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-'''Breaking character''', "to break character", is a [[theatre|theatrical]] term used to describe when an [[actor]], while actively performing [[in character]], slips out of character and behaves as his or her actual self. This is an acceptable occurrence while in the process of rehearsal, but is unheard of and extremely unprofessional while actively performing in front of an audience or camera (except when the act is a deliberate breaking of the [[fourth wall]]). If the breaking of character is particularly serious, it is dubbed [[corpsing]], which in film or television would normally result in an abandonment of that [[take]].+A '''take''' is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.
-For example, an actor and actress may be testing out a scene in front of their director. The actress may break character half-way through to suggest that she try delivering a certain line from a different position on the stage.+==Film==
 +In [[cinematography]], a '''take''' refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each shot are generally numbered starting with "take one" and the number of each successive take is increased (with the director calling for "take two" or "take eighteen") until the filming of the shot is completed.
-Performers of live theater are renowned for never breaking character, even under dire circumstances. An extreme example of this occurred in Washington, D.C. in the year 2000 when [[Nana Visitor]] and [[Vicki Lewis]] starred in the Broadway tour of "[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]." Lewis broke her ankle halfway through the third number, and the other dancers completed the number around her while attempting to cover the injury as Lewis was escorted off stage. Then, as the dancers exited, another actress seamlessly pranced onto stage and announced, in character, that a "sexy new fox is gonna be playing Velma Kelly, but don't you cats get confused."+A '''one-take''' occurs when the entire scene is shot satisfactorily the first time, whether by necessity (as with certain expensive special effects) or by happy accident.
-[[Andy Kaufman]] had an infamous appearance on ''[[Fridays (TV series)|Fridays]]'' where he broke character in the middle of a sketch, prompting fellow cast member [[Michael Richards]] to grab the cue cards and throw them on a table in front of Andy. A fight also erupted on camera before the show cut to commercial. It was later revealed that this was a gag prearranged by Kaufman and the show's producers in collusion with Richards, although not everyone on set was aware it was a joke.+Film takes are often designated with the aid of a [[clapperboard]]. It is also referred to as the slate. The number of each take is written or attached to the clapboard, which is filmed briefly prior to or at the beginning of the actual take. Only takes which are vetted by the [[continuity (fiction)|continuity person]] and/or [[script supervisor]] are printed and are sent to the [[film editor]].
-[[Harvey Korman]] was infamous for breaking character on ''[[The Carol Burnett Show]]'' when he would start laughing during sketches, usually due to the antics of [[Tim Conway]], who would deliberately try to crack Korman up.+Some [[film director]]s are known for using very [[long take|long, unedited takes]]. [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Rope (film)|Rope]]'' is famous for being composed of nine uninterrupted takes, each from four to ten minutes long. This required actors to step over cables and dolly tracks while filming, and stagehands to move furniture and props out of the camera's way as it moved around the room. A camera operator's foot was broken by a heavy dolly during one intensive take, and he was gagged and hauled out of the studio so that filming could continue without interruption. The eight-minute opening shot of ''[[The Player (film)|The Player]]'' includes people discussing long takes in other movies.
-Many instances of breaking character occurred on [[Saturday Night Live]], such as a sketch where [[Christina Applegate]] and [[David Spade]] could not stop laughing at [[Chris Farley]]'s motivational speaker character, Matt Foley, as well as the band members in the [[More Cowbell]] sketch reacting to [[Will Ferrell]]'s antics. [[Jimmy Fallon]] broke character in several sketches he participated in, which became one of his trademarks.+Aleksandr Sokurov's ''[[Russian Ark]]'' (2002) consists of a single 90-minute take, shot on a digital format. Mike Figgis' ''[[Timecode (film)|Timecode]]'' (2000) consists of a single 90-minute take as well, albeit with four camera units shooting simultaneously. In the finished film, all four camera angles are shown simultaneously on a split screen, with the sound fading from one to another to direct audience attention.
-==Famous breaks in film==+===Multiple takes===
 +Other directors such as [[Stanley Kubrick]] are notorious for demanding numerous retakes of a single scene, once asking [[Shelley Duvall]] to repeat a scene 127 times for ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]''. During the shooting of ''[[Eyes Wide Shut]]'', Kubrick asked for 97 takes of Tom Cruise walking through a door before he was satisfied. [[Charlie Chaplin]], both director and star of ''[[The Gold Rush]]'', did 63 separate takes of a scene where his character eats a boot—in reality, a prop made of [[licorice]]—and ended up being taken to the hospital for [[insulin shock]] due to the high sugar intake. Chaplin also did 342 takes of a scene in ''[[City Lights]]'' (1931).
-Occasionally actors in film and television can be glimpsed breaking character as they find themselves laughing or otherwise reacting to unexpected events in front of the camera. Some examples include:+In other cases, it is the actors who cause multiple takes. One fight scene in [[Jackie Chan]]'s ''[[The Young Master]]'' was so intricate that it required 329 takes to complete, and most Jackie Chan films include the most humorous of the [[outtakes]] from filming during the end credits. ''[[Dragon Lord]]'', which Chan directed and starred in, holds the record for the most takes for a single scene, during an elaborate pyramid fight scene that required 2900 takes. Director [[Bryan Singer]] tried for a full day to get his desired shots of the cast of ''[[The Usual Suspects]]'' behaving sullenly in a police lineup, but the actors could not remain serious and kept spoiling the takes by laughing and making faces. In the end, Singer changed his plan and used the funniest of the takes in the final movie to illustrate the contempt the criminals had for the police. During the filming of ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'', director [[Billy Wilder]] was notoriously frustrated by the retakes required by [[Marilyn Monroe]]'s inability to remember her lines.
-*[[Catherine Schell]], who found it difficult to act with [[Peter Sellers]] in ''[[Return of the Pink Panther]]'' and maintain her composure; several scenes showing her laughing at his antics remain in the film.+==Other==
-*[[Audrey Hepburn]] broke character during the famous "Mouth of Truth" sequence in ''[[Roman Holiday (1953 film)|Roman Holiday]]'' when co-star [[Gregory Peck]] pulled a practical joke on her during filming, leading her to believe his hand had been bitten off by the statue.+A take refers to a portion of profits earned by criminal enterprise, such as a [[robbery]] or [[embezzlement]].
-*[[Peter Bull]] briefly breaks character in the film ''[[Dr. Strangelove]],'' as he begins to laugh at the over-the-top behavior of [[Peter Sellers]]' character (Dr. Strangelove), but regains his composure.+
-*[[Virginia North]] had so much trouble trying not to laugh in a dance scene with [[Vincent Price]] in ''[[The Abominable Dr. Phibes]]'' that she had to be photographed behind him to conceal her face, although her smile is briefly visible.+
-*[[Al Martino]] nearly breaks character and struggles not to laugh when [[Marlon Brando]]'s character (Don Corleone) makes fun of him in ''[[The Godfather]].''+
-*In the ''How do you Tell a Witch'' scene from ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', [[Eric Idle]] bites his [[scythe]] to keep himself from laughing at [[John Cleese]]'s offbeat line reading.+
-*In ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]],'' during an encounter with the Cowardly Lion (played by [[Bert Lahr]]), [[Judy Garland]], as Dorothy, hides her face behind the dog Toto in order to conceal the fact that she is laughing rather than frightened as she observes Lahr's performance.+
-*In the 1959 version of ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'', [[Christopher Lee]] can be seen smirking at [[Miles Malleson]] and his comic acting when his back is turned.+
-The advent of [[DVD]] players, with their precise pause and slow-motion functions, has made it far easier to spot breaks in character in motion pictures.+In comedy, the term "take" is used to describe a performer's reaction in a bit.
-==Virtual and gaming environments==+A [[spit-take]] is a take in which a performer reacts in surprise by spitting a beverage out of his or her mouth.
-Breaking character or [[corpsing]] is also being used more frequently to describe a user-player who, having assumed the role of a virtual character or avatar and is acting within a virtual or gaming environment, then breaks out of that character. For example, this could be either a player-character behaving inappropriately within the social-cultural environment depicted by the virtual or gaming environment or the player [[afk|ceasing to play]] (momentarily or entirely) leaving the character suspended and/or lifeless.+A [[double-take]] is the reaction of surprise illustrated by the performer glancing at something, then looking away, then looking back in shock, astonishment, or amazement.
-==Professional wrestling==+==Music==
-Breaking character is not solely limited to performances in traditional theater, television, and film; the phenomenon is not unheard of in [[professional wrestling]], which is normally highly scripted. [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] commentator [[Jim Ross]] once famously broke character during [[Hell in a Cell#King of the Ring 1998|a match]] in which WWE wrestler (and friend of Ross) [[Mick Foley]] took a 16 foot "[[bump (professional wrestling)|bump]]" (fall) through the roof of a [[Professional wrestling match types#Cages|steel cage]] structure known as [[Hell in a Cell]]. Ross exclaimed, "Will somebody stop the damn match?!" While phrases such as that are often used by professional wrestling commentators to make matches seem more legitimate, Ross later stated that he made the comment out of character, being seriously worried for his friend (who had, indeed, suffered a severe [[concussion]] as a result of the fall). Later on in the match, Ross nearly broke character by calling Mick the toughest son of a bitch he had ever seen, period, before covering himself as Stone Cold Steve Austin is pushed as that type of character. Much of the [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWF]] roster broke character in [[1999]] when [[Owen Hart]] fell to his death from the rafters of the [[Kemper Arena]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]; much of the onscreen drama of the WWE was similarly shunted aside in [[2005]] for some weeks after the death of [[Eddie Guerrero]]. In [[2007]], after the death of the [[Chris Benoit|Benoit]] family, [[Vince McMahon]] was forced to abandon the storyline of his "death," appearing out of character to speak about the incident and its repercussions.+In music, a '''take''' similarly refers to successive attempts to record a song or part. Musical takes are also sequentially numbered. The need to obtain a complete, acceptable take was especially important in the years predating [[multi-track recording]] and [[overdub]]bing techniques.
-== See also ==+Different versions of the same song from a single recording session are sometimes eventually released as '''alternative takes''' of the recording; indeed, alternative takes of songs recorded by [[The Beatles]] were some of the most sought-after [[bootleg recordings]] by the band, before their official release as part of ''[[The Beatles Anthology]]''; a similar case occurred with the recordings of [[Elvis Presley]] until his label, [[RCA]], began releasing alternative takes itself in 1974 with ''[[Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 1]]''.
 +Also, [[Johnny Cash]]'s Bear Family boxes holds takes on discs five and on [[Johnny Cash:The Outtakes]] it contains more than 124 unreleased demos and false starts.
-* [[Fourth wall]]+==Conservation biology==
-* [[Out of character]]+In conservation biology, ''taking'' means pursuing, shooting, killing, capturing, trapping, snaring, angling, spearing, or netting wild animals; or placing, setting, drawing, or using a net, trap, or other device to take wild animals. Taking also includes attempting to take wild animals or assisting another person in taking wild animals.
-* [[Corpsing]]+ 
 +==See also==
 +* [[Shot (filmmaking)]]
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A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.

Contents

Film

In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each shot are generally numbered starting with "take one" and the number of each successive take is increased (with the director calling for "take two" or "take eighteen") until the filming of the shot is completed.

A one-take occurs when the entire scene is shot satisfactorily the first time, whether by necessity (as with certain expensive special effects) or by happy accident.

Film takes are often designated with the aid of a clapperboard. It is also referred to as the slate. The number of each take is written or attached to the clapboard, which is filmed briefly prior to or at the beginning of the actual take. Only takes which are vetted by the continuity person and/or script supervisor are printed and are sent to the film editor.

Some film directors are known for using very long, unedited takes. Alfred Hitchcock's Rope is famous for being composed of nine uninterrupted takes, each from four to ten minutes long. This required actors to step over cables and dolly tracks while filming, and stagehands to move furniture and props out of the camera's way as it moved around the room. A camera operator's foot was broken by a heavy dolly during one intensive take, and he was gagged and hauled out of the studio so that filming could continue without interruption. The eight-minute opening shot of The Player includes people discussing long takes in other movies.

Aleksandr Sokurov's Russian Ark (2002) consists of a single 90-minute take, shot on a digital format. Mike Figgis' Timecode (2000) consists of a single 90-minute take as well, albeit with four camera units shooting simultaneously. In the finished film, all four camera angles are shown simultaneously on a split screen, with the sound fading from one to another to direct audience attention.

Multiple takes

Other directors such as Stanley Kubrick are notorious for demanding numerous retakes of a single scene, once asking Shelley Duvall to repeat a scene 127 times for The Shining. During the shooting of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick asked for 97 takes of Tom Cruise walking through a door before he was satisfied. Charlie Chaplin, both director and star of The Gold Rush, did 63 separate takes of a scene where his character eats a boot—in reality, a prop made of licorice—and ended up being taken to the hospital for insulin shock due to the high sugar intake. Chaplin also did 342 takes of a scene in City Lights (1931).

In other cases, it is the actors who cause multiple takes. One fight scene in Jackie Chan's The Young Master was so intricate that it required 329 takes to complete, and most Jackie Chan films include the most humorous of the outtakes from filming during the end credits. Dragon Lord, which Chan directed and starred in, holds the record for the most takes for a single scene, during an elaborate pyramid fight scene that required 2900 takes. Director Bryan Singer tried for a full day to get his desired shots of the cast of The Usual Suspects behaving sullenly in a police lineup, but the actors could not remain serious and kept spoiling the takes by laughing and making faces. In the end, Singer changed his plan and used the funniest of the takes in the final movie to illustrate the contempt the criminals had for the police. During the filming of Some Like It Hot, director Billy Wilder was notoriously frustrated by the retakes required by Marilyn Monroe's inability to remember her lines.

Other

A take refers to a portion of profits earned by criminal enterprise, such as a robbery or embezzlement.

In comedy, the term "take" is used to describe a performer's reaction in a bit.

A spit-take is a take in which a performer reacts in surprise by spitting a beverage out of his or her mouth.

A double-take is the reaction of surprise illustrated by the performer glancing at something, then looking away, then looking back in shock, astonishment, or amazement.

Music

In music, a take similarly refers to successive attempts to record a song or part. Musical takes are also sequentially numbered. The need to obtain a complete, acceptable take was especially important in the years predating multi-track recording and overdubbing techniques.

Different versions of the same song from a single recording session are sometimes eventually released as alternative takes of the recording; indeed, alternative takes of songs recorded by The Beatles were some of the most sought-after bootleg recordings by the band, before their official release as part of The Beatles Anthology; a similar case occurred with the recordings of Elvis Presley until his label, RCA, began releasing alternative takes itself in 1974 with Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 1. Also, Johnny Cash's Bear Family boxes holds takes on discs five and on Johnny Cash:The Outtakes it contains more than 124 unreleased demos and false starts.

Conservation biology

In conservation biology, taking means pursuing, shooting, killing, capturing, trapping, snaring, angling, spearing, or netting wild animals; or placing, setting, drawing, or using a net, trap, or other device to take wild animals. Taking also includes attempting to take wild animals or assisting another person in taking wild animals.

See also





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