A take is one run of the camera, recording a single shot. During the production of a film, it is not unusual for there to be several takes of one shot, with the preferred or best take being decided upon during the editing process. Before each take, a camera assistant positions the clapboard in front of the camera, with the number of the take written on it. In addition, the number of the take is spoken aloud and recorded onto the soundtrack. Both the photographing and the recording of the take number are done in anticipation of the editing of the film, with the expectations that different takes of the same shot will provide the editor with subtly different versions of the same shot which he/she can use to craft the best scene possible.
Sometimes a number of takes is required due to a particularly difficult technical aspect of the shot – dolly shots, for instance, require a large degree of coordination between grips (the technicians moving the dolly that the camera is mounted on), actors, focus pullers (technicians whose job it is to operate the lens and keep it in focus), and sound technicians. It is not uncommon for dolly shots to require several takes before a take which works in terms of acting and technical elements at the same time.
The director tends to have the final word on whether or not enough takes have been shot of a particular scene. In general, the director works through these decisions with the help of several crew members, most notably the assistant director (who schedules the shoot and keeps track of time), the script supervisor (who records physical continuity including wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair makeup and the actions and dialog in the scene), and the cinematographer (who heads the camera department and solves any problems related to the image). At the end of a take all crew members turn to the director in anticipation of whether another take is needed or whether crew members can prepare for the next shot. When a new take is needed, the director provides adjustments for the actors or to the crew.
Certain directors are famous for their need of many takes in order to achieve their vision. Notable among these are Stanley Kubrick and David Fincher. Although this often means that these directors are difficult to work with, at the core there often is some justification to their working methods. One famous example of a scene with many takes is found in Kubrick’s The Shining: the scene in which Shelley Duvall is walking backwards up the stairs swinging a baseball bat at Jack Nicholson is claimed to have been re-shot as many as 127 times (Guinness Book of World Records, SOURCE). Garret Brown, the film’s steadicam operator, claims that only 35 takes were required, which is still a very high number. One explanation for this number of takes assumes that Kubrick wanted a particular type of exhaustion to play on film in this scene and the best way of achieving this emotion or effect was by literally exhausting her.
CLIP: (Clip from The Shining)
A long take or oner is a continuous shot which lasts much longer than the average shot length in most films. Normally, cutting among multiple angles allows a film to compress or expand time. But a long take normally forces the audience to experience whatever is happening in the film more or less in real time. For instance, Steve McQueen’s Hunger engages viewers in an intense emotional and spiritual quandary by bringing the audience to the table with Bobby Sands and the priest who tries to save him from the sin of suicide in a single 17 ½ minute static shot.
CLIP: [Clip from Hunger]
Long takes can also expand time and force the audience to reconcile shorter periods of run-time with longer periods of narrative time. The first shot of The Player runs 7 minutes and 47 seconds, depicting an entire day at a film studio in the narrative.
CLIP: (Clip from The Player)