Rejected take — actor flubs line, boom dips into frame, wrong angle. Cut from final film, unless used as blooper reel bonus.
The editing suite is full of them — takes that never make it into the film. The actor flubs a line, the boom mic doesn't duck away fast enough, or the camera shakes. This is raw material that gets sorted out in post-production. These discarded shots aren't just mistakes to be forgotten — they are material deliberately removed from the final cut because they compromise the narrative or technical integrity of the scene.
In practice, this happens all the time. You hit record, the first take goes wrong, the second one too. The actor laughs at their own mistake, the director calls cut, and you do it again. The out-takes remain on the hard drive — material that's reviewed during the editing session but then set aside when it's clear: this isn't it. A blank stare instead of the required horror, a line delivered differently than in the master shot. This destroys continuity. Get rid of it.
Special Feature: Out-takes aren't like other cut material that you might need later. They are definitively out — or they end up at the end of the credits if the production doesn't take itself too seriously. These "blooper reels," as they are called in English-speaking countries, are conscious decisions. An actor laughing, a director speaking too loudly into the frame, an actress tripping over her own feet — this becomes bonus content, a moment of levity after an hour and a half of serious drama. Some films — especially comedies and action blockbusters — make use of this.
Avoid Confusion: An out-take is not the same as an alternate take. An alternate was deliberately shot because the director wanted multiple options — both technically clean, both usable. An out-take, on the other hand, doesn't work. Editors must categorize all takes in the early days of the lockdown phase: usable or unusable. The out-takes are then specifically archived or deleted, depending on whether they are still needed. This saves confusion later on the set of the next production when someone asks: "Didn't we also have a version with...?" — and you know that material was put aside.