There’s a before and after period with the films of Paul Thomas Anderson. There’s the first half of his career — a melange of Martin Scorsese’s quick-footed camera moves and sprawling Robert Altman ensembles and interconnected stories, with perhaps even a dash of Quentin Tarantino too —and the second half of his career that began with the weirder “Punch Drunk Love” and really manifested itself with the grand and ominous “There Will Be Blood.” And PTA now seems deeply rooted in the second half of his more abstract career. “The Master” was mysterious and hard to pin down, and “Inherent Vice” offered a dense, funny and abstruse take on Thomas Pynchon.
Anderson’s camera, with its kinetic push-in dolly or steadicam shots, tracking shots and complex whip pans, isn’t as manic these days. The energy of his movies has changed, slowed down and become more unusual and staid, putting performances first and letting the camera relax. But tracking shots are still the hallmark of PTA’s career and even “Inherent Vice” pulled out some old tricks without calling too much attention to themselves.
And this supercut celebrates PTA’s apparatus, the whirling camera, the kinetic tracking shots and the more subdued long shots that are much less conspicuous these days. This video by Arnau Orengo, collects and reminds us of all of the filmmaker’s tracking shots, from the bold and bravura, to the subtle and hard-to-notice if you’re sucked into his narratives. PTA fans will love this edit, but his cinematic language is so engrossing, on either side of his career, I can’t imagine there’s a film enthusiast that can’t find something to love in this clip (though I’ll admit, I wish these clips would play out a little longer so you could feel the true length of the shots; the long takes in ‘Magnolia‘ are rather epic). FYI, Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film is an untitled reteam with Daniel Day-Lewis which centers on the fashion world in the 1950s. We are so in. Watch the supercut by clicking above on the top image or watch below. [via One Perfect Shot]