ping.
Most famous for being shot in a single continuous take except for one break to change film in the camera. The zoom to the wooden chest is the where the change take place.
(So I guess two takes, but still)
It’s an interesting film to watch for Hitchcock’s attempt at seamlessness of sequences, with the extra-long takes and such. But to be honest, I always found the subject-matter of the film to be extremely unappetizing.
Very cool stuff.
Long takes
Hitchcock shot for periods lasting up to 10 minutes (the length of a film camera magazine), continuously panning from actor to actor, though most shots in the film wound up being shorter. Every other segment ends by panning against or tracking into an object—a man's jacket blocking the entire screen, or the back of a piece of furniture, for example. In this way, Hitchcock effectively masked half the cuts in the film.
However, at the end of 20 minutes (two magazines of film make one reel of film on the projector in the movie theater), the projectionist—when the film was shown in theaters—had to change reels. On these changeovers, Hitchcock cuts to a new camera setup, deliberately not disguising the cut. A description of the beginning and end of each segment follows.
Segment Length Time-code Start Finish 1 09:34 00:02:30 Close-up (CU), strangulation Blackout on Brandon's back 2 07:51 00:11:59 Black, pan off Brandon's back CU Kenneth: "What do you mean?" 3 07:18 00:19:45 Unmasked cut, men crossing to Janet Blackout on Kenneth's back 4 07:08 00:27:15 Black, pan off Kenneth's back CU Phillip: "That's a lie." 5 09:57 00:34:34 Unmasked cut, CU Rupert Blackout on Brandon's back 6 07:33 00:44:21 Black, pan off Brandon's back Three shot 7 07:46 00:51:56 Unmasked cut, Mrs. Wilson: "Excuse me, sir." Blackout on Brandon 8 10:06 00:59:44 Black, pan off Brandon CU Brandon's hand in gun pocket 9 04:37 01:09:51 Unmasked cut, CU Rupert Blackout on lid of chest 10 05:38 01:14:35 Black, pan up from lid of chest End of film
Have seen this movie which I recall as good but very disturbing.
According to Wikipedia the two lead actors were gay and bisexual respectively, which perhaps makes their portrayal of Leopold and Loeb type characters more realistic.