Long Takes

A long take is a filmmaking term that describes a shot that's longer than the usual pace or length of a shot. The term "long take" should not be confused with the term "long shot", which refers to the distance to the subject and not the length of the shot. Long shots used to be trickier to get as film reels had to be changed every few minutes, but with the invention of digital cameras, this is no longer an issue.

Focus puller adjusts the focus on a Panavision camera

History

Rope Film Poster

Early Examples

In Alfred Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (1937), the climax of the film features a crane shot that starts in the hotel lobby, moves across the ballroom, into the bandstand, and into a close-up of a drummer. The shot lasts for over a minute. Hitchcock would Later use long takes in several of his films, most notably in Rope (1948), where each take in the film lasted roughly ten minutes in an attempt to make the entire film seem like it's a singular take.

In Orson Welles' The Touch of Evil (1958), the opening crane shot lasts for nearly 4 minutes, depicting Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh making their way across the Mexican border. Heston talked about the shot saying:

It was technically an all but impossible shot, depending on precise timing, not only from Janet and me, the couple in the car and the passing extras, but most critically of all, from the boom grip (the man running the boom) and of course the camera operator. Today, a remote-controlled camera on the end of a Python boom would make the shot far easier to prepare and not nearly as hard to shoot. Then, it was a wonder ... We shot on it all night, with various things going wrong, most often the actor playing the IRS guard at the border crossing. He had only a line or two, but it must have been terrifying for him to see the whole company bearing down on him from a block away. When we'd get to him, he'd flub his lines. At last, as dawn began to lighten in the east, Orson said to him patiently, 'All right, let's do it once more. This time, if you aren't sure of your line, just move your lips-we can dub it in later. But whatever you do, please God don't say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Welles."' That's the take that's in the movie.

Modern Examples

Paul Thomas Anderson 2007

Paul Thomas Anderson is known for frequently using Steadicam long takes, like in Magnolia (1999). The camera starts outside, goes into a studio, and follows around people as they're working. The shot lasts for over two minutes, as it reveals the characters and location of the film. Paul Thomas Anderson had this to say about the camera movements in Magnolia "I visualize as I'm writing. I know what the scenes are going to look like already, and I put them together as I write them. That's one good thing about being a writer-director."

In Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men (2006), he sought to make an otherwise unrealistic film mimic extreme reality. He attempted this by using several long takes. The most notable being the 7 minute long take that see's Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Ryan Stone, getting launched through space as pieces of the space station explode around her. The camera moves around space, going in and out of pieces of the station and around Bullock. Each time that the scene was filmed, it would take half a day to reset.

Technology

Handheld

Filming with handheld camera stabilizer

One way that long takes are done is by simply holding the camera. Handheld shots has a cameraperson physically move the camera with their hands. This typically results in shakier footage, allowing for feelings of danger, anxiety, and tension. The Bear (2022-present) features an 18 minute handheld long take during a stressful kitchen scene where many characters are on edge and volatile.

Dolly

MJK39950 Camera dolly (republica 17)

A dolly is a track that carries the camera smoothly around, usually in a straight line going back and forth. Using a dolly for long takes will create a smooth look, though it requires a lengthy track for the camera to be on. Spectre (2015) features a dolly long take that follows two characters all throughout a city during a Day of the Dead celebration

Steadicam

Steadicam and operator in front of crowd

A Steadicam is a camera stabilizer that works by attaching the camera to a wearable vest and using counter-balances to steady the frame. If it's correctly balanced, the operator can completely let go of the camera, allowing for longer shots as there is no heaviness to the camera. The film Goodfellas(1990) features a 3 minute and 10 second long take using a Steadicam, where the shot starts in the street, goes into a kitchen, and onto a nightclub.

Crane

Telescopic Camera Crane MovieBird 45

A crane holds the camera up by a boom, allowing the camera to move forward, backward, up, down, and side to side. One the back of the crane is a counter-weight, which lets the camera move in a smooth and fluid motion. In long takes, a crane can be used to showcase huge areas for long periods of time. In Lady Be Good (1941), a long take crane shot is used to show a musical tap dance number in a very large sound stage.

One Takes

Some films expand on the long take, and film something that's either entirely one take, or made to look like it's one take. The Bear (2022-present), created by Christopher Storer, is an example of the former. In season 1's penultimate episode titled "Review", the 20 minute episode features an 18 minute long take. This shot sees the stresses and social aspects of working in a kitchen, depicting frustrations for its staff, mistakes with the pre-order system, a stabbing, and two walkouts. While the shot was originally conceived as a Steadicam shot, the tightness of the kitchen, and the length of the shot, didn't allow it to be used, and instead they did the shot entirely handheld."

Birdman (2014) was not entirely one shot, but it's edited to look like one long continuous take spanning the length of the film. Most of the shots ended up being over 10 minutes in length, with the longest one being around 15 minutes long. Most of the film was shot using a Steadicam, and specific plotting and rehearsals of each long take were used so the filmmakers could figure out where to hide their scene transitions. Not only did cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki have to carefully hide his lights very carefully, he also had to pay close attention to where the camera, the crew, and the actors were moving in order to not cast shadows that would ruin the shot.

1917logo

In 1917 (2019) a similar technique was used to have the effect of the film being one long take. It's many long scenes that are sewn together, many of the shots being 8-9 minutes long. Everything had to be choreographed perfectly, and the actors had to be extra prepared as one mess-up could ruin an entire days worth of work. The crew ran into many problems while filming such as the sky being too sunny, and not having enough clouds to achieve the look they wanted. The director of photography, Roger Deakins, commented "Some days we just rehearsed and other days we just waited for a long, long time until the clouds came over"

Case Study

Gaspar Noé 2012

Climax (2018)

Shot in just 15 days, Climax (2018) features several long takes, including one that last's almost 42 minutes long. The film was shot without a script in an attempt to allow the film to feel more free The 42 minute long take was filmed with director Gaspar Noe operating the camera, who didn't know how he was going to frame the scenes until he was on set.

The opening 13 minute long take, along with the 42 minute long take, captures the feeling of a drug-infused journey, with chaos, stress, and it's characters being terrified of what could happen next by filming most of the long takes completely handheld. The shakiness of the camera, along with its drug fueled narrative, create a mood and tone of something spontaneous and flowing.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Fantastic Mr. Fox logo

Fantastic Mr. Fox, written by Noah Baumbach and directed by Wes Anderson, features a long take lasting over 1 minute in the opening of the film that smoothly moves to the right at the same time it's character do. In order to make the shot seem more natural, they recorded parts of it outside. This, along with the smooth motion of the camera, the length of the shot, and the yellow grading of the movie allows the film to seem more outdoorsy and filled with nature.

Films

• Rope (1948)
• Goodfellas (1990)
• Weekend (1967)
• Stalker (1979)
• Gravity (2013)

Filmmakers

• Alfred Hitchcock
• Orson Welles
• Paul Thomas Anderson
• Andrei Tarkovsky
• Jean-Luc Godard
• Alfonso Cuarón