MovieChat Forums > The Great Gatsby (1974) Discussion > questionable cinematography

questionable cinematography

posted 19 years ago by mia_wallace_88
4 replies | jump to latest

What is the DP doing? Every other shot is a sweeping zoom. poor use of the mega zoom and steadycam? it's annoying...

Does anyone else notice this?

[–] david_kampling 19 years ago

If you are watching a fullscreen copy of this, then they are using the pan and scan process because the movie was made in the 2.35 : 1 aspect and they pan and and scan so you can see what's going on the other side of the frame without the black bars at the bottom. I think if you stick with a widesceen you wouldn't have to worry about the zooms because the entire picture is presented. It's not the DP's fault, it's the guys who are producing the full frame edition of it.

[–] Wolverine37 19 years ago

I watched in widescreen and still saw the constant zooms. It was like every other shot was supposed to be a big reveal.

[–] drustu311 16 years ago

I may be alone, but I rather appreciated the daring- and perhaps experimental at the time- cinematography. It's a great departure from the normal '70s camera work, which was mostly fixed.

IMO, you could even call Gatsby's cinematography ahead of its time. Think of a movie like The Dark Knight, with all its pans and zooms. Don't they seem a bit similar to this movie???

"Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for."
~ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

[–] John-367 13 years ago

There was nothing "ahead of it's time" about the zooms in The Great Gatsby, they were all the rage at the time. Then things calmed down again over the next few years.