Adolescence on Netflix: ​Technique & Creativity

[Davide DB]

Regarding technique and creativity, has anyone seen Adolescence on Netflix?

Among the most viewed TV series on Netflix is Adolescence, a four-episode British miniseries that is receiving rave reviews from audiences and critics just about everywhere. The praise is partly about the story it tells, and partly about the way the series was written, performed, and, above all, directed: each episode is in fact shot in a single, very long take, that is, all at once, with no cuts between shots and therefore no breaks for the actors and crew, and no editing required.

Adolescence was written by Englishmen Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham. In addition to contributing to the screenplay, the latter also plays Eddie Miller, the protagonist's father and one of the main characters. The director, on the other hand, is compatriot Philip Barantini, who four years ago had directed Graham himself in the film Boiling Point - Disaster is Served, a thriller that was a good success in the United Kingdom and which, just like Adolescence, was shot with a single long take.

Adolescence centers on the story of Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old student who is arrested on charges of committing murder. However, the detective plot is set aside fairly early on because the point of the series is not so much to get to the resolution of a case, but to analyze the motives behind the actions of a teenager in our times, and to place them in the social and cultural context in which he lives.

For me, who has a 13-year-old son, the first two episodes were a punch in the gut. Perhaps the absence of editing also helps to give you no respite and lower you even more into the story. Truly a peculiar product.

Two scenes in particular struck me. For the first, at the beginning of the first episode, I had thought of a crane being moved on a trolley or truck. The second one is even more peculiar because the camera goes through the window and flies high above the houses. Netflix has released a BTS showing both scenes. (Spoiler: they used a drone)

Sorry, I couldn't find a YT link:

https://x.com/NetflixUK/status/1901617851192033326

It was entirely shot on the Ronin 4D:

Spoiler alert:

https://variety.com/2025/artisans/news/adolescence-one-take-episodes-netflix-1236339292/

 

[MrSMW]

Interesting and will add it to my list.

Thanks 

[Alt Shoo]

I’m going to check this out. Thanks for sharing this. 

[ntblowz]

Good to see more and more uses Ronin 4D as main cam

[eatstoomuchjam]

The whole time I watch it, I'm going to scream "but the rolling shutterrrrrrrrrrrrr" at my screen.  What a bunch of incompetent filmmakers, using a camera which has either 16, 20, or 32ms readout speeds depending on which model and mode is being used!  They ruined the whole show for everybody watching!!  It's all anybody is going to be able to talk about!!!  😉

[Davide DB]

14 hours ago, ntblowz said:

Good to see more and more uses Ronin 4D as main cam

On the BTS shots it's impressive to see how the operators hand the machine to each other on the fly during filming

[Ilkka Nissila]

22 hours ago, Davide DB said:

On the BTS shots it's impressive to see how the operators hand the machine to each other on the fly during filming

They practiced each episode for two weeks and then filmed it twice a day for one week, so 10+ takes for each episode. They then selected the best version of each episode.

[BTM_Pix]

23 hours ago, Davide DB said:

On the BTS shots it's impressive to see how the operators hand the machine to

This is a longer piece that shows the handoffs including the one to a drone that’s quite remarkable.

These handoffs remind me of the demos of the first units such as the Moví and the original Ronin which featured them quite a lot and made some extremely inspiring examples of what could be done with these new fangled devices.

Sad really that the majority of use that they now get is in “like, subscribe and buy my LUT pack” fluff of the backs of young ladies as they walk through cornfields, forests and assorted tourist streets.

Adolescence reminds us of them offering so many more creative possibilities than just being stabilisers although, no doubt, it will inspire a million copycats and we will be sick of it again in a year !

With regard to the actual film itself, if you haven’t watched it then it’s a compelling but disturbing watch.

Doubly so if you have teenagers.

 

[Ninpo33]

Watched the whole thing in one sitting, really remarkable. Really solid acting from everyone involved and the 'one take" episodes were very well done. I almost want to watch again and just focus on the camera the whole time. There were  some interesting choices with where to have the various episodes take place and to have to think about the limitations of space and time that come with this style of storytelling. It's normally easy to manipulate these elements in traditional filming and editing so here it's fun to see the creative use of transitions and blocking. 

[Ninpo33]

Everyone is talking about how they used the Ronin 4D on the "Adolescence" and how well it did. I bet they only used it in like 4 shots though.