The one shot or "long take" is a long, uninterrupted shot that lasts a lot longer than the normal editing pace. They are relatively rare in films in comparison to other camera techniques used and are usually done with a dolly or Steadicam.
Some Directors Known for One Shots:
- Wes Anderson
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Stanley Kubrick
- Martin Scorsese
- Orson Welles
- Woody Allen
- Joss Whedon
- David Lean
Some Examples of One Shots:
THE AVENGERS
Back Story: Loki has orchestrated an alien invasion at the Stark tower in New York and uses the Tesseract to open the portal that unleashes the Chitauri fleet over Manhattan. After breaking off into separate groups, the Avengers finally assemble to defeat Loki and the alien army.
Effect of One Shot: Although this is shorter than the other one shots, it still highlights the desired effect of bring characters together. It's a good one to illustrate a one shot with as the characters are clearly working and interacting with each other. This is unusual for an action scene and can be attributed to director Joss Whedon, who wanted to get a collaborative tone more than loads of close up action cuts.
OLD BOY
Back Story: Park Chan-wook’s Korean revenge film about a man held in captivity for fifteen years and then mysteriously released, filled with fifteen years worth of rage and martial arts training. This fight scene shows just how powerful and angry he is as he takes on dozens of men, on his quest to find out what happened to him.
Effect of One Shot: The one shot is filmed entirely from a profile view which simulates the cramped hallway. Not every punch looks entirely real, but the single camera angle ensures that nothing is hidden by closeups or shaky camera movement and the fight feels more real. This is an example of a one shot following one person rather than bringing together a group of people.
BOOGIE NIGHTS
Back Story: The opening to Paul Thomas Anderson's film Boogie Nights, about the journey of the pornography industry with the end of the 70s and start of the 80s. It's one of the most memorable long takes in film history.
Effect of One Shot: The shot starts with the title in twenty foot lights and pans down a city street and into a club where almost every character is introduced. The film ends with a single stationary shot of Mark Wahlberg’s Dirk Diggler showing that he is the main character. Although it shows almost all the main characters, this one shot is more for the purpose of showing the tone and setting of the film. Since it's based on the porn industry in the 70s, they have to show the audience the kind of world the characters are living in as the audience wouldn't be very familiar with this world.
TOUCH OF EVIL
Back Story: The opening to Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil. In this scene an American building contractor is killed after someone places a bomb in his car. He's killed on the US side of the border but it's clear that the bomb was planted on the Mexican side.
Effect of One Shot: This particular scene pre-dates the invention of the Steadicam by some considerable years, so the shot was filmed by a 22” crane on the back of a slow-moving truck. This gave the motion and fluidity Welles desired, whilst leaving no dolly track behind to sneak into the corners of the frame. This one shot is used to build up suspense as it shifts from the bomb, to the car, to Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. We are aware that the bomb will go off, but it makes the audience cautious as we know there's a bomb, but not why it's there or when it's going to go off.
These are just a couple great one shots from very good films, there are many more notable ones, in films such as:
- Goodfellas
- Russian Ark
- Children of Men
- Rope
- Atonement
- The Passenger
- Snake Eyes
- Stalker
- The Player
- Hard Boiled
- Week End
- Serenity
- Life of the Aquatic
- JCVD
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