The long take, or the "oner", is a classic of filmmaking. A load of action happens on screen but the camera keeps on rolling without breaking shot. It's almost like we're watching a play, but a really busy one on an enormous stage. And the actors better not mess up their lines, or they'll all have to start all over again.
While long-takes are a common occurrence in movies – Goodfellas' Copacabana entrance, Children of Men's car attack and battle scenes, and the entirety of Victoria are famous – they are sometimes used to brilliant effect in TV, too.
Here are the absolute best moments in TV history, where everything fell into place in one take.
Special shoutouts go to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's 'Charlie Work', CSI's 'Grave Danger' and pretty much every episode of The Bill – but there ain't no clips available. Sorry!
1. True Detective – Cohle's biker gang raid
This was the moment that made True Detective more than just another crime drama. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga's six-minute shot follows Matthew McConaughey's Rust Cohle as he goes undercover with a gang to find a serial killer. But things go VERY wrong.
2. The X-Files – Scully's bad day
The episode 'Triangle' had different acts, all of which were one continuous shot. This take follows Gillian Anderson's Agent Scully as she walks through various corridors and elevators to complete an important and dangerous task.
3. 19-2 – School shooting
A truly remarkable and utterly harrowing one-take (seriously – this is really not for the faint-hearted), as police officers respond to a school shooting. The cops (and the camera) steps into the school to chase the shooter, while the chaos continues around them. Amazingly, they shot this twice – once for the original French-Canadian version and again for English-language viewers.
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season 3 intro
Joss Whedon has used long takes in many of his projects over the years, and one of the best was this moment at the beginning of season 3, as we catch up with various characters while Buffy is stuck in Los Angeles.
5. Daredevil – Stairwell fight
Okay, this scene does use clever camera tricks to give the illusion of the whole scene being one take, but it's still an amazing feat, as Matt Murdoch continues his quest to take down criminals in Hell's Kitchen.
6. How I Met Your Mother – Two-minute date
This cute moment sees Toby put on a super-fast date with Stella, as due to their busy and different schedules, they can only find short burts of time to be together.
7. The West Wing – Ambassador Hotel walk
If you're part of an Aaron Sorkin drama, you're gonna have lots of walk-and talk-scenes. The most epic was this ridiculously long tracking shot as the President and his staff walk through the back of the Ambassador Hotel. It involves going down several flights of stairs and outside into the parking lot, and involved over 500 extras and nearly all the major cast.
8. Psychoville – David and Maureen
The clip below doesn't do it justice, but it's just a glimpse of the incredible challenge completed by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. In a homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, the episode's 28 minutes are seen in just two takes – the first of which is 17 minutes long in full.
9. Scrubs – JD, Turk and Elliot's hospital entrance
This opening to 'My Student' saw the main trio arrive at work, go into the lift and bump into various characters. The main problem was Donald Faison netting the basketball at the beginning.
10. Game of Thrones – Battle at the Wall
Game of Thrones banks on some amazing one-shots in various big scale battles (via the use of some computer wizardry), including moments in 'Hardhome' and 'Battle of the Bastards'. But this 360 degree long-take in 'Watchers on the Wall' is incredible.
11. Skins – Sophia's suicide
A truly dark moment to start series 4. Sophia is seen taking MDMA outside a club, then proceeds to join the throng before jumping off a high platform to her death. All in one take.
12. Band of Brothers – 'Why We Fight'
The penultimate episode of the war drama sees the aftermath of a bombed-out German town, as the camera manages to somehow operate across a town square, taking in survivors grabbing what they can from the rubble, and Easy Company standing in the remains of a house. Despite only being a couple of minutes long, it was an incredibly tricky operation.
13. Louie – Fat girl speech
A subtle but still impressive long-take from Louis CK and Sarah Baker. In it, Louie disappoints date Vanessa when he tells her she isn't fat. Vanessa then delivers a long monologue about why that's the worst thing a man can say to her, all in one take, and with various presumably real-life people jogging along in the background. Keep an eye out for the fourth-wall break towards the end, too.
14. The Office US – Lip Dub
The gang at Dunder Mifflin got involved in the 'lip dub' craze of the time, as (nearly) all the staff get together to rehearse for a song-and-dance number throughout the various rooms of the building. Until Dwight promptly ruins it. Probably the show's best intro ever.
