How the Use of Single Shots With Limited Cuts Lets the Audience Fully Experience the Details of a Scene

Video blogger and web producer Evan Puschak aka The Nerdwriter explains how the use of limited cuts and single shots allow the audience to fully experience the scene, the personality of the character and the anticipation of wanting more. Puschak used the sublime 2007 P.T. Anderson film There Will Be Blood as an example.

Already by the third shot I noticed a camera technique that would be used again and again throughout the film this heavy emphasis on double and triple framing in single shots. Anderson and cinematographer Robert Elliot were clearly interested in making a movie comprised largely of long takes, but they keep up the momentum by collapsing multiple shots into one.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.