The camera

Thousands of people have been inspired by the films of Martin Scorsese. The one thing that makes me go back to classics such as Goodfellas and Raging Bull is the handling of the camera. With the help of great cinematographers such as Michael Ballhaus and Robert Richardson, Scorsese does something with the camera, that seems so ballsy, so deliciously audacious, you want to slap him if you see him....He makes you look at what he wants you to see.its almost like saying 'Here punk, look at what i'm showing you'

there's a fantastic tracking shot in goodfellas when henry and karen go to the copacabana, it establishes so much, the extent of henry's influence and karen's disbelief...and the audience IS the camera, walking behind them, stalking, like a voyeur, i'm sure it must have been hell shooting this one shot but its one of my favourites...here it is..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pwVuystKJ0

another great scene from goodfellas is when jimmy decides to whack murray, the dolly moves up on deniro slowly and the scene is shot at a36 fps, the twinkle in jimmy's eyes is so terrifying but yet fascinating and Cream's Sunshine of your love adds to the magic...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2owcQDvQLc

i guess its similar to the Jumpin' Jack Flash scene from Mean Streets where Deniro walks into the bar with the two girls but i prefer this one

The sugar ray robinson fight scene in raging bull is almost antithetical to the tracking scene from goodfellas. Here scorsese opts for a lot of ambient lighting, varying frame-rates and close-ups, and thanks to the masterful editing of Thelma Schoonmaker creates one of cinemas most memorable seqences. the sequence features the frequent addition and subtraction of sound, the best parts are the silences......the most vivid image that i've retained from all the movies i've seen is the blood dripping from the ropes at the end of the scene....an example of the 'look here' shtick i was talking about..

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=-nAjurxttv4

in bringing out the dead(lesser championed scorsese movie in which nicholas cage plays a troubled paramedic working an ambulance in new york city), scorsese puts the camera on top of the ambulance and the film is sped up....the result semms like a recreation of Frank's troubled state, his mind is racing and so is the ambulance, he needs a break, needs to slow down but the ambulance just keeps moving,.... no stopping here.....
sorry, couldn't find a clip but do check out the movie if you get hold of a copy, its fantastic

scorsese himself admits he's been inspired to move the camera from the films of other greats but even Newton said he succeeded cause he'stood on the shoulders of giants'....

i wonder what i'll do with a 35mm Arriflex if i'm ever given one.....