‘Birdman’s’ Single-Shot Look Explained

The movie magic behind 'Birdman's' single-shot appearance.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Birdman—overrated to some but beloved by many, like the real Birdman—swept this year’s Oscars and awards season in general, by winning audiences over because of its singular shot premise, which would go on to earn Alejandro G. Iñárritu a Best Director Oscar and Emmanuel Lubezki an Oscar for Best Cinematography. We hate to shatter your illusion of the film but it wasn’t actually one continuous shot, rather it was just made to look like it. Hardly the first film to do it—word up to Hitchcock—the film employed techniques to sneak in cuts the average viewer, and maybe even a film buff, might not catch. Providing a visual breakdown of Birdman’s editing techniques is this video from The Film Theorists where they point out just some of the cuts in Birdman

[via Boing Boing]

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