Great cinematography - favourite scenes

[Legend83]

My excitement at the release of the new Bladerunner is partly due to being a fan of Denis Villeneuve but also because Roger Deakins is a brilliant cinematographer. Made me think about what movie / TV scenes were my favourite from a DP perspective - those that got under my skin, made me think "christ that looks amazing", generated palpable atmosphere.

It's a tough call but probably this by the late great Conrad L Hall:



Yours?

[Samcat]

I do enjoy watching the 'Day of the Dead' opening sequence from Spectre. It looks to be done in one take, but I doubt with todays technology it is, but I enjoyed it anyway.

[RizzoTheRat]

House of Flying Daggers. So much attention to detail on the colour composition.


Agree about Blade Runner too, my first thought when I saw the new trailer was how good a job they'd done of keeping the world looking similar

[jmorgan]

Water well in Lawrence of Arabia.

[FourWheelDrift]

Single take scene from Goodfellas, when Henry takes Karen into the club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iayYZLB__5Y

[essayer]

The bathroom cabinet in Contact

https://youtu.be/ZD0_5HFMPIg

[TwigtheWonderkid]

So many scenes in Double Indemnity. The use of lighting and shadows, black and white film was never this good before.

[Wacky Racer]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

So many scenes in Double Indemnity. The use of lighting and shadows, black and white film was never this good before.

Indeed, great film.

Also the New York sunlight streaking through the window blinds, mingling with the cigarette smoke in Twelve angry men, as the jury deliberated.

[thainy77]

The Last of the Mohicans final scene for me.

[poing]

I can pick many entire films (The Revenant, Apocalypse Now, No Country for Old Men and Gladiator to name just a few) but to pick just a single scene is a lot harder.

Today I'm going to pick the opening scene to the original Italian Job
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgJuVOrXv68

I know this is mostly CGI but the opening scene to modern Star Trek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAf5qSwsZrM

I'm actually sat here watching Blade Runner as I type this so it's really hard not to nominate it!

[Nimby]

The jump cut in 2001.

[Wacky Racer]

poing said:

Today I'm going to pick the opening scene to the original Italian Job
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgJuVOrXv68

With magnificent soundtrack from Matt Monro.

[anonymous-user]

Too many really, but one stands out without having to think too hard: the longboard scene in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

[alock]

thainy77 said:

The Last of the Mohicans final scene for me.

Best scene ever.

[Voldemort]

Rendezvous. The opening scene

[coopedup]

The scene in Inglorious Basterds in the bar when the Brits get found out, or the beginning scene with the family hiding under the floorboards.

[paulguitar]

How about the restaurant scene in Godfather when Michael uses the gun hidden behind the toilet cistern? Still makes my palms sweat even though I have seen it many times…

[anonymous-user]

cinematography
noun
the art of photography and camerawork in film-making.


The opening scene of Lord of War, following the journey of a bullet.

[AndStilliRise]

alock said:

thainy77 said:

The Last of the Mohicans final scene for me.

Best scene ever.

Oh yes and the music was perfect.

[anonymous-user]

I find it tricky to nominate single scenes from some films, as their genius runs from start to finish. These 3 film makers would always be at the top of my list, Wiki links for ease of explanation,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Tarkovsky

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_Kaurism%C3%A4ki