Russian Ark
 

http://www.apple.com/trailers/indepe...ssian_ark.html

...whole thing filmed in one continues shot...that's amazing - i can just imagine the complexity... you'd think someone would have tripped overe a cable somewhere in that shot!
(...even in the short trailer there's a lot of people staring straight at the camera) :-0

Wow, that's quite impressive!

That must have taken an insane amont of choreography on everybody's part.. and probably just breezed through post :P

I hope this plays close to me soon..

I only have one question - why?

Rick

I too saw the trailer the other day and was somewhat curious, so I checked out the film details on IMDb.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0318034

Not only one continuous take, but also a one take film!

I wonder how they filmed it--no manufacturer makes 96 minute long magazines. I wonder how they transport and project it--features aren't usually trucked around on one giant reel. Even Hitch's Rope has cleverly disguised transitions for the reel swaps.

Curiously, the film has three credited editors. If it was strictly for union reasons, they should have made it an even four. Makes it a lot easier to play bridge!

If i remember, it was shot on HD.

kermie

Ah. You're correct.

This looks to be quite a remarkable piece of work. Where the heck can I see it?

http://www.wellspring.com/russianark/production.html

I'm betting you local "art house" or university theater will be the best best for finding it. Can't imagine this type of movie appealing to the mainstream (although it should).

Nope, no place in Chicago. Nuts.

The film was shot as a single Steadicam take using an HD camera with a fiber cable to a massive hard drive setup which was wheeled around at some distance from the camera.

Believe it or not, there was a tremendous amount of post if one is to believe the esoteric ramblings of the director. I have been following the press releases and interviews on this film for about six months but didn't manage to archive the better ones (which are amazingly self-aggrandizing and simultaneously catty to certain members of the production). Here's one recent link:

http://sokurov.spb.ru/island_en/feature_films/russkyi_kovcheg/mnp_ark.html

Catty is right. But I assumed the Steadicam must have been cart-mounted until I read

"Tilman Buttner is a strong and hardy man. He was diligently preparing himself for physical work, which was hard indeed: he had to carry on his waist more than 30 kilos."

Buttner wasn't a man, he was an elephant! I can't conceive of a Steadicam operator carrying a CineAlta for an hour an a half (if that was indeed what it was shot on).

Have you ever tried that, Charles?

Saw it
 

I saw it at the Vancouver International Film Festival this fall.

It instantly made my best of list for 2002.

http://www.keithloh.com/writing/film_reviews/best2002.html

It's scheduled for the 14th, 15th, and 16th of February at the Cleveland Cinematheque. --I'm there!

Robert,

I can't remember for sure, but I believe it was the camera head only version of the 900 (Cinealta), which doesn't have the extra weight of the deck. I don't keep up with the model numbers of the video cameras like I used to as I have been largely dodging the HD bullet in the last couple of years (that won't last, I'm quite sure of that!). Tilman used a slick lightweight setup and a great backmounted vest (the arm attaches around the back rather than at the front), which increases the length of time one can carry the rig. I've been sniffing at this vest for a while but at $9000, it doesn't come cheap.

I can't say as I've carried a camera for THAT long, but I've had a few marathon sessions over the years. Live TV can be like that. At the World Cup in '94, I ran up and down the side of a soccer pitch in blistering heat; that was a tough one! Then there was a campaign commercial for Bob Dole that required me to track him for 20 minutes straight through a town in New Hampshire...a few features that had four minute shots that were pretty elaborate (doesn't sound too impressive, except that the camera setup for one of them was over 80 lbs). But really, Tilman's effort was remarkable.