If you haven’t heard, Extraction 2 is releasing this week. The follow-up to Netflix’s immensely successful action movie is building on the original in bigger and better ways – including that impressive one-shot.
The first movie, directed by Sam Hargrave and starring Chris Hemsworth, featured a 12-minute long one-shot sequence. A one-shot, aka a continuous camera take with no obvious cuts, is a difficult task on any production, but Extraction caught a lot of attention for its “oner” and rightly so.
The 12-minute sequence included a car chase, multiple fight scenes and stunts, and multiple locations stitched together seamlessly.
Hargrave told Indiewire that the sequence took 4-5 months to complete, with ten days of shooting dedicated to nailing the shot.
“In a day, it would be between three and six different long sequences, and they could be anywhere from four to five minutes that we need, 30 seconds, or whatever those pieces are that fit together,” Hargrave told the outlet.
“You’d have to do it until you got it right. You could do the whole thing, and you get three minutes and 59 seconds in, but if you know you’ve got a trip and stumble or one of the background looks at the camera, you’ve got to go do all of it over again, because there’s no safety net.”
Extraction 2’s one-shot
Now Hargrave is attempting to outdo himself again with a 21-minute one-shot in Extraction 2. The plot of the second movie sees Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake attempt to extract a family from a European prison.
Teaser posters have suggested Extraction 2’s oner will be bigger and better than the one before it with a helicopter and fiery explosion teased.
Hargrave also revealed some details to Screen Rant, saying the sequence includes a prison escape, a car chase and then a train setpiece.
A one-shot experience
Everything looks great in the final product, but what does it actually take to make a one-shot? A lot of effort, rehearsal and repeating yourself, it turns out.
As part of Netflix’s marketing for Extraction 2, Gizmodo Australia was invited to Disney Studios in Sydney to experience a one-shot take, Extraction-style.
The sequence that was set up for attendees included four different set pieces with a camera operator following every movement.
Things began in the interior set of a cabin where we were directed to unlock the door and exit into a snow-covered backyard, complete with a blizzard of fake snow. From there we were tasked with finding a torch amongst a group of identical black cases and made our way into a shed.
This shed led us to the inside of a prison, with cells and prison bunks lining the wall. We were then directed out into the prison yard, where stunt performers acting as inmates and guards broke into a well-choreographed fight. With the stunt coordinator’s protection, we made our way through the fight and up the ramp to the exit where a helicopter was waiting to, yes, extract us.
Sadly, Netflix did not splash the money on a real helicopter flight to get us out of there, so we’ll have to wait for Extraction 2 to see that.
All-in-all it was a well-choreographed sequence that took a village to pull off. We may have only had one shot (literally) at going through this sequence, but for the crew working it was a long day’s work of rehearsal, repetition and skill to get the sequence right time after time.
Given the effort that went into this 90-second sequence, it boggles the mind what it must take to pull off a 21-minute take.
If you want to see the results of our one-shot experience keep an eye on Gizmodo AU’s TikTok in the coming days. Or if you’d rather see Chris Hemsworth pull it off (we don’t blame you) you can watch Extraction 2 on Netflix from Friday June 16.