Birdman won the Academy Award for Best Picture. And in this post I'm going to tell you exactly why I believe it deserves this award.
This was the main reason I enjoyed Birdman so much. The long scenes truly add something special to the film. You realize that the people in the movie, and behind the scenes of the movie, work really hard for it to look a certain way. It's fascinating, in a way, to watch a film like Birdman and think about how much planning went into each shot, especially when the longest shot is twelve minutes long. Here is one scene I found on YouTube so you can see what I am talking about with there being no cuts (WARNING: There is strong language).
At about 1:33 you can see the woman flinch when Keaton raises his voice. Another aspect of doing these long shots is that you can also get more of a real reaction from the actors. I'm sure the actress in this scene knew that Keaton was going to yell at her and she knew what the lines were but at that mark, 1:33, that's a genuine startled reaction.
Another great scene in Birdman that is also on YouTube is the fight scene. You are able to see the more complicated side to filming without cutting because the actors are walking through hallways to different rooms. This clip is two minutes and fifty-four seconds. So again, I can't even imagine all of the planning that had to go into this scene to make every camera shift perfect. (WARNING: There is strong language again)
Well that is it for my Oscar themed posts until next year! I do plan to still talk about movies, whether its my favorite movies or movies that I have recently seen for the first time. I will be back with another blog post on Friday! So I hope you will come back to check that out! And as always leave a comment and let me know what you thought about Birdman or just say hi!
Caitlin