Ullmann said she had little understanding of the subject matter during production, but recognized Bergman's traits in von Sydow's character. During shooting, including of her monologue scene, she became frightened imagining Bergman could degenerate like the character. She said there were no rehearsals or discussion of the film's meaning. According to von Sydow, Bergman wanted to film the dinner table scene in one take, for the "continuity" actors experience in stage plays. Ultimately, cinematographer Sven Nykvist took a seat in front of the actors at the table and panned quickly, with von Sydow explaining, "it's very difficult to stop each pan at a moment when you have an ideal composition on each person".