Martin Scorsese Birthday Special: From Goodfellas to Taxi Driver, How the Filmmaker Skillfully Used Tracking Shots (Watch Videos)
The director celebrates his birthday on November 17 and as he turns 77, we look at some of the best tracking shots in his films. If you are a fan of the director, you probably know that one of his greatest skills is camera work and how to tell stories with the right kind of camera angles.
Martin Scorsese is without a doubt one of the most talented directors of our time. The American-Italian filmmaker's career spans over almost 50 years and in that time, the director has given us some of Hollywood's most iconic films such as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas among others. He is widely known for his style of filmmaking and is considered to be one of the most influential filmmakers in cinematic history. Happy Birthday Martin Scorsese! 10 Most Thought-Provoking Quotes Said by the Influential Filmmakers of All Time.
The director celebrates his birthday on November 17 and as he turns 77, we look at some of the best tracking shots in his films. If you are a fan of the director, you probably know that one of his greatest skills is camera work and how to tell stories with the right kind of angles. He is known to bring the desired effect in terms of storytelling with his skilful techniques and hence we look at how he introduced tracking shots in his films and gave filmmakers around the world, the inspiration to learn and use the technique.
1. Goodfellas
The Copacabana scene from Goodfellas is one of the most popular Steadicam tracking shot among all of Scorsese's films. Three-minute tracking shot takes us into the Copacabana nightclub and shows us what a big deal Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). It is this scene that has inspired so many other filmmakers to recreate similar sequences in their films. The film's producer, Irwin Winkler in his book, A Life in Movies, mentions how director Martin Scorsese wanted the tracking shot to serve at least two functions. He wrote, "Marty found a way to have Henry Hill not only impress his date, Karen but to show the audience why the world of Goodfellas was so attractive and glamorous."
2. Taxi Driver
Another epic tracking shot in a Martin Scorsese film is the one in Taxi Driver. This is a lateral tracking shot, where we see the camera begins fixed on Travis, trying to repair the damage he had done by taking Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) to the porn theatre. Travis(De Niro) is seen trying to keep it cool. The main highlight of the scene though is when the camera tracks an empty hallway. Many consider the expanse of the hallway to be hinting at Travis' loneliness. The sheer work of a genius we say!
3. Wolf of Wall Street
You name Martin Scorsese and it is impossible to not list a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The duo have collaborated several times and the latter even considers Scorsese to be responsible for his amazing Hollywood career. In Wolf of Wall Street, there's an amazing Steadicam shot featuring DiCaprio where his character explains how the company commits IPO fraud. Martin Scorsese Birthday Special: 7 Lesser-Talked About but Brilliant Films by The Irishman Director That You Need to Watch Right Away!
4. The Departed
The Departed is yet another Scorsese blessing for the audiences. In the opening scene of the film, the filmmaker once again shows us his love for tracking shots as we see Jack Nicholson's character entering a cafe where he has a conversation with a young Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon).
Given Martin Scorsese's genius, we bet there are many more amazing tracking shots and other camera movements that deserve attention. Do comment and tell us some of your favourite iconic Martin Scorsese film shots. In the meantime, wishing the filmmaker a very happy birthday and here's hoping he continues to take his cinematic genius to the next level.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 17, 2019 02:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).