Plano Secuencia

I remember my first production class when I was a TV student in the university.  One time we were told the names for the different types of camera movements and framing.  As a student I couldn't help but to be fascinated by those long shots with no cuts depicting complex situations that needed to be staged with a lot more time than a conventional camera movement.  Long sequences including several frame sizes and nonstop action giving no margin for errors without having to go back to the very first position and shoot everything again from the top in case a new take was required.

'El Plano Secuencia' is the name in Spanish for this technique.  Today I want to share several 1-shot-sequence music videos that still fascinate and intrigue me because they're either curious or have used visual tricks to make it look as if they have no cuts, like it wasn't hard already to do a simple sequence shot.  The work of Michel Gondry is quite the most recognized due to the fact that they are not only visually complex but also they made big hits out of the songs that appear on these video clips.

We'll get to Gondry's work later, for now I'll start with a 2010 video by OK Go.  Director Brian L. Perkins and the boys from the band show us what a 'plano secuencia' is all about.  Amazing work.



In 1994 Gin Blossoms released two versions of this video by director Sean Alquist.  I don't really know which version is this one.





Another pure one shot video.  Director Michel Gondry delivers one of his best works ever.  A jewel that you have to watch more than once.



Cibo Matto - SUGAR WATER
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Of course I have to include a Latin american artist on this list.  Chilean artist Nicole teamed up with director Ricardo de Montreuil to make a video that is not only a single shot but also a reversed video.  The lip-synch is one of the most remarkable aspects of this clip.





There are also those video clips that are one shot sequences but only in aspect.  They have been edited or tricked to make them look like a continuous shot.  However the trick in these cases is to spot the cuts.  Like this one for Feist, directed by Patrick Daughters

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Michel Gondry has one of the most tricked one shot videos in the world.  The editing and the motion controlled camera make it almost impossible to spot the cuts, it's virtually seamless.



MASSIVE ATTACK - protection -
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The one shot sequence has been used in music videos ever since music and film exist.  D.A. Penebaker directed Bob Dylan using a single shot, he also used written cards that are tossed while the song plays along creating a new concept that has been used many times since.  But that is a different story.

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Bob Dylan

Some of this videos are better done than others.  Some of the songs are better than others too.  But the important here is to see how a camera trick or movement never gets old as long as you add some variety to it.  Also that the complexity of having only one shot to do everything is something that has to be recognized -- the vision of the artists that push themselves to find new ways to use an old trick.-- Finally this is a list of some one shot 'plano secuencias' you may want to check out.  Maybe your favorite band has used this technique too.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_shot_(music_video)