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Great Tracking Shots

November 21, 2013 by kblack7@uoregon.edu   

ARCADE FIRE – AFTERLIFE from Emily Kai Bock on Vimeo.

So I don’t know how many times I have tried to get a tracking shot of a person walking (while I am behind them), but I have been pretty unsuccessful thus far (at getting a good one at least). The footage is always too shaky due to my walking with the character as I am shooting. If only I had a beautiful steadi-cam! Anyways, this music video from Arcade Fire really blew me away with the amount of successful tracking shots they have. My favorite one is the tracking shot when the old man is walking down the alley. He is perfectly centered in the middle of the frame and is directly in front of the light source to create a silhouette walking into the distance.

This video, although it is fiction, does a wonderful job in capturing  a story without much use of words. I really liked the shots that utilized a short depth of field to capture the young boys face as he lays in his Papa’s arms. I really liked the juxtaposition of the opening sequence and dinner conversation with the remainder of the video. It sets up a stage for deeper understanding into these character’s “after-life” which I can only guess represent’s the fears and desires they dream of when they close their eyes. Also, the use of cinematic movements in the dream-like sequences were very effective in creating a sense of an alternate reality (something that could be very difficult for audiences to understand without being told out outright). Another shot that really worked for me was the POV shot of the little boy in the laundry cart looking up at the old lady. POV’s can be so powerful in capturing the true experience the character is having at that moment.

 


5 Comments »

  1. jarrattt@uoregon.edu says:

    I love Emily Kai Bock! She made a video for one of my favorite Grimes songs. It’s pretty amazing: https://vimeo.com/38882881. I also just saw that she made a video for a Haerts song that is sososo good! The video has a a raw, home movie quality which I am always drawn too: https://vimeo.com/63367886.

    Anyway, thanks for sharing this video. It’s interesting to see how her style has developed. Both the Grimes and the Haerts video are a lot looser in their narrative structure, whereas the Arcade Fire video is heavily driven by a narrative arc.

  2. summerh@uoregon.edu says:

    Arcade Fire really has some groundbreaking videos, I love them. Have you ever seen some of their interactive videos? I especially like the one where you are supposed to put in an address of the home where you grew up, then send a letter to yourself as a child. The video uses Google Earth to personalize it.

  3. awoodard@uoregon.edu says:

    I think it’s interesting how she uses the film to cue us into the fact that characters are dreaming…I mean, there are shots of their faces asleep, but you’d be able to tell anyway from manipulations like switching to black and white, the creepy POV shots, the ethereal white lighting from that scene by the motel pool. I love that she didn’t just pick one and stick with it, though, but crafted each to fit the inner life of the character.

  4. kblack7@uoregon.edu says:

    Jarratt- The grimes video was incredible! Thanks for sharing. Summer- I have indeed seen the other arcade video you mention here. So fascinating and so creepy at the same time! Arcade Fire has struck me as a band that is trying to push the limits of a typical music video.

  5. bjh@uoregon.edu says:

    It is videos like this one that remind us how awesome music videos used to be. With MTV and VH1 really moving away from them it seems like most artists are going away from using them in any capacity except for the occasional promotional hit. I have never really seen one of Arcade Fire’s videos in the past but this one is awesome. The intermixing of color and black and white and the tracking shots that you pointed out are awesome as well.

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