'Between 1930 and 1960, most Hollywood feature films, of whatever length, contained between 300 and 700 shots, so the average shot length (ASL) hovered around eight to eleven seconds... In the mid- and late 1960s, several American and British filmmakers were experimenting with faster cutting rates.6 Many studio-released films of the period contain ASLs between six and eight seconds, and some have significantly shorter averages: Goldfinger (1964) at 4.0 seconds; Mickey One (1965)' Considering technology has improved thoroughly since the 19th century, films have been constructed with more of advanced technology. It was difficult to take so many shots during 1930 to 1960 due to the post production however nowadays we film it with our high-class cameras and just save it onto our computers and edit it on a software.
Long takes are a very big part of realism, this is because it creates a realistic effect for the audience. An example of a film is Birdman, this whole film is made to look like it has been shot in one long take. The reason people use these nowadays is to make the audience feel like they are part of the film and get the advantage to explore the characters surroundings and the set.
'Midway through the decade, most films in any genre included at least a thousand shots.' After research they found out that the more shots in the films, the more likely the viewer is going to be interested. For example in the TV series, The Walking Dead when Daryl and his brother are both threatened to fight each other to the death, there are very short paced and shaky shots to keep the audience entertained, watching and creating tension. The camera movements are quite simple however they break the 180 degree rule as they use the technique where the camera circles around them, this was to show the atmosphere around them to make the scene more intense.
An example of the idea above is in The Walking Dead again, where Daryl and Negan have a heated conversation where Negan is threatening Daryl. This is an essential part of the series to show Negan's fierce character and Daryl's weakness. The shots cut between Negan and Daryl at a rate of about 6 seconds, and we see Daryl's lack of reaction and his inability to respond.