Year 12 - Slowing the pace of the editing

Learn how to use the word 'take' in your writing about editing. A 'take' is the length of time between edits (cuts, crossfades, dissolves etc).

Long takes slow the pace, giving a long time between cuts, short takes increase the pace of the action. A great example of the long take slowing everything down is at the end of the 1967 film The Graduate where Dustin Hoffman's character, Ben, has driven across California to stop his sweetheart's wedding: his car runs out of petrol half a mile from the church and he finishes the journey on foot.

For a programme maker, short takes are useful because if the actor goes wrong, not very much needs to be done again in 'take 2'. If working in long takes, for example, a character walks into a pub, the camera pans around the room, zooms in on a conversation, and the character we see joins the shot there are more opportunities for the actor to make a mistake. If the mistake comes at the end, it all has to be shot again.