Children of Men - 6 minutes take

[KtaGon]

The woman scream at 0:27 is the exact same scream as the one in the beggining of the movie (after the coffe-shop bomb).

ffs was it so expensive to record a scream?

[RokhuStar]

the people in the bus look straigth into the camera ...doesnt really bother makes you wonder who is walking with theo. especially with the bloodspatters.

[andrejvgo]

guys, just because a director says something on a dvd doesnt make it true. werner herzog says all the fitzcaraldo ship scenes were real, even though theres a model ship from the shooting on display in the berlin kinemathek museum.

[heckkktic]

it is two takes, when the camera goes into the building the screen goes black for like a second. they probably would have used that as an opportunity to cut.

[manez213]

amazing to think that everything and everyone was ready for their cue from the start of the take

[thedrmat]

This film should have also contended for Best Picture and Best Director that year!!

[rucsok15]

everyone in the future will be black, damn.

[netoupload]

bad ass scene

[heckkktic]

lubezki no doubt it the best cinematographer to live

[lightbulbsglow]

@heckkktic I'd be sweating if I was that cam op lol :)

[edgelessmoocow]

This length of take is so demanding on the actors. Brilliant job by all of them, and of course in the director/cameraman.

[TheBattlefieldbad]

Lol

[AlEiNl0vE]

this isn't the complete shot!!

[sjamesvfx]

I worked on the effects on this shot. there are actually 5 takes blended together. try to find them :D

[ThaiBoys2007]

@sjamesvfx . Really? awesome! Just guessing.. Maybe the cuts are 0:57 , 2:37 , 3:37 , 4:01 ? Please let us know :D

[chucklr]

There is a hidden edit in this shot. Watch the speck of blood (top of the screen, a little right of center) disappear at 4:01.

[robinjanasek]

@chucklr Blood is digital.

[chucklr]

There is an article in the journal AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER which discusses Lubezki's cinematography and the hidden edits in the single shot sequences. There is also info about this on the wikipedia page.

[EnglishGavz]

@chucklr Not an edit, during the shot blood was accidentally sprayed onto the camera screen and the director felt that if it remained to long it would distract the audience so they CGI'd it out.

[WHButler]

Can anyone help me on this? If the woman is supposed to be the only one capable of having a child, how come at 5:55 there is a baby? Did it spontaneously generate?

[JoshyBoy78]

because she gave birth to it.

what do you mean? :)

[WHButler]

Hahahah Yeah I realized that about three minutes after I wrote the post. I hadn't seen the movie for a long time and thought she looked different than the pregnant character. Put it down as my own stupidity. Thanks!

[JoshyBoy78]

Lol oh no problem! we're all stupid at times aren't we?! Me more than others!! :) no worries, merry christmas :) no problem!

[chiffmonkey]

Because it's her baby, DUH

[EclektikMedia]

"One of the longest" lol...

6 minutes is truly long for a long take/sequence shot, but one of the longest? Maybe, I'm not so sure...

"RUssian Ark" is a 96 minutes film. ANd it's all ONE take! Crazy!!

[JoshyBoy78]

really? like, the whole movie?! without stopping? for one and half hours?!! JESSUS

[LivingItUp88]

This tracking shot is amazing, it takes a very talented director, technical crew and actors to pull this off.! I think the take is longer than this isn't it??

[cineasta71]

Amazing. lubezki's craft as DP and his crew..wow

[Guernicaman]

Brilliant.

Where is the cut?

[efrenmoruzon]

i love ther way they make this shots

it make it "happen"

[jamspice11]

haha they must have loved filming this

[Fr33artist]

The tracking done in this film is so effective.

[Twisttheawesome]

I'm pretty sure this is one of the best single-takes I've ever seen. This movie is masterfully shot.

[Kheblor]

you can see the blood droplets dissapearing 04:00-04:14

[CommendatoreAndolini]

Blood was digitally removed... how they did it so flawlessly amazes me to this very day.

[BDFilms2005]

there was a cut in 4:01 so there are 2 takes

[yingyangboy89]

They are not actual fake blood droplets mate, the blood drops on the camera are inputted in post production.

[raerth]

Jay is right on this one. The Directors commentary on the dvd says it was an accident that they kept because it looked cool. When the spots disappear it's the next part of the scene being stitched in.

[theBeorn]

no man, they removed the spots digitally. the take is 8 mins long

[jamspice11]

its films like this that gives me an adrenaline to join the army. not good

but i love this scene

[Debono11]

Your comments 4 months old, you joining the army yet? lol

[jamspice11]

nope lol. not allowed anyway =]

[Asgraeac]

This fucking ingenius... the best take ever!

[LifeyC]

4:14. The marks on the lens disappear when the camera goes past the window.

[Riksmarskalk]

@LifeyC It is actually a complete scene, the removed the blood digitally !

[ThaiBoys2007]

It's only 4 + 2 minutes. They cut after 04:00. Look close!

[schizunio]

hmm.. I don't see it.

Besides, still a long take, and it's a good take.

[lightbulbsglow]

@schizunio at four mins as he runs into the building there's a pan that takes the frame into darkness which is the perfect place to disguise the cut and tie the next sequence together. You can begin the next sequence panning out of the darkness as he runs into the building and nobody would ever know :) I'm not sure though because I've not watched the directors commentary, I can't think of any reason to do the whole thing again with that pan though :)

[ZuLuuuuuu]

@lightbulbsglow it is not totally dark in the original video, it appears totally dark on youtube quality. Nevertheless it is dark enough to make a cut and tie, though I think it is one take, or want to believe it is :)

[lightbulbsglow]

@ZuLuuuuuu

ahh, thanks for the info :) yeah I wanna believe too lol ;)

[elfirrepins]

It just looks dark...

But there was no cut. Watch the DVD and you can see it clear as day.

[Jaysmellsbad]

There is a cut. A blood bag accidentally burst and splashed on to the lens. The director wanted to reshoot but the producer convinced him to keep it in. When we enter the building, we cut and the blood is digitally placed back onto the screen and hence they can fade it off screen.

[Spiffynator]

@Jaysmellsbad Wrong, they digitally took that out frame by frame as the scene continues.

[Jaysmellsbad]

@Spiffynator Stupid boy.

[ChillpointNews]

@Jaysmellsbad That is NOT true. I saw the DVD commentary of this movie and the director said himself that they REMOVED the blood, frame by frame, when they have entered the building. He decided to keep the blood in the movie because of the nice effect but not for too long because it would drag out. I don't know where you got your information from - but it's all in the DVD commentary.

[Jaysmellsbad]

@ChillpointNews How does your explanation differ from mine exactly? I used the word fade and you used the word 'removed'?

[ChillpointNews]

@Jaysmellsbad You claim that they added the blood digitally. The blood that is on the lens in the building is de facto the same blood that's on the lens outside the building. Listen to the director on the DVD commentary yourself if you have the opportunity.

[Jaysmellsbad]

@ChillpointNews So where does it go?

[ChillpointNews]

@Jaysmellsbad Where does what go? The blood? The remove it digitally with cloning.

[Jaysmellsbad]

@ChillpointNews Hmm, I don't think so. We'll agree to disagree.

[ChillpointNews]

@Jaysmellsbad How can we agree to disagree with something that is either wrong or right? You are wrong, you obviously did not listen to the DVD commentary where the director himself confirms every thing I have said. So no, we'll not agree to disagree. Just admit that you never watched the DVD commentary.

[horrorgal32]

@ThaiBoys2007

nope theres not.. look closer and you can still see the blood on the lens... and he's shadow moving.. it just goes into the darkness and its hard to see

[Kashadooo]

@ThaiBoys2007 Speed up probably

[GarebearShields]

@ThaiBoys2007

It is actually 1 take, but I can see what you think it's two. Notice how the blood is no longer on the lens after the point where you're talking about? They had someone go through the scene frame by frame and paint it out.

[ZuLuuuuuu]

@GarebearShields I think the blood on the lens was vfx in the first place :)

[GarebearShields]

@ZuLuuuuuu

Nope, it was actually a mistake, it got splattered on during one of the explosions, and the director yelled cut, but nobody could hear him. For the second half of the shot they had to go through and remove it. I've watched many making of videos. ;)

[ZuLuuuuuu]

@GarebearShields Hmmm interesting, thanks for the info. Then can we say that is a prove that the scene is shot in one continous take? Because if 4:00 was the moment of cut and tie then they would clear the lens there?

[dAndylajon]

@ThaiBoys2007

... not necessarily

[pbellmaine85]

@ThaiBoys2007 You're right, as he stumbles through the door it goes black for a split second then goes into the next shot. Still amazing though. As much as the car scene was so innovative and technically amazing, this battle scene is still my favourite scene, I remember seeing it for the first time and I don't think I breathed once until the scene ended haha

[Rhinoch8]

@ThaiBoys2007 Yes you're right its the perfect place for a stealth cut :)