Best Car Chase Scenes & Shots: The Essential Guide

Some things in life are easy, like figuring out how to make a paper airplane or working a Rubik’s Cube. Other things are hard, like changing a flat tire on your car or writing an essay on the causes of the Civil War.

Trying to film an awesome car chase scene is somewhere in between: it’s not as hard as writing an essay about the Civil War, but it’s also not as easy as making a paper airplane.

But if you’re going to make a movie, you’ve got to put yourself outside your comfort zone and do some new things.

That includes trying new techniques and learning how to do something like film an awesome car chase scene.

However, it’s not impossible; just follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way.
 

How To Film An Awesome Car Chase Scene

Let’s take a look at filming an awesome car chase scene.

Step 1: Choose Your Style 

Before you can start filming an awesome car chase scene, you have to decide what kind of car chase you want to shoot.

• Do you want your movie to be more artistic and understated, or do you want action?
• Are there a lot of turns?
• Is it nighttime or daytime?

The answer will determine how long you have for this step because this is where the planning comes in.

Step 2: Choose Your Camera

There are many different types of cameras available today. With the wide range of options, it is important to know what kind of camera you need before you go out and buy one.

TIP: If you want to get good-quality pictures of your subject, try getting close.

The closer the shot is, the better the quality will be.

When selecting a camera to film an awesome car chase scene, there are a few things that you should consider first.

You should make sure that you get a camera that has a waterproof case so that you can film during all different times of the year without worrying about damaging your camera.

One thing that I have learned with this hobby is that when using your GoPro for filming, it helps to put it on something such as a monopod or even better yet, use a tripod.

Best Car Chase Scenes In Films

Car chases are a staple of action movies, but the best ones aren’t just action. They’re also suspenseful, with characters you care about and context that makes the sequences mean something more than just a bunch of cool stunt driving.

The best car chase scenes accomplish several things at once. They provide a visual spectacle, serve as a character development moment and push the plot forward — all while making us hold our collective breath over whether or not the heroes will make it to safety.

Car chases are, by nature, big action scenes. But some of them are better than others. Here are some of the best car chase scenes in film.

One of the most famous car chases in movie history is the one at the end of The French Connection, when Gene Hackman’s Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle tries to stop a getaway car carrying his drug-smuggling suspect, played by Roy Scheider.

The chase hits an amazing number of New York City landmarks, including Times Square and the bridge into Brooklyn. And the sequence is punctuated by Doyle’s mantra, “I’m on you.”

In Bullitt, Steve McQueen stars as a San Francisco cop who gets involved in a high-speed chase after witnessing a murder.

McQueen drives an absurdly cool green Mustang that he races through the streets of San Francisco (filming took place mostly in the city). The scene is considered a classic for its time and cemented McQueen’s star status.

Director Peter Yates shot the chase scenes without any need for studio sound stages. He used real city streets. 

There are many reasons why this film is so popular but there are some that stand out more than others. For one thing, this was a period when the gas crisis was at its peak and the muscle cars were fading away. 

This movie brought back that old fashion feeling of freedom that muscle cars gave us during their glory days.

Not only did this film bring that feeling back, but it also gave us a glimpse into what it was like to be a cop at the time. 

He has been assigned to protect a witness who is due to testify against some mobsters. During his assignment, he meets up with the witness’s girlfriend and they begin to fall for each other.

The Fast and the Furious (2001) 

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker star in this film based on actual illegal street racing clubs in New York City that take their hobby very seriously indeed. In this scene, undercover cop Brian O’Connor and his partner Johnny Tran must catch up with a group of racers led by Vin Diesel’s character Dominic Toretto.

The high-speed chase takes place through urban streets at night, giving it a heightened sense of danger and excitement.

How To Film A Car Chase

If you have a car chase in your script, you should know how to film one. Treat this with the same forethought as you would any other scene. Here are some tips:

Location, location, location. Choosing the right location is essential for a successful car chase scene.

You may want to shoot on city streets or highways, but if you do, you need to find the right time and day to shoot. You’ll need to find out when and where there will be traffic in your area; if it’s a weekday in the middle of the afternoon you might be lucky, but otherwise, chances are slim that there will be enough cars for a good chase scene. 

So don’t just choose a place and hope for the best — check it out first! 

The chase itself: since car chases are usually among the most expensive scenes to shoot, consider filming them in a way that makes them more cost-effective by using short takes of each shot and combining them later in post-production editing. This can be done easily by shooting from different angles at different speeds (and sometimes from the inside of the car).

When filming a car chase make sure that each shot is long enough so that editors can have plenty of footage to work with. 

   

Filming car chases is a great way to get started in the film industry. The techniques can be applied to a wide range of scenes, and once you’ve got a handle on the basics, they become easier to apply to different scenarios.

The first step in filming car chases is choosing a camera angle. Ideally, you want to choose an angle that gives you a good view of the action without being too close.

This way, viewers can have an understanding of what’s going on during the scene. You do not want to get too close, because this will make your viewers feel like they’re a part of the action and could distract them from what’s happening in front of them.

If you’re filming from inside the vehicle, try to keep the camera level, so that viewers don’t feel as if they’re getting motion sickness. When filming car chases, there are three important factors that you need to keep in mind: timing, pacing, and blocking.

Timing refers to when you start filming your chase and how long it lasts, which can dramatically affect your film’s pacing. While slow pacing can make for an interesting film, fast pacing helps move things along and keeps your viewers engaged.

Mad Max: Fury Road Car Chase Scenes

It’s the ultimate car chase. It’s an adrenaline-fuelled masterpiece which sees a fleet of pimped post-apocalyptic cars and motorbikes tearing through the desert in a race for freedom.

This is the moment when director George Miller made his name as the king of spectacular action scenes, but filming Fury Road was no easy feat. We talk to the genius behind the wheel to find out what it took to make this wild ride a reality.

George Miller is not a man who pulls his punches. The Aussie filmmaker has been making action movies since he was a teenager and his 1977 debut Mad Max is one of the most influential movies of all time, launching Mel Gibson into icon status and creating one of Hollywood’s best baddies in Toecutter, played by Hugh Keays-Byrne (who also appeared in Mad Max 2).

The director followed up his iconic franchise with two more Mad Max movies – 1981’s The Road Warrior and 1985’s Beyond Thunderdome – before handing over to other directors to make two further installments, starring Tom Hardy as a new Mad Max (Max Rockatansky). 

So it was always going to be something special when Miller returned to the franchise after 34 years with his epic new film.

Car Chase Film Directing

Car chase movie directing is not an easy job, it needs a lot of hard work and practice. You will have to work under the pressure of time and you will be working with some really expensive cars and also you will have to ensure that no one gets hurt.

Also, you need to be very creative in this field and find ways to capture the best shots without getting anyone hurt or damaging any other property. To direct a car chase scene in a movie, start by studying how a real car chase scene looks so that your audience isn’t confused or bored.

Plan a set of rules for the chases so that you know how the cars are supposed to behave during the chase, such as which roads they can use, what speeds they should be driven at, etc.

Decide where you want the scene to take place, along with all of your other requirements such as whether there will be pedestrians on the road. 

Once you have planned out these details, you can begin shooting the film. When it comes time to shoot the scene, consult with your stunt coordinator before instructing your actors and extras on what they should do during the chase.

How To Film A Car Chase Guide Viewers Through The Chaos

Filming a car chase is not as easy as it looks. You need to make sure that viewers can clearly see where everyone is going and what they are doing, their speed, and the obstacles in their way.

Here are some helpful tips for filming a good car chase.

Tip 1: Get The Right Equipment

You may think that all you need is a camera and a microphone, but this isn’t always true.

There are so many different types of cameras and microphones out there that it can be difficult to know which ones to use.

The most important thing to remember when equipment shopping is to get something that will stand up to whatever conditions you might be filming in, including rain, snow, or heat.

A good tip is to make sure your equipment can survive some punishment; it’s no good buying something that can’t handle being dropped by accident or getting covered in mud.

For example, if you’re going to be filming a car chase on rough terrain, it’s probably best to buy a tough camera such as an all-weather Panasonic Lumix range.

Tip 2: Plan Your Sound

A lot of people forget about sound when they’re trying to film a car chase and then wonder why it’s hard for viewers to follow what’s going on.

How To Film A Car Chase Keep Us Centered On The Actions

Car chases are a staple of the action genre, and if you’ve ever watched one and thought it looked pretty easy to film, you’re not alone. The adrenaline is real, but capturing the action with good clarity and keeping the audience interested is a more complex undertaking than you might imagine!

Car chases can be used in a variety of genres, but they’re most prominent in action movies.

They are also a staple of television police dramas. They are used in both genres because they are exciting and visually interesting.

A well-choreographed car chase can be almost meditative in its simplicity. I mean, who doesn’t love watching cars drive really fast? They remind us of our childhood toys, or maybe even our dreams of being a professional race car driver.

Car chases take that dreamy feeling and make it real, which is why we love them. And yet at the same time, they are somewhat unrealistic because nobody ever gets hurt or killed during one of these chases on screen. 

But how do filmmakers create this feeling for the audience? How do they keep us entranced by the chase while maintaining its realism?

The answer lies in the editing. 

What Movie Has The Longest Car Chase Scene?

So what movie has the longest car chase scene? It’s The Blues Brothers. It runs for over 10 minutes.

The stunt coordinator was named Peter Patton, and he won a Taurus Award. 

What Movie Had The First Car Chase?

There are many references to car chases in old and new movies, but what movie actually had the first car chase? Tintin has a car chase in his first animated adventure Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. The film is from 1930 and it is said to be the first to have a car chase.

Another contender for the title was The Great Race which was released in 1963. Steve McQueen drives a Ford Mustang with co-star Michele Placido chasing after him in a Jaguar E-Type. Although no high-speed chases take place, there are numerous action scenes where McQueen’s character is chased by bad guys.

The Great Chase was an American television series that aired in 1968. This futuristic cop show featured high-speed chases between police cars and a variety of cars.

The series ran for one season with twenty-six episodes airing before being cancelled by ABC. The first film car chase that can be described as “high speed” occurred in the James Bond movie, Goldfinger, which was released in 1964.

The movie depicted James Bond driving his Aston Martin DB5 while being pursued by Japanese assassin, Oddjob, who is driving a Lotus Esprit S1.