Cinematographer deconstructs THAT shot in 'Contact' | Don Burgess
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2021
- 'Contact' famously features a specific one shot crafted by the crew. In this episode, cinematographer Don Burgess deconstructs exactly how they created it.
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I'm proud to say I colored all of the vfx on this movie, including this shot and worked with the great folks at Imageworks - who did more on this shot than you think. It was my second film after Starship Troopers.😊
Two of my favourite movies, nice work!!
Always cool to hear from people in the industry!
Such a legend 👏
Probably the best VFX film Imageworks ever worked on.
When she is already up the stairs and is going through the hallway and the shot slows down, it's looks like she is not moving forward at all. This is a perfect depiction of the nightmare we all had at some point when we are trying to run away from something terrible and it's like our lags are too heavy and we can't run. Perfection.
It looks as if she is hopping on the spot a few times and it looks totally awkward and weird.
I put this down to her knowing she has to keep her distance from the cameraman, she holds back with an unrealistic arm movement to make it look like she's still running but you can see she's not moving forward at that point. She does a great job but it's clear that she is having to hold back from a full sprint to keep her on mark.
Imagine the pressure on this actress. She nailed it though. Everyone did.
@@schnubbel76 There was a whole train of people with the cameraman. They all can only move so fast together. I do see the exaggerated running, but that's only after watching it a few times.
No it doesn't
I remember watching Contact in the theater with my boyfriend at the time and his parents. They all thought the movie was boring and disappointing and I didn’t understand why. I was left in awe by the end of it.
If they didn't understand it, find a new guy. Very powerful indeed.
Red flag. Someone with no sense of awe or imagination.
Arrival is a great double feature to this film if you haven't seen.
It's too cerebral for some people, but I too loved it. I would expect nothing less cerebral from Carl Sagan and Bob Zemeckis!
I very LOUDLY yelled "WHAT!?" when Don said "We got it all in one take." LOL Got me!
Got me too! Good one Don.
I remember this at the time in the theater. "Oh neat, that's all going to be one shot". And then the mirror. "WHAT!?" indeed.
Wait, it technically was one shit, no? Just has a cute composite at the end
Same
I did as well!!
Of all the things talked about in this video, the one I cannot get over is how the set was flipped specifically for this shot to give the audience a subconscious cue that this is mirror image of the "real-life" staircase. It's a small but essential part of the Hollywood magic that makes this particular shot a classic!
I still dont understand how they flipped the staircase
@@donsan6404 They mentioned at 1:43 that the set was built for this purpose, so my only guess is that they built a duplicate set for that particular shot (and hired the best Script Supervisor in the business!)
@@MichaelSavidgeStoryteller O don't get why they didn't just flip the shot, would have been much easier, and would have given a small hint that it was indeed a mirror :)
@@ZapAndersson he say we make a slomo shot manulay that mean thy cant use that thing in that time i gusse it was so impresive
@@donsan6404 it's actually filmed on two different sets/set change. When she first goes downstairs to find her father, stairsare on the right, room with father is on the left. There is a new frame after she says she's going to get the medication. This time, room with dad is on the right, stairs are on the left. Filming could stop easily to make this change, and then proceed with the iconic mirror scene that follows.
This is my favorite shot of all time. Not only is it cool looking but it has huge emotional aspect to it
Also foreshadowing to the wormhole.
Yes, for me too, if there wasn't the opening shot of Touch of Evil. Still can't decide which is my #1 ;-)
Very powerful. This shot and the emotion and the situation of an actually great dad, dying. Damn. I wish she had pills downstairs too
while it's definitely a technically impressive and inventive shot, what was the thematic significance? is it a comment on light, reflection, refraction? time travel? travel of light?
That look in Jenna's eyes as she reaches for the handle is terrifying.
Till this day this shot is one of the most impressive and mesmerizing in the whole cinema history!
Agree
Cabinet door mirror is attached to the camera, the opening shot the banister would be camera left when running up the stairs however the follow shot the bannister is flipped because they're shooting into the literal mirror, then the mirror is disconnected from the rig and attached to the cabinet seamlessly as the camera pulls out from the cabinet.
@@bradleycarranceja Is that how they did it? I'm wondering because filming from the mirror and not seeing the camera in the shot means the mirror must be 45° to the scene and the camera 90°, however the corridor doesn't seem wide enough for that.
@@bradleycarrancejadude, they show in the video how they did it and there isn't a mirror in sight
Except it's really a composite shot, the clip of the girl opening the bathroom vanity mirror is overlayed on top of the shot of her running down the hallway.
The amount of work put into a minute-long shot is incredible.
That's how the best become the best. Details.
This film had many memorable shots. The beginning alone is quite mind blowing and it really puts things in perspective (we’re meaningless, except in our own minds).
Wonderful movie. Encapsulates the hope we had for humanity. We did really have it all.
I watch Contact at least once a year, every year….i love everything about it on every level and watching the making of the film is a real treat in itself.
Contact is one of my favourite movies. Absolutely brilliant
FYI, they recreated this now-iconic mirror shot almost exactly the same way at the very beginning of Consecration (2023) because it is the same actress, only now she is an adult. It happens at the 4-minute mark!
That's really interesting. I guess they treated it as some sort of homage and not a blatant ripoff.
Welp, watching this after Contact
@@vFANGvWelp, guess I’ll use Google for you:
welp
exclamation US informal
US /welp/ UK /welp/
used to express disappointment or resignation (= the fact that you must accept something you do not like):
Welp. I lost my job. Anyone got any advice?
Welp. They never said it would be easy.
@@vFANGv it basically just means “well,” but with a little more of a shrug. It was really popular like 10-12 years ago, but you don’t see it as much anymore
Not to be confused with “whelp”, which is a disparaging term for a young man, implying that they are naïve.
And since I learned the word “whelp” several decades before Millennials started using “welp”, on the Internet I always mistakenly infer the former.
One of the most mind bending shots I've seen.
But also one that will stay and haunt you a little.
Whats baffling is seeing the world beyond the bathroom in the mirror…we the audience are coming from the looking glass into our world. Genius.
I remember seeing this in the theater, and that shot actually blew my mind a little. Still talked about after all this time. Well done. :)
Same here, I was with my girlfriend at the movies back then and I must have shouted or something. I said something like what an amazing scene and she was oblivious to what had happened.
I watched the movie with my wife a while back and I told her in advance about it, it took me literally 5 replays for her to notice and still thinking it wasn't a big deal.
The power of a relatively simple VFX shot and a well thought out piece of direction. People are so spoiled by cgi these days that they forget what a good filmmaker can do with so little
One of the most amazing shots in cinema history
Having lost my father months before seeing this movie, I was in tears from the dramatic impact of how this was shot and the knowing of what was to come. Great film meaning making. One of my favorite scenes in any movie.
“We got it on the first take”
O: He got me for a moment there. Lol
Same. I blurted out, "holy shit!" and then a second later, "ah, heck, you got me." XD
Contact is a fantastic book and it’s a hugely underrated film! Probably one of the best films of that decade and an all time classic!
I think the film is very highly rated.
Who underrated this film!??? Lol. It's highly acclaimed. 😂
Three and a half hours to find out the alien is her god damn father ~ Mr. Garrison
Yeah, everyone needs to stop saying “underrated” when what they actually mean is “really good”. Enough, already.
I agree that it is underappreciated. I watched it in theaters when it came out and it didn’t have much cultural impact, but in recent years I’ve heard people referencing it more.
It broke my brain the very first time I saw it. This scene is genius and so visually powerful. Hands down!
It broke my brain first time I saw it too. Today it breaks my heart. No matter how fast she ran and with as much determination she was still incapable of altering fate.
I've seen this movie at least a half dozen times. Never noticed this. My jaw hit the floor. 10/10.
It's like magic tricks. People think learning the secret ruins the illusion, but it really makes you appreciate it more. Just watch Penn and Teller's Lift Off of Love, or their cups and balls with clear cups. Simply amazing.
Like you, I never had any idea how hard this shot was, but learning how hard it was makes the entire thing so much more amazing.
Carl Sagan would have been proud. I only wish he'd lived long enough to see it.
Just watched this for the first time (on HBO Max) and this shot literally made me get up out of my recliner. *This right here is what separates good directors from great directors.* To not only have the vision for it, but the skill to actually make it happen. Just brilliant. Well freaking done, Mr. Zemeckis.
And then he goes ahead and directs the "Live Action" Pinnochio. Uggh!
Zemeckis has had a thing for exquisite and revolutionary shots since his work on ‘Back to the Future’. From then on with Roger Rabbit, Forest Gump and so on but you can really see where he gets the passion from with those 3 films. He’s one of the GOATs.
"Contact" is one of my favorite movies (and books) of all time, and on my watch annually list with "Patton."
One of my favorite movies.
I remember literally gasping at that shot when I was a kid
I think his eyes were watering when he described the reflection of the father daughter picture. That's how good that scene still is. From one of my top five favorite sci do movies.
It looks to me as if the camera was stationary when young Ellie was running in slo-mo down the hall, and the camera was pointed at the mirror in the medicine cabinet door. Ellie runs into the bathroom and when she opens the cabinet door, it becomes apparent the camera was shooting the reflection of her coming down the hall, rather than moving backwards in front of her as she ran. What I couldn't resolve was how it "shot around the corner" and down the stairs from a stationary point and seamlessly changed its angle. I thought this was one of the best shots in the film, and Contact the film was better than Sagan's novel in how it carried out the story. I put the book down several times when I read it and didn't pick it up again for months, but I couldn't wait to watch the film again, just as soon as I saw it for the first time. The actors were perfectly cast and are some of my favorites from other genres, McConaughey, Skerritt and Woods in particular (and of course, Jody Foster). Contact has been one of my favorite films since its release and is in my top ten favorite Sci-fi films. It's great they could shoot at the VLA; it ties 1st Contact in this film to 1st Contact in 1984's "2010: The Year We Make Contact", the sequel to "2001: A Space Odyssey"; as 2010 also had several scenes at the VLA.
One of my favorites as well. Whenever the inevitable question comes up, "What movie have you watched more than any other...and will never get tired of watching?" For me #1 is Contact. It's also one of few films that I will watch from whatever point it's at if it's on TV, no matter where it is in the movie.
I think it's pretty well explained and shown in the clip. The Steadicam shot never stops moving. If it was stationary she'd grow in size in the frame as she ran towards the camera. And the camera is never shooting a reflection, again as seen in the video the mirror is covered in blue so the Steadicam shot can be matted into it.
I always assumed they shot it in the mirror on a rig and then zoomed out slightly when it was time to show the medicine cabinet
That shot broke my brain when I first watched it. When it came out on DVD I slow-mo'd it over and over and still couldn't work out how it was done until years later. Kudos to the effects team and everyone involved. One of the most clever shots in film history, IMO.
I was 14 when I watched Contact when it was released. I've watched it countless times since, and it's still one of the best films ever made.
What wows me about this shot is that someone got her hand to line up with the cupboard handle perfectly, for the compositing of the reflection to be perfect. I wonder if the cupboard shot opening was done first.
5:15 and THAT'S why it's beautiful. The aperture opening up is absolutely seamless.
I suspect that it wasn't *that* seamless in camera, and some digital post work was needed to help it along.
@@dunebasher1971 That could have been the case,, but seamless speed ramps with aperture pulls (sometimes shuter pulls) were common at that time, via the Preston SAC (Speed-Aperture Computer).
I still need the a 3rd pov from someone in the room to understand how this works. He’s still explaining it from the camera’s pov and I can’t conceptualist it.
There were two shots stitched together, and they did not use an actual mirror.
Shot #1 is the girl running up the stairs and down the hall.
After she reaches the doorway, shot #2 is a pullaway shot from the medicine cabinet with a bluescreen in place of the mirror.
The "reflection" in the bluescreen mirror is just shot #1.
The Corridor Crew covered this
th-cam.com/video/pTl42COCNaM/w-d-xo.html
Start at around 4 minutes 18 seconds.
Jenna Malone is a brilliant actress who unfortunately hasn’t found that one role to propel her into the heights her talent warrants.
props for mentioning the actor coz they don't in the video and it took me a while to scroll down until you did...she makes this an emotional shot also so deserves to be mentioned.
Leave Jenna Malone!
I'm surprised it wasn't Donnie Darko.
One of the greatest shots ever put to film. Incredible and illuminating video!
Can we all collectively come together and just say this is the best shot in cinema. The amount of brain focus this required to conceptualize and understand the logistics. Wow!
Definitely in the top ten for me.
no
Maybe top 50. The single car shot in “War of the worlds” is definitely top ten. Almost as if drones were used.
I don't get into 'the best ever', because I think that depends a lot on what you've seen, but obviously it's one of the greatest.
I am with you bro. This is my number 1.
Can't think of any other so... Complex and subtle at the same time.
Incredibly emotional scene. One of my favorites from the movie.
I always thought the staircase being on the other side was a continuity error but the fact that it's intentional so the entire shot is a reflection... blows my mind!
I remember watching this scene in Contact and being blown away. Still to this day this shot is incredible. Some people have incredible vision and others can action it 👍👍👍
I remember that shot viscerally. Jenna Malone gave an incredible performance, and so did the rest of the cast. Loved David Morse's work as always.
It's an insane shot, I've been dazzled ever since. I don't think I've ever seen a shot that sells the illusion of being an impossible one-shot so well.
This is one of the greatest shots of all time. Absolutely blew my mind when I saw it. And still does, even knowing the secret...
I saw this countless times and wondered how they did it. Thinking it was all one shot with mirrors in front of the camera or something. But I just couldn't resolve it in my mind. The composite is that good I had no idea. The hand reaching out is so in sync with the separate footage it really does look like a reflection of her arm. So glad this was explained and I can finally sleep at nights now, lol
Even just the intro shot where the camera goes through the balcony door window and through the hall into her room is pretty impressive.
Seen a lot of movies in my day. This shot always sticks with me. Brilliant.
It’s interesting, to this day I remember this scene vividly, but I also recall hating it for the longest time.
Eventually, I found that I didn’t hate the scene at all; the scene itself was incredible. I hated how effective it was at making me feel grief and helplessness.
It’s a masterfully done piece of art that unrelentingly imposes emotion.
A very powerful scene in a very powerful film! Kudos to all the folks who made it happen.
what a great shot, it sets up the viewer for a magical experience for the rest of the film.
Technique, magic in support of story, character, and emotions. Such a good movie.
Carl Sagan would have been proud.
When I figured out that 'Bob' is Bob Zemeckis, is instantly made sense why this shot is a masterpiece.
Same guy did Back to the Future.
That shot absolutely BLEW MY !@#$%@#$ MIND when I saw this in the theater.
I remember I saw the film in a cinema in Canberra, Australia, and from beginning to end, there was not a sound from the audience. I was enthralled by this scene but I am sure there were others, such as the camera going from outside, through a window to the inside of the house. And then there was the rather unsettling sound of leaves rustling in the wind, as I recall, on the day of the funeral. Marvellous, intelligent film-making.
There are several remarkable aspects of this shot, but I just want to point out one that stands out for me - there is a seamless transition between 2nd person observer and 1st person - a magical transportation into the character's consciousness
I saw this film very recently and this exact shot stuck with me as I tried to rap my head around how they did it. What great timing for this to be recommended to me.
I have wondered for years how they pulled off that shot, and I've watched the movie easily 100+ times and worked in 3D and video for a few years. Knowing this wasn't lots of VFX and was mostly shot live in film on steadicam just blows my mind.
How would it be done with today's technology? Still a single shot, or spliced together in post?
This film also had one of the best uses of 'morphing ' Ive ever seen, just after Jodie Foster says 'poetry' in the capsule near the end. The last great Zemeckis film.
Really great content. Thanks for putting these stories out there. Incredible!
I used to teach high school students how to reproduce this shot. It’s crazy how much easier it is with modern technology.
The first time I ever viewed a film at a movie theater stoned was 'Contact' in 1997 (not to mention it being one of only a handful of times I'd toked up in my then short 15 year old life). My buddy Michael Meatbäl smoked up and then snuck into a screening of 'Contact' at the movie theater located off in the southwest corner of the Boise Towne Square mall and stayed on through for a second screening primarily motivated to see this scene once again and confirm exactly what we had in fact seen in actuality. Great film still to this day in May 2024.
There are many fantastic shots in cinema that we can hold up to the light, such as Lean's "mirage'' shot - which was born of his incredible observation habits & integretion of a natural phenomena, Kubrick's realistic rotating space station, or Coppola's Valkyrie-napalm scenes (among many others), yet what makes this shot from Contact so very special is it's simplicity.
No surreal phenomena of nature, nor airplane hanger-size set, nor was a fleet of Hueys and explosives engineers was needed to pull off a vision that is absolutely breathtaking. In the tradition of Hitchcock, this is just good old fashioned director's concept realized by cinematographer's ability to deconstruct the concept and then built it into frames (with a great team). A truly simple shot, and yet, even with insight of commentary I can still barely visualize actually pulling it off - especially with such a delicate touch. Bravo!
When I watched this scene many years ago, I was wow, how can they do that?
And in May 2024, a year after my father died, I cried. Suddenly the scene is so real.
One of my favourite movies. I never once thought about this shot apart from appreciate it as part of the overall film. For me, THAT's great cinematography, you don't want look behind the curtain or even think about the curtain during the movie, just be absorbed and enjoy what you are watching on screen. This interview was an education, and really interesting to think about the skill, vision and wider team needed to create it.
just totally brilliant planning and camera work
A hauntingly beautiful scene, thank you
Contact is one of my favourite films. I watch it about three times a year.
Of all the movies and scenes I’ve watched and appreciated over the years, this one definitely was noted at (without thinking too much about at the time) as very impactful and creatively executed. Top notch film making moment.
This shot seriously freaked me out. It was amazing.
My favorite shot of all time in my favorite movie of all time - fantastic.
Beautiful story, beautiful movie, beautiful scene, beautiful construction of a scene
I've always admired that shot. Beautifully done. Just wish there was more shots to accompany that one in the rest of the movie. it was THE stand out shot for sure.
This movie had so many jawdropping moments that made my body shiver. Such a fantastic movie.
Brilliant work, kudos to all involved!
The popcorn pattern matches the glittering sand at the end.
That shot still blows my mind today, great film btw
Wow, just wow...!
I always wondered how did they do it. Thank you.
I remember watching this in the cinema and going “hey hold up how the 🤬 did they do that?!”.
Contact was moderately well received at the time but it’s held up so well. It’s one of the great sci-fi’s.
Amazing . Thanks
A wonderful scene..!!! Great interview..!!
Amazing shot, amazing story told in this video.
flawless
definitely one of the best movie scene ever.
never noticed the reversed part, now I can't unsee it.
Love that movie. So well done.
One of the best SF films of all times. In top five.
I remember someone saying (can't remember who), "the best special effect is the one you don't notice." Contact has a lot of that.
I remember watching Contact in theaters opening weekend and when this shot happened and you see the mirror I distinctly remember like a collective hushed Keanu Reeves "woah" coming from the audience around me... this was such a great shot for its time back in the 90s.
Wow, just wow!
Love this film! Awesome shot
Epic shot!
This is a great scene. Technology and execution merged seamlessly to give body to a brilliant and beautiful idea.
I've always loved that shot.
This scene was repeated when she hears the first Contact, jumps in her car (an Oldsmobile?) and the scene continues all the way into the room with her colleagues. Magical.
Thank you 🙏🏿
Brilliant film. Ready to go…ready to go.
Amazing
Contact has always been my all-time favourite film; absolute masterpiece.
Ever since I saw Contact the very first time, I have been amazed at this shot!
This is so cool. I have limited videography experience but a decent amount of still photography that I know how much auto stuff I have when I do simple videography now with a mirrorless camera and a steadying gimbal. The fact that all the focus was done by somebody who wasn’t looking through any kind of viewfinder has always blown my mind, and then wondering what you had to do to change aperture as well as frame rate on the go like that. I have watched this movie a number of times and I had never noticed the way the view seems to come from the mirror until I saw her hand go up like that. Awesome.
Magicians of cinema!
This shot was so good even MAD Magazine complimented it in their satire ‘Corntact’.
What a shot. *Goosebumps
This movie came out when I was 14. I went back to the theater again and again to see it (cinephile astronomy nerd kid with a dollar theater in the neighborhood), and in spite of all the effects work, this was always the one shot in the movie that made me go "holy shit..." every single time. One of the greatest "how the HELL did they do that..." shots in history.
This technology and the special effects were terrific, but it's the actress (and what she did during and before) who made the scene.