Much has been said about Steven Spielberg’s uncanny ability to tell a story within a frame and set up geography, and usually folks use his long oners as examples of this talent. In fact, we break down a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) oner on the Lighter Darker: The ILM Podcast, in Episode 3 (starting around 27:35).
But here’s a relatively innocuous, non-flashy 26-second-long shot from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) that does all those things.
With this blocking, Spielberg quickly sets up the geography of the scene, the physical goals of the characters, and even allows for full-body physical comedy to happen within the frame. Other directors would shoot this scene as a wide+closeups, then intercut “to increase tension”.
The same angle repeats later in the sequence, again to clearly establish the geography and the relationships between the characters. This is how directors like Spielberg help the audience understand the action and never get spatially confused.
Now, you might be asking yourself “How did Indy and his dad get in the box? How did they close the box? Why did they close the box instead if just driving away? Why didn’t they wait until the bad guys were cruising down the river?” Because it’s a movie, that’s why.
OH AND ALL THIS TIME YOU NEVER SAW THE CREW MEMBER’S HAND CREEPING OUT FROM UNDERNEATH A TARP, PUTTING THEIR HAND ON THE MOTOR SO IT CAN BE "STEERED", something that you will now never be able to unsee. Ha.
And here's some speculation on my part - maybe this was designed as one big long shot, with Indy and his dad emerging/running off camera/bad guys emerge/camera reveals the box/Indy drives out. (Which would also qualify as a Texas Switch, since Harrison Ford and Sean Connery would not have been the driver and passenger of the motorcycle). Perhaps the timing/choreography didn't work out, and the middle shot was required to complete the sequence.
