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In motion picture terminology, a tracking shot is a single continuous shot made with a camera moving along the ground, following the movements of the subject. Why this topic? Because I just watched Goodfellas for the 400th time, and there’s a famous one midway through the movie.
The Player
Touch of Evil
Strange Days (audio NSFW)
Breaking News
Kill Bill
Snake Eyes (2:40)
Boogie Nights (audio has been changed)
Goodfellas
Here’s that Goodfellas tracking shot I mentioned.
Mallrats (alternate opening)
And we’ll end with this rather slow alternate opening to Mallrats. What other tracking shots do you remember?
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Atonement has one of my favorite recent tracking shots. It follows a group of soldiers as they cross a beach full of activity.
posted by Jamie on 10-13-2009 at 10:15 pm
Opening of the movie Serenity.
posted by Matt on 10-13-2009 at 10:24 pm
Near the end of Taxi Driver, when the camera tracks from the scene of the killing, out of the room and through the building. The shot sets up a paradox, a meditation on chaos.
posted by Jen Sweeney on 10-13-2009 at 11:34 pm
That sweet tracking shot in Fight Club.
posted by Heidi on 10-13-2009 at 11:36 pm
‘Gerry’ – 2002 movie with Matt Damon. There’s a tracking shot of Damon and Casey Affleck walking across a salt flat for an eternity.
posted by mat on 10-13-2009 at 11:51 pm
There’s an amazing tracking shot in Children of Men that goes into, out of, and around a car that’s in motion.
posted by Berin Kinsman on 10-13-2009 at 11:53 pm
In Brian De Palmas’ “Bonfire of the Vanities”, Bruce Willis had an amazingly cool tracking shot in one of the pivotal scenes.
posted by Homer on 10-13-2009 at 11:57 pm
You’re correct there, Berin — it’s an awesome shot. I had never been so enthralled by an individual scene at a theatre before I saw that.
There’s another one in the film as well, later on when the lead character is running into, through, and out of a building being attacked by military personnel.
posted by Sandy Wood on 10-14-2009 at 12:03 am
The entire movie “Timecode” is four distinct 90+ minute tracking shots, one in each corner of the screen.
posted by Jeff on 10-14-2009 at 12:06 am
“Death Sentence,” with Kevin Bacon, has a great one in which he’s running from the bad guys through a parking garage. The camera keeps going out and up to the next level without cutting away. Amazing shot.
posted by Seth on 10-14-2009 at 12:10 am
Are you sure that “along the ground” is a required part of the definition? There were some obvious crane shots in that collection.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 10-14-2009 at 12:52 am
has anybody seen the opening scene tracking shot of “irreversible” dang.
posted by berms on 10-14-2009 at 2:30 am
should I finally watch goodfellas?
posted by henny on 10-14-2009 at 7:53 am
Does the shot in Gone with the Wind count, where the camera shows all of the dead and wounded soldiers? Incredibly moving.
posted by JP on 10-14-2009 at 8:47 am
A crane tracking shot in the film 1776 when the cameras follow John Adams down from the belltower, along several stairs, and eventually into the debate hall.
posted by Steven on 10-14-2009 at 9:02 am
Great tracking shot in Magnolia. Follows behind various characters bustling through a studio just before a gameshow goes live.
posted by Dane on 10-14-2009 at 9:25 am
There a brief-but-great one in Reservoir Dogs.
posted by RobK on 10-14-2009 at 10:07 am
Hard Boiled: the gun fight through the hallway and onto the elevator.
posted by Dan on 10-14-2009 at 10:45 am
Lots of them in Pulp Fiction. Vincent entering Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Butch returning to his apartment for his watch, Vincent and Jules walking through the apartment building before they go in to get the briefcase back…
posted by Greg on 10-14-2009 at 11:04 am
Also notice in the Goodfellas one that they artificially extend it by walking into the kitchen, circling around and coming back out the same way. Watch for the fire hoses just before they enter, and the same hoses when they exit and head for the club floor…
posted by Greg on 10-14-2009 at 11:06 am
Though there’s not much visually shocking about them, there are two tracking sequences in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ involving him leaving his apartment to go to the market for coffee and then returning…They really stood out to me when I first saw that film as just being hilarious and adding a lot of depth to Shaun’s character.
posted by Shawn on 10-14-2009 at 11:21 am
My favorite is not from a movie, but a TV show. The West Wing s01e04, “Five Votes Down” begins with a very cool, very long “walk-and-talk” segment with every major character involved.
posted by LinkTiger on 10-14-2009 at 11:33 am
The time lapse tracking shot in Requiem For A Dream.
posted by Philpott on 10-14-2009 at 12:40 pm
Doesn’t Saving Private Ryan begin with a very lengthy (some 22 minutes or something like that) continuous shot?
posted by Kevin on 10-14-2009 at 12:45 pm
There’s a great one in “The Longest Day”, when the Allied soldiers are fighting their way through the port city of…( I can’t remember, Honflurs, maybe) and end up facing a German tank in the basement of a casino.
posted by It's Just Dave on 10-14-2009 at 1:07 pm
The Big Lebowski bowling tracking shot with Dylan playing is the first to come to mind… and of course, Hitchcock’s “Rope” is all in two continuous takes.
posted by Mike on 10-14-2009 at 1:21 pm
You should have included the longest tracking shot done. It’s in the movie The Protector with Tony Jaa, and it is unbelievable! Considering the stunts and action they did in this single shot I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE7WijeShQM
posted by Sheeky on 10-14-2009 at 1:44 pm
as far as boogie nights go, i’ve always preferred the tracking shot that ends the movie.
posted by franklin on 10-14-2009 at 3:09 pm
I think it was in Start Trek: First Contact were there was a long pullback starting from Picard’s eye on out to the Borg mothership.
Saving Private Ryan had one continuous take halfway through the movie when the US soldiers ambush a German halftrack.
posted by Christopher on 10-14-2009 at 3:56 pm
The 1948 Hitchcock movie “Rope” was notable for appearing to be one incredibly long continuous take.
posted by Christopher on 10-14-2009 at 4:05 pm
in Swingers, first they talk about tracking shots, and how they love the one in Goodfellas, then there’s a long tracker as they go in the backdoor of the club
posted by matthew on 10-14-2009 at 4:06 pm
Speaking of Hitchcock, there’s a great one in Psycho, going up the stairs…
posted by Helenann on 10-14-2009 at 5:40 pm
Kenneth Branaugh’s Henry V – after the battle carrying the soldier – on of the dead bodies rubs his face.
posted by Susan on 10-14-2009 at 5:47 pm
Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba), a 1964 communist propoganda piece opens with one long shot that involved crew members and actors handing a hand held camera to one another as it travels down a hotel into a swimming pool. The longest single shot opening of its time, it also went on to inspire a lot of the long shots Quentin Tarantino used for his films.
posted by Kim on 10-14-2009 at 9:35 pm
There’s an awesome one in Waiting. They did a featurette on the special features on the DVD.
posted by Meredith on 10-15-2009 at 12:39 am
The definition for a tracking shot has changed in the last few decades. Before the advent of steadicam it simply meant a continuous shot from a camera mounted on a dolly. This was usually a lateral movement left to right or vice versa. This was generally a necessary constraint as the tracks that the camera trundled across would come into view if the movement was forwards or backwards. There are of course exceptions. In The Evil Dead, for instance, the quick forward motion ‘rollercoaster’ shots were achieved by hiding the tracks with leaves and debris so that they were not visible in the final shot.
More complex shots required the use of cranes. These are not technically tracking shots. Touch of Evil starts with a crane shot. Even The Player references this as a tracking shot. Robert Altman knows the difference, but not the studio execs he’s satirizing.
But what the heck. They are some of the most memorable scenes in cinema so call them what you like. Just make sure you celebrate them in some way.
posted by Bob Brown on 10-20-2009 at 6:39 am