Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Birdman pulls off one of the great cinematic magic tricks of all time. The entire 119-minute movie — about a fading movie actor, played by Michael Keaton, trying to jump-start his career by appearing on the Broadway stage — looks as if it were shot in one extended take. But his cinematographer, Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, 50, who won an Oscar in March for Gravity, reveals to THR that the longest take in Birdman actually lasts about 15 minutes, and most are in the 10-minute range. That still involved a lot of sleight of hand on the part of Lubezki, who shared camera operating duties — mostly a combination of Steadicam and handheld shots.
