‘Atonement’ takes 5 1/2-minute shot at history

Any discussion of tracking shots typically begins with Orson Welles’ opening to 1958’s “Touch of Evil,” where Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh walk unknowingly alongside a car with explosives in its trunk.

Welles, by then a veteran director, had with director of photography Gregg Toland pioneered the use of deep focus on Welles’ first film, 1941’s “Citizen Kane.” That meant more realism and fluidity for the camera, which could now present a foreground, middle ground and background. The apotheosis of this is reached in tracking shots that hold a film’s realism for long periods.

“For the actors, they really enjoy them because you’re in a situation where there’s a fourth wall created,” said Wright. “There’s no area on the set they have to imagine; it’s all in front of them.”

Among the most famous is Godard’s ten-minute shot in “Week End” in which a couple are stranded in a traffic jam, as well as Mikhail Kalatozov’s acrobatic shot in 1964’s “I Am Cuba.” The conclusion to Michelangelo Antonioni’s “The Passenger” (1975) is revered, as is Scorsese’s legendary shot in “Goodfellas” where Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco enter the Copacabana.

Some films have attempted to push the limits of uncut film, beginning with Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope” (1948), which he had wanted to film in one take but settled for just ten. In 2002, Aleksandr Sokurov achieved Hitchcock’s goal with “Russian Ark,” a film that portrays three centuries of Russian history in one shot.

Many of these shots have become a matter of movie lore, and are often paid homage. Robert Altman composed an comic and highly self-reflexive eight-minute tracking shot to open “The Player” (1992) featuring characters discussing the “Touch of Evil” shot. In Doug Liman’s “Swingers” (1996), his characters worshipfully chat about Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” achievement.

Technology has helped a new generation of filmmakers accomplish increasingly daring tracking shots, particularly with the use of Steadicams. Alfonso Cuaron’s “Childen of Men” (2006) featured several lengthy shots, including a daring Steadicam- and crane-aided shot during a shoot-out.

“One has to completely bow to the fact that when Orson Welles did the ‘Touch of Evil’ shot, he didn’t have a Steadicam,” said Wright. “Steadicams have totally liberated the tracking shot.”

Paul Thomas Anderson has made the tracking shot a trademark of his, particularly in “Boogie Nights” (1997) and “Magnolia” (1999). His new, acclaimed “There Will Be Blood” is shot in a different style, but does contain one shot where the camera tracks Daniel Day-Lewis’s character carrying his injured child.

“It’s only impressive because Daniel could actually carry that boy for that long,” joked Anderson in an interview.

The director, a great fan and friend to the late Altman, said a guiding ethos of is to have fewer cuts: “The more things can be condensed or simple is ideal,” he said.

Discussing the appeal of the tracking shot, Anderson said: “You’re after one thing, which is nice, as opposed to 10 or 15 small things when you have to chop it up. You get that terrific feeling at the end of it, like ‘We did it. We got it.’ Or you don’t.”

Digital editing, Anderson said, has given him a new perspective on the length of his takes.

“You really see the length of your shots. It’s kind of hilarious. You sort of look at the graph and it chops along, chops along, then flatlines for a long time. You see a movie as a graph.”

For Wright’s next film, “The Soloist,” which is now in preproduction, he acknowledges one scene is tempting to shoot in one long take, but was reluctant to do it “just for the sake of doing them.”

Still, the long tracking shot remains a tantalizing tool and exhibit of cinematic virtuosity.

“Filmmaking by nature is about montage and in a way there’s something quite rebellious about the long tracking shot,” said Wright. “I just think they’re a wonderful challenge and a wonderful game.”

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