Cinema history is full of dazzling technical achievements and masterful editing, but some
of the most impressive sequences of all time are shot in one long, fluid take.
Actors and crew members practice the elaborate sequence until it's second nature, rehearsing
every line and camera movement until they are able to execute a gorgeous sequence in
a single unbroken shot.
Here are a few of the best examples of the form.
Goodfellas
The films of Martin Scorsese are absolutely loaded with iconic shots, but few are as well-remembered
as this gorgeous long take from Goodfellas.
Known as "The Copa Shot," it's a nearly three-minute Steadicam take that follows Henry and Karen
as they enter the Copacabana nightclub through a side entrance so Henry can flaunt his many
mob-based connections.
According to camera operator Larry McConkey, the shot was originally just a simple case
of the camera following the actors, but he and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus decided
to spice up the blocking.
They did this in part because McConkey needed pauses in the walk so he could transition
between wide shots and close-ups without cutting away.
That's why they added touches like a walk through the club's kitchen and the moment
when Henry stops to playfully chastise a flirting couple.
"Every time I come here.
Every time, you two!"
Creed
Nearly 40 years after the first Rocky film, the franchise revitalizer Creed delivered
a dazzling, uninterrupted fight sequence.
For the fight between Adonis and Leo "The Lion" Sporino, director Ryan Coogler wanted
to achieve the visual metaphor of the two boxers being suddenly all on their own after
months of working with their trainers.
So the fight was filmed as one continuous Steadicam take, with the camera dancing around
the actors.
Coogler shot 13 takes of the fight, with no additional cameras on set to provide extra
coverage should he later decide to break it up in the editing room.
The result is an intense, intimate sequence that ranks among the best moments in boxing
cinema since Scorsese's Raging Bull.
Children of Men
The acclaimed four minute car attack scene in 2006's Children of Men was shot with a
special rig that not only allowed the camera to move around within the cramped car, but
move out of it later.
There are a lot of moving parts in this scene.
To make things even more stressful, director Alfonso Cuarón revealed during a 2013 San
Diego Comic-Con panel that he only had approximately four takes available to get the shot right.
It ended up coming down to the very last take before the production was going to lose access
to the location, and Cuarón almost ruined that one himself.
"We were shooting the last take, everything goes great, but then by accident the blood
spills onto the lens.
I yelled cut, but there was an explosion and nobody heard me so they kept shooting.
Then, later, I realized that the blood splash was the miracle."
The final take, the one Cuarón almost abandoned mid-shot, is the one in the film.
The Player
Robert Altman was one of the most famously playful directors of the 20th century.
The Player, a dark satire about a ruthless Hollywood executive, is essentially a movie
about movies, so Altman took every chance possible to cram in references to classic
films.
He also took the opportunity to give us the entire look and feel of the film in an unbroken,
eight-minute opening shot.
Beginning with the tongue-in-cheek clicking of a film slate, the take pulls back and rises
up into a wide crane shot in an homage to Orson Welles' Touch of Evil.
Then the camera dances around the lot, following various characters and nodding to several
cinema classics.
Even if you're a true movie buff, it'll take you a few tries to catch every reference and
inside joke in the uncut sequence.
"Oh, I see.
It's kind of like a Gods Must Be Crazy except the Coke bottle is now a television actress."
"Yeah, that's exactly right.
It's Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman."
The Protector
Though the final product often looks amazing, shooting heavily edited fight scenes like
this Taken 3 sequence can be tedious work, with tons of close-ups of hands, feet, and
faces.
Or, you can do what the creators of 2005's Thai action classic The Protector did: shoot
a badass, four-minute fight scene featuring one hero, one camera, dozens of stuntmen,
and lots of stairs, in a single amazing take.
In this sequence, the hero has made his way to a restaurant specializing in exotic meats
where, he believes, a gangster is holding his beloved elephants.
Proving just how far one man will go for his animal friends, Kham storms the restaurant's
VIP area, where he's confronted by an enormous spiral staircase and a load of henchmen ready
to take him out.
The result is one of the best fight sequences of the past two decades.
Plus, it has arguably the best action hero closing line in the history of cinema.
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