Before launching into details, the title itself should be justified. The one-shot technique may come across as self-explanatory, in part. There are not many productions taking on this unusual art form and yet, most people may probably be familiarized with the notion of “one-shot movies” or, in other words, movies which are filmed in a single take. Surely, since one such attempt is an enormous challenge, plenty of directors go for the more accessible “twist”: the illusion that their film has been shot in one take. The accessibility does not necessarily mean that the strategy is instantly much easier. There are still various elements which make the whole process more demanding, but, proportionally, more rewarding. This post will look at the multiple different mediums where this technique can be found, along with its purposes: the 2019 movie entitled 1917 (directed by Sam Mendes), episode 5 from the third season of the TV show called Mr. Robot (directed by Sam Esmail) and Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton’s music video for Say Something (directed by the web group La Blogothèque). Since the film is the most consistent, the episode and the music video will be discussed in contrast with it.
As stated previously, one-shot movies can give the impression that cameras continuously follow the actors involved. The same goes for Sam Mendes’ war film, 1917, set during World War I. The action focuses on the journey of two young British soldiers carrying a message with important orders, in a race against time so as to prevent 1,600 comrades from falling into the Germans’ trap. When briefly talking about this movie, we can consider three guiding aspects: the director’s overall aim, the main manufacture of the illusion and the portrayal of the characters.
As a starting point, we can refer to an interview featured in a Vox article, in which the director states his objective: “I wanted to tell this story in two hours of ‘real time’. So I felt like it was a natural thing, to lock the audience into the men’s experiences. In a movie that operates more like a ticking-clock thriller at times, I wanted an audience to feel every second passing and take every step with them, and also be aware of geography and distance and physical difficulty. The feeling that you are going to have to live through the story with them is accentuated by not cutting.” The principal idea is that any one-shot production is bound to bring the viewers closer to a set of characters. The two soldiers in the film, Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), are never alone, for each member of the audience becomes a third “traveler”. The camera’s position and movement ultimately receive more significance than one may expect. As much as they wish so, the viewers do not have the possibility to change the trajectory. The privileged power is not only to better observe the characters, but also to spot crucial details beforehand. Sometimes they all hold the same pace in their walk. Other times each viewer is left behind and has the urge to run and alert the fellow soldiers. However, once they reach the characters, something else already intervenes and no one can bring themselves to mutter anything, for the sake of keeping up with the unfolding events.
When referring to the illusion produced within one-shot movies, it is vital to view the way in which transitions between scenes are made. Plenty of individuals have grown accustomed to some famous tricks, such as a group of people passing (covering the screen, everything that was visible a few moments before), a short close-up of a still object or the entering in a dark place (until there is access to the first source of light). There is a slight risk when it comes to searching for these shooting techniques, a risk highlighted by Sam Mendes in an interview from the Hollywood Reporter: “ ‘I don’t want people scrutinizing it while they’re watching the first time,’ he says. ‘There’s a danger when you talk about a movie so much before release that people go in looking at the camera work, looking at the stitches.’ ” The behind-the-scenes work is always something admirable and yet, directors need to be one step ahead of the one-shot technique. The mastery can be detected when the audience forgets about the transitions and becomes fully immersed into the natural flow of the story.
In close relation to the above-mentioned idea, 1917 aims to insert unexpected real-life incidents, whenever the main characters temporarily drift away from their initial purpose. These on their own, as shocking as they may be, still manage to reflect daily fortunes or struggles. Through these means, there are also plenty of traits revealed about Schofield and Blake, during their journey, the two of them being opposed in terms of perspectives and approaches. They symbolically go on separate ways when Blake’s brief deviation costs him his life and Schofield is quickly brought under the spotlight. A second viewing of the movie may allow the audience to see that the one-shot technique itself has slowly anticipated Schofield’s emerging importance, by no longer focusing as much on Blake, the apparent leader.
It can be seen as a fine touch of the audience’s gut instinct functioning quickly. Further on, until the last minutes of the movie, Schofield and all viewers are trapped in a seemingly never-ending chase, while resisting temptations and comfort, seeking hiding places and feeling surges of pain and weariness.
The only “break” from reality occurs when Schofield is shot and blacks out for a couple of hours, hence the consequent black screen for a few seconds. The “rupture” initially seems to break the rules of the experience brought by one-shot films. However, this has been intentional from the very beginning, ending up with the placement of the viewer in the soldier’s shoes. At this stage, there is an actual fusion, the audience is no longer a mere witness, fighting to keep up; everyone officially feels Schofield’s troubles on their own skin.
Moving further, keeping in mind what has been mentioned so far, we can switch to a new atmosphere. In the beginning, it was announced that the one-shot technique could also be used in one episode of an entire TV series. Sam Esmail’s Mr. Robot is brought forward, with strict reference to the fifth episode of the third season. In this context, people may be even more inclined to ask why the episode was filmed in this manner. This does not come down to the director’s mere desire to suddenly experiment with something unusual. It is actually a psychologically intense turn of events within the known slow-paced plot.
What is fascinating about Mr. Robot is that its action evolves realistically, with meticulous planning in advance. The main character, Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), is surrounded by deceitful people who trigger both his anxiety and impulse to uncover certain truths. Prior to or after moments of paranoia, Elliot faces the camera and holds intimate conversations with the audience, seeking comfort, despite the fact that viewers already know more than he does. Tension builds up until the previously indicated episode in season 3, in which even family members and close friends show their duplicity. It is a fast discovery, coming out of the blue for Elliot, with substantial consequences, and the viewers are meant to step back, put themselves in the protagonist’s position, remembering that he is a victim who needs empathy more than ever. To validate this point, we can take into account an observation made in a New York Times article: “Long takes stress out the audience by withholding the cutaways our minds crave, making us feel the anxiety wracking the characters.” This is, indeed, just a fragment – with great essence, nevertheless – of the episode’s one-shot illusion. Emphasis should be placed on “characters” because the audience can easily leap from one individual to another (for instance, from Elliot to a friend of his, Angela), due to the camera’s smooth motion, conserved in a limited space, but with dense action ahead.
A post from Entertainment Weekly also captures what makes this particular episode stand out: “It’s an episode that comes with a production choice that could easily fall into the realm of gimmickry: ‘Eps3.4_runtime-error.r00’ unfolds as a commercial-free single take. It’s the kind of stylistic choice that could hinder the season’s slow-burn storytelling, drawing attention to itself in a season that’s been defined by a more patient and subdued approach to its narrative.” Authenticity and empathy in Mr. Robot are as essential as in 1917, but they appear with a sense of particularity, under different circumstances.
Last but not least, a distinct “flavor” of the one-shot technique can be noticed in the music video for Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton’s song, Say Something. We are not dealing with a lengthy production anymore, it is a 6-minute video following Justin from testing sounds and picking up his guitar
to gathering with his partner, Chris, other men playing instruments and a massive choir.
Admittedly, 6 minutes for a music video may be a lot, given the contemporary audience’s general expectations. It can even come off as preposterous if someone checks the repetitive lyrics at first. Nonetheless, everything becomes clearer when the listeners become aware of the single take. Up until the revelatory moment, they are guaranteed to have already started swinging and dancing unconsciously, echoing the song’s lyrics, “I don’t wanna get caught up in the rhythm of it / But I can’t help myself, no, I can’t help myself”. The continuous filming contributes immensely to the provided atmosphere, giving the sensation that nothing is repetitive in fact, as underlined in an article from The Heights: “While the song itself is comprised of the same few lines repeated over and over, the camera is always moving in the video. Timberlake and Stapleton walk up and down intricate staircases, ride in old-fashioned elevators, and turn corners in dimly lit hallways, all giving flow to a song that can sound like a stuck record. Timberlake knows that this song, and the way the music video was filmed, is special…” Amusingly enough, one-shot productions as such can only imply multiple views from the same person. In the second viewing, they may pay actual attention to everyone’s impeccable synchronization. The third time may have them frantically search for any reason to prove that the video cannot possibly be one take. Meanwhile, as suggested in a final reference, a post from Sound on Sound, the one-shot technique brings together the sound and the vision, the singers and the audience, “giving the viewer an exciting sense of witnessing an event taking place in real time”.
In the end, it is difficult to tell who this one-shot technique would appeal to. Anyone may progressively find it mesmerizing and powerful, acknowledge it as a form of art requiring additional effort from numerous sides. Perhaps it would instantly intrigue those who want to experience theatre and cinematography simultaneously. My choice for this topic can be explained easily: there has always been a fascination towards the idea of continuity, long before I have found out that plenty of people have already created one-shot productions. I was not disappointed that my vision was not original. On the contrary, I was contended that one such thing was achievable (with or without illusions) and I have grown more fond of it over the past few years, given the incomparable connection that is formed through a screen, something stronger than a theatrical performance could ensure. This post may convince some of you to give the one-shot technique a shot, whether it is through a movie, a specific episode in a TV show or a music video.
Comments
Post a Comment