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ChocolateLady 
"Chocolate: Scientifically Delicious"
Israel
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 Posted - 26/09/2006 : 06:25:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Downtown
You're all nuts. I can't believe nobody mentioned The Gunbarrel shot from the James Bond films (Casino Royale will put an interesting twist on it).
I can't say that its all that great, to tell you the truth. However, I did like the opening of (I believe) Goldeneye where James Bond bungie jumps off of a dam into an occupied toilet.
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Downtown 
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
The Hub of the Universe
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Posted - 26/09/2006 : 15:59:32
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| Well as Bond opening gambits go, that one is pretty dam good, although it doesn't fit the definition of a "shot"...but I think the Gunbarrel Shot is noteworthy for this discussion, because it tells us in just a couple seconds a lot of what we need to know about James Bond. First of all, people want to kill him...bad people that don't even reveal themselves as they're hunting him down, so we never see who the assassin is that's targeting him in that shot. And the shot is tunnelvision since it's literally through the gunbarrel...we can't see where Bond is, all we see is Bond himself, because it doesn't matter where he is. He faces danger anywhere and everywhere, just taking a stroll is dangerous and every step could potentially be his last, except...he's too good, he's too quick, he knows people are always trying to kill him and he'll always get the jump on them. |
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duh 
"catpurrs"
See Fourum for details.
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Posted - 26/09/2006 : 18:18:00
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May I include an animated film?
The opening of "The Land Before Time" is one of my all-time favorites. |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
NYC, USA
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Posted - 26/09/2006 : 20:06:02
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I can't remember: was the gun barrel opening used in DR. NO? I do remember the animated "Three Blind Mice" as we calypsoed into Jamaica, but did the gun barrel precede this sequence?
I also agree that the Bond gun barrel isn't really an "opening shot" so much as an "opening graphic." Similarly, STAR WARS opens with a graphic crawl, but the opening shot is: starfield, tilt down into the famous David-escaping-Goliath visual that makes you settle back and say, wow, this is going to be fun! |
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Downtown
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
The Hub of the Universe
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Posted - 27/09/2006 : 00:07:30
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The Gunbarrel has been in every official James Bond film, including Dr. No.
I think it's definitely an "opening shot." It's certainly the "opening," because it's always the first thing we see when the movie starts. And it's a "shot," because it's one, uninterupted camera shot. The camera happens to be a pinhole camera mounted inside the barrel of a gun (really!), but that's not important. And it's not a graphic. In fact, the only part of it that's not "real" is the blood that flows down over the image after Bond spins and fires.
Then (except in Dr. No) it goes into the Opening Gambit, followed by the Opening Credits, which usually include a lot of graphics. But the first thing we see is definitely a "shot."
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Sean 
New Zealand
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Posted - 27/09/2006 : 01:28:19
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'Scuse my poor memory if some of these aren't exactly opening shots, i.e., they may perhaps be a minute or two into the film, although I remember them as opening shots.
Betty Blue - The 'two-backed beast'. Sets the scene.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - All hell breaking loose.
Lost in Translation - Scarlett's butt in pink undies. 
For a Few Dollars More - Clippetty clop.... BANG!
Grave of the Fireflies - Derelict boy leaning against wall in train station with first lines (narration) "September 21, 1945... that was the night I died." 
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Edited by - Sean on 27/09/2006 01:33:59 |
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randall
"I like to watch."
NYC, USA
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Posted - 27/09/2006 : 12:32:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Downtown
The camera happens to be a pinhole camera mounted inside the barrel of a gun (really!)
No kidding? Wonder why? It would have been much easier to just frame for a circular silhouette on an animation stand. [The circle sure moves like it's animated.] |
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Sean
New Zealand
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Posted - 27/09/2006 : 23:29:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Randall
quote:
Originally posted by Downtown
The camera happens to be a pinhole camera mounted inside the barrel of a gun (really!)
No kidding? Wonder why? It would have been much easier to just frame for a circular silhouette on an animation stand. [The circle sure moves like it's animated.]
I'm gonna have to rent a Bond flick just to watch this bit 10 times with a more critical eye. |
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Downtown
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
The Hub of the Universe
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Posted - 28/09/2006 : 01:23:56
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| Starting with Goldeneye, they're all CGI. But everything before that it's a real gun. |
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