A reader gently points out that my favorite one-take tracking-shot scene was a) not a steadicam as such but a handheld camera and b) inspired by the following shot in "I Am Cuba" as early as 1964. It is an astonishing sequence (much beloved by Scorsese, apparently), ending, as with Paul Anderson's scene, underwater in a swimming pool. Check it out (the soundtrack is not the original):
See web-only content:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/07/the-inspiration-for-that-boogie-nights-shot/214372/
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/07/the-inspiration-for-that-boogie-nights-shot/214372/
