Birdcage, The
"Opening Sequence", By Rusty Geller and P. Scott Sakamoto
This is the opening shot of the film. It begins in a helicopter traveling across the water. When it reaches the shore, a very well placed dissolve takes us into the Steadicam shot. That shot takes us down to the ground and up to the door of the club. A well placed matte takes us into the third shot of the sequence which brings us through the club (shot on a soundstage). Although not a complete one-shot, the effect is convincing. The parts of the shot that actually are Steadicam are impressive alone.
The two shots were also shot by two operators. Sakamoto is responsible for the external part of it, shot in Miami. Geller takes over for the second part, shot in Hollywood.
Equipment Used
Helicopter
Titan crane
Shot Elements
Crane Step On/Off
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User Comments
I believe P. Scott Sakamoto did the crane step off in FLA & Rusty continued the stage portion in Hollywood Submitted by: on 9 Jan, 22
Fasten your seat belts...amazing shot Submitted by: steadymike on 6 Nov, 03