Kelly Wand
3. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
2. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The Shining
Dingus
3. Jurassic Park
2. 28 Days Later
The Untouchables
Tom Chick
3. The Fountain
2. Jaws
La La Land
We’re talking about overhead shots, and we even make math a part of the discussion when we talk about the shot pointing down at ninety degrees. What are your favorites?
My picks of the two upside-down-to-rightside-up shots from The Fountain don’t read well as screen grabs, so here are some of the several other top down shots, often positioning characters on some kind of mandala-like pattern on the floor:
As many Scorsese films do, Kundun has some great overheads. Most strikingly, the aftermath of the massacre at the temple, but also the mandala in the credit sequence.
I’m watching 30 Days of Night, and there was an overhead shot that impressed me. It’s when the vampires first go overt and start rampaging through the town. In the beginning, it’s just chaos, shot after shot of carnage. But then someone blasts one of them with a shotgun. We switch to an overhead tracking shot down the main drag of the town, watching this brace of vampires tear through the residents, while some few survivors fight their way to the Diner. The periodic shotgun blasts keep being surprises, because we never see it from the shooter’s perspective.
This movie features Ben Foster. He came onscreen and as soon as he started talking, I was like “Who the hell is this guy?” I looked him up and lo and behold, it’s that guy who kept dropping by @Kelly_Wand’s place in Germany. How cool is that?
Shawshank Redemption
Goodfellas (after Tommy’s big moment)
I’m blanking on others but I do think the overhead shot after the death of a character has become something of a cinematic cliche. Sometimes I wince when I see it trotted out. (In Scorsese’s case I’ll make an exception!)
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