Recently, I watched “The Bear”, an American TV series that premiered on Hulu last year. The show follows a young award-winning chef who tries to save his late brother’s rundown café in Chicago that’s falling apart. It received a lot of praise for its brilliant directing and performances. But what also caught my attention was a one-take episode towards the end of the season. At 17 minutes long, the cortisol level in my blood had seriously spiked (as intended, I reckon). I can’t stop asking myself: what’s needed to create a suspenseful long take? Not necessarily in terms of equipment and crew, but blocking & camera-wise. Let’s try to find an answer together! Image credit: A film still from the Hulu series “The Bear” by Christopher Storer, 2022 Please don’t say: “This stuff is only relevant for big Hollywood and TV productions. What’s the point?”. Because it’s not true. Even I directed a short movie that consisted of a 2.5-minute long take and a single cut (made on purpose!). My team had six people, no EasyRig, no pre-production time, and a simple Sony A7R II on a Ronin gimbal. That’s all we used. Still, the film won first place at a film festival and now I can assure you that everything is possible without much gear or a big budget. A short movie “The Witnesses”, 2019 Would you call this a suspenseful long take? Not to brag, but I would. I also have to admit, my creative choices back then...
Published By: CineD - Tuesday, 21 February, 2023