Follow Flow

The other night I noticed that the movie Boogie Nights was added to Netflix. I had heard this movie was really good before, and it's by Paul Thomas Anderson, so how can it be bad. It stars Mark Wahlberg as he breaking into the "movie" industry. Anyway, a few times throughout the movie, they use these kinds of shots, like in the opening sequence when they show a good portion of the characters in a night club, or at a house party where they transfer from conversation to conversation before taking a dip in the pool. There are many other shows and movies that make use of this style well, such as in True Detective with the now famous drug raid follow shot that goes on for a solid 6-minutes, or the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode that was all one perfect follow shot for the whole episode, which was inspired by the True Detective one. It's hard not to be impressed with follow shots, whenever they show up in media. There's so much work going into it, and being able to move with the action really draws you into the scene and makes it feel all the more realistic.

I feel that each time one of the follow shots came up, it feels like they improve the feel of the scene. Plus, you have to consider all of the work that goes into making it happen: everything needs to be perfect for the an entire run. All the actors need to get their line on the first try, nothing incorrect happens in the background at any point, and also making sure that nothing that isn't supposed to be shown isn't. The point I'm trying to make is that if you ever see one, make sure to appreciate all the it manages to accomplish.