Some of My Favorite Scenes

Some of my favorite scenes from  movie history:

1. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Final duel

This is an amazing scene. By using short, rapid cuts, the tension is quickly built. Also, the use of ever more frequent close ups, and the increasing closeness of the shots give us a sense of unease and put the audience into the minds of the characters. The cross-cuts between the character's faces and their guns, especially the antagonist's gun also build the tension.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark: Boulder scene

This is possibly one of the greatest action scenes of all time. The close up of Indy with the bag of sand cross-cut with his guide shows the tense nature of the switch. The fact that the medium shot is held after Indy turns to leave, and the bad of sand retracts into the stone pedestal gives the audience some knowledge that the Character doesn't, and builds the scene further. If a cut to a wide shot from the other side had been used, the tension previously gained would have been lost. The tracking shot of Indy running through the dart field further builds the scene. A static medium/long shot of him simply running through the trap would have killed the scene by the very nature of it being static. The dolly shot used when he walks into the boulder trap is brilliant. We can hear that something has happened, but we have no clue what it is. The low angle shot immediately following shows us the danger, as well as builds the stacks for Indy's escape.

Singing in the Rain

This is a classic scene in cinema history. The heavy amount of dolly shots with limited cuts gives us the feeling of a fluid dance that is not confined to a single location, but rather the entire street. Also, the cuts are made as invisible as possible in order to keep the fluidity. In order to accomplish this, the cuts are made on the beat.

Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

The Battle of Helms Deep is one of the most amazing battles of all time. The slow dolly shots at the beginning show the fear in the defenders. The long shot just a few seconds later shows the vast size of the orc army and the relatively small size of the defenders, as well as give the audience a sense of awe at the size of it all. The wide shot of the orc hit by the arrow falling gives a quick break in the tension by giving us just a little dark humor. The fact that we continually return to the previously mentioned long shot, as well as a couple new ones, allows us to see the battle as a whole, and not become confused; it allows us to regain our bearings so to speak.

Saving Private Ryan: End

The long shot seen here is beautifully poetic. In the foreground we have the grave of CPT Miller, then the old Pvt. Ryan; next in line is his wife, and then his family, showing the distance each one has from the war. The ending shot of the dolly into the cross, showing Miller's name is incredibly powerful, especially when it fades into the US flag at the end.