Step behind the scenes as we explore the incredible artistry and technical mastery behind some of cinema and television's most ambitious single-take productions. From tense restaurant kitchens to sprawling war zones, discover how filmmakers pushed the boundaries of continuous shooting to create unforgettable viewing experiences.
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00:00No more! It is a tale told by an idiot!
00:08Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're diving into how these movies and TV episodes used cinematic magic to capture their events in a single take.
00:17Or at least make it look that way.
00:19So what's that sink for, kid?
00:21Food.
00:21For what?
00:22Food.
00:23What do you not do in that sink?
00:24Wash your hands.
00:25Wash your what?
00:26Hands.
00:26Wash your hands, yeah.
00:27The Bear.
00:29The word we would have used to describe the beef before this review was reliable.
00:35The word I would choose now after my most recent meal is at the well-loved, if not shabby establishment, is elevated or elegant.
00:44You don't know the meaning of stress till you've worked in a restaurant, or watched The Bear.
00:49Over the course of 20 nerve-wracking minutes, Jeremy Allen White's Carmy and his staff at The Beef are forced to contend with an overwhelming, increasingly chaotic workday.
00:58Series creator Christopher Storer, who also directed from a script by co-showrunner Joanna Kalo, admitted that the idea to film review in one long take originated only a few weeks before filming.
01:10Got you a little dish in the paper, a little to-go tablet.
01:13Everything's going according to plan, huh?
01:15I have a plan.
01:16Yeah, this is what you want to do from the beginning, right?
01:18You know, you push my people out.
01:19Said Kalo, quote,
01:21Having a penultimate episode where things fall apart is very Structure 101.
01:25Our dialogue is so stripped back, you find the need to let your camera do more work.
01:30Filmed in at most five takes, Storer and his crew carefully pre-planned the route the cameras would need to take, keeping the cast's positions in mind.
01:39Series star White mused that the one-take method, quote,
01:42really lends itself to the story and where the characters are at because the tension is building so quickly.
01:47We don't give the audience a break from it.
01:49There's no reprieve.
01:51Chef, be good.
01:52Corner.
01:55Chef, I can't hear you.
01:57We are not good.
01:59What?
02:00We are not good, chef.
02:02Victoria.
02:03You come from, what?
02:05Madrid.
02:05Madrid?
02:06Yeah.
02:07I know Madrid.
02:09Real Madrid.
02:10So you come with us, we go for a beer?
02:13I don't know, I have to, I have to work today.
02:17Yeah, but that's four o'clock.
02:19Victoria, really, it's four o'clock, just for one beer.
02:22You likely haven't heard of this pulse-pounding German crime thriller, and that's a shame.
02:27Filmmaker Sebastian Schipper's breathtaking heist movie follows the titular Victoria,
02:31as played by Laya Costa, a Spanish barista who has recently emigrated to Berlin.
02:36Victoria's seemingly innocent night on the town with a new potential suitor takes a dark turn,
02:41which could potentially upend her entire life.
02:44Please, can you help us?
02:45And we just go there, and after this, we bring you back to the cafe, no problem.
02:51Victoria is the rare film that is actually shot in a single continuous take,
02:55rather than being edited to look that way.
02:57Shot from 4.30 to 7.00 a.m. on location in Berlin on April 27, 2014,
03:03attempts were made to shoot Victoria in separate takes,
03:06but director Schipper was dissatisfied and rejected them.
03:09Working from a 12-page script and mostly improvised dialogue,
03:13the filming of Victoria went down to the wire,
03:15with a third and final take being the end result.
03:18Adolescence.
03:34I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder.
03:36You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention one question,
03:40something which you later rely on in court.
03:42Anything you do say may be given in evidence.
03:44Do you understand?
03:44I haven't done anything yet!
03:45Do you understand?
03:47Do you understand?
03:48Just tell them you understand, Jake!
03:49All right, I understand!
03:51Okay, good.
03:51This isn't the last project by British filmmaker Philip Barantini you'll see in our video today,
03:56but it's probably the buzziest.
03:58Debuting to critical acclaim and waves of social media buzz,
04:01this Netflix original miniseries depicts a disturbing criminal case unfolding across four hour-long one-take episodes.
04:08My brain can't take all this.
04:10I don't know what you're talking about.
04:11Just break it down.
04:1280% of women are attracted to 20% of men.
04:18Women.
04:18You must trick them because you'll never get them in a normal way.
04:2180% of women are cut off or, oh, she's saying he's an incel.
04:25That he's 13.
04:27Like Victoria, the four episodes of Adolescence were, indeed, shot in meticulously planned and rehearsed single takes.
04:34Cinematographer Matthew Lewis, in speaking to Variety, revealed that for a one-take episode,
04:39you can't do a shot list, so we didn't have one.
04:43We mapped the area we were using and looked at how the camera would move within it,
04:46and we rehearsed it like a dance between me and the cast.
04:49Lewis also revealed that the occasional mishap caused entire takes to be lost,
04:54with only some allowing for the take to continue.
04:56Series star Stephen Graham said that each episode took about three weeks to shoot.
05:01Yeah, we believe that.
05:02At least put some music on, love.
05:04Make sure you pick a good tune with a bass line.
05:08What are you on about?
05:10All good music has to have a proper bass line.
05:12You know what I mean?
05:13You need a good bass guitar.
05:15None of this plinky-plonk shite or your drum and bass bollocks.
05:18Give me a proper bass line out and sink me teeth into.
05:21The One-er.
05:21The Studio.
05:22Who cares if we miss the stupid magic hour, One-er?
05:25I do.
05:26This shot is gonna be epic.
05:27It's gonna be like a famous shot in a movie.
05:29I wanna be there when they film it.
05:30It kind of goes without saying that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's The Studio is pretty meta,
05:35set in a lightly fictionalized version of the real-world film industry,
05:39with celebrities often appearing as themselves.
05:42Case in point, the series' second episode,
05:44filmed in a panic-inducing 25-minute-long take,
05:48is about the making of a complex one-take shot,
05:50and just how precarious that can be.
05:52Audiences do not care about this shit.
05:54Are you kidding me?
05:56The One-er is the ultimate cinematic achievement, you know?
05:59It's like the perfect marriage of artistry and technicality.
06:02You've got Birdman, Children of Men, Goodfellas, you know?
06:06You know, I was dating Ray Liotta when they shot that.
06:08The man had a package of like a caramel leather still, so rest in peace.
06:12Co-directors Rogen and Goldberg, who strove for accuracy and precision,
06:16were adamant that they capture a real golden hour and accompanying sunset,
06:20which initially proved difficult given their filming location.
06:23Said Rogen, quote,
06:24We broke the script up into four 10-page chunks,
06:27and we would rehearse each chunk from like 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
06:30and then shoot from 5 to 6.30.
06:32Doing that made it possible to more seamlessly hide the stitching together of shots,
06:37creating the illusion of a single take.
06:39Movie magic, indeed.
06:41Supporting female filmmakers is a huge priority for us at Continental.
06:45Well, let's get this shot and make sure you're not making a mistake.
06:49No, no, no!
06:52Yeah, so if you can just make that, that'd be great.
06:55I've just been looking forward to seeing you bring this scene alive
06:57since I read it in your script.
06:59It was poetic, you know?
07:01Boiling point.
07:02I did try and explain that to them.
07:03What's the problem?
07:04Did you? Did you explain it to them?
07:05What's the problem?
07:06What table?
07:06Seven.
07:07Okay, well, they didn't ask for it well done.
07:09They asked for it well done.
07:10That's land, darling.
07:11That's how it's supposed to be.
07:12It's supposed to be pink.
07:13I know, I did explain that to them and they still didn't listen to me.
07:17Okay, so you've survived the review episode of The Bear.
07:20Now, how about an entire film shot in one take
07:23and set in the kitchen of a restaurant?
07:25That's what director Philip Berantini's nail-biting drama asks you to imagine.
07:29Berantini, who went on to direct Adolescence for Netflix,
07:32intended to film eight full takes.
07:35But much like the operation of real-life restaurants,
07:37the filming of Boiling Point was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
07:41Chef, this is the lemon cart that we're going in the wrong.
07:43Okay.
07:51What do you think?
07:58It's hot.
07:59Filmed in the real-life East London restaurant Jones & Sons,
08:02a time-out interview with its owner Andy Jones revealed that, quote,
08:05the restaurant was closed during the week of filming and on weekdays during the three-week rehearsal period,
08:11but opened on the Saturdays and Sundays.
08:13Jones, a heavily fictionalized version of whom is portrayed in the film by Stephen Graham,
08:18also noted that, quote,
08:19A few of my staff were extras in the film.
08:21My manager, Chloe O'Brien, was heavily linked to the producers,
08:25and we catered for everyone on set as well.
08:27Look at me.
08:28We're not going to do this now, okay?
08:31I promise you, I'm okay.
08:32I know, but I won't talk about it.
08:34We're just not going to do it now,
08:35because there's too many people at the moment.
08:36We just need to do it together, just me and you.
08:38Please.
08:39Are you going to be all right just now?
08:41Okay.
08:41Just do a big, big breath.
08:43Russian arc.
09:05Sometimes, a one-take sequence can be tense and intimate, like on The Bear.
09:09Other times, it can be sweeping, grandiose, and even fantastical.
09:14Just look at this experimental international co-production.
09:17Shot entirely in a single take at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg,
09:21and filmed through its protagonists, POV,
09:24the making of Russian arc involved over 2,000 actors and three orchestras.
09:28A spellbinding journey through Russian history,
09:31the fourth and final take ended up as the finished film.
09:33The world's second-largest art museum after the Louvre,
09:55the state hermitage museum would only remain closed for a day,
09:59disallowing a complete dress rehearsal.
10:00According to cinematographer Telman Böttner,
10:04crew members would build and disassemble sets just off-screen.
10:07Said Böttner, quote,
10:09I didn't have a diagram on the camera.
10:11Nobody could tell me where we were going or what was happening.
10:14I really did commit the whole thing to memory.
10:301917.
10:371917.
10:37Is there any news, Sarge?
10:39News of what?
10:40The big push.
10:41It was supposed to happen weeks ago.
10:43They told us we'd be home by Christmas.
10:45Yes, well, sorry to disrupt your crowded schedule, Blake,
10:47but the brass hats didn't fancy it in the snow.
10:49More's to pity, Sarge.
10:50I could have done with some turkey.
10:52Well, I'll make sure to relay your displeasure to command.
10:54Oscar winner Sam Mendes' thrilling World War I drama
10:57won Best Cinematography at the 92nd Academy Awards,
11:01and it's fairly easy to tell why.
11:03Roger Deakins' fourth collaboration with director Mendes,
11:06of American Beauty and Skyfall fame,
11:08the film tells the story of two young soldiers
11:11who scramble to deliver a message in a race against time.
11:14According to CNN's Thomas Page, quote,
11:16Scale models of production designer Dennis Gassner's sets,
11:19built on a back lot at Shepparton Studios
11:21and on location up and down the UK,
11:24were used to choreograph performances
11:26and camera movements ahead of time.
11:28Well, that's your medal sorted, then.
11:31What do you mean?
11:33Lance Corporal Blake showed unusual valor
11:35rescuing a comrade from certain death.
11:38Blah, blah, blah.
11:40You reckon?
11:42I do.
11:43Although often said to be filmed and edited
11:45to produce the appearance of a single take,
11:47the film is actually split into two sequences,
11:50morning and evening.
11:52The film's climactic scene,
11:53in which George McKay's character
11:54runs across an active battlefield,
11:56required certain crew members to dress as soldiers
11:59to preserve the illusion.
12:00Requiring complex choreography and over 500 extras,
12:04this scene helps us understand Mendes' lack of interest
12:07in doing another one-take film.
12:09Major?
12:10Yes, sir.
12:13Stand them down.
12:15Yes, sir.
12:16Call up the orderlies.
12:17Turn the wounded.
12:18Hold up the line in case they counter.
12:20Yes, sir.
12:21Stand down!
12:23Stand down!
12:24Before we continue,
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12:40Birdman.
12:41Are you at all afraid that people will say
12:43you're doing this play to battle the impression
12:46that you're a washed-up superhero?
12:48No, absolutely not.
12:49Absolutely not.
12:49That's why 20 years ago,
12:51I said no to Birdman 4.
12:534!
12:55Hold the mask off!
12:56Thank you, everybody.
12:57You do the part of the mask!
12:58Thank you for coming out.
12:59Thank you, thank you, thank you.
13:01We're expecting some great pieces.
13:02Arguably the film
13:03that single-handedly reignited public interest
13:05in the idea of a one-take project,
13:07director Alejandro González Iñárritu's
13:10surreal psychological satire
13:11also revitalized Michael Keaton's career
13:13with an Oscar nomination.
13:15Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki,
13:17a longtime friend of Iñárritu's,
13:19openly feared that no film
13:21had ever been made
13:21in the way that the director had envisioned.
13:23Lubezki's fears came true.
13:25Said Iñárritu, quote,
13:27there was no room to improvise at all.
13:29Every movement, every line,
13:31and every door opening,
13:32absolutely everything was rehearsed.
13:35You can't do this to me.
13:36To you?
13:37Oh, shut up.
13:37You know what I'm talking about.
13:38Oh, yeah, you're talking about you.
13:40What else is new?
13:40No, don't do the thing.
13:41The thing where I'm thinking about me.
13:42Look, I'm trying to do something that's important.
13:44This is not important.
13:46It's important to me.
13:47Okay?
13:48Maybe not to you or your cynical friends
13:50whose only ambition is to go viral,
13:53but to me,
13:54this is, my God,
13:55this is my career.
13:56Iñárritu also noted that production
13:58and post-production
13:59almost needed to be done simultaneously,
14:02and the film's editors
14:03were highly involved in shooting.
14:05In fact, the filmmakers were so conscious
14:07of how the film needed to be shot
14:08that even the sets were built
14:09with the one-take motif in mind.
14:11Said Steadicam operator Chris Harhoff,
14:14the production of Birdman was, quote,
14:16a type of dance
14:17where everyone would hopefully
14:18try to peak all at the same moment.
14:20We'll make a comeback.
14:22They're waiting for something huge.
14:24We'll give it to them.
14:25Shape off that pathetic goatee.
14:27Get some surgery.
14:28Which one-take film or episode
14:30impressed you the most?
14:31Be sure to let us know
14:32in the comments below.
14:33Get all 32 chickens.
14:35Get them searing.
14:36Roasting.
14:37Peanut.
14:38Sausages.
14:38Burgers.
14:39Hot dogs.
14:40Everything on the grill.
14:41Fire everything right f***ing now.
14:43Yes, yes, yes, yes.
14:44Do you agree with our picks?
14:46Check out this other recent clip
14:47from Ms. Mojo.
14:49And be sure to subscribe
14:50and ring the bell
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14:52about our latest videos.
14:53We'll see you next time.