How They Got 'That' Shot On Netflix's 'Adolescence'

One of the best TV shows Netflix has ever put on the air is Adolescence. It's a British crime drama show by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and directed by Philip Barantini.The show is unfortunately very relevant. It follows a 13-year-old schoolboy who is arrested for the murder of a classmate. Each episode is shot in one take. Without cutting, the show puts you into the life of the characters in unrelenting ways. It's really stressful. But if you watch, you have to subject yourself to each episode twice; once of the story. And once for the insane camera work. The episode everyone is talking about is the second episode, which contains one of the craziest camera moves I have ever seen. It's a shot that had the whole internet talking. But how did they do it? Netflix released a video that took you behind the scenes of this complicated cinematic effort. — (@) The shot follows a kid running out the window, through the schoolyard, past a murder site, and then the camera heads back to the school. The story behind the scene is basically a mixture of blocking, running, dronework, and pure luck pulling it all off. They use a stabilized handheld camera to follow the kid out the window and for the chase, and then attach it to a drone, which they still hold by hand until they need the camera to fly. Then the drone takes off and gets them an angelic look. Once the drone is in play, it covers the rest of the shots, even floating down and finishing in a close-up. It's an epic look at what you can do when you have everyone on the same page, thinking outside the box to achieve something special. There are a lot of amazing shots in this show. but none would be effective if the story wasn't so gut-wrenching. It's a hard watch, but it's worth it. You can see the full behind-the-scenes video down below: Let me know what you think in the comments.

Mar 18, 2025 - 18:13

How They Got 'That' Shot On Netflix's 'Adolescence'

One of the best TV shows Netflix has ever put on the air is Adolescence. It's a British crime drama show by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and directed by Philip Barantini.

The show is unfortunately very relevant. It follows a 13-year-old schoolboy who is arrested for the murder of a classmate. Each episode is shot in one take.

Without cutting, the show puts you into the life of the characters in unrelenting ways. It's really stressful.

But if you watch, you have to subject yourself to each episode twice; once of the story. And once for the insane camera work.

The episode everyone is talking about is the second episode, which contains one of the craziest camera moves I have ever seen.

It's a shot that had the whole internet talking.

But how did they do it?

Netflix released a video that took you behind the scenes of this complicated cinematic effort.

— (@)

The shot follows a kid running out the window, through the schoolyard, past a murder site, and then the camera heads back to the school.

The story behind the scene is basically a mixture of blocking, running, dronework, and pure luck pulling it all off.

They use a stabilized handheld camera to follow the kid out the window and for the chase, and then attach it to a drone, which they still hold by hand until they need the camera to fly. Then the drone takes off and gets them an angelic look.

Once the drone is in play, it covers the rest of the shots, even floating down and finishing in a close-up.

It's an epic look at what you can do when you have everyone on the same page, thinking outside the box to achieve something special.

There are a lot of amazing shots in this show. but none would be effective if the story wasn't so gut-wrenching. It's a hard watch, but it's worth it.

You can see the full behind-the-scenes video down below:

Let me know what you think in the comments.