# In tv and film, why are multiple takes required? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372 "2025-03-10T03:33:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/21 "2025-03-10T17:13:07Z")
The actor who played Mike Teavee’s father in _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ had only one line: “Not till you’re twelve, son.” Supposedly, it took him forty takes. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/22 "2025-03-10T19:09:59Z")
For some shows, one factor is letting actors improvise lines. I can’t link to a specific video off the top of my head, but lots of outtakes reels show an actor giving a dozen completely different lines than the one that made the final cut in a scene. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/23 "2025-03-10T19:44:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@Chefguy](#): > > > > During “The Shining”, Kubrick had actors exhausted and in tears at times. > > Except for the little kid, who by all accounts had a wonderful time. > > He also had no idea he was making a scary movie. May be going off-topic with this, but I call bullshit. There is a shot at the end where Jack N. is carrying his axe in the background, as Danny runs away in the foreground. “Why am I running away, Mr. Kubrick? Does it have something to do with Mr. Nicholson carrying an axe and looking all scary?” “No Danny\*, he is just going outside to cut down a Christmas Tree! While you play hide and seek with the twins!” “Why do I keep saying ‘REDRUM’ in a weird voice and writing it all over the place in red ink, Mr. Kubrick?” “You are playing at being a pirate Danny, and that is what they sometimes chanted before boarding a particularly juicy ship!” “Why are you telling me to sit and shake for minutes on end, Mr. Kubrick?” “Why is my mommy in the film, Mrs. Duvall, acting all scared and wanting to push me out of a window into the cold, Mr. Kubrick?” [You get the idea. \*Actor’s name was also Danny, note.] Either Kubrick was in fact up front with him about what his scenes actually meant and entailed, or he spent the entire film gaslighting the kid that he was in fact making [a domestic comedy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIeasQTs6_g) or something, which in a lot of ways would have been MUCH worse. Either way I call BS. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/24 "2025-03-11T16:23:16Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > For some shows, one factor is letting actors improvise lines. I can’t link to a specific video off the top of my head, but lots of outtakes reels show an actor giving a dozen completely different lines than the one that made the final cut in a scene. A few movies in which this was the case include “This Is Spinal Tap” and “Iron Man.” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/25 "2025-03-11T16:41:28Z")
DVD version of The 40 Year Old Virgin has a whole section on this. One scene that stands out in my mind was a kid reacting to all the condoms Andy had strewn about. Judd Apatow is a director known for letting his actors loose. Kind of a different take on different takes than Kubrick. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/26 "2025-03-11T23:55:47Z")
One word a filmmaker doesn’t want to see in a review is “stagy”. Unfortunately a word with multiple meanings, but the one I’m referring to is that the film feels like a recording of a stage play. Long static takes. A lot of the actors all shown together talking to each other. Avoidance of closeup reaction shots. Etc. Lots of shots from different takes, blended together feels more dynamic. Up to a point. Note that some action sequences tend to go overboard in the opposite direction, confusing the viewer as where things are moving. More takes gives more material to weave together. OTOH, some background extras love to muck things up. E.g., hold a glass in one hand in one take and the other hand in the next. They hope the full take is used, increasing their screen time. Such games might not be noticed during filming so the editor has limited choices. The aforementioned _Timecode_ felt very stagy to me. Someetimes they barely bother at all shifting from stage to film, e.g., _White Oleander_. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/27 "2025-03-12T00:13:08Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > May be going off-topic with this, but I call bullshit. Call away, but all the players seem to say the same story. [https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/how-stanley-kubrick-protected-child-actor-danny-lloyd-the-shining/](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/how-stanley-kubrick-protected-child-actor-danny-lloyd-the-shining/) ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/28 "2025-03-12T02:51:01Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > You missed some classics: > > Roger Corman > Ed Wood [![](https://morbotron.com/meme/S05E15/598414.jpg?b64lines=IE5vLiBObywgbm8sIG5vLCBJCiBkb24ndCBkbyB0d28gdGFrZXMuCiBBbWF0ZXVycyBsaWtlIHlvdSBkbwogdHdvIHRha2VzLg==) ](https://morbotron.com/meme/S05E15/598414.jpg?b64lines=IE5vLiBObywgbm8sIG5vLCBJCiBkb24ndCBkbyB0d28gdGFrZXMuCiBBbWF0ZXVycyBsaWtlIHlvdSBkbwogdHdvIHRha2VzLg==) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/29 "2025-03-12T03:24:41Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > In just the first 30 seconds, I can count 10 different, discrete shot angles – various combinations of different characters in frame, different angles of those same characters, close-ups, etc. At the opposite extreme is the _Mad About You_ episode: “The Conversation”. It’s 20 minutes of Jamie and Paul talking while they let their new-born cry herself to sleep. One take, one camera. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/30 "2025-03-12T10:49:56Z")
_One Cut of the Dead_: a fun movie from a story point of view, an amazing movie from a technical point of view. The first 37 minutes are a single shot with a hand-held camera, but—far from static—an action shot that moves extensively about in the inside and outside of a location. (As opposed to a set.) > **[One Cut of the Dead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Cut_of_the_Dead)** > > One Cut of the Dead (カメラを止めるな!, Kamera o Tomeru na!, transl. "Don't Stop the Camera!") is a 2017 Japanese independent zombie comedy film written and directed by Shin'ichirō Ueda. It follows a team of filmmakers and actors who are tasked with making One Cut of the Dead, a zombie horror film for live television that must be shot in a single take; the first third of the film depicts One Cut of the Dead as a film within the film, before going back in time to show the origins of the project, and Mad... (The full movie is on the Internet Archive.) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/31 "2025-03-12T11:07:36Z")
More impressive IMHO is some fight scenes in **Daredevil** are done with no cuts. Much harder than two people having a conversation. Brian ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/32 "2025-03-12T11:11:43Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > > > Some directors are known for few takes of scenes: > > > > Clint Eastwood > > Joel and Ethan Coen > > Ridley Scott > > Woody Allen > > You missed some classics: > > Roger Corman > Ed Wood Don’t forget William “One Shot” Beaudine. Sorry --m skipped to post this and didn’t see he’d already been mentioned. If you’ve seen his movies, you’ll agree that this is one director who COULD have taken the extra time to do re-shoots. OTOH, he was under severe budget restrictions, I hear. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/33 "2025-03-12T11:15:37Z")
The expectations of cinema in the silent era and in 2025 are rather different. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/34 "2025-03-12T11:31:43Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > an actress\* describes a family dinner scene in which she and the four other actors who portrayed the family put in a 15-hour day, with dozens upon dozens of takes, for about 180 seconds of TV. One part of this is that filming a conversation over family dining table is possibly one of the highest ratio of how difficult it is:how difficult it looks in all of film production. Family dining rooms are usually extremely cozy for narrative reasons and when you’re having a conversation, you want a lot of different camera angles to capture certain conversation dynamics. A lot of the time, the camera literally needs to be inside of a piece of furniture or a wall to capture an angle so now you need a set on a sound stage where walls can be taken out and every time you move a wall, you need to relight the scene. You’re also deeply involving the props (items an actor interacts with in a scene like the food) and set dressing (items that actors don’t interact with) that, for complicated reasons, are two different departments and they need to co-ordinate and maintain continuity (ie: you move a China hutch out of the way to get a shot, when you move it back, someone from set dressing needs to look at a reference photo and put all the items back, THEN a different person needs to compare the table to the reference photo and make sure all the drink glasses are filled correctly and any food needs a new version flown in because the existing one suffered some damage). We’re also willing to forgive a lot when we’re watching aliens battle each other but we’ve all eaten in a family dining room and so we’re extremely attuned to subtle marker of unreality. Making a home feel realistically lived in and meal look like it was realistically cooked by a home cook involves just a lot of different items and making even tiny mistakes can ruin the artistic intent. Even if every actor does their job perfectly, it’s just a logistical pain in the ass where it’s also guaranteed that, because so many different departments need to perform at a high level, everything can go wrong will, dragging a shoot day into a long day. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/35 "2025-03-12T11:38:28Z")
That explains why in practically every commercial the whole family is sitting on one side of the table and we are seeing the view the table might see. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/36 "2025-03-12T11:40:53Z")
This reminded me of a continuity error I noticed (and posted about) in an episode of _Cobra Kai_. A short conversation with at least three different shadow angles from the shots being filmed at significantly different times near a window. > [@They're always empty!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-always-empty/959378/12): > > Lots of continuity errors with props, clothing, and body positions between cuts in shows if you watch for them. For instance, look at the shadows on three cuts from this (brief) conversation in Cobra Kai season 4. [[Album] imgur.com [imgur.com] ](https://imgur.com/a/qTjITmV) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/37 "2025-03-12T15:37:13Z")
Noting the shadow angles in a show is a very deep rabbit hole. E.g., _Grey’s Anatomy_ (back when I watched it) had sunbeams coming thru every window at random angles during daytime scenes. E.g., there’d be a sunbeam coming into windows in two bedrooms that are on opposite sides of the house a few moments apart. And the angle of such “sun beams” were quite often the same regardless of time of day. Remember: It’s always sunny in Seattle. (Even at 6am in the winter.) It’s things like having an analog wall clock in the background that no one bothers to re-adjust (let alone just get rid of) that annoy me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/38 "2025-03-12T17:46:25Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Some directors are known for few takes of scenes: > > Clint Eastwood > Joel and Ethan Coen > Ridley Scott > Woody Allen A few more to add to the list: John Ford Steven Soderbergh Stephen Spielberg W.S. Van Dyke ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/39 "2025-03-17T00:49:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > William “One Shot” Beaudine. He very rarely reshot anything, hence the nickname. > > [William Beaudine - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beaudine) Jeff Probst is known as “one take Probst”, or was back in the day on Survivor. He memorizes the challenge directions and gives them in one take live. This makes for better TV and less need to do that annoying and obvious “voice over” description other shows do. Uh, sometimes they do that because he messes up, but usually what you hear live is what he said on set to the players. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372/40 "2025-03-19T13:56:09Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I art direct TV commercials. I popped in to say the same thing! Wait, let me do that again. I popped in to say the same thing. I popped in to say _the same thing._ Still rolling? Again. I popped in to say the same thing. Okay, let me do it more seriously. I popped in to say the same thing. Doesn’t my character end up smiling in the last shot? What if we get a little hint that that’s my arc? I popped in to say… the same thing! Whoops, I mean I popped in to say… The. Same. Thing. Was that it? Did you… hey, director, did you get a feel… okay, here’s straight: I popped in to say the same thing. Stop it! She snickered, I’m going to do it again. I popped in to say the same thing. How was that? That was… Hey, did anyone see where the director went? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-and-film-why-are-multiple-takes-required/1015372.md?page=3)