Long hallway shot in "Road to Perdition"

[John Locke]

How do you suppose they did the long continuous shot in "Road to Perdition" where Tom Hanks exits the elevator and it's an overhead traveling shot, then the camera dollies down to eye level, still traveling with him as he walks down the hall, then follows his as he turns a corner, coming up right to the back of his neck, then following him into the room where he shoots the guy in the tub--and to cap it all off, the shot of the guy in the tub is a reflection in a mirror on a door that swings slightly open as Tom hanks grazes it as he leaves. Whew! How many takes did that take?

Just wondering what type of crane/dolly might have been used. The thing that is a mystery is that you can see a raised floor board at the door entrance, so they couldn't have rolled a dolly over it without it jumping a bit.

Any ideas of inside info?

[Rob Lohman]

I've seen the movie but cannot recall that scene from memory.
I'm suspecting the mirror thing was added through compositing
lateron. Like the bathroom / mirror scene from Contact. Could it
have been a steadicam?

[John Locke]

The first portion of the shot is directly overhead as he walks, so that rules out a Steadicam. As for compositing...hmmm...are they really that good?

[Rob Lohman]

This is a hard movie to find information about on the Internet.
Both American Cinematographer & Cinefex have nothing on it.

The best article I could find for now is on the Kodak site. I do
think it touches the scene you are describing, but I'm not sure.

Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall

And yes: compositing can be really good, but I'd have to see the
scene myself first.

[James Emory]

It's possible that the camera was suspended from an overhead track system that could have been recessed into the ceiling. I've seen this method used in buses for down the isle shots. The only potential problem is that the frame has to be tilted down just enough as to not reveal the track ahead and the opposite as with floor track. This could definitely achieve that overhead shot that you're describing with this method. I'm sure the DVD behind the scenes will reveal the answer.

[Brian Huey]

Could it possibly be a Steadicam operator on a crane for the first bit, then lowered down and stepping off the crane to follow for the rest of the shot?

There's a scene in Brian De Palma's "Casualties of War" of the soldiers walking across a bridge with a close steadicam shot from in front of them walking across the bridge then at the end the operator steps onto a crane to be lifted up and show the village they're entering. Pretty cool shot.

Cheers,
Brian

[Alfred Okocha]

Talking about amazing shots.
Sorry don't want to change the subject.. but to change the subject, ;-) how was the "Mission in possible" bullet train zoom in done? (they start showing the train in high speed, to zoom in one of the windows until they have a close up of an object seemingly without the window!

Thanks.

[John Hudson]

<<<-- Originally posted by John Locke : The first portion of the shot is directly overhead as he walks, so that rules out a Steadicam. As for compositing...hmmm...are they really that good? -->>>

PANIC ROOM had some insane composite shots. They are really that good!

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

"(they start showing the train in high speed, to zoom in one of the windows until they have a close up of an object seemingly without the window!"

All these types of shots use compositing. See also the aerial zoomout from the cabin window at the end of Minority Report. The interior and the exterior are separate elements--one or both may be CG, in this case the train probably was--and they are carefully composited together. In the aforementioned aerial zoomout the comp is not without its flaws, and it's easy to see a mismatch between the camera angle on the interior and the angle on the cabin as the transition occurs.

In the Mars transit rail zoomout from Total Recall, they accomplished this without any compositing. If I recall, the train was a model with a tiny projector inside of it!

[Mark Moore]

Back to the RTP shot down the hall way - that is my favorite shot in the movie! I assumed it was a crane/dolley that followed Hanks through the scene, but don't know for sure.

However, I thought there was a "minor flaw" - when he shoots the guy in the tub (the tub is behind the door and you see Hanks only), Hanks is standing and points down at the guy and fires. However, when Hanks exits and the door swings around, the blood spatter (reflection in the mirro) seems too high on the wall. Thought it should have been lower or different.

Still love the sequence though - and the music!

[Rob Lohman]

In regards to Panic Room. There is a new 3 disc edition out from
the guy who made the Fight Club DVD. It seems to be the best
loaded "special edition" out there at the moment. I'm definitely
gonna get that one, even if I didn't like the movie that much.

[John Locke]

I wonder if that was a body crane they used? That would allow the direct overhead, turning the tight corner, and then stepping over door sill.

Mark...I agree. I thought the blood stain was a bit strange.

[Rob Lohman]

Did you read that article I linked to, John?

[John Locke]

Yeah, Rob...it mentioned other shots, but not that particular one.