a second take to safe the previous one?

[David Kristensson]

Hello!

I recently had a discussion about the following,
Should you always go for a second take to safe the previous one?


I’ve been thought that you shouldn’t waste the time…In some ways I believe that if you don’t know what
went wrong with the first one then you will probably do it the same the next.

So you have a shot in the can, that the director is happy about … is it common practise to go for a second take just to be safe?


cheers!

[ericyoung]

In my experience it's always worth a second take after one the director (and everyone else) is happy with, as long as you aren't falling seriously behind schedule, and the shot is an important one in your shotlist.

You get happy accidents because actors and everybody else relax a little after a good take and can actually do a better one.

Also, it gives you a different reaction shot perhaps, and gives you an alternative take should a file get corrupted or a bit of film gets damaged.

Also it's always good to have in choices in the edit.

[Joe D'Arcy]

Hello!

I recently had a discussion about the following,
Should you always go for a second take to safe the previous one?


I’ve been thought that you shouldn’t waste the time…In some ways I believe that if you don’t know what
went wrong with the first one then you will probably do it the same the next.

So you have a shot in the can, that the director is happy about … is it common practise to go for a second take just to be safe?


cheers!

Always do a second take, even if the first one is perfect. Even if you are short of time and on a zero budget.

You'll never forgive yourself at the editing stage if something happens to your first perfect take.
Joe

[Philippe Van Horebeek]

I agree with the above. You always have the possibility to get something better (or not) or a slight variation.
But above all, short on time or not, budget or no budget, no one can afford to discover a major problem (file corrupt, ....) in the editing room. And it's nice to have a choice.

[David Kristensson]

sounds reasonable, guess Ive been lucky that an error havent happened to me... I wouldnt wanna explain to a client that we have to go for a reshoot because of an technical error..
have a greate day!!

[Jeffrey T. Morgan]

when I get my first good take, I call that the safety, and then ask for one more "just have fun with this one"

Jeff

[Jamie Havill]

As a director/editor of a short the just wrapped with a resonable budget, I can safely say doing a "safety" is absolutely essential.

The first few days it absolutely pained me when we were going for "safety's", but in editing now, they are an absolute God send. With all the pressures and goings on on a busy set, it is near impossible as a director to be absolutely 100% you got everything you need in that so called 'perfect take'. Things like actors timing, delivery, little glances and looks,also things you didn't account for (a few of my 'perfect' takes the talent actually glances at the camera by accident or they simply wern't as perfect as I thought they were at the end of a 14 hour day) and a change in the way you decide a scene should pan out or work.

Obviously is also depends greatly on what your shooting. We went for safetys of cut-aways, POV's of objects, or anything of that nature, but you could argue there just wern't the risks/variables involved compaired to when people are in front of the camera so that was overkill. It just depends whether you want absolute peice of mind.

[Aric Mannion]

It's so easy to miss stuff while you are filming, most of the time the absolute best shot on set turns out to be stupid when I actually sit down and watch it during editing. But I do so many takes I usually have a good one as back up.

[Scott Crawley]

You will likely be putting many man-hours into preparation all with the purpose of getting the required elements onto the set so that you can shoot your project. Shooting another take will take you 30 seconds to several minutes. Why wouldn't you spend a couple more minutes to shoot it again? Rushing through production is penny wise and dollar foolish so to speak. Ganted there is a balancing point, and a good director knows where that is.

[Thomas Wright]

What would Hitchcock have done?

[Scott Crawley]

What would Hitchcock have done?

That's a good question to be asking :-) My understanding is that Hitch was pretty economical and moved fairly quickly, without a large number of takes. Another good question t. Ask yourself is "Is my cast and crew as good as his? How else do I compare to Hitch? If you are all that good, then maybe a few takes will be good enough. I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about it though. I'd rather be thinking about the quality of the takes I was getting. :-)

[AaronPicot]

IMHO: Safety takes are important, yes do them.

If your first take was "perfect" and you think you don't need a safety, take a moment and talk to your crew. Ask scripty, your DP and camera ops, check with sound, and anyone else involved, like stunt men, etc. (not necessarily in that order) if they had any issues at all, and then read their reactions. If everyone is good with it, still do a safety.

@ Jeff: I like the "just have fun with this one" idea. I think I'll steal that on the next show I direct/produce.