Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: The Sound of Music

Like so many, my early movie taste was hugely influenced by my parents, particularly my mom. She instilled in me a deep, livelong love and devotion for The Sound of Music. I try to watch it at least once a year, but the three-hour runtime makes it hard, so this exercise was much appreciated.

Many movie musicals fail because they can't escape a stagebound feeling. The Sound of Music mostly escapes this by shooting on location all across Salzburg, but even the indoor sets feel massive.  The von Trapp mansion feels appropriately enormous, never moreso than in my best shot:




The shot, coming immediately after the Captain has realized how much Maria has impacted his children, has incredible depth; fitting considering how much emotion is pressed into a single frame. It's simply an incredible shot.

Honorable Mention


This is what I think about when I think about love.


For my money, one of the funniest shots from any movie.

5 comments:

  1. Welcome to HMWYBS -- glad to have you. And great choice. the blocking of that sequence is amazing. and I also love your 'funniest shot'

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  2. That is a great shot, it shows the depth of the sets, captures the emotion when the Captain opens his heart back up and yeah it includes the Baroness! Love her! Julie and Christopher are great but Eleanor Parker has it all goin' on.

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  3. The amount of deep focus in this film is stunning. Robert Wise found ways to stage it like a play (you can see everyone somewhere in the frame) but really used the sightlines and depth of the frame to meaningful advantage. Great selection!

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  4. I love your choice! Some how I missed it or else I would have included it in my runners up. I love shots that include so many characters and different levels of emotional depth.

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