History Main / OneTakeWonder

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': in "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E2CaballoSinNombre Caballo Sin Nombre]]", the famous "pizza tossing" scene, where Walt angrily throws a pizza on the roof of his house, was shot in one take. The crew tried to reshoot it, but Creator/BryanCranston never managed to have the pizza land on the roof again after the first take.

* The same train-on-a-collapsing-bridge setup was done for the climax of Creator/BusterKeaton's ''Film/TheGeneral''.

* During the production for ''Film/{{Rocky}}'', with the film running behind schedule, Creator/SylvesterStallone was allowed only one shot at Rocky's most vulnerable moment, confessing his insecurities to his girlfriend, Adrian. Thankfully, that was all he needed, and the character's pivotal moment was kept.
* ''Film/RunLolaRun'' has a scene where Lola plays roulette, bets everything she has on Red 20, and wins. They filmed the croupier spinning the roulette wheel and dropping the ball, intending to later film a prepared shot of the ball landing on the correct spot, and edit the two shots together. But the ball actually landed on Red 20 on the first take, so no editing was needed.
* ''Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou'': The then-17 year old Julia Stiles slowly broke down into tears while reading the poem on the very first take, an acting cue that was not in the film's script. First-time director Gil Junger was so moved, [[ThrowItIn he called a wrap to the shoot after that]].

* ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'': Atticus Finch's closing statement, in which Finch demanded the jury "do their duty", was originally planned to take several days. But Creator/GregoryPeck somehow managed to nail the speech in only one take--that alone was enough to guarantee Peck's first (and only) Best Actor Oscar.
* ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'' had only one chance to destroy the titular bridge due to how long it took to build it and how expensive the set was (it featured an actual train getting destroyed as it crossed a collapsing bridge). If they messed it up, the film was ruined. [[ForegoneConclusion But they got it right.]]
* The same train-on-a-collapsing-bridge setup was done for the climax of Creator/BusterKeaton's ''Film/TheGeneral''.

* The speech by the psychiatrist at the end of ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' was considered an extremely important part of the film, since it provided the detailed {{Exposition}} needed to understand everything that had happened up to that point. But since the speech was so long and full of nuance, by all expectations it should have been a struggle to film. Instead, actor Simon Oakland did it perfectly in the first take, leading Creator/AlfredHitchcock to stand up, shake his hand, and say "Thank you very much, Mr. Oakland. You've just saved my picture."

* ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'': Stunt driver Loren "Bumps" Williard pulled off a full corkscrew in a car, and he did so on his very first attempt.
* ''Film/TheMaster'': Creator/JoaquinPhoenix's unhinged performance as an alcohol-addled follower of Hoffman's character was on full display in a [[ThrowItIn largely improvised scene]]. Phoenix went absolutely berserk, and his first take at the scene was the one Anderson chose to use in the final cut.

* The climactic scene of ''Film/{{Duel}}'' was filmed in one take due to budget restrictions, since it shows the tanker truck driving off a cliff. A mechanical malfunction during filming caused an unintended addition to the scene: the truck door hanging open from where the stunt driver had to jump out at the last second, which some viewers mistook for a hint that the SerialKiller driver character escaped the crash.

* ''Film/HighAndTight'': Kaireht Yovera was given free reign to improvise during Becky's ConfessionCam segment. What she improvised was significantly better than what had been written for her. They did however two more takes, because the loud rain outside was affecting the sound.

* ''Film/CitizenKane'': When the main character's wife leaves him, he completely destroys her bedroom. Given the destruction Welles caused to the set, the first take of this infamous scene was, understandably, the only take.

* ''Film/AlienResurrection'': Creator/SigourneyWeaver's infamous no-look basketball shot in the movie's first act. After spending weeks practicing, Weaver was only hitting about a sixth of her attempts. The director preferred to just add the ball in later--which is why the shot was staged with the ball leaving the frame, but allowed Weaver six attempts to pull it off for real. With 5 misses, the actress put her last chance to good use. The cheers from her co-stars when she sunk it meant the shot had to be cut immediately.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'':
** The hospital scene, where the Joker totters out of Gotham General with the hospital exploding around him. The explosion stops for several seconds, causing the Joker to fiddle with the detonator, before the explosions suddenly continue. Creator/HeathLedger does not break character (with rumors about how it was a mistake by the effects team abounding, though it turns out it was entirely intentional), nor does he even turn to watch the explosion even when he gets on the bus. Everything is executed perfectly, resulting in one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.
** In the DVD Extras, it's mentioned that they only purchased two Lamborghinis for the scene in which Bruce Wayne blocks the truck driver's attempt at running over Coleman Reese. It wasn't the end of the world if they got it wrong on both takes, but splashing a million dollars on two cars is naturally not exactly the optimal scenario. However, everything went right on the first try.

* "The Mariner's Revenge Song", by Music/TheDecemberists, was recorded on a single take using a single microphone at a church.

* Music/KathyMattea's "455 Rocket" had several takes recorded, but the first one was kept because, according to Mattea, none of the musicians were aware that they were being recorded at the time. As a result, the recording has a "looser" feel, and the drummer can be heard [[ThrowItIn dropping his drumsticks and laughing]] at the end.
* Ronnie Dunn of Music/BrooksAndDunn recorded the vocals for their cover of Roger Miller's "Husbands and Wives" in only one take.

* ''Film/HighAndTight'' - Kaireht Yovera was given free reign to improvise during Becky's ConfessionCam segment. What she improvised was significantly better than what had been written for her. They did however two more takes, because the loud rain outside was affecting the sound.

* ''Series/{{Newhart}}'': The legendary [[TheReveal reveal]] scene at the end of the GrandFinale was shot in the first and only take - and ''without rehearsal'' - because the live StudioAudience's initial reaction would not have been replicated on subsequent takes.

* ''{{WebVideo/Aaron}}'' - Thomas Fitzgerald did the close-up shot of Adam [[spoiler: revealing that his girlfriend miscarried]] in just one take.

* In Episode 7 of ''LightNovel/WhenSupernaturalBattlesBecameCommonplace'', not only was Hatako's infamous speech done in one take, Hatoko's VA, Creator/SaoriHayami, pulled it off on the very first take too! (Good thing, too, given the toll it took; she had to go home to rest her voice after that.)

* The speech by the psychiatrist at the end of ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' was considered an extremely important part of the film, since it provided the detailed {{Exposition}} needed to understand everything that had happened up to that point. But since the speech was so long and full of nuance, by all expectations it should have been a struggle to film. Instead, actor Simon Oakland did it perfectly in the first take, leading Creator/AlfredHitchcock to stand up, shake his hand, and say “Thank you very much, Mr. Oakland. You've just saved my picture.”

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', the famous "pizza tossing" scene, where Walt angrily throws a pizza on the roof of his house, was shot in one take. The crew tried to reshoot it, but Creator/BryanCranston never managed to have the pizza land on the roof again after the first take.

* The AwardBaitSong "My Heart Will Go On" by Creator/CelineDion for ''Film/Titanic1997'' was recorded in one take from her demo.
* Creator/TheBeatles' cover of "Twist and Shout". Music/JohnLennon had a cold during the recording session, but kept on playing regardless. Since they had little recording time left, the band recorded it on one take. John's raspy voice blended really smoothly with the song, and producer George Martin [[ThrowItIn threw it in]], and the rest is history.

* The climactic scene of ''Film/{{Duel}}'' was filmed in one take due to budget restrictions, since it shows [[spoiler:the tanker truck driving off a cliff. A mechanical malfunction during filming caused an unintended addition to the scene: the truck door hanging open from where the stunt driver had to jump out at the last second, which some viewers mistook for a hint that the SerialKiller driver character escaped the crash.]]

When an actor's performance is so phenomenal or so genuine (or, more simply, there are time and/or budget restraints), that a second or separate take could not replicate the greatness of the first or the uncut one.

* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'': The titular song was originally conceived as a more up-tempo rock song; it was eventually retooled into a romantic ballad to better fit the scene. Angela Lansbury, who portrayed Mrs. Potts, was initially reluctant to provide the vocals, thinking herself a poor fit for the style of song. At the directors' request, the actress recorded one take as a backup, in case no other options were found. Lansbury reportedly brought the entire studio to tears with her performance.

* During the production for ''Film/{{Rocky}}'', with the film running behind schedule, Sylvester Stallone was allowed only one shot at Rocky's most vulnerable moment, confessing his insecurities to his girlfriend, Adrian. Thankfully, that was all he needed, and the character's pivotal moment was kept.

* ''Film/TheMaster'': Joaquin Phoenix's unhinged performance as an alcohol-addled follower of Hoffman's character was on full display in a [[ThrowItIn largely improvised scene]]. Phoenix went absolutely berserk, and his first take at the scene was the one Anderson chose to use in the final cut.
* ''Film/PhoneBooth'': The shooter, played by Kiefer Sutherland, demands that Colin Farrell's character come clean to his wife about [[YourCheatingHeart his marital infidelities]], resulting in an emotional scene that the actor managed to nail down on the first take. The entire film itself was shot in just 12 days.

* ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'': Atticus Finch's closing statement, in which Finch demanded the jury "do their duty", was originally planned to take several days. But Gregory Peck somehow managed to nail the speech in only one take--that alone was enough to guarantee Peck's first (and only) Best Actor Oscar.
* ''Film/AlienResurrection'': Sigourney Weaver's infamous no-look basketball shot in the movie's first act. After spending weeks practicing, Weaver was only hitting about a sixth of her attempts. The director preferred to just add the ball in later--which is why the shot was staged with the ball leaving the frame, but allowed Weaver six attempts to pull it off for real. With 5 misses, the actress put her last chance to good use. The cheers from her co-stars when she sunk it meant the shot had to be cut immediately.

** The hospital scene, where the Joker totters out of Gotham General with the hospital exploding around him. The explosion stops for several seconds, causing the Joker to fiddle with the detonator, before the explosions suddenly continue. Heath Ledger does not break character (with rumors about how it was a mistake by the effects team abounding, though it turns out it was entirely intentional), nor does he even turn to watch the explosion even when he gets on the bus. Everything is executed perfectly, resulting in one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.

* The climactic scene of ''Film/{{Duel}}'' was filmed in one take due to budget restrictions, since it shows [[spoiler:the tanker truck driving off a cliff. A mechanical malfunction during filming caused an unintended addition to the scene: the truck door hanging open from where the stunt driver had to jump out at the last second, which some viewers mistook for a hint that the Serial Killer driver character escaped the crash.]]

* Creator/TheBeatles' cover of "Twist and Shout". John had a cold during the recording session, but kept on playing regardless. Since they had little recording time left, the band recorded it on one take. John's raspy voice blended really smoothly with the song, and producer George Martin [[ThrowItIn threw it in]], and the rest is history.

Compare ThrowItIn, and OneSceneWonder.

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When an actor's performance is so phenomenal or so genuine (or, more simply, there are time and/or budget restraints), that a second or separate take could not replicate the greatness of the first or the uncut one. Music-related is TheOner.

* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' reportedly had every single voiceline recorded during the same day. By the end the voice actors were just as tired and weary as the characters they were portraying - which was [[EnforcedMethodActing wholly intentional]].