Will this type of filmmaking bore modern audiences?

[nycineaste]

Two broad types of filmaking. Both styles may appear in one film.

MONTAGE: you create dynamics through editing.
MISE EN SCENE: you create dynamics within the frame.

You need something interesting happening within the frame (not necessarily a moving camera). Maybe really great dialog.

If you want to get super deep, track down "What Is Cinema?" by Andre Bazin, who believed that the thing that is the MOST CINEMATIC is a feeling of deep space and movement in the frame. Then go watch Citizen Kane, The Rules Of The Game, and Transformers Dark Side Of The Moon (No, I'm not kidding- Michael Bays movies may not be masterpieces, but he sure as hell understands and uses cinematic deep space).

Awesome Tutorials on Montage and Mise En Scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0BMDcbjfBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWcw70Wl2Y4

Probably the most important movie for you to see if you're serious about devoting yourself to that style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxs4P6u1EiI

The best movie to see if you want to see robot battles and a smoking hot blonde with a cute button nose and heavenly pillow lips (sigh)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHRf01Gjosk

[ironpony]

Okay thanks. I have directed one short film so far about 20 minutes, and have helped other's on their projects, and practiced on my own. Although practice is very difficult since actor's only want to work on real projects, and I can't get friends to practice for me well at all.

Perhaps for a low budget indie, quick cutting is the way to go, but most filmmakers still follow the rule of acting out the whole master shot in one take as a safety, right? So don't actors still do that as a safety, or is that not normal practice anymore? I don't want to do a whole scene in one take in the final edit though. Just master shots, that last around say 30 seconds at some points. Is 30 seconds too long for most actors you would find on a microbudget?

[gonzo_entertainment]

Absolutely. You still shoot coverage in case you get into editing and it plays WAY too long.
Yes, we play every scene out beginning to end in a master.

[ironpony]

Yeah so it seems to me that maybe the actors could play the master out for maybe four more takes, then you have a few masters to choose from, for the sections of the scene, where you want a long master shot.

[gonzo_entertainment]

As noted in some of the comments, if I was going to stay in a shot for a long time I'd add motion. We use a lot of slider in conjunction with pan tilt. You have to create movement in the scene. If you aren't doing it in the edit it needs to come from somewhere else.

[mail4joeg]

"Jim Jarmusch"

DEAD MAN

[mail4joeg]

I'd like to add that I recently wrote a feature script with long, long takes, highly choreographed. It's done in "found footage" style, so that every time the camera turns on I account for why it's on, who's motivated to film then, and then make sure each take escalates the tension, often throwing curve balls into the mix. It will be a very difficult project to film, with a lot of rehearsal necessary, but I believe it will work out in the end.

[ironpony]

As far as needing movement goes, how do you do it with a slider? Just put the slider on the tripod? Because you can only move back and forth on a certain character then. In that clip the dolly moves all over, but in the locations I want to use, I can't just switch tracks, when I want to switch moving on characters, so how do you do it with a slider, since it can only move back and forth in one direction?

[iamWZA]

I've only skim-read this thread but here's my two English pennies nonetheless:

Yes it can work, and it can be very powerful. It's your film so if you think it's right then you should definitely do it. Some of my favourite scenes from films are very long takes. Gaspar Noe films spring to mind, as does the film 'I am Cuba'.
There's a 90 minute film called 'Russian Ark' which is one long take, but it's very experimental and IMO pretty boring.

[ironpony]

Yeah that would bore a lot of modern audiences. It's hard to tell cause my attention span exceeds my friends' when it comes to movies, so I want to use them as examples of how to make something marketable. Even though I want long takes, I am only talking about 30 percent of my script, the rest is pretty modern takes.