An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not always, for the sake of humor. In terms of photos, an outtake may also mean the ones which are not released in the original set of photos (i.e. photo shoots and digitals).
An outtake is any take of a movie or a television program that is removed or otherwise not used in the final cut. Some of these takes are humorous mistakes made in the process of filming (commonly known to American audiences as bloopers). Multiple takes of each shot are always taken, for safety. Due to this, the number of outtakes a film has will always vastly outnumber the takes included in the edited, finished product.
An outtake may also be a complete version of a recording that is dropped in favor of another version.
Often outtakes can be found as special features on DVDs. Outtakes can also be found playing over credits at the end of a film or TV program. Well known examples of this are Jackie Chan and Pixar movies, almost all of which play outtakes at the end of the movie. Pixar films, being computer-generated, do not feature "real" outtakes, but rather staged ones in which the animation features "mistakes."
Outtakes may also enter libraries and appear in future productions. For example, Don't Tell Everything (1921) started as an outtake from The Affairs of Anatol (1921) and was then expanded with additional footage.
It is generally considered that the inclusion of outtakes in a film's finished product started with Hooper (1978), helmed by stunt-man-turned-director Hal Needham and starring Burt Reynolds. Needham decided to include outtakes in the film's end credit scrawl to highlight alternate camera angles for the impressive stunts performed for the movie. Needham also interspersed comedic outtakes of the actors as well.