One studio day, one set, and the take they used was number fourteen
Edgar Wright blocked a near-continuous take by filming rehearsals on his iPhone and handing the footage to the Steadicam operator. One shoot day, plus a pre-light day for soft rehearsals.
Watch on YouTubeThe interesting part of a one-take video is never the take. It is the rehearsal method and the reason the room looks like that.
Location Twickenham Studios
Set a New York apartment built on stage
The take used 14
Blocking method rehearsals filmed on the director's iPhone, handed to the Steadicam operator as reference
Camera and lenses not stated
Budget not stated
Why the studio walls are in shot
We knew that because it's an old studio, the studio walls are inherently aesthetically interesting… We knew that even if we only have one set, and we could only afford to do a couple of flats for her bedroom, then she could walk off set and the studio itself would look interesting.
That is a genuinely transferable idea. If you can only afford one built set, pick a location whose unbuilt parts are worth seeing, and let the performer walk out of the set into the room.
A one take video by its very nature is a team effort. And so if people are doing it for favours, for next to nothing, it's got to be fun.
Crew named: Oliver Curtis (DoP), Austin Phillips (Steadicam), Marcus Rowland (production designer), Jennifer White (choreographer) with Naomi Weijand, Richard Graysmark (1st AD), Julian Day (costume). Anonymous Content, London.
A correction to something circulating: a "ten-hour shoot day" figure has attached itself to this video. It does not appear in the source, which states one shoot day plus a pre-light day and gives no hours at all.
A spec or a number wrong here? Tell us and we will correct it against the source.
