4 ms·

Not a cinematography buff but these shots are still impressive when you try to wrap your head around them. I wish there were a breakdown as to how these kinds

by 22c 5y ago

Not a cinematography buff but these shots are still impressive when you try to wrap your head around them. I wish there were a breakdown as to how these kinds of shots were done using the technology they had at the time. Edit: This tweet[1] suggests that the camera was being passed around. [1]: https://twitter.com/indiarama/status/1451251934879387651 https://twitter.com/indiarama/status/1451251934879387651

wellthisisgreat 5y ago
they were using wires (source: heard from people who worked with authors of the movie)
- TylerE 5y ago
  You can literally see the wires in the final section.
superfrank 5y ago
That would be my guess. Camera man #1 is on the ground. They attach the camera to some sort of pulley which pulls it up the wall. Camera man #2 is on the roof and walks to the room where they're all sewing and then attaches to a second pulley that is suspended from cables running between the buildings (you can see them at the top of the shot).
- riffraff 5y ago
  Wikipédia says it was just a single cameraman with a hooked vest, it was being attached and detached to cranes as he went https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba
- derekjdanserl 5y ago
  Ex 2nd camera assist here. Handing off a camera mid-shot just asking for failure. Almost any cost to avoid that is going to be worthwhile. There are some maneuvers that can work, like one person to some mounts. 2 people to a mount is usually even better actually. I am being pretty abstract here because these situations are very rare, unique, and I only ever saw them on indie sets because it’s just too expensive to even try this sort of thing otherwise. But the main point here is that a human + camera is an incredible combination and you want to take every measure possible to never come between them. As for how they executed this shot, there are a lot of possibilities, but I doubt there was a hand off, probably from a person to a cable if so, but in that case they had a poor plan with very good luck. Never come between a man and his camera!
  - bazzargh 5y ago
    On the other hand, if you can hand off to a cameraman disguised as a carseat, that makes it all worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxb9xzAaYjM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxb9xzAaYjM (The Raid 2, car chase behind the scenes)
Syzygies 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba
lucasgw 5y ago
There is, sort of. The Cinematographers' Mailing List, in constant operation since 1996, is an old-school listserv. Its members range from non-cinematographers, to beginners, to (many) academy-award winners. It is easily the largest single body of living knowledge in the world of cinematography and filmmaking. Join and ask... I promise you there are 100 people who know the granular, minute details of how this shot was accomplished, and chances are good that several members know people who worked on the movie. https://cinematography.net https://cinematography.net As a small bit of trivia for those who wonder - it has been diligently maintained as a listserv, and a very simple website, because it is actively used by filmmaking crews in active production, which frequently takes place in god-forsaken corners of the earth with extremely limited connectivity. If it's 2am in the desert in Morocco, and you need help on alternate solutions for the the gimbal rig that just crapped out... you need a low-bandwidth way to tap into the collective wisdom. And that sort of active community happens regularly.
- beebeepka 5y ago
  Thanks for this wonderful piece of completely unexpected trivia

by 22c 5y ago

wellthisisgreat 5y ago

they were using wires (source: heard from people who worked with authors of the movie)

TylerE 5y ago
You can literally see the wires in the final section.

superfrank 5y ago

That would be my guess. Camera man #1 is on the ground. They attach the camera to some sort of pulley which pulls it up the wall. Camera man #2 is on the roof and walks to the room where they're all sewing and then attaches to a second pulley that is suspended from cables running between the buildings (you can see them at the top of the shot).

riffraff 5y ago
Wikipédia says it was just a single cameraman with a hooked vest, it was being attached and detached to cranes as he went https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba
derekjdanserl 5y ago
Ex 2nd camera assist here. Handing off a camera mid-shot just asking for failure. Almost any cost to avoid that is going to be worthwhile. There are some maneuvers that can work, like one person to some mounts. 2 people to a mount is usually even better actually. I am being pretty abstract here because these situations are very rare, unique, and I only ever saw them on indie sets because it’s just too expensive to even try this sort of thing otherwise. But the main point here is that a human + camera is an incredible combination and you want to take every measure possible to never come between them. As for how they executed this shot, there are a lot of possibilities, but I doubt there was a hand off, probably from a person to a cable if so, but in that case they had a poor plan with very good luck. Never come between a man and his camera!
- bazzargh 5y ago
  On the other hand, if you can hand off to a cameraman disguised as a carseat, that makes it all worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxb9xzAaYjM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxb9xzAaYjM (The Raid 2, car chase behind the scenes)

Syzygies 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba

lucasgw 5y ago

There is, sort of. The Cinematographers' Mailing List, in constant operation since 1996, is an old-school listserv. Its members range from non-cinematographers, to beginners, to (many) academy-award winners. It is easily the largest single body of living knowledge in the world of cinematography and filmmaking. Join and ask... I promise you there are 100 people who know the granular, minute details of how this shot was accomplished, and chances are good that several members know people who worked on the movie. https://cinematography.net https://cinematography.net As a small bit of trivia for those who wonder - it has been diligently maintained as a listserv, and a very simple website, because it is actively used by filmmaking crews in active production, which frequently takes place in god-forsaken corners of the earth with extremely limited connectivity. If it's 2am in the desert in Morocco, and you need help on alternate solutions for the the gimbal rig that just crapped out... you need a low-bandwidth way to tap into the collective wisdom. And that sort of active community happens regularly.

beebeepka 5y ago
Thanks for this wonderful piece of completely unexpected trivia