I was just terribly impressed by an establishing shot from an early scene in Raging Bull (1980), directed by Martin Scorcese and written by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin.
The scene:
EXT. SHOREHAVEN POOL – DAY (1942-43)
The Shorehaven Pool, spic-and-span in the summer sun is the closest thing to a country club in the Bronx. An eight foot fence stands between the pool and the street.
JAKE, wearing slacks and a sportshirt, hangs out with the “BOYS” near the bar area. Older, “MADE” MEN play cards. A young FAN walks by and says:
FAN
Hey, Jake.
At the opposite end of the pool where the GIRLS gossip, and sunbathe, JOEY swaps small talk with VICKIE, a school girl, about 15. VICKIE is a knockout.
SALVY, FRANKIE and JUNIOR are with VICKIE and her FRIENDS. They joke with JOEY. JAKE watches SALVY and VICKIE.
JAKE’S P.O.V.: JOEY is talking (PAN) to VICKIE. VICKIE giggles. JOEY stands and walks over to JAKE.
JAKE
(referring to Vickie)
Who’s that?
JOEY
Whadda you care?
JAKE
Whadda ya mean, whadda I care? Who
is she? What’s a matter? You afraid
I’m gonna take her on you?
JOEY
No, I’m not afraid. Why? You wanna
meet her?
JAKE
Yeah –
JOEY
Cause I’ll go right over there and
bring her here.
JAKE
Go ‘head.
JOEY
You sure you wanna meet her? Don’t
make me go over there, you change
your mind and you make me look bad,
cause she’s really a knockout.
She’s 15, this kid — a great piece
of ass.
JAKE
How do you know? You know her that
good?
JOEY
No, I see her around the pool. I
know her. I know her like that –
not like that.
JAKE
(gesturing to his bandage)
Nah, not now… I wanna wait. I
don’t feel right…
JAKE watches VICKIE.
Very economical writing. You could make thousands of different visual entries into this scene, which could be summarized as “Jake sees Vicky for the first time.” Let’s see what Scorcese chooses.
The establishing shot:
The camera slowly pans and tilts downward to reveal:
Eisenstein would be proud. Here we have two images; one of oppression, one of liberation. The weight of Jake’s disintegrating marriage is about to be lifted when he lays his eyes on Vicky a few seconds later. In one continuous shot we have a clear visual metaphor to guide us into the scene. Scorcese not only establishes physical location, but uses it to establish tone, character, theme, and a new dramatic arc. Simply brilliant filmmaking.
