I may have called 1917 “Sam Mendes’ Dunkirk” when the first trailer was released in August, but just like how Christopher Nolan did something unique with his war film, Mendes is attempting something extremely ambitious.
In a new featurette, Sam Mendes reveals that he is making 1917 look like it was shot in one-take. Watch Mendes, co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns, cinematographer Roger Deakins, and some of the cast and crew explain the challenge that went into perfecting the one-shot.
One of my favorite scenes in Marvel’s The Avengers is when the camera pans across New York City in “one shot” (because it too was edited to make it look that way) letting the viewer see Earth’s Mightiest Heroes working to stop the alien threat. It’s a gorgeous moment, and makes Mendes’ effort all the more applauded.
As the featurette pointed out, 1917 was shot on exterior locations with natural lighting, meaning Mendes and the productions were at the mercy of Mother Nature. As well, if someone flubbed a line, that’s a lot of footage that would be deemed unusable given editing it would ruin the one shot illusion.
We’ll see if Mendes was able to pull it all off when 1917 hits theaters December 25, 2019.
Has 1917 just moved up on your watch list for the end of the year? What are some of your favorite one shot scenes from film?
