10 More Incredible Movie Scenes Shot In A Single Take
How did they shoot that in one go?
It's hard to comprehend how much work goes into putting together a movie scene. The most straightforward shot may require dozens of crew-members and hours of preparation, and if a scene involves complex action and hundreds of actors, it can take weeks or months to plan, co-ordinate, and film. Since a lengthy scene could be ruined by a misplaced prop, a crew-member missing their cue, or an actor muddling lines, the average movie shot rarely lasts more than a few seconds.
That's why it's highly appreciated when a long, elaborate scene is executed in one take. Even though filmmakers know full well they have to shoot everything again if something goes wrong, some are willing to chance it.
Sometimes, multiple takes of a scene are stitched together to give the illusion it's a single shot. Films like SPECTRE and Birdman pulled this off so seamlessly, it's almost impossible to tell where these cuts occur. However, there are other movies that perform one-shots the traditional way, and certain auteurs even go the extra mile and shoot the entire movie in one go.
Although we've looked at this subject before, we managed to find ten more movie scenes that were shot in a single take.
10. Any Scene - Rope
Alfred Hitchcock intended his 1948 crime thriller, Rope, to be his first single-take film. This feat was impossible, since camera reels during that era could only manage ten minutes of footage.
As such, the Psycho director had the 80-minute movie composed of ten scenes, with the shortest lasting nearly six minutes. Hitchcock did his best to disguise the transition from one reel to another, giving the illusion the film takes place in a consistent take.
The London-born filmmaker may have dismissed Rope as a stunt later in life, but there's no question its presentation is a startling achievement. Though several mistakes made it into the final cut, Hitchcock and his crew found ways around it to avoid reshoots.
For example, when a cameraman's foot was crushed by a dolly, he was dragged off set to avoid ruining the scene. During a dinner sequence, an actress tried to place her glass on a table but missed. Luckily, a vigilant crew-member grabbed the glass before it hit the ground, allowing the scene to continue. On top of that, Hitchcock had the footage mildly sped up to ensure as much content occurred on each reel as possible.
Rope's very existence may be a gimmick, but it doesn't make it any less impressive.