'1917' Movie Shot in One Take
1917 One Shot Movie
I’m no Steven Spielberg, but I know enough about movies to know that filming the entire thing in one take is extraordinarily difficult.
Yet, that challenge was one that Sam Mendes (who directed Spectre, Skyfall, and American Beauty, among many others) was willing to take on.
Channeling his inner Alfred Hitchcock (who directed 1948’s Rope in one take), Mendes wanted 1917, a thriller about the First World War, to be both visually exciting and provide the raw emotion associated with such a heavy topic.
The single, long take follows two British soldiers as they struggle across the frontlines to deliver a message that could end up saving hundreds of lives.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Mendes noted that “It was fundamentally an emotional choice,” to shoot the film in one take. “I wanted to travel every step with these men - to breathe every breath with them. It needed to be visceral and immersive. What they are asked to do is almost impossibly difficult. The way the movie is made is designed to bring you as close as possible to that experience.”
To get everything just right, the crew spent nine months designing shots and sequences to ensure everything was timed perfectly. You can see what a challenge this was to pull off in the video below:
Aside from the obvious issues of actors making mistakes or accidents happening, like someone tripping and falling, there are little details that can make or break a single-shot film like this.
For example, Mendes and his crew had to keep an eye on the lighting to ensure that it was consistent from one sequence to the next.
The crew also had to figure out how to unfold the story in a way that helped them blend in cuts from one scene to the next.
It’s hard enough to get a single photograph just right, so I can’t imagine filming an entire movie in one fell swoop!
You can see all their hard work when 1917 hits theaters later this year on Christmas Day.
Via No Film School