One of the most difficult and ambitious filming techniques to execute is a long take: a scene meant to look like a single, uninterrupted shot in the final edit. The reason for this is because of all the moving parts needed to do a long take correctly. Think of it as a stage performance where all the actors in their roles, big or small, need to know their roles and what they’re doing, but now multiply that by a hundred (more or less, depending on the scene) and add the use of expensive equipment and a crew who have to make sure everything is ready for the recording. And that’s just for the easier long takes. Some include time passage, stunt double fight scenes, extended sets, and special effects. If one little thing somehow gets messed up, it’s back to the beginning with something that needs resetting, which can take time and cost a lot of money to produce.
A long shot requires a mastery of camera work, acting and choreography. However, when it’s finally achieved, not only can it be a great visual for the audience, but it can also give them a level of immersion in the scene that they wouldn’t normally get from short takes. Many shows and movies have pulled it off, but others have been able to do it creatively and in a way that enhances the overall story. That said, these are some of the best long takes TV shows.
7 daredevil
The (former) Netflix series of the cartoon character Marvel, daredevil has done long takes twice, once in season one and one in season three, both of which take place in a hallway. The scene from season 3, episode 4 is about 11 minutes long and shows Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) going up against inmates and guards in a prison alone, pushing you through the fight scene. The most interesting thing about the show’s long takes is that Cox tried to use his stunt double less and less as the show went on. In the first full-length shot of season one, Murdock, aka Daredevil, wore a mask that could easily disguise who was fighting in the scene, but in season three, without a mask, it was more difficult to swap. And while the scene still featured a stunt double with impressive cuts, Cox wanted the audience to still see him in the fight scene.
6 The wonderful Mrs. Maisel
that of Amazon The wonderful Mrs. Maisel is a visually stunning show that is no stranger to long takes. They’ve practically mastered the art form, and M. David Mullet, the director of photography for the show, said: Insider those long takes are part of the language of the show. The opening of the second season flows nicely into a store and follows a letter through a mail tube and follows the mailman to the main protagonist of the show. The mail tube used CGI for effect, but then two crew members had to move through a narrow room with 12 actors and follow the lead actor, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), as she moves quickly through the cramped space. Getting to the scene required a lot of teamwork between the cast and crew to ensure they were moved away from the camera and placed Brosnahan in the right spot for the shot. The shot makes for a very energetic and satisfying scene to watch.
5 The bear
Hulu’s New Show The bear, which aired on June 23, 2022, is another that filmed an entire episode in one take. The show is already known for its realistic depiction of working in a kitchen, but the seventh episode, “Review”, is probably the one that most comes home to anyone who has worked in a professional kitchen. When Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) accidentally leaves the pre-order option enabled on the restaurant’s tablet, they are inundated with orders that come in as soon as they open. It shows how bad a bad day working from home at a restaurant can be with yelling, fear and sometimes even people stopping half way through the shift. The one-take technique makes the audience feel immersed in the kitchen on a terrible day. The cast and crew went through floor rehearsals to get the flow right, going over the script several times to make sure everything sounded right.
4 real detective
The fourth episode of the first season of real detective does a long take that moves you down a neighborhood street and through several houses in a six-minute heist that leads to chaos. The scene has about as many moving parts as you can get with multiple sets, a large number of actors and extras, and even a helicopter flying overhead. The long take acts as the climax of the episode, with action and suspense, especially when considering the build-up of the scene along with the character development of the two main characters, Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Rustin Cohle (Matthew McConaughey), by the delivery. It does more than just create an impressive image for the audience, it adds to the story and sense of intensity.
3 Mr Robot
This drama thriller, which aired for four seasons between June 2015 and December 2019, accomplished something unimaginable: an entire episode as one long take. Mr Robot follows Elliot Anderson (Rami Malek), a cybersecurity engineer for the cybersecurity firm Allsafe, who is recruited by a mysterious anarchist, Mr. Robot to join his team of hackers. In the fifth episode of the third season, director Sam Esmail decided he wanted to film the episode in one take “to experience those first few minutes of switching from personality to personality, and we wanted to find the most dramatic way to recreate that experience.” give,” as he told Weekly entertainment. But the episode wasn’t filmed in one take, more like multiple long takes, edited to give the illusion of a single take through cleverly timed cuts. It’s impressive to imagine how much time and choreography it took in each scene to get it just right for editing. And to maintain that illusion, it was broadcast without commercial breaks.
2 just kidding
just kidding, a comedy drama about the life and tragedy of Jeff Piccirillo (Jim Carrey), used unique techniques to shoot a long shot for a short scene in episode three of the first season. The crew used a set with hidden doors for the cast and crew to move through the set and rearrange the set off-camera to show a time lapse where the scene’s lead actress, Riki Lindhome, had to change her outfit multiple times. change within the nearly two-minute scene. This makes for an impressive but very delicate shot because if a person is late they have to start over. The recording was very effective in showing the time lapse in which a drug addict, Shaina, gets clean and her life changes after watching an episode of Jeff Piccirillo’s children’s show Mr Pickles’ Puppet Time.
1 The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House used a very similar technique as just kidding, except creator and director Mike Flanagan had much bigger and more ambitious ideas. He chose to film episode six, “Two Storms,” in five takes. The episode would focus on two storylines that take place in the past and present, but unlike Mr Robot, Flanagan wanted this to happen without editing. Which means he didn’t use camera illusions to hide the cuts; instead, the crew built the entire set and spent a month practicing the blocking and camera movements for the scenes. The set included shelters for the cast and crew to place in so that when the camera pans away, they can move quickly to put things in place or get actors into place. The filming for the episode was even more delicate, because if a single mistake was made, they had to start the scene – which was supposed to last about 17 minutes – over. It’s something akin to stage show magic, but on a much larger scale, and does a fantastic job of guiding you through the horror of the show. It’s no wonder the show is considered one of the best horror TV shows on Netflix.