How "The Bear" Filmed An Entire TV Episode in One Take 

If you liked this video, I just posted a new video on the 2nd season of the Bear, check it out please: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fZhwoyDjTH4.html

genuinely had no idea this was shot in one take. as someone that worked as a line cook for years the chaos just seemed so natural that i didnt even notice it didnt cut at all. the amount of anxiety this episode gave me felt like i was having war flashbacks or something. it was so real.

I remember wondering why the episode was only 17 minutes long when it first premiered. Afterwards, I was like “Yeah, that was very intense. 17 minutes is fine.” 😂

"Donut Guy" is named Marcus and his character is not underdeveloped or underused. He is a very important character on the show. He shows the drive people get to become professional chefs or bakers. He has a passion, and pursues it to the point of perfection. His obsession is what would help him succeed in culinary school, but as he is in a commercial kitchen, and therefore his obsession is a hindrance to his actual job. Yet, when the kitchen becomes abusive, he doesn't sit and take it. He leaves. Marcus is the anti-Carmen, because he aims for perfection, but never at the cost of his own mental health or soul.

The one problem I had with Donut Guy was that he didn't see anything wrong with what he did during that episode (and the show doesn't either). He completely let the team down when they needed him the most, just to selfishly pursue a side project. Imo he 100% deserved to get that donut slapped out of his hand, but the show just resolves it as "Carmy was being an asshole" and has him apologize to Donut Guy without even making Donut Guy apologize back.

The most impressive thing about this episode was how understated and naturalistic the camerawork is. It draws so little attention to itself that most people don't even realize they're watching a long take until several minutes in. Some people never even realized it was a long take at all until afterwards.

I honestly didn’t realize the whole episode was only 17 minutes. Like watching it made me feel like I was IN the chaos and I just couldn’t wait for it to be over so I could get away from the feeling of surreally high anxiety. 17 minutes felt like 45 I swear

Marcus was not a frustratingly underdeveloped character. Although info about him was limited through out the season everything set up for such a heartbreaking moment and I felt like I very much knew his character the whole time. He got into baking because he fell in love with donuts as a child, he had pride in the fact that he want to become a baker. When Carmy taught him the steam trick he went from being arrogant to immediately being humbled student, you see his passion and skills grow more and more throughout the season, you see that he’s homeless and his whole life is about baking, just wanting approval from the man that proves you can take the culinary arts to the point of perfection and fame. So when carmy blows up on him, you feel that depth and weight of his whole life’s passion get shut down. I don’t know, his character worked really for me.

This was done so well and so natural that I did not even realize it was one take until this video popped up in my feed

I think it'd be funny to explore how The Bear uses both short scenes with hundreds of cuts and episode-long oners to serve the same purpose of making the viewer ridiculously anxious

I agree with pretty much everything but the Donut guy. I don’t think he’s a flat character at all. Throughout the show the characters tend to forget about the joy & curiosity of cooking all due because of the chaos that the restaurant started out in and how they are trying to fix it. The donut guys is almost a constant reminder of how cooking can make us almost feel like a curious child, makes us want to learn something new despite all the chaos.

When i first watched the episode i almost paused it when the machine broke. It was so great because it was 1. likely to happen 2. such a sudden twist of events and 3. Sydney had been talking herself up all the way up until that point, and how they need to listen to her more, so for her idea to be the one that put them all in jeopardy increased the tension to indescribable levels, you could feel her stomach drop as if it was your own. Fucking great episode.

I just realized it was one take when watching this video. I was so invested in the show that the one take went over my head. Just another good sign of solid filmmaking and story telling

My favorite one take is in Haunting of Hill House. It is the funeral episode, when the family releases all this pent up resentment and anger. They start at the funeral home and the set changes into Hill House. It goes from present day, to the past, and back to the present. The set, lighting, and characters all change. It's amazing.

I disagree about Donut Guy. Donut Guy was the first beef local to get into Gourmet cooking and, according to the acting and the many points during the show that he stopped to talk shop with him instead of talking orders, Really giving Carmen the hope that it is possible to transform the restaurant. He’s a pretty flat character but he’s a mark of intent to get better in cooking that is aggressively opposed by the rest of the crew for the beginning of the show. I loved every moment of that acting of wonder and desire to learn acted through that character. Flat or not his function was a great de-stressed for this show mostly about stress

As someone who worked as a chef in a hectic kitchen I can confirm this is how a restaurant is runned on a stressful day .. very accurate and entertaining by far the best representation of the job 9.5/10 😊

This episode was the best representation of what working in a kitchen truly in the weeds is like. That sense of anxiety the "one take" gives the episode is very similar to what you feel during a rush like this when everything is going to shit. You feel like there's constantly something going on, or something that you should be doing, and you are just moving a mile a minute trying to stay focused. Honestly, this episode almost felt like it was giving me some PTSD to the when I worked in one, and delivers the levels of stress that caused me to leave the industry ultimately. I mean, ask anyone that has worked in a kitchen. That printer sound haunts your dreams.

Saying the Pastry chef is just “donut guy and is underdeveloped” is such an awful way to perceive this character, from the very beginning Marcus (donut guy) was struggling to make desserts and we see his highs and lows of doing things and improving in the kitchen, him getting the recipes right the same day the review happens is beautifully executed, prior to this we saw him improve making bread by adding water in the oven to steam them, we see him damage the circuits of the restaurant because he was over using a lot of his kitchen equipment and that episode we saw him finally succeed on making his desserts, but at the worst time possible, other than that, this was such an excellent video and you killed this video

so funny remembering how i was so invested in the chaotic-ness and messiness of this episode and then checking the timestamp to realize that that was basically the whole plot

The sense of chaos that the show makes wanted to achive was perfectly depicted by the Oner. Gorgeous video essay.👌

I love when a long cut is so intense that you don't realize it's a oner until it's over or you're near the end. I remember this episode nearly being done before I realized what was even happening and it works so well.

Great commentary... I think you understate the importance of sound in this shot. The "background noise" of the local radio broadcast drives the intensity of this episode to its "boiling point." The shot is amazing. I'm blown away that there weren't any hidden cuts. I would encourage anyone who is interested to go back and LISTEN to this episode. Though the music is practical (a radio in a kitchen) it becomes the film score, subconsciously provoking the audience's emotional stress.

for people who’ve never worked in a commercial kitchen before, i worked in one with 0 issues for 6 months. Got in, did the work, got out. Never had any sort of anxiety issues or anything (which i am prone to). Cut 6 or so years later, did a trial shift in a completely different commercial kitchen and came VERY close to having a panic attack. It never leaves you. I’m happy working in the café kitchen that I do, it’s much more manageable (for my mental health too), but man, working in a kitchen can be a nightmare.

I remember watching this episode and like 8 minutes in I looked at my wife and said this is all one scene there’s no cut aways. I was thoroughly impressed

I’ve never felt so much anxiety watching a pilot episode. Well done, The Bear

This is an Emmy-winning episode

I think the oner was used perfectly in the bear - the intensity and trapped feeling put the viewer in Carmy’s shoes and I remember thinking this level of stress is nowhere near compensated by what line cooks are paid. On top of that, I didn’t even realise the episode was only 17 minutes long when I watched it - possibly because 15 of those were pure chaos and anxiety. Anything longer and it may have been a negative, somewhat torturous experience for the viewer.

I wholeheartedly disagreed with you about Marcus. I honestly didn't feel like I needed more interesting qualities from him in this season because Carmy's arc held most of my attention. I really enjoyed the small and unassuming donut arc. His background so far puts him as working in Mcdonalds where everything is pre-made and the same - to being inspired by Carmy and by pastries, which is rooted in his nostalgia of being a child. He was the first to embrace the new kitchen style (language and the aprons) and it's nice to see him going from arrogant (first episode) to a willing student who (I think in later seasons) will learn that artistry and "creative genius" has to come second to doing his job. These are very short episodes and there is a lot to get through in terms of Carmy's grief and the restaurant's arc so it makes sense for them to not spend too much time on him. On a bright side though, it leaves a great deal to be explored in Season 2 and I for one can't wait! Great video.

The one shot in 2005 Pride and Prejudice party scene is one of my favorites. The movement and getting all the character dynamics with very little dialogue was so well done. This video makes me want to go seek one shot scenes out for sure.

Haunting of Hill House has a solid one shot episode/scene

I thought the decision to use cuts to help communicate stress was a smart and accurate depiction of what it feels like to work in hospitality, but then that long, painful dragging take in the worst moment they’ve had so far in the series is such a true and honest reflection of how it feels to be in that moment

Oh no! There was no mention of Haunting of Hill House-Two Storms. The whole episode is a compilation of five long shots and it is an absolute masterclass. Love this video!

The 7th episode made me start crying. I don't know if it was the anxiety or the bad memories that I'm sure most cooks have, but boy, that was so fucked.

My roommate and I were watching and about seven minutes in or so we were like "wait ... they haven't cut. Oh my god!" It was already great tv, and then it was like they went "oh how about a whole episode as a Oner?" just to completely knock everyone else away. Immensely impressed with the cast and crew doing this.

Daredevil has a few long take action scenes that were shot to perfection. A few cuts potentially here and there but a good one take none the less.

anyone who has worked in the food industry completely felt this episode. the overload of the receipts, crashing into others, screaming, sweating, and just wanting to die. it’s stressful work, but it’s worth it.

That episode felt so short I was honestly surprised at first but now looking back it was probably due to the one take run. Definitely helped create a sense of urgency I started to almost feel overwhelmed.

I love one-shot takes. One of the ones that sticks with me, is the first episode of "19-2"'s second season opens with two cops responding to what turns out to be a school shooting. The first 13 minutes are one uninterrupted take, no soundtrack; it REALLY ratchets up the tension

Dude..... That was one take..... This was the best show of the year.

Episode 7 is one of the best episodes of TV i have seen in probably 10 years

The Bear is an insane show. So incredibly perfect. This episode stressed me TF out to the point of needing to take a breath myself just watching. Crazy how they pulled this off. Perfect execution with building chaotic energy with the one take 🤌

Wait do you actually not understand "donut guy's" significance as a character? He's not a shallow character at all, IMO, and his meaning was pretty clear to me, in that he represents the obsessiveness of a chef in love with what they do. Through all this chaos, for the whole time, he's hyperfocused on his own recipe, contributing to the chaos by not contributing. Only thinking of oneself in a group environment.

Oh yeah, I was a dishwasher for a single shift, kitchens are chaotic. At the end they asked me if I wanted to come back and I was like NOPE! I will go do something else.

I was just a food runner when I was in college but this show is so accurate. Some of the people I worked with are still good friends 10 years later. I’ve never been so close with my coworkers than at this restaurant. I’m so happy I don’t do this now though.

This is so cool I never noticed this before! I did however notice and LOVE that one uninterrupted, 6-minute monologue in the season finale where the shot stays on his face the whole time. That was amazing.

Glad the bear is getting some love in the video essay genre One of the best shows of the year

Episode 7 was one of the most stressful things I've seen, someone told me it was a single take and I had no idea until I saw this video. I'm absolutely blown away.

calling Lionel "donut guy" is nuts,😂 I agree we could've gotten more backstory but wouldn't say to the extent of frustratingly underdeveloped. Great analysis if the one shot though and it's TV history.

There’s this really simple but beautiful episode of Mad About You that is a one take. And it absolutely adds to this story, especially since the whole episode breaks the usual sitcom formula

watched this and was tense the entire time!! the one take truly delivered what was needed

Every commercial break when I viewed felt like a chance to breathe 😂 truly an amazingly stress inducing episode

by far my favorite moment was when I was watching this moment with my dad and, about a 1/4 of the way in, we realized it was all one take and were left awestruck the rest of the episode

One of the best episodes ever . The tension , Music , camera work , and the acting ??? I couldn’t look away .

I only realized this episode was one take literally RIGHT after the episode ended. The credits started and I was like, "Holy shit, WAS THAT EPISODE A ONER?! I literally had rewatched the whole episode a second time RIGHT AFTER because this show is just too good! SOOO SOOO GOOD! It has become one of my favorite shows of all time.

Marcus growth over season 1 and 2 is amazing. I love donut guy 😂

A clip of this episode on twitter was the reason I decided to watch the show. I didn't realize how much went into to making it but it really was impeccable acting and it made me feel like I was in the kitchen with them. Thanks for the video explaining this!

I have to rewatch it, did not notice that it was in one cut. That’s honestly mind blowing, imagine all the small details all having to be perfect amazing

I assumed this had over a million views when I watched it. Criminally underrated channel and video.

I remember watching this episode and feeling my heartrate increase. such an effective way to film it!

The acid trip in climax is a fully uncut 40 minute shot and it's the most impressive thing I've ever seen.

I absolutely loved this episode because of the chaos. I had no idea that it was a single take in the moment which shows how well done it was.

Randy’s favorite RU-vid video essayist is back with some heat!!! Love it.

This video does NOT show how it is filmed in one take, it just explains why.

Great video man! I thoroughly enjoyed that you went over a bit of history on the TV oner. I remember in film school my professor showed us oner from The Shield (2002) and like The Bear it does a great job of showing all the characters relationships with each other while portraying the chaos of the LAPD. I really commend The Bear, this episode especially, for having so many moving parts and purposefully being overwhelming, but never for a moment are you lost. I think that's an underrated aspect of the oner when it's done well. Just because it's one take, often from one POV, doesn't mean the audience can't be lost

The best one takes are so well done, you don't even realize they were one take until later. Just like this show did

This is one of my favorite shows now 100%.

I really enjoyed the first episode of bear but it was so good that it reminded me of work 😆 so maybe once I’m not working in a kitchen I can sit down and actually enjoy the mess of the kitchen staff and not be like “that’s how Steve be acting all the time an I have to deal with him tomorrow”

I actually had to rewatch the episode all over because I realized halfway in the moment that it looked all in one take. I was astonished to see how this was all entirely done in one take. Bravo to the cinematographer.

Was not expecting for this video to be so high quality! Absolutely amazing video!!!

Happily subscribed after watching this. Looking forward to seeing this channel grow- fantastic work!

I just finished the season and holy shit, I wasn't mentally prepared for the one take episode, the levels of stress and anxiety it and the whole season gave me were on another level. I absolutely love this show and cant wait for second season. I give the Bear a full 7/5 points, this is top tier TV.

As someone who has a lot of restaurant experience, this episode encapsulated the restaurant experience better than anything else I have seen. The printer constantly going off was so stressful.

Thank you for this video. I really enjoyed this debrief after watching that stellar episode of the bear. Very well done summary.

Donut Guy deserves to be named, Marcus 😤

Bless the RU-vid algorithm for putting this in my feed. As an aspiring film maker, this is such a cool breakdown!!

I remember needing to take a break from the show for like 3 days after watching this episode. Brilliant.

I have worked in restaurants most of my working life and this show is so real. I love it so much

Before sunrise is an incredible one take

this show is really funny because as it aired, i was working as a sandwich line cook, 4 blocks-ish away from the actual film location, and it’s pretty fucking accurate

Its the best episode of this show I've seen so far. It's absolute chaos from start to finish.

I would genuinely love to watch you break down Boiling Point. After my father and I had watched The Bear, we immediately watched Boiling Point. We couldn't look away, and it really didn't hold your hand through any of it, I was enthralled.

This video has too few views for the amount of effort put into it, keep up the great work 👍🏻

The "donut guy" is not just the donut guy through the whole season. He was the bread maker for the restaurant but wanted to do more and when Carm and Sydney come around and start making changes he sees it as the best time to have the restaurant order bread in so that he can make something new and even reads through all of the cook books he's given for new ideas. With this new freedom he tells them to put a chocolate cake on the menu which becomes his new signature at the restaurant, however he gets too ambitious and decides that now is the best time to start working on making donuts using crazy techniques for such a small scale restaurant at the time. He gets too caught up in his work and isolates himself from everyone else and I think that the show visually shows us this by having his station be in a weird small area off to the side of where everything else happens. Because of this he gets too caught up in perfecting his donut that when the chaos breaks out in the main area, he doesn't seem affected in his little corner. Granted everything in that scene very clearly makes him seem like a selfish asshole and the show shouldn't have given him the win after that but oh well.

This one youtube video convinced me to watch this entire season and I loved everything about it. So thank you

I heard about the bear and just finished watching it today. I heard about the one-take episode and was anticipating when it will happen and didn;t even realised about the take cause of how invested I was in the story. Damn, I gotta say it was beautifully crafted.

this episode was so well made i felt physically sick after it was over

ive avoided watching this show because i didnt want to experience the stress of a kitchen job again so this will suffice and prove my point

Whenever I think of a oner, I think of the uncut shot from me, earl, and the dying girl. There’s virtually no camerawork as it’s all in the perspective from the corner of the room, but it’s just so powerful.

Masterclass in sound design. That was the most impressive aspect for me

This episode felt so short. When it ended i was like...thats it? It was a great episode.

i work in one of the top 3 finest places in my city and this episode is perfect. i think the only thing i wouldve added (from personal experience) is if there was customers also complaining and someone at the expo asking for certain orders building the stress level, and that background music is too spot on throughout it. 10/10

What a great video! I've never seen any of the original works mentioned, but this breakdown was as fascinating to watch as I'm sure the source materials will be when I get around to them. Well done.

This is insane man so amazing and great actor’s insanely good acting

Soap Operas in the UK do the occasional single take episode, broadcast live. EastEnders and Coronation Street for example. If anyone makes mistakes in the continuity they have to adapt as they go.

The bear seems to have a growing fan base … you should do some niche videos on it and grow yours in the process.. your work is good quality and you should have no issues getting views putting out more of the same. Just some advice I wish I was in place to hear.. enjoy your future success my friend. God bless.

Even though I wouldn't say it's relevant to what this video is getting at. I just gotta shout out the 3 one shot action scenes in Netflix's "Daredevil". Just insanely raw and impressive choreography. And how they just went a step further with each season. Brilliant stuff

its amazing how good they portrayed what its like to work in the kitchen. the chaos, the noise, the calls, its really insane

One of my favorite one take episodes of tv was definitely the funeral episode of haunting of hill house. Like you said, it showed how the characters were trapped, but in this case it was to show the grief that engulfs the family. Great episode in a great show.

Fantastic video! Thank you, RU-vid recommendations. ^_^

The haunting of hill house one take in episode 6 is definitely my favorite example of it. I love how they did it “theater style” with the characters moving from the foreground to the back as they took turns with dialogue.