kottke.org: 1917 is the latest in a string of one-shot movies, where the action is presented in real-time and filmed to look as though it were done in one continuous take. This video takes a look at how director Sam Mendes, cinematographer Roger Deakins, and editor Lee Smith constructed the film. In this interview, Smith & Mendes say that the film contains dozens of cuts, with shots lasting anywhere from 39 seconds to 8 & 1/2 minutes.
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I have seen this video before. It is quite amazing what film is capable of doing. In theater we are able to do long takes simply by not having a blackout. Although it comprises of specific choreography and blocking and communication between the designers, in film, you have to get everything correct on the set and find out later in post production if the editing can be made so it is all one fluid shot. I have yet to seen this movie but it seems similar to Birdman with how they shot it. When watching Birdman I was very impressed with how fluid the whole movie felt. Also, from this artistic stance they took, I was much more immersed in Birdman compared to many other movies I have seen. This type of cinematography already created a much more grounded world so the audience can feel like they are in the same journey as the protagonist (something which I feel like is harder to create in film more than theater).
-Pablo Anton
1917 ended up being one of my favorite movies that came out in 2019. I thought the choice to increase the immersion by making all the action appear to take place during one continuous shot was very effective at conveying a story that perhaps needed an exceptionally creative presentation to make it stand out as not just “another World War I movie.” Like the author in the article, I too tried to pay attention to the hidden cuts, occasionally the camera passes behind a rock or something similar, which prompted me to notice. This quickly faded away as I became more immersed in the action because it was all executed so fantastically. It really is a testament to all departments communicating with each other because everything needs to be running correctly so that pyrotechnicians trigger their explosions while an actor isn’t standing there and the camera is in the correct position while the take has been continuing for many minutes. The final product is an impressive display of the hard work of the people involved.
Though I have not seen 1917 yet, I am a huge fan of the continuous shots that Sam Mendes uses throughout the film. The amount of planning and forethought that went into the creation of this film and its shots is absolutely amazing. I cannot imagine the amount of money, time, and labour it must have costed to create, but I believe it is well worth the effect. From the video in the article, I could tell that the film will capture my entire attention and never let go. I might be tempted to watch out for the invisible cuts that are throughout the film, but I imagine that I will be too thrilled to notice. One thing that I wish the article and video discussed more about was the sound in the film. The cinematography was considerably a beast in this film and was very carefully planned out, but I wonder how that careful planning and execution affected the sound and dialogue of the film. There must have been a lot of background noise from the car that was driving the crane in the running scene, and even to the noise the camera makes when it is taken off the crane. Even the dialogue and where the boom operator could be was hugely dependent on the camera, especially with the 360 swivel it did throughout. I wonder how much of the dialogue is post production. I guess I will just have to watch the movie to see.
The idea to make a movie that all looks like one shot is incredibly intriguing. A lot of prestigious awards are recognizing that it is interesting as well. I will say, however, that it feels in some cases to be like a gimmick, so that he might be able to get noticed for the awards. That may just be due to my sadness that Greta Gerwig didn't get nominated for best director. Either way,I am hoping to see 1917 soon, and I think I will really enjoy watching the idea take form on the screen. I do agree with the author of this article, however, that it may end up distracting me from the content of the movie because I will be trying to catch mistakes in the fluidity of the cinematography. I do think the idea to do the entire movie in one shot is especially interesting because of the way trenches are set up, so it looks like someone is following them, and they are.
Action movies aren’t really my thing, but this one in particular looks fascinating. I’d heard that this was a single shot, but I didn’t know that Hitchcock had done it originally. I’ve always enjoyed making of videos and this was not exception. The idea itself is incredibly impressive alone, but the obstacles that they had to deal with were insane, like it needed to be exactly the same amount of sun because the cuts between shots couldn’t be noticeable. It looked like the job of the cameraman was impressive and I’m sure those two cameramen that were extras for the day had a good time and were able to point out to their families that they’d been in the movie. The other thing that impressed me from making of video was how close civilization and the supporting operations were to the actual filming. Some of the shots showed both the camera and the support trucks at the same time.
I haven’t seen the movie 1917 but I’ve heard about how it was shot in such a way that it appears to be one continuous shot! This is a really intriguing idea! I’ve never watched a movie like that so I can’t say whether or not it’s effective, but it seems like if done well it would create a very immersive cinematic experience. I watched the video and it’s incredible how much camera equipment they used in this movie! They had cameras attached to motorcycles, cars, and cranes! There were also cameramen who ran after the actors to achieve some of the shots. I’m not a huge fan of war movies but I can appreciate how much work was put into this film. They really went above and beyond with the camera work and editing. I saw that it was nominated for several oscars! I hope it gets the recognition it deserves!
As I am writing this, I have just returned from seeing 1917 in the cinema. I was absolutely blown away by the film in the emotions it was able to make me feel and the sheer amount of effort that must have gone into making the film the way that it is. Scrolling through the comments and spotting this article got me very excited because I wanted to see more of how they accomplished the skills that they did. It goes without saying that I am even more impressed than before. The scale of the project and the multiple skills that had to go into the camera work was absolutely jaw dropping. The mini sets built for the big ones alone impressed me beyond belief just so they could figure out exactly what shadows would be where during the scene. It just shows how much thought was put into the movie and they wanted it to be more than just another war movie. It’s films like 1917 that remind me why I am going into this major and excites me for what the future of my skills hold.
This movie left me speechless (and in tears, but that’s a discussion for another time and place). I distinctly remember walking into the movie and saying that I didn’t want to see it because I don’t like war movies so I’m only seeing it because of the Oscars. But boy oh boy was I wrong. This movie was a cinematic masterpiece. The illusion of a single shot movie was such a strong choice. Because of it, I felt like I was living the experience right along with the characters. I felt the suspense through my body. I felt gross after them drag themselves through mud. It was all raw, it was all there. The realities of war. Nothing sugarcoated, nothing cut away. That was the cinematography choice that needed to be made. This film was a perfect example of what happens when all departments are perfectly on the same page—they absolutely had to be, in order to deliver the seamless piece that they did. The sheer amount of pre-production planning that had to go into this was very apparent. I took a notice to the sets (no surprise there) and it’s so amazing that so much rehearsal had to happen, on location, before the sets could even be built, because of how precise the timing had to be. The models shown in the video are amazing, and were so effective in communicating the scene with all the other elements there. To see that short clip of the light and shadows that were cast on the model, they perfectly reflected what I saw on the screen. So many strong choices were made. With the scene that the cinematographer was describing, the big triumphant run towards the end of the film, with the transition of the camera from a crane to another rig on a truck via the help of 2 costumed cameramen—that was BRILLIANT! With the truck already moving slowly when the camera was placed on so that the movement was seamless. I could go on and on about this movie—it’s ones like this that truly remind me how much I love what I do and how excited I am to get out and do it.
While I wanted to refuse to see another movie surrounding white men doing shit in a historical war - I have watched numerous videos on the masterpiece that is the cinematography in this movie. Working on the couple film projects I have helped with, I cannot wait to work with film crews to create flawless products like 1917’s filming. The Oscars this year is FLOODED with 1917 noimnations, along with other white men films, which most production nominations are well-deserved. 2019 was an amazing year for film, with production being such a big focus in the industry right now, 1917 really made that apparent. Going into the film industry is something I am very excited to venture into and hopefully getting to work with awesome artistic vision, like Mendes, Deakins, and Smith have makes me more excited than ever to be in the entertainment industry. I wish we had the support to do film production at CMU because I know the talent that could come into that industry would be insanely good.
This movie has gotten a lot of good press and it is easy to see why. I suspect we will see more movies like this as immersive work becomes more popular. One obstacle rarely mentioned in this movie is the script. It has to be written that in the continuous-time we are watching the characters in, so the audience doesn’t feel bored. I think it helps the movie takes place in war, and I wonder if the setting will be a limitation with future continuous scripts. I was also unsurprised with the 4-month rehearsal time. With such complex movements, there would be a minimum room for error. I wonder if the extras were also present for rehearsals. I’m also curious if shooting itself took less time after such careful planning. There is definitely a sense of respect I have for those who had to dig out the trenches, given the scale.
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