With Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan released on Blu-ray and DVD last week, I finally got to re-watch the film that I had tried to will into being this years Best Picture Oscar winner. Full of impressive camerawork, cinematography, editing and direction – as well as exquisite performances – I was reintroduced to a film that particularly dazzled me with its beautiful framing and expressive shots. Whilst Black Swan didn’t win the Academy Award, it is certainly one of the most technically impressive films I’ve seen in a while.

However, there are many directors who have chosen to use their imagination to its full capabilities in their work and tackle shots that have gone on to define a film, if not an entire genre. When a film is resplendent with inventive techniques it can elevate it into a realm of its own, an honour afforded to very few productions. From pioneers such as Sergei Eisentein, through the legend of Alfred Hitchcock to modern day greats such as Steven Spielberg, read on to discover the 10 Greatest Shots that have left a distinct mark on film, as well as giving audiences untold amounts of pleasure!

10. The Moon Shot in E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1981)

For an entire generation this must be one of the most enduring images from childhood. Not only does it feature the most eternally awesome bicycle (it can fly – who wouldn’t want that!?) and an alien, it’s framed as a piece of high art that manages to invoke the most passionate emotions within audiences (unless that was just me at about 7 years old?).

In the one shot of E.T. and Elliot cycling past the moon, the films entire notion of friendship and loyalty is exemplified on screen. The look of the moon is both magical and absurd, which essentially reflects the very nature of the narrative. The shot is pure fantasy and it is this tone throughout the wider film that makes it such a memorable childhood watch.

Combining special effects with breathtaking colour hues, this shot is a beautifully calm moment in a particularly tense and thrilling final sequence to the film!

09. Finale of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993)


The tracking shot itself may not seem a very inventive technique, but the final sequence of Much Ado About Nothing adds a new layer to the style of shooting. Tracking into aerial shots – and not in the cheesy Grease (1974) finale style – Kenneth Branagh’s direction perfectly reflects the celebratory nature of the films closing sequence. Lasting a good 2 and a half minutes, it’s probably one of the longest and most ambitious tracking shots committed to film. Taking in each of the principal characters (singing and dancing) as well as the beautiful Italian location, no other tracking shot has compared in grandeur or effect. The expressive nature of the shot means viewers can’t help but be filled with happiness as the end credits start rolling!

Skip to 4:50 on the video to see the tracking shot…

 

08. The Rose Petal Shot in AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999)

It’s rightly become one of the most iconic moments in film: a nude Mena Suvari – rude bits strategically covered! – on a bed of red rose petals, a fantasy that was probably not only limited to Lester Burnham’s (Kevin Spacey) imagination! Director Sam Mendes creates an image that is not easily forgotten, complete with falling rose petals and a seductively angelic Suvari. It skilfully blends fantasy with artistic imagery to create a series of shots that capture innocence and lust in a sequence that could easily appear ridiculous, but manages to refrain from becoming so.

The sequence, whilst skilfully shot and never pornographic, remains slightly unsettling to a certain extent however, due to the fact that Suvari’s Angela Hayes is only 15-years-old. Mendes manages to blend this discomfort within viewers with a visual that could easily be composed of oil on canvas, ensuring that whilst Burnham’s fantasy may seem rather perverted it never becomes paedophilic: achieved solely by the director’s highly imaginative shots.

 

07. The Newspaper Shot in THE BLACK DAHLIA (2006)

Ok, so Brian De Palma’s film itself is probably most notorious for being extremely convoluted and highly difficult to follow completely, but it’s also equally memorable for one shot that see’s Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) observe Lorna Mertz (Jemima Rooper) over the top of a newspaper. We’re used to the obligatory (and often comical) stakeout scene that sees somebody observe their target through a newspaper with eye holes, but De Palma’s unique take on this tradition is a refreshingly inventive moment not only within this film, but the wider crime/film noir genre too. The framing is superb: whilst the newspaper is in the forefront of the screen and what is immediately noticeable, it also helps guide viewers to look at Mertz, who’s off centre location would perhaps not be instantly observed.

06. Ripley Appears as an Angel in ALIENS (198)

In comparison to some of the other shots chronicled here, this may not seem like the most imaginative one, but it is the probably the most expressive of the bunch. As Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley immortalises the iconic line, “Get away from her you bitch!” she stands a dozen feet tall in her metallic skeleton, backlight by a bright white beam. Looking every image the saviour – in an insanely religiously inspired way – visual representation has never been this obvious before!

Cameron manages to express his intentions at the most fundamental level and there is no mistaking Ripley for anything other than the hero and saviour of Newt. It is the simplicity, yet hugely interpretable, nature of this shot that makes it so imaginative and such an iconic image within cinema history.

 

05. The Jump Cuts in A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (1959)


Classically, it’s totally un-cinematic: the camera follows the back of … heads as they drive around Paris. Sporadically and jerkily cutting between the locations they drive around, A Bout de Souffle appears to be suffering from a damaged print at this point. However, in reality it’s director Jean-Luc Godard’s genius working at drawing viewers’ attention to the very process of filmmaking itself. The unconventional editing technique was dubbed the jump cut and became a staple of the French New Wave cinema Godard was so influential within.

It has since gone on to become a technique adopted by Hollywood and was frequently used by Tarantino in his Grindhouse entry, Death Proof (2007). Used to distract audiences from the narrative, Godard employed the jump cut as a device to make the editing technique as much a part of the viewing process as the on screen action. Where most directors would try to edit films seamlessly to avoid attention to the process, Godard saw it as an integral element of filmmaking and something that should be at the forefront of an audiences’ attention – something he certainly achieved in this scene of A Bout de Souffle!

 

04. The Montage in BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925)

By today’s standards it may not appear that imaginative, but back in the mid-20s Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin montage scene was radically inventive. Credited with inventing the montage, Eisenhower uses this technique to incredible effect here. Managing to use the editing effect to display a range of emotions within characters, the montage in Potemkin is quite frankly revolutionary. The technique has of course gone on to become a staple within film, to a point that it is often over – or even mis – used on a regular basis.

The heavily montage laden films of the 80s have often been mocked and generally degrade the technique considerably. But here it generates expression in a way that silent cinema had not previously achieved. Rather than relying on facial expression alone, the constant cuts between images help generate a story that has no need for title cards to be spliced in between. This one series of shots changed the face of cinema forever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euG1y0KtP_Q

 

03. The Priest Approaches Shot in THE EXORCIST (1973)

If you give this shot a quick glimpse it wouldn’t immediately appear rather horrific. However, there’s something about the composition that manages to evoke terror within even the greatest of horror aficionados. The figure could appear as a doctor or someone in a religious position, due to swath of light he bathed in.

However, unlike the earlier shot from Aliens, the position of the figure is not as easily definable. The light does not appear as religious as the backlight in the Aliens shot, instead appearing intimidating and overpowering. In fact, within the narrative, it is quite obviously characterised as a portal to hell itself. Director William Friedkin cleverly takes an ordinary location and manipulates it into becoming something incredibly menacing.

By today’s standards of horror – with the ubiquitous emergence of the overly gory, torture-porn sub-genre of horror in particular – this is probably the most psychologically intimidating shot within the entire film. The image has gone on to become one of the most iconic and enduring images of horror cinema, not only remaining an extremely effective moment on screen but also adorning countless posters, video and DVD covers to become the image most associated with the film.

 

02. The Shark P.O.V in JAWS (1975)

Fans of horror films are quite used to the serial killer’s point of view shots, but Spielberg took this in a new direction by shooting from the man-munching shark’s viewpoint. The opening sequence to Jaws really hammers home the vulnerability we are all susceptible to when swimming in the sea.

However, it is the single shot of the Great White looking up at the female swimmer that is truly terrifying! Mixing impressive underwater shooting with John Williams’ infamous score, this one shot almost single-handedly sets the entire tone of the movie: fear of the unexpected, nature at its most predatory and dangerous to humanity and complete and utter defencelessness…

 

01. The Vertigo Shot from VERTIGO (1958)


As one of the most expressive and inventive directors of the 20th century, this list could probably have consisted of 10 Alfred Hitchcock entries alone. The majority of his films contain at least one imaginative – and often experimental – shot that leaves audiences awestruck, but his work in Vertigo has to be some of the most visually stunning.

Whether it’s the introductory shots of Madeleine (Kim Novak) that perfectly capture Scottie’s (Jimmy Stewart) immediate obsession, to the insanely tense shot of Scottie dangling from a rooftop, Vertigo is a film that generates some exceptional imagery.

However, the most imaginative shot of the film – nay cinema itself probably! – has to be Hitchcock’s vertigo demonstrating shot as Scottie climbs the stairs of the bell tower. Achieved by simultaneously tracking back and zooming in, never has a shot so precisely mimicked an infliction…and never is one likely to do again in the future!

OTHER SHOTS OF NOTE:


The Floating Corpse Shot in SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)

The Mrs. Robinson Leg Shot in THE GRADUATE (1967)

The Trevi Fountain Shot in LA DOLCE VITA (1960)


Bullet Time in THE MATRIX (1998)

The Crop Duster Shot in NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)


The Eye/Plughole Shot in PSYCHO (1960)


The Subway Dress Shot in THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1957)


Have any suggestions of your own? We’d love to hear, so leave a comment below!

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