2025, the golden age of the long take on television
Three series, one shared obsession: never cut. How the long take became the showrunners' favorite weapon in 2025 and why this gamble doesn't always pay off.
Summary
Introduction - The long take is leaving cinema
From True Detective to The Bear: the rise to power
Adolescence (Netflix): four episodes, four shots, zero cuts
The Studio (Apple TV+): the long take in the service of comedy
Daredevil: Born Again (Disney+): The legacy of the corridor, Marvel version 2025
The technological revolution: why now?
Narrative choice: why showrunners refuse to cut
The limitations: when the long take undermines the narrative
FAQ
Conclusion
1. Introduction - The long take is emerging from cinema
Spring 2025. In the space of a few weeks, three major series arrive on the platforms with a radical common point: the long take as a principle of staging, not as a simple occasional effect.
Netflix's Adolescence films each hour-long episode in a single take. Apple TV+'s The Studio constructs all ten of its episodes in uninterrupted long takes. Disney+'s Daredevil: Born Again returns to the long-take fights that made the original series legendary.
In cinema, the long take has always had its masters: Hitchcock with Rope, Cuarón with Children of Men, Iñárritu with Birdman. But what we see in 2025 is a shift. The long take is no longer reserved for prestigious projects with colossal budgets. It has become a common storytelling tool in television productions.
This dossier analyzes why and also poses a question that few articles address: is the long take always at the service of the narrative, or does it sometimes become a mere gimmick? Two forces converge: a technological revolution that makes the long take mechanically simpler to execute, and a deliberate narrative choice by showrunners seeking to stand out. But technique without narrative intent produces questionable results. We discuss this as well.
2. From True Detective to The Bear: The Rise to Power
The explosion of 2025 did not come out of nowhere. It is the culmination of a decade of television long takes that have pushed the boundaries, piece by piece.
True Detective, Season 1 (2014) - The Trigger
Six minutes. That's the length of the single-take sequence in the episode "Who Goes There?", directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. The camera follows Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) on a chaotic raid on a stash house in a poor neighborhood of Beaumont, Texas. Fukunaga knew he wanted to shoot a single take even before reading Nic Pizzolatto's script. This shot proved that television could rival cinema in terms of visual ambition.
What makes it work is that the chaos is real. The camera, like the viewer, doesn't know what's going to happen. It runs, it latches onto the camera, it loses sight of the main character. The lack of editing isn't a technical gimmick; it's the most effective way to convey panic.
Daredevil, season 1 (2015) - The long take fight enters pop culture
The fight in the corridor. Inspired by the lateral tracking shot in Oldboy, this scene became the series' signature. Each subsequent season was expected to deliver its own fight sequence, an expectation that Born Again had to fulfill ten years later. Season 3 pushed the envelope even further with an 11-minute tracking shot in a prison, where Matt Murdock confronts inmates and guards without interruption.
Mr. Robot, season 3 (2017) - The Perfect Illusion
Sam Esmail filmed an entire 43-minute episode to give the impression of a single, continuous shot. Technically, it's several long takes stitched together with invisible cuts. But the effect on the viewer is the same: total immersion in Elliot's paranoia. The distinction between a "real" single take and a fake one begins to blur, and the audience doesn't care.
The Bear, Season 1 (2022) - The long take as a breath-hold
Christopher Storer's "Review" episode: 18 minutes of kitchen mayhem presented as a single continuous shot. The shortest episode of the season, but the most intense. The camera never leaves the kitchen, and the tension builds relentlessly. Storer won the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for this episode. The single-take shot transformed a dramedy into a physical experience.
From True Detective (2014) to Adolescence (2025), the trajectory is clear: the television long take has gone from a remarkable one-off scene to the structuring principle of an entire series. The technical feat has become a narrative language.
3. Adolescence (Netflix): four episodes, four shots, zero cuts
The series that changed everything. Adolescence, a four-part British miniseries directed by Philip Barantini, tells the story of the arrest of a 13-year-old boy suspected of murdering a classmate. The premise is chilling. The technique is even more so: each episode is filmed in a single, continuous take. No invisible cuts, no cuts masked by a blackout. One shot, one take.
This is the second single-take project for the Barantini-Lewis duo, following the film Boiling Point (2021), a restaurant filmed entirely in one shot. Boiling Point (yes, chef) was the training. Adolescence is the marathon.
The equipment
Cinematographer Matthew Lewis used a DJI Ronin 4D paired with a Cooke SP3 32mm. Why this camera? Lewis had initially considered a Sony Venice or an Arri Alexa Mini. Too heavy, too bulky, or unable to record continuously for an hour. It was his key grip who suggested the Ronin 4D. After a day of testing, the team was convinced. Lewis summed it up: the Ronin 4D offered stabilized footage without the bulk usually associated with stabilization, with unparalleled creative potential thanks to its compact size.
The camera is both a gimbal and a handheld unit; it produces a smooth image and can switch to handheld mode when the scene demands it. It can be transferred from one operator to another mid-shot. It can be passed through a window. It can be crawled through a confined space.
The figures
Episode 1 was captured on take 2.Episode 2, more complex, required 13 takes. Episode 3 required 11, and episode 4, 16. The entire series was filmed in five days : episode 1 on the first day, the other three on the last day of filming.
The lighting was programmed on a DMX console with cues synchronized to the camera positions, 50 to 60 cues for the first episode alone. Each camera movement was repeated like a choreography.
Sound: the invisible challenge
A rarely discussed aspect. Sound engineers Rob Entwistle and Kiff McManus (who had previously worked on Boiling Point) had to create a consistent sound environment as the camera moved seamlessly from room to room. Each room, hallway, and transition was treated as a distinct acoustic environment, with reverberations adjusted and automated in real time to reflect the camera's position. Splice's sound team applied this spatial work with surgical precision in post-production. On a traditional shoot, editing corrects sound continuity. In a single take, everything must be captured cleanly, or nearly so, on the first shot.
The result
Eight Emmy Awards in 2025, including Best Cinematography for Matthew Lewis. Four Golden Globes in January 2026. And Lewis has announced he's working on a new series shot in a single take; the format is becoming a genre in its own right.
Pro tip : The camera's lightness is the deciding factor for a long take. If your operator can't hold the equipment for the entire duration of the shot without visible muscle fatigue, the take will fail regardless of the acting's skill. The Ronin 4D weighs approximately 4.5 kg with a lens, compared to 7-10 kg for an Alexa Mini setup with an external gimbal.
4. The Studio (Apple TV+): the long take in the service of comedy
While Adolescence proves that the long take amplifies dramatic tension, The Studio demonstrates something unexpected: the long take also works in comedy.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg arrived with an ambitious request to cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra (The Bear, Euphoria): to shoot four and a half hours of programming entirely in long takes. Ten episodes, one shot per episode. The series follows a Hollywood studio head (Rogen) who navigates between pressures from Apple executives and his own artistic ambitions.
The technical setup
An Arri Alexa 35 equipped with a single Zeiss/Arri Master Prime 21mm T1.3. One camera body, one focal length, for all ten episodes. The 21mm lens offered both close-ups without excessive distortion and sufficient depth of field to keep the environment clear. Newport-Berra explained that the digital format with the Alexa 35 allowed the use of a much smaller camera, placeable almost anywhere; with a film camera, a 300-meter roll of film would have been required.
The Alexa 35, with its built-in texture and grain structure, also offered a wider exposure latitude than the Ronin 4D, crucial for scenes shot on location with varying natural lighting.
The episode "The Oner"
The second episode, ironically titled "The Oner," is a 25-minute single take filmed in several real Los Angeles locations, including a John Lautner-designed house with its enormous bay windows. The concept is breathtaking: the series' fictional film crew attempts to complete their own long take at sunset, while the real crew is filming a real one. The episode contains a few subtle cuts, but the immersive effect is complete.
The long take as a creative shield
Newport-Berra highlighted an unexpected strategic advantage. When Apple TV+ executives sent notes requesting changes to a line of dialogue or adjustments to the pacing, the response was simple: impossible, it's a single take. The format became a shield against editorial interference. Comedy was unfamiliar with the single take, and that's precisely what made the project exciting, according to Newport-Berra: importing an aesthetic borrowed from drama into a lighthearted genre.
Pro tip : The long take in comedy works because it creates tension between the comedic rhythm (which requires millimeter-perfect timing) and the impossibility of fixing a botched line in editing. This tension is palpable on screen; the viewer feels that everything could change in an instant.
5. Daredevil: Born Again (Disney+): The legacy of the corridor, Marvel version 2025
It's impossible to talk about long takes on television without mentioning Daredevil. The original Netflix series made a lasting impression in 2015 with its fight scene in a corridor, a raw, claustrophobic single take inspired by Oldboy. Each season delivered its own long-take fight. Born Again was meant to honor this legacy, with a Marvel budget and ten years of technical hindsight.
The opening scene
Cinematographer Hillary Fyfe Spera conceived the series' opening tracking shot: Bullseye shoots Foggy Nelson outside Josie's bar, and Daredevil chases the assassin through the bar, down the stairwell, and onto the building's rooftop. The scene was filmed at the Capri Social Club in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with the rooftop shot at 4 a.m. to maximize natural light.
The camera approach: the rails of destiny
The difference from the frenetic long takes of the original series is radical. The camera moves only along a Y-axis, moving forward or backward in space, instead of sweeping laterally. The idea: to give the impression that the camera is on the tracks of destiny. It already knows how the story ends. It observes.
Spera had to execute a series of real-time lighting cues while Daredevil and Bullseye moved through space, a considerable technical challenge to maintain the visual consistency of a shot that transitions from the dark interior of a bar to the rooftop of a building in the middle of the night.
Technical setup
Arri Alexa 35 with Panavision G and T series anamorphic lenses. The choice of anamorphic lenses gives Born Again a distinctive visual grain that is more cinematic than the original Netflix series, with warm flares characteristic of Panavision lenses.
The luminous drones of season 2
Season 2 pushed innovation even further. For the cargo ship sequence, Spera used drone-mounted lights to continuously illuminate the scene while the camera followed the action. The constraint: the drones could only fly for 12 minutes per battery, for a 5-6 minute sequence filmed in 5-6 takes. Each attempt required a fleet of drones that had to be synchronized with the fight choreography.
True or false long take?
A word of honesty. The opening scene of Born Again, as Spera herself confirmed, is composed of two long takes stitched together. It's not a single continuous shot in the strictest sense, unlike Adolescence. The distinction matters to purists, but the immersive effect for the viewer remains intact.
Pro tip : A fight sequence requires a different kind of coordination than a dramatic one-shot. Stunt performers must rehearse each movement with the same precision as a ballet choreographer, but while also taking into account the camera movements. If a blow is off by half a second, the entire take has to be redone. Allow twice as much rehearsal time as for a conventionally edited fight scene.
6. The technological revolution: why now?
Why 2025? The long take has existed since the beginnings of cinema. Hitchcock filmed Rope in 1948. So why this sudden explosion on television? The answer lies in three developments.
The DJI Ronin 4D: the game-changer
This is probably the tool that has contributed most to democratizing the long take in television. An all-in-one system: cinema sensor (6K or 8K), integrated 4-axis stabilization, LiDAR autofocus, wireless video transmission. All housed in a carbon fiber and aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis.
What this changes in practical terms:
No need for an easyrig, the camera is light enough to be held at arm's length for an entire episode
Operator transfers are possible mid-shot; the compact design allows the camera to be passed from one person to another
Movements otherwise impossible: passing through a window, climbing onto a drone, crawling in confined spaces
Internal stabilization, no need for a Steadicam or external gimbal
The Arri Alexa 35: the benchmark for quality
For shorter long takes (25-30 minutes), the Alexa 35 remains the choice of cinematographers who want the best possible image. Heavier than the Ronin 4D, but with superior exposure latitude and grain texture. It was the choice of Newport-Berra for The Studio and Spera for Born Again.
Programmable lighting
The least visible but equally crucial advancement. Modern DMX systems with programmable cues allow dozens of lighting changes to be synchronized with camera positions. In Adolescence, this amounted to 50 to 60 cues per episode. Ten years ago, this coordination would have required an army of electricians working manually, with an error rate incompatible with a one-hour single-take shot.
Pro tip : If you're preparing a long take, lighting is the element that requires the most planning. Every transition between two spaces (interior/exterior, hallway/lit room) must be programmed in advance. The slightest unplanned change in lighting breaks the illusion. Beyond 3-4 minutes of continuous shooting, DMX systems with programmable cues become essential.
7. Narrative choice: why showrunners refuse to cut
Technology makes the long take possible. But it doesn't explain why so many creators choose to use it.
Radical immersion
This is the premise of Adolescence. Barantini doesn't cut because he wants the viewer trapped in the same time frame as the characters. When the camera follows the arrested teenager from his living room to the police station, without interruption, the viewer physically feels the passage of time. No ellipses to provide relief. No changes of angle to create distance. You are right there.
This is what Cuarón did in Children of Men; the film's most striking long takes prevent you from looking away. Editing creates emotional distance. The long take eliminates it.
Differentiation in a saturated market
By 2025, streaming platforms produce hundreds of series per year. The majority are filmed in a functional way: shot-reverse-shot, classic coverage, clean editing. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing memorable either.
The long take is an act of distinction. When a viewer stumbles upon Adolescence and realizes that the entire episode is a single shot, they talk about it. They share it. They recommend it. The long take generates organic word-of-mouth.
The prestige
The long take remains associated with auteur cinema. Birdman won the Oscar. 1917 was nominated. Sokurov's Russian Ark remains a unique achievement. By adopting the long take, series claim a cinematic status. They are saying: we are not ordinary television.
8. The limitations: when the long take detracts from the narrative
It would be dishonest to claim that the long take is always a good idea. Sometimes, it becomes exactly what its detractors criticize it for: a gimmick.
The trap of "look what we can do"
A long take that draws attention to its own technical virtuosity rather than the story is a failed long take. The viewer shouldn't think, "That's a long take," they should think, "I can't look away." The film Extraction (2020), with its digitally stitched 12-minute single take, is often cited as an example of a film that prioritizes spectacle over narrative. The technique is impressive. The emotion, less so.
Spectator fatigue
A 60-minute single take demands a level of concentration that not all viewers are prepared to provide. Adolescence works because the narrative tension never falters. But while the script has lulls—and most scripts do—the lack of editing makes them more noticeable, not less so. Traditional editing allows for a tighter pace. The single take denies this lifeline.
The fake long take: does it count?
Born Again, Mr. Robot, even 1917—these projects assemble multiple shots to create the illusion of a single take. VFX technology makes the seams invisible. Is it still a single take? For purists, no. For the viewer who doesn't see the cut, yes. The debate is legitimate, but there's a risk: by trivializing the fake single take, we devalue the feat of the real one. When everything looks like a single take, nothing impresses anymore.
The cost of error
The paradox of the long take: it can reduce shooting days (Adolescence was filmed in five days), but each missed take is costly in terms of time and energy. A line forgotten at minute 45 of a 50-minute episode, and everything has to be redone. The pressure on the actors and the technical crew is immense, and it isn't always justified by the final result on screen.
9. FAQ
Is it possible to shoot a sequence shot with an independent budget?
Yes. Boiling Point (2021) proved it with a modest budget. The key is preparation: weeks of rehearsal for just a few days of shooting. The DJI Ronin 4D costs around €7,000, a fraction of the price of a complete Arri setup. What's expensive isn't the camera, it's the rehearsal time and the team coordination.
How is sound managed during a one-hour single-take shot?
This is one of the most underestimated challenges. On Adolescence, sound engineers Rob Entwistle and Kiff McManus used multiple recorders positioned throughout the set. In post-production, the Splice team treated each room as a distinct acoustic environment, with automated reverberations in real time. Every transition from doorway to room requires an invisible sound match, a meticulous task that rivals the visual choreography.
Do actors have a right to make mistakes?
In theory, no. In practice, most long takes incorporate a margin for improvisation and minor errors. On Adolescence, Stephen Graham sometimes adjusted his lines based on the dynamics of the take. Episode 1 was perfected on the second take, but episode 4 required 16 attempts. The right to make mistakes exists, but it comes at the cost of additional takes.
True long take or invisible cuts: how to tell the difference?
Look for moments when the image goes completely black, passes in front of a plain wall, or goes through a prolonged motion blur. These are classic stitching points. In Adolescence, there are none; the continuity is total, confirmed by the technical team. In Born Again or Mr. Robot, the cuts are present but controlled enough to remain invisible during normal viewing.
Will the long take become the norm on television?
No. And that's perfectly fine. The long take is a tool, not an end in itself. It works when the narrative demands it, when temporal immersion, sustained tension, or the rejection of editing bring something that traditional editing can't offer. A procedural police drama has no reason to forgo editing. The long take should remain a choice, not a fad.
10. Conclusion
2025 will go down in television history as the moment when the long take ceased to be an achievement and became commonplace. The convergence of cameras light enough to shoot for an hour without a break and showrunners ambitious enough to reject the comfort of editing produced something rare: a change visible on screen.
Adolescence proved it was possible. The Studio proved it worked beyond the drama. Daredevil: Born Again proved the legacy could be renewed even with some rough edges. And the next step is already taking shape: Matthew Lewis is working on a new single-take project. The format hasn't finished pushing its own boundaries.
But the real question isn't "Can you film an entire series in one take?" The real question is: "Does this story need to be uninterrupted?" When the answer is yes, the result is unforgettable. When the answer is no, the long take becomes a magic trick no one asked for.
The long take doesn't cut. Neither does the viewer, provided they are given a reason to stay.
Sources of technical information:
Interview Matthew Lewis (Cooke Optics, IndieWire, postPerspective, British Cinematographer)
Interview Adam Newport-Berra (American Cinematographer / ASC, Harbor Picture Company, Variety, Digital Camera World)
Hillary Fyfe Spera Interview (Deadline, IndieWire, Filmmaker Magazine, Awards Radar)
Interview with Adolescence (Production Expert)
Interview Aaron Moorhead & Justin Benson (The Popverse)
👉 Find detailed analyses of long takes in film and television, technical specifications, and resources for directors and film enthusiasts on plan-sequences.com . Subscribe so you don't miss anything.
