The custom-built runway stage for Scorsese's 'Shine a Light'

For the 2008 concert film Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese wanted to move his cameras freely without blocking the audience’s view or breaking the intimacy of the Beacon Theatre. So the Stones’ stage crew built a 100-foot-long runway that jutted straight out from the main stage into the orchestra seats. The runway was narrow enough to let fans keep their sightlines, but wide enough for a dolly track and handheld cameras to move up and down its length.

Scorsese positioned multiple cameras along this thrust—some on the dolly, others on stabilized rigs—so he could capture the band from every angle mid-song. The runway also allowed him to shoot the audience in close-up without them feeling like they were being filmed. It’s the reason the film feels both frantic and intimate: the cameras are literally in the crowd, but the crowd isn’t reacting to them because the stage design felt natural for a Stones show. The runway itself became a visual signature, letting Scorsese film Keith Richards prowling out into the room while the rest of the band stayed back.