Spielberg filming style question

[Zykotec]

One thing, that is not so much a technical style detail, and maybe not all Spielbergs fault, is that many of his movies seem to end with some sort of 'deus ex machina' , (even when he's not directing too ). Stuff just happens, the hero just get lucky, without much action or skill involved for the main characters. And it's a bit annoying tbh. Still, it's one of the very few things that annoy me with Spielberg movies, so I'll keep watching.
Examples;
All Indy movies
ANH (Somewhat true)
Jurassic park
War of the worlds
Poltergeist
Saving private Ryan
Transformers

 

[blip]

......

 

[blip]

......

 

[blip]

 

[blip]

......

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

Was very surprised to see a total proto-Spielberg dollying-in shot in William Friedkin's 1969 film of Harold Pinter's stage play The Birthday Party - hardly material that you'd imagine could ever look Spielbergian. Robert Shaw is a lodger in an old couple's house on the English coast. There's a knock on the door and Shaw fearfully retreats into the kitchen. We see him through the kitchen hatch. As the knocking continues, the camera rapidly pushes in on him peering in fear through this hatch. Pure Spielberg trademark.

Of course, Spielberg takes tons from David Lean. In Lawrence of Arabia, there's a long shot where the camera backtracks as O'Toole walks toward us with about three different sets going by of some ruined desert building interior IIRC until he emerges on the other side and the camera swings round releasing O'Toole to head toward this big train or something. The ruined interior part is grim emotionally, then there's the emotional upswing when the train comes in view. Sorry, I can't recall the exact thing but it struck me as pure Spielberg, the way his characters often move through a sequence of sets which gives the feeling they're emerging from a FunHouse/Haunted house fairground ride experience. Proceed through grim set, emerge in better set. Like the escape from the raptors in The Lost World. Fall out of grim hut, go down slide, camera swings round revealing to you safety zone of Park Centre etc.

This a fantastic thread by the way.

 

[blip]

......

 

[CTF]

Were they using the Panaflex on that production?

It was shot on Super Panavision 70; so, yes, technically it was shot on a Panaflex.

Panavision made 'em the Mirage Lens, too.

 

[Westies14]

For what it's worth, I've read/heard on a few occasions - at least one was a discussion with a cinematographer on a bonus feature, maybe JP? - that Spielberg always has an extensive kit of lenses available, and that he knows them very well and is very influential in setting up his shots. It's not all DP work on his projects.

Fun thread!

 

[blip]

......

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

I think the big drawing on the left is Spielberg's first concept moment. Then, to the right, he converts it to a shot composition, which prefigures exactly what the storyboard artist goes on to draw. That small vertical rectangle on the right is a miniature abstract layout of the shot. All the elements are there and in place, and very astutely and economically done too.

It's how I work. My first 'concept moment' is a mess compositionally. On the 2nd sketch I start composing.

 

[blip]

......

 

[blip]

......

 

[Wakeem]

George Lucas mentioned in the Episode 3 commentary that Spielberg likes to have the shot where we see the characters behind glass. So much that the Star Destroyer crashing shot was a homage I believe. It's not really style I think but more a signature shot.

 

[blip]

......

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

After hundreds of storyboards, I now think in two by one format. So the concept moments come pre-composed.

Aha! But I do paintings not films so there's never any predetermined shape to the frame. But yeah, Spielberg doesn't have that excuse!

 

[blip]

......

 

[MFP 2020]

Not that hard to understand seeing how Stevie wanted to be Alfred Hitchcock...

Not nearly as bad as De Palma!

 

[blip]

 

[Wakeem]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly, Do you have an example?
It's a good trick though.
One thing you can do with a glass shot is have rain trickle down a window and have the shadow of the drop fall on a person's face, it looks like they're crying.
I think Iv'e seen that shot twice, cant remember where.

Another thing you can do with windows is have a person looking out of one, then change the focus to reveal what's reflected in it.

Also just saw something by Kurosawa, some sort or bladerunner type story, all in the rain and so many shots were through windows. It was pretty cool. In black and white it works very well graphically, at night you get a lighted rectangle floating in a black field. Very nice.

It's that final landing shot in Ep3 when Obi-Wan and Anakin land after rescuing Palpatine. I believe there is an opening shot in War of the Worlds where we see Tom Cruise's character in a crane behind glass as well. I'm going to go over my favorite Spielberg films one of these days to look for more examples.

The shots you mention happen in a lot of cyberpunk films. I remember shots like you mention in Ghost in the Shell (movies & TV) and a trailer for Technotise (which I haven't seen yet).