Top 10 Tracking Shots of All Time

[Rath/Brendan]

In no particular order:

“And Then He Kissed Me,” GoodFellas
“God Only Knows,” Boogie Nights
“One,” Magnolia (not a tracking shot but Anderson sure as hell makes it feel like one)
“Embarkment and Recruitment,” Gangs of New York
“Trackrabbit’s Slim,” Pulp Fiction
“Crossing The Border,” Touch of Evil
“The Fixer,” Snake Eyes
“Boogie Nights,” Boogie Nights
“Follow the Money,” Casino
“Jules et Vincent,” Pulp Fiction

[Rath/Brendan]

I almost forgot "Donnie's World (Head Over Heels)" in Donnie Darko.

[HBAADU]

I couldn't resist..let's see...

TOP 5

SPOILERS

best tracking shots in film history are all reunited in one film I AM CUBA
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058604" target="_blank">http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058604</a> the entire film is visually stunning.

but the two most memorable scenes.

1)" as the musicians dance and play, a bevy of bathing beauties stroll by. An announcer calls on the crowd to applaud the contestants as the camera moves down the side of the building to reveal affluent sunbathers all clapping for the beautiful girls. In the same long continuous take, the camera roams among the sunbathers drinking cocktails and playing cards around the swimming pool. still in the same uninterrupted shot, it follows a tall brunette in a bikini as she gets up from her chaise lounge and walks into the pool. the camera then dives below the surface to film the swimmers underwater. "

the entire scene is unfuckin'real.

there's also ( and this one is the most impressive in film history i.m.o)

" in a dazzling single shot, the camera rises from street level, travels up the side of a building, crosses the street, enters a window, moves through a room where workers are rolling cigars, then launches out into space and proceeds down the length of a street filled with mourners from a vantage point in the middle of the thoroughfare and above the rooftops. "

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2) touch of evil
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0052311" target="_blank">http://us.imdb.com/Title?0052311</a>
the first opening/ tracking shot..(aprox 4 min continuous take/crane shot)

" ...the camera introduces us to a car loaded with dynamite, as well as Vargas, and his new american bride, Susan. as they all cross the mexican american border. ....etc.. "
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3) The russian ark (the entire film was shot in one take).
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0318034" target="_blank">http://us.imdb.com/Title?0318034</a>
however the most memorable moment (the final 20 mins)

" ...an impressively-staged ballroom scene filled with a vast swarm of ornately dressed gentry dancing in the throes of a vast orchestra...the camera is basically floating. the entire sequence is a technical marvel. "
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4) the cranes are flying
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0050634" target="_blank">http://us.imdb.com/Title?0050634</a>
during the final scene...

"...after the war..there's a scene where the camera is following Veronika in one single take, through a packed crowd...the camera movement,this particular hand held scene is pure brilliance!"

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5) irreversible
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0290673" target="_blank">http://us.imdb.com/Title?0290673</a>
some of the 14 Scenes of this film wr manipulated.
(only 7 or 9 wr entirely shot in one single take).

technically speaking, the most impressive shots are:
during the opening,(continuous take/crane shot) the camera literraly floats in the air and follows marcus (cassel) on a stretcher who's being taken to the ambulance. then, the camera makes a 360, and returns next to the ' rectum' 's entrance and follows Pierre ( handcuffed),suddenly the camera is gaining more altitude..etc.

there's also the final shot (alex lying on the grass, reading a book..etc.)

and the 8 or 10 min shot during the party (where Alex is dancing and discussing with her friends.)
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as for the rest...

music video
Protection by massive attack directed by michel gondry
(this one was heavily manipulated and gives the impression that the entire video was shot in one take). but the ensemble is still very impressive.

in goodfellas
when Ray Liotta brings Karen to the copacabana through the kitchen,and restaurant etc...

in donnie darko
the short but sweet, steadicam shot in the school hallway (wt the head over heels song), nicely choreographed.

.!won...peels ot deeN

[VintageViolence]

Top Five Empty Hallway Tracking Shots:

"Fascinating Carpet Designs" - The Shining

"Neo-Gothic Corridor, Black Lodge" - Twin Peaks, Series Finale

"Insignia Canyon" - Batman (1989)

"Young Oswald Cobblepot's Descent Into Gotham Sewer" - Batman Returns

"Patricia Arquette is Fucked" - Lost Highway

[Mr. Sodium]

Touch of Evil is a personal favorite, but I'd also like to nominate the long trench walk in Paths of Glory.

[Richard Dickson]

Don't forget "Non Nobis" from Brannagh's Henry V -- one long slow track across the battlefield. Simply amazing.

[muncie girl]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">the already mentioned and much-beloved tricycle-vision in The Shining. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">the ever-watchful eye that follows Bree through the city in Klute. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Carlito makes his Way through his club to the sounds of the seventies. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Dignan walks down the street with a coat-hanger and fails to look nonchalant in Bottle Rocket. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">a survey of the damage at the end of Taxi Driver. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">the camera (and the neo-Nazis) flee from an angry mob in Romper Stomper. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">the near-empty building at the end of Andromeda Strain. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">spinning around the raft at the end of Aguirre: The Wrath of God. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Rope and Running Time both get on here just for being thorough. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">

[Black VW]

There's a great ep. of the X-Files they re-ran on Sci-Fi not too long ago where Mulder is trapped on a WW2-era ship in the past and they do a great tracking shot of Scully running around FBI headquarters...anyone remember that?

[Sean Bateman]

Black VW:
There's a great ep. of the X-Files they re-ran on Sci-Fi not too long ago where Mulder is trapped on a WW2-era ship in the past and they do a great tracking shot of Scully running around FBI headquarters...anyone remember that?That episode is truly fantastic, I wish I could say that about 80% of the episodes.

[Black VW]

I agree. However, what they do with her in the elevator to "kill time" on the shot is great. Really well done by Gillian Anderson. (and, of course, the DP)

[Isao Kanemasa]

Obligatory love for the <strong>Hardboiled</strong> hospital corridor scene. Yes, I know the shot was interrupted halfway through, but it's still a good cheat.

[Dave Davis]

The opening tracking shot of Altman's The Player. Great Touch of Evil homage.

[Boomstick]

I feel dumb here. Can someone discribe a tracking shot for me... at least it's qualities? I'm sure I know what it is, I just want to understand what makes a tracking shot a tracking shot.

[Dave Davis]

Tracking Shot (track, dolly, truck, "moving camera"): In essence, the camera moves through space to follow a subject (not to be confused with "panning"). Considered the "most difficult and most expensive shot in a cinematographer's vocabulary". Praised tracking shots are grenerally lenghty and seamless.

[Yando]

Some of my favorite tracking shots:

Following Beloq and Nazi Crew across the desert as they discover Indy and crew getting ready for the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Following Stanley Spector with Felicty Huffman through the studio offices in Magnolia.

The opening shot of Touch of Evil.

When Hitchcock moves down from the ceiling to the door to reveal the incoming party guests in Notorious.

Following Lawrence through the desert in almost all of Lawrence of Arabia.

And ditto on The Shining, Taxi Driver, and Irreversible (the whole goddamned film - AMAZING).

[Stew]

Poxy Von Sinister:
Don't forget "Non Nobis" from Brannagh's Henry V -- one long slow track across the battlefield. Simply amazing.Good man. One of my favorite films ever and one spectacular scene. So much happening as he walks, beautiful Patrick Doyle score, the looks of the defeated Dauphin and his men. Perfection.

I'll add Brian DePalma's creepy stalker shot of Sean Connery in his home in The Untouchables. Back and forth between windows, through the windows, down the hall, turns around. Very cool.

The discovery of the Night Owl Massacre in L.A. Confidential is pretty effective.

[Black VW]

there aren't supposed to be any edits at all in the tracking shot, are there?

[Dave Davis]

Typically not, though some directors "mask" the cuts to create the illusion of a continuous take (such as Depalma's opening Snake Eyes shot).

[Vemsie]

Isn't Kill Bill supposed to have the tracking shot to end all tracking shots?

[Boomstick]

Dave Davis:
Tracking Shot (track, dolly, truck, "moving camera"): In essence, the camera moves through space to follow a subject (not to be confused with "panning"). Considered the "most difficult and most expensive shot in a cinematographer's vocabulary". Praised tracking shots are grenerally lenghty and seamless.Thanks. I was pretty sure what they were, but you solidified it for me. Best ever:

Rashomon- as the woodcutter walks through the forest.

[Dave Davis]

Vemsie:
Isn't Kill Bill supposed to have the tracking shot to end all tracking shots?Yeah, I think Harry talked about that. An infiltration and combat scene. Something like 3 minutes continuous, took weeks of rehearsal.

[Sean Bateman]

It's not. Harry misunderstood. There is a tracking shot the follows The Bride from the trunk of the car into the restaurant which at most could be roughly a minute long.

[mecha superior]

Jaws: Camera follows Chrissie being chased on the beach, as she flings her clothes off.

[Anne]

VintageViolence:
Top Five Empty Hallway Tracking Shots:

"Insignia Canyon" - Batman (1989)
Ooh, thank you for posting that. I'll never forget the first time I saw that opening scene, in the theater. It still pops into my mind from time to time. I was so amazed to see the Batman insignia revealed towards the end of the shot.

You know, it's true, there were lots of tracking shots in "Lawrence of Arabia", and that was part of what made it very arduous to shoot; "real hell" as David Lean said! That, and they didn't have digital retouching, so when a paper cup blew out onto the sand where a scene had to be shot, they had to go out, pick it up, and sweep their footprints away as they returned!

[Vemsie]

Sean Bateman, Master of Hyperbole:
It's not. Harry misunderstood. There is a tracking shot the follows The Bride from the trunk of the car into the restaurant which at most could be roughly a minute long.Ah well, still looking forward to it.

[Bruno Antony]

Dude, Harry described the entire shot... he sat and watched them do it.

I'm curious as to how he misunderstood.

I remember him talking about the steadicam guy like following the Bride up over a wall or something...

[JamesLaw]

The tracking shot through the skylight of Xanadu in Citizen Kane.

For me, it is the definitive tracking shot of cinematic history.

[Gandalf´s Father]

The shot in the end of the Fellowship of the Ring when the camera goes from Aragorn and down a hill following orcs to the place where Boromir is fighting. That was a tracking shot right?

[Colt45]

1) GOODFELLAS
Do I even have to mention it?

2) TOUCH OF EVIL
The scene where the Mexican is framed... there are so many people in the room and Welles tracks them all so elegantly and swiftly... the shot goes on forever, it's amazing.

3) E.T.
The scene where Mary backs out of the driveway in the BG, and we track over and the FBI men appear in the FG, then approch the house, all the while engulfed in shadow. Visual filmmaking its finest.

4) CITIZEN KANE
The scene where Charles is given away as a child... very impressive.

5) NOTORIOUS
The "key hidden in the hand" shot. It's actually a crane shot, but it needs to be included.

6) TOUCH OF EVIL
The opening. Of course.

7) THE PLAYER
The opening. I'm not as fond of this shot as most people, but it's still great.

8) MAGNOLIA
Preparing for the game show scene... a little forced, but it comes off nicely.

9) JAWS
The scene where Brody and Hooper try and convince the mayor to shut down the beach... one of my personal favorites. No director can block like Spielberg.

10) SNAKE EYES
Honorable mention.

[CTDeLude]

Just have to mention the tracking shot in Time and Tide where Tyler(?) crashes out the window freefalling with a repel line and the camera follows him out the window for a good distance. Only wished they had kept with the shot longer.