quite original in both it's story and camera work.

The director, Chan-wook Park, left the camera planted in some scenes for 
long periods of time - but not once did you feel like it was "planted" 
or stationary. The movie was so alive in front of the lens that no one 
in either of my two classrooms ever noticed the lack of cuts. It never 
felt boring or "Kubrickian" (we've watched a few Kubrick clips in the 
classes and most of the students hated Kubrick's "long take" style).

Yes, there are dolly shots, and even some very complicated ones, with 
the camera circling Oh Dae-Su (the main character), and staying 
alongside him in the hallway fight scene, and such - but they are so 
well done and they don't cut, just for the sake of cutting, like so many 
other action films do.

BTW: If you watch it, watch it in Korean with subtitles. If you try to 
watch it in any other language, you'll be doing the movie a grave 
disservice...


Cheers,

Adam Frey
Director/Cinematographer
Crimson Chain Productions
http://crimsonchainproductions.com
Cell: 301-639-7146

Crimson Chain Productions
PO Box 35
Libertytown, MD 21762