11 Mind-Blowing TV Long Takes

Clever editing trickery and hidden cuts are the lifeblood for many a long take. Sometimes, it's just not feasible to put all the budget and energy into one cut. Because if someone screws up in the last few seconds, it's back to square one.

Watching Shaina's transformation for the first time in the Jim Carey-led Kidding, you might believe they hid a sneaky cut somewhere. It's only when you watch the entire behind-the-scenes goings-on that you realise how much effort went into this mesmerising oner.

The smooth tracking shot of the camera hides the coordinated ballet of props and body doubles off-screen. The down-on-her-luck Shaina reconstructs her life by adopting a dog, creating a kitchen extension, and growing a full houseplant in under two minutes.

Speaking to IndieWire, showrunner David Holsten described the lengths the team went to pull off the sequence:

“We spent an entire Saturday choreographing [this] one shot. We brought it down from three minutes to a minute and 42 seconds. It involved 50 crew members, a special built set with walls that flipped, and it’s just this continuous shot of a woman over five years going from drug addict to better person.”