One-shot film
A one-shot or continuous shot feature film is a full-length movie filmed in one long take by a single camera, or manufactured to give the impression it was.
Use and theory
In a 2019 article, discussing the multi-nominated film 1917, Eric Grode of The New York Times wrote that very long takes were becoming popular in more mainstream films "as a sobering reminder of temporality, a virtuosic calling card, a self-issued challenge or all of the above", also citing the Academy Award-winner from several years prior, Birdman.History
Grode notes that before such films as 1917 and Birdman, the one-shot had a history of over 70 years, from 1948's Rope, which was shot in 10-minute continuous takes that appear as a one-shot. Reportedly, James Stewart, star of Rope, did not like the long takes and apparently muttered on set that the cameras were more important than the actors. The director, Alfred Hitchcock, intended to shoot the film as if it were a play, and perfectly timed each 10-minute segment to allow for hidden edits behind furniture; elaborate camera and actor choreography was used. He wrote Rope this way because he felt "if time passed between cuts, the suspense of whether the body was still in the trunk would be lost".Grode also examines the 1958 film Touch of Evil as an example, though only its 3-minute opening sequence is shot in real time. However, the use of a real time ticking bomb through the single shot is seen as a standard.
Examples
Actual "one shot"
| Year | Title | Length | Director | Nationality | |
| 1974 | Model | 105 min. | Kostas Sfikas | Greece | - |
| 1982 | Macbeth | 57 min. † | Béla Tarr | Hungary | |
| 1998 | Big Monday | 74 min. | Michael Rehfield | United States | |
| 2000 | Timecode | 97 min. | Mike Figgis | United States | |
| 2002 | Russian Ark | 96 min. | Alexander Sokurov | Russia | |
| 2003 | Sábado, una película en tiempo real | 65 min. | Matías Bize | Chile | |
| 2005 | The Magicians | 96 min. | Song Il-gon | South Korea | |
| 2005 | The Circle | 103 min. | Yuri Zeltser | France | |
| 2007 | PVC-1 | 85 min. | Spiros Stathoulopoulos | Colombia | |
| 2008 | Still Orangutans' | 81 min. | Gustavo Spolidero | Brazil | |
| 2011 | 21 Brothers | 96 min. | Michael McGuire | Canada | |
| 2013 | Rati Chakravyuh | 102 min. | Ashish Avikunthak | India | |
| 2013 | Fish & Cat | 134 min. | Shahram Mokri | Iran | |
| 2013 | El triste olor de la carne | 87 min. | Cristóbal Arteaga | Spain | |
| 2013 | Ana Arabia | 85 min. | Amos Gitai | Israel | |
| 2013 | Somebody Marry Me | 98 min. | John Asher | United States | |
| 2013 | Daikuko | 98 min. | Mitani Koki | Japan | |
| 2014 | Agadam | 123 min. | Mohamad Issack | India | |
| 2015 | Victoria | 140 min. | Sebastian Schipper | Germany | |
| 2015 | Anino sa likod ng buwan | 120 min. | Jun Lana | Philippines | |
| 2015 | Daksha | 142 min. | S. Narayan | India | |
| 2016 | Eight | 81 min. | Peter Blackburn | Australia | |
| 2016 | Immortality | 145 min. | Mahdi Fard Ghaderi | Iran | |
| 2016 | King Dave | 99 min. | Podz | Canada | |
| 2017 | Fourplay | 77 min. | Dean Ronalds | United States | |
| 2017 | The Wedding Party | 119 min. | Thane Economou | United States | |
| 2017 | Lost in London | 100 min. | Woody Harrelson | United States | |
| 2017 | One Shot-Fear Without Cut | 140 min. | Haroon Rashid | India | |
| 2017 | Invasion | 90 min. | Shahram Mokri | Iran | |
| 2017 | Watch The Sunset | 83 min. | Tristan Barr & Michael Gosden | Australia | |
| 2018 | A Boy. A Girl. A Dream: Love on Election Night | 89 min. | Qasim Basir | United States | |
| 2018 | 90 min. | Erik Poppe | Norway | ||
| 2018 | Blind Spot | 98 min. | Tuva Novotny | Norway | |
| 2018 | :de:Tatort: Die Musik stirbt zuletzt|Tatort: Die Musik stirbt zuletzt | 87 min. | Dani Levy | Switzerland | |
| 2018 | :de:Tatort: Die Musik stirbt zuletzt|Tatort: Die Musik stirbt zuletzt | 88 min. | Dani Levy | Switzerland | |
| 2020 | Limbo'' | 89 min. | Tim Dünschede | Germany |
†One five minute shot and the film's opening credits precede the film's 57 minute main shot.
Edited to appear as "one shot"
| Year | Title | Length | Director | Nationality | |
| 1948 | Rope | 80 min. | Alfred Hitchcock | United Kingdom / United States | |
| 1991 | Homework | 85 min. | Jaime Humberto Hermosillo | Mexico | |
| 1997 | Running Time | 70 min. | Josh Becker | United States | |
| 2002 | Irréversible | 97 min. | Gaspar Noé | France | |
| 2009 | Enter the Void | 161 min. | Gaspar Noé | France | |
| 2010 | La Casa Muda | 86 min. | Gustavo Hernández | Uruguay | |
| 2011 | Silent House | 87 min. | Chris Kentis, Laura Lau | United States | |
| 2014 | Birdman | 119 min. | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | México | |
| 2015 | Hardcore Henry | 96 min. | Ilya Naishuller | Russia | |
| 2017 | "eps3.4 runtime-error.r00" | 43 min. | Sam Esmail | United States | |
| 2017 | Bushwick | 94 min. | Cary Murnion, Jonathan Milott | United States | |
| 2018 | "Two Storms" | 57 min. | Mike Flanagan | United States | |
| 2019 | 1917 | 118 min. | Sam Mendes | United Kingdom |