Making A Scene: Shots for Eternity

One of the most significant movie scenes of all time: Racketeer Harry Lime portrayed by Orson Welles stands in a Vienna doorway (The Third Man 1949).

This category dedicates to all immortal classic movie scenes, how they were created and the storys surrounding them.

The posts will be accompanied by a rating.

Famous extracts are often better known by the masses as the whole pictures they appear in.

How is that possible?

The most obvious reason is very simple. It´s a great scene which deserves to be in the limelight for several generations and achieves this status easily by just talking about it. An echo of praise accomplished through a huge number of individual conversations after a cinema visit.

Those scenes often become part of our pop culture. Steady over decades. I´ll keep that in mind, but also will question critically if some scenes really deserve this outstanding status.

Eve Kendall hanging in there: Eva Marie Saint during a scenic shot at Mount Rushmore in Hitchcock´s ‘North by Northwest (1959).’

The classic media also did their part in establishing unforgettable movie scenes. I´m talking about newspapers and movie critics back in the twentieth century. Especially the times before television was available to the majority of people. Checking movie bits and pieces with creating sensations in mind. Which scenes can be squeezed out of blockbusters and feed to the public in journalistic doses? The real deal to talk about at home, at work or in public created by a crew of cinema buffs. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn´t. If you think about it nothing really changed today. Ok, the possibilities to obtain information did increase immensely. But the original intention to inspire people having an intense discussion related to an extraordinary movie scene stayed untouched.

With ‘Making A Scene’ I´ll lift this process to the next level and detect classic movie scenes which probably weren´t part of extensive discussions before. Neatly selected and pushed into the limelight of the world wide web.

I´m an independent scene hunter with a clear goal:

Finding hidden treasures which deserve more attention.

Making A Scene Explained – Reading The Best Of It

The following criterias related to a scene will be checked carefully before I´ll decide to write about it:

  • Acting
  • Visuals
  • Dialogues / Monologues / Camera Work
  • Style
  • Soundtrack

After I´m hooked the rating system is used to determine the overall rating. The process is exactly the same as for other categories. Please check out the detailed explanation in case you´re not aware how the ratings works: Classic Ratings & Reviews: The Heart of the Website

A ranking list will be the result, but it will take time until I rated and reviewed a sufficient number of scenes to create this list.

Nostalgic movie girl: “Are the rating criterias the same?”

No that´s the only difference. The criterias slightly changed to be more fitting for classifying a scene.

After it´s done, my detailed analysis starts.

I´ll cover those peaks of perfection or disperfection and find answers to following questions:

  • Are the visual effects an omnipresent feature of a scene and do they often outpace the acting?
  • How does dialogues and monologues get iconic? Is it only the wording or are the voices that reproduce these texts more important?
  • Are the actresses or actors themselves the most precious thing for greating a scene with massive impact? Would it be possible that some iconic classic scenes had achieved the same status with other movie stars?
  • Does a scene with text or intense background music tend to create more public attention? Or is pure acting without any sound better to intensify suspense?
  • How important are the surroundings in a scene? Eye candy or unnecessary distraction?

 

Suggestions what Harry Lime really wanted to tell us while standing in that doorway (The Third Man 1949).

Myths surrounding those scenes will also be covered in case they´re interesting. Are they true or just rumors? Let´s investigate!

Now you´re all set for ‘Making A Scene.’ Which scenes will be covered? Which interesting glims of classic movies will get attention? Make a visit to this category on a frequent basis and you´ll find out. Enjoy reading.

Thanks for reading.

What do you think about this post?

Please share your thoughts and ask questions in the comment section below, write an E-Mail to marcel@classicmovieratings.com or follow Classic Movie Ratings on ‘Instagram’ and ‘Twitter.’

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Marcel

Writer / Rater / Reviewer

“Great movies are like a storm. At first you sit still. Unshakeable. At ease. Just hearing silent drops of rain far out in the distance. But then, suddenly, something blows you away.”

There is a lot about me I could tell you. For example that I love movies since I was a kid. Also that I´m just in my thirties and write about classic movies. That I have a family and a full time job and enjoying films in my spare time. Another remark would be that I´m a passionate of ratings.

But I´m not going into to much details here. You will get to know me a lot better while reading my posts and enjoying my website.

Stay sharp, don´t let you get down from the stress of daily life and enjoy the enchanting world of classic movies.

Sit down and relax while we run through the Vienna sewers with Harry Lime, warning Marion Crane not to turn right, asking Rick Deckard if he´s a replicant or not, wondering if we would get ‘Double Indemnity’, peeking with Jeff and Lisa through a ‘Rear Window’, singing ‘Moon River’ at a New York balcony with Holly Golightly and so much more.

Thanks a lot for reading.

Marcel

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