5 Amazing Scenes Without A Single Cut

By: Keith Mitchell w/Chestpoundfilms

In the last article, we talked about the editing room, the impact a series of shots can have on the viewer, and how sound or music joined with different cuts can completely alter the scene. If you haven’t already read that post, we suggest you check it out! So what better way to follow up than to talk about Sequence Shots, scenes without a single cut?

See there is something pleasing about Sequence Shots when used correctly. It offers a sense of realism, because of the lack of cuts, the viewer sees and feels the world in a similar way they see their own. In short, it almost puts you directly in the mind of the character. This is part of the reason found footage films have such a realistic feel to them – aside from the shaky camera work.

Now this technique isn’t for everybody, nor is it for every scene. But for this week, Chestpound’s film blog looks at 5 amazing scenes without a single cut.

1. The Copacabana Sequence

Kicking things off with one of the more obvious choices, as well as one of the most famous, is the Copacabana sequence in Martin Scorsese’s film Goodfellas (1990). In this scene, we follow Henry Hill as he brings his new girlfriend, Karen to a NYC club called the Copacabana. This scene took about 8 takes to film, and was created because the crew couldn’t get permission to shoot this scene from the front entrance.

This is their big date, and it’s also Karen’s introduction to Henry’s life. Why? Because as she’s led through this active, crowded club by her boyfriend, for the first time she gets a glimpse at the influence he has and the people he knows. This is where the wise guys hang to see popular performances, and Henry, who is at the prime of his criminal career, is seen to be respected by everyone in the place.

Metaphorically, not only is Karen being led through this club, but she is being led through the criminal world, Henry’s world. By using this kind of shot to give the tour, we as the viewers are allowed into Karen’s head, we see Karen’s introduction to this world in the same way she sees it.

Clocking in at: 3 minutes

2. Car Attack (Spoilers!)

This is one of many very memorable scenes from Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of men (2006). Hard to believe right? This entire scene was done without a single cut! Alfonso is a director known for his long sequence shots and completely invisible digital cuts that make his scenes seem like extremely long takes. An example would be the opening to Gravity, with a 17 minute opening shot. It was difficult choosing just one entry, but Alfonso will probably have a blog entry of his own at some point anyway.

Alfonso’s choice to film the movie in this style was to help place the viewer right in the world 2027. It works, because we feel like we’re passengers on this ride to hell during this car scene.

A special car rig was built for this scene; it would carry the camera and allow it to make full 360 spins. The actors then rehearsed for days to create one of the most highly choreographed scenes in film, in the attempt to shoot the entire sequence in one shot.

The crew had twelve days to film the car scene, but they hadn’t even finished staging the scene until day ten. They did multiple takes, and on the last day they had only one more shot to pull the scene off before they lost the location. During the shooting, some blood splattered on the camera lens, causing the director to yell, “Cut!”. But because of the background noise, his direction went unheard, causing the crew to continue filming. This was a miracle in disguise, because this was the shot that ended up being successful after nearly two weeks of trying.

If you enjoyed this scene, be sure to check out another one from this movie. (Spoilers of course)

Clocking in at: 4 minutes, 7 seconds

The battle scene: 7 minutes, 34 seconds (made up of digitally blended shots to appear as an entire single shot)

3. Staircase Fight

This scene comes from a 2005 film Tom-Yum-Goong, directed by Prachya Pinkaew. While not the best storyline, (it’s about a boy, Kham trying to find the men who stole his elephants) this movie does something different that most action movies don’t do today.

In this scene we follow Tony Jaa, playing Kham, as he destroys anyone in his path – working his way up three floors. The beauty of this scene is that it’s uncut, allowing the viewer to see one of the most amazing choreographed fighting scenes in cinema.

By the end of the scene, you can literally feel how fatigued Jaa gets as he fights his way through.

This adds an extra element of realism to the whole scene. It’s reported that this scene took over a month of preparing, and was successful after about 5 takes.

Clocking in at: 3 minutes, 47 seconds

4. The Cornetto Tracking Shot

This simple scene is from the Edgar Wright’s zombie comedy, Shaun of the Dead (2004). Unlike most of the scenes in this post, there isn’t a lot of action or heavily choreographed stunts, yet this scene is just as effective in its usage of a long sequence shot. Why?

Well in the beginning of the movie we follow Shaun, played by Simon Pegg, an average man with relationship issues. He finds himself caught in the middle between his girlfriend and best friend in the struggle to either, become a more mature person or stay as immature as his best friend.

In the first scene, we see a tracking shot as Shaun walks to the nearest convenient store, picks up a diet coke, then switches it with a regular and checks out at the register. During this scene we are invited into Shaun’s world, where he lives, the kind of activity that occurs around his place, and just how normal everything is.

In the second scene, we follow Shaun as he walks to the same convenient store, but this time the world is entirely different, in chaos around him. But he’s completely oblivious to it, still stuck in his normal world as he picks up a coke, and switches it with a diet coke instead, and then checks out at the register.

Allowing us to view the scene as a tracking shot, further sells the contrast of the two scenes in a very subtle way. This creates comedy, and allows us as the viewers to fully see how wrapped up Shaun in his own world.

For a side by side comparison, check out this link here.

You can see just how much detail was placed into making these shots so different yet so similar at the same time.

Clocking in at: 1 minute, 58 seconds

5. The Entire Movie

Want to know who holds the record for the longest sequence shot of all? Alexander Sokurov, the Director of the 2002 historical drama, Russian Ark. This 96 minute film is done entirely with one shot.

Yes, you read that right. As crazy as it sounds, it’s true, the crew for the film had a location that spanned 33 rooms, (not including the exterior) 3 orchestras, and a cast of over 2,000 people who never had an entire rehearsal together.

In the words of Sokurov, “I wanted to try and fit myself into the very flowing of time, without remaking it according to my wishes." The film follows, a ghost as he wanders through the Winter Palace of the Russian State Hermitage Museum. Each room in the palace represents another period in Russian history, but not necessarily in chronological order.

Overall it covers 300 years of history, while utilizing the advantage of “no cut” filming, to give the viewers a tour of the world the ghost wanders in.

The film was shot using a steadicam that had been altered to hold a hardrive for 100 minutes of footage. The film took three takes to complete, with the first two being interrupted by technical issues. Imagine the amount of pressure the entire cast must have had to film this—one screw up could cause the entire film to be reshot.

The sound had to be recorded separately because in the words of Büttner, "Every time I did the take, or someone else made a mistake, I would curse, and that would have gotten in, so we did the sound later."

The end result is a mind blowing piece of art that has become the first feature length movie to be filmed without a single cut.

Clocking in at: 96 minutes