one-take wonder

English translation: a (short) film in which the first take was so perfect there was no need for further takes

12:15 Jun 4, 2009

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama

English term or phrase: one-take wonder

I am translating a PR about a video contest. It begins with the following sentence:

What do a music video spoof, a satirical infomercial and a ***one-take wonder*** have in common?

My understanding about "one-take wonder" would be a film/video with great success, though no other films or work from the director never hit the audience. I am not so sure about that. (Because most, not to say all, of these videos have never been released to the general public). Could you please clarify it for me?

Thanks,

Michel

Michel A. KudoZ activity Questions: 406 (1 open) (71 closed without grading) Answers: 4299
Local time: 22:24

Selected answer:a (short) film in which the first take was so perfect there was no need for further takes

Explanation:
This presumably would mean there is only one scene in the entire production - no cuts.

I suppose this could also be applied to any actor whose performance in the first take was so good that the scene didn't need any subsequent takes.

Selected response from:

Nibus
Local time: 03:24

Grading comment

Thanks to all
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

2 +6

a (short) film in which the first take was so perfect there was no need for further takes

Nibus

5 +2

a very good one-take film

d_vachliot (X)

2 +1

a very short amazing clip

Mark Nathan

a fluke shoot

Mwananchi

Answers

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

a very short amazing clip

Explanation:
Like someone doing a skateboard stunt - those sort of youtube clips that people send each other saying "wow, you gotta see this..." (or something along those lines).

But I am not really sure - this might have a more specific film meaning.

Mark Nathan
France
Local time: 04:24
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

33 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

a (short) film in which the first take was so perfect there was no need for further takes

Nibus
Local time: 03:24
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Thanks to all

36 mins confidence:

a fluke shoot

Explanation:
A lucky take with no precedence or likely follow up.

Mwananchi
Kenya
Local time: 05:24
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Swahili

21 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

a very good one-take film

Explanation:
A one-take film is a film shot without interruption (no pauses or cuts) and with no editing involved. In other words, the camera is switched on and when it is switched off some minutes later, the film in its final form is there. Usually, but not necessarily, films shot on Super-8 are one-take films, because super 8 cannot be edited.

It is notoriously difficult to make a good one-take film (it's probably one of the most difficult things a filmmaker would undertake), hence a good one-take film would be a "one-take wonder", in a sense.

Russian Ark would be a recent example of a one-take film shot on high-definition video.
http://www.chlotrudis.org/movies/reviews/2003/russian.html

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Note added at 1 day21 mins (2009-06-05 12:36:58 GMT)
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I googled the term to come up with some examples and the results were interesting and unambiguous:

This is one is called "One shot wonder":

"You’ve heard of one hit wonders. But have you ever come across one shot wonders? Well in the world of cinema, this kind of phenomenal movie making rarely surfaces, but when it does, it creates waves!

Now you may wonder how I suddenly thought of ’One Shot Films’. Well I was seeing Gateway & came across this task where these wannabe directors had to make a one shot film. Phew, did some of them crumble or what! But a few films I saw were simply awesome! Speaking of one take films, I had mentioned one in one of my earlier write ups, ‘twas by an Indian director & was called ‘Right Here Right Now’. It was shot in one take. But don’t be fooled, these one shot films take months, sometimes years to plan & rehearse. Everything has to be perfect! Everything must work like clockwork. Take this next example for instance, it’s a Russian film called, ‘Russian Ark’. The film contains 2000 actors, features through 300 years of Russian history, goes through 33 Rooms at the Hermitage Museum & all this done in one single shot! Phew! See this clip to believe it yourself. :)"

http://www.vfxtalk.com/forum/sitemap/one-shot-wonder-gateway...

"One Take Super 8 Event
The One Take Super 8 Event (OTS8) began in 2000, with 20 filmmakers each shooting a single reel of Super 8 film, which then premiered to an audience without the filmmakers seeing their work beforehand. All the films were shown as shot. No cuts. No splices. The popularity of this non-competitive festival has allowed it to return each year with more filmmakers participating. To date over 400 films have been created for the One Take Super 8 Event!"

http://onetakesuper8event.blogspot.com/2008/10/projector-rev...

http://www.onetakefestival.com/main.php

d_vachliot (X)
Local time: 05:24
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Greek

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one-take wonder

English translation: a (short) film in which the first take was so perfect there was no need for further takes

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