The long shot
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The long take, the unbroken tracking shot, “the oner” – whatever you want to call it, filmmakers agree that it’s one of the most difficult technical achievements in cinema. It’s a feat of creativity, but also great coordination and choreography when a single, tiny mistake can ruin a shot.
Some famous examples: the casino scene of Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas; more recently, the action sequences in Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men and the entirety of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman. Even a recent episode of The Studio titled “The Oner” – which captures the difficulty of filming a long, unbroken shot – was itself presented as a oner. Se …
