11 Mind-Blowing TV Long Takes
7. Band of Brothers - Beethoven's Symphony
While this is one of the shorter entries on this list, the haunting orchestral display in Why We Fight is an eerie and unforgettable sequence.
The shot starts with a close-up of a violin, panning out to showcase the destruction of a recent bombing run on a small German town. It is an incredibly moving and symbolic scene.
For context, the news of Hitler's suicide has become public. The orchestra plays what's mistakingly identified as the Austrian Mozart by one American soldier. Captain Lewis Nixon corrects the soldier that it's the German Beethoven: Germany is slowly reclaiming its identity.
On the surface, the technical aspects of one sweeping camera motion look simple, yet is trickier than it appears.
The almost-360 degrees camera pan makes it difficult to hide the behind-the-scenes crew. Different focal points from close-ups of the violin's strings to wide-screen visuals of the rubble and destruction must be juggled with the camera moving to different scenes and heights of the sombre exhibition. It all meshes together into a pretty impactful start for an emotional penultimate episode.