Yes! Joe & Wolfgang; even more specifically; a zoom-in, establishing shot. Psycho! good one! also thought of: The Birdcage (terrific opening zoom right into the club); Saturday Night Fever (not exactly zoom in); The Dark Knight; (are there others?) Alternatively: there is the amazing scene in Gandhi zooming out from the funeral. -hb On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 4:08 AM, Wolfgang Hochbruck < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > ...actually, I feel like i should chime in here because Joe said "Zoom > in" first, and then "establishing shot", and he is right on both counts, > only that narratologically "establishing shot" is the general category, > including also bird's eye, pan(orama) shot etc. The really wild thing > is that what Twain uses here - and what Belasco adapted for the theatre > -- is really a cameratic technique before any camera could do something > like it. Like with a number of other developments, the technology here > followed the writer's imagination. > > best wishes, > w > > Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck > Department of English / > Centre for Security and Society > Albert Ludwigs University > 15 Rempart St. > D- 79098 Freiburg > > Am 25.08.2016 08:18, schrieb Joe Alvarez: > > Establishing shot, that's probably the closest one yet. The description > from= > > Life on the Mississippi reminds me of the opening--establishing > shot--of Al= > > fred Hitchcock's Psycho. > > > > Joe Alvarez > > 900 Havel Court > > Charlotte, NC 28211-4253 > > Telephone: 704.364.2844 > > FAX: 704.364.9348 > > > > Sent from my iPad > > > >> On Aug 25, 2016, at 1:47 AM, Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> =20 > >> What you called the"birds-eye view" might also be called an establishing > >> shot > >> Not by Twain, though. > >> =20 > >> On Aug 25, 2016 1:27 AM, "Joe Alvarez" <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > >> =20 > >> How about "zoom in"? That is what is happening in your description. > >> =20 > >> Joe Alvarez > >> 900 Havel Court > >> Charlotte, NC 28211-4253 > >> Telephone: 704.364.2844 > >> FAX: 704.364.9348 > >> =20 > >> Sent from my iPad > >> =20 > >>> On Aug 24, 2016, at 8:33 PM, Wesley Britton <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> I have a question about one passage in Life on the Mississippi. I > suspect= > >> i=3D > >> t > >>> will be very familiar to many of you. > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> It's the passage where we first get a birds-eye view of a place along > the= > >>> river before Twain narrows his focus to one town, then one street, then > >> on=3D > >> e > >>> house, then a sleeping man on a porch. > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> Back in grad school, a professor used a term to define this technique > of > >>> moving from the general to the specific, but I can't figure out now > what > >>> term he meant. > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> Any ideas? > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > >>> Dr. Wesley Britton > >>> =3D20 > >>> Author, Beta-Earth Chronicles > >>> =3D20 > >>> www.drwesleybritton.com > >>> =3D20 > >>> =3D20 > -- Prof. Harold K. Bush Professor of English 3800 Lindell Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>