1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

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Never Cursed
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1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#1 Post by Never Cursed » Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:11 pm

Sam Mendes' somewhat Dunkirk-looking 1917, featuring perhaps the most useless pre-trailer trailer in the history of the practice. It's rumored that the movie will be presented as one long shot a la Birdman

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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#2 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:49 pm

This keeps sticking out in my mind whenever I hear about Mendes' stuff looking like Nolan's

From IMDB:
Sam Mendes wanted to do this movie as his follow-up to American Beauty (1999), which had just been nominated for seven Academy Awards. Another offer came from Newmarket Films on behalf of Writer, Producer, and Director Christopher Nolan, of whom Author Christopher Priest had never heard. Priest was prepared to close the deal with Mendes, when a VHS copy of Nolan's Following (1998) was delivered to his house by motorcycle (Memento (2000) was still in post-production). Priest was impressed, and chose Nolan (in part to also support a new filmmaker over an established one).

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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#3 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 01, 2019 2:43 pm

Did I miss something? What movie is the above about

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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#4 Post by knives » Thu Aug 01, 2019 2:52 pm

The Prestige.

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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#5 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 01, 2019 3:21 pm

Ah, for some reason I thought that had been Nolan's brainchild.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#6 Post by Roger Ryan » Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:34 pm

Never Cursed wrote:
Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:11 pm
...It's rumored that the movie will be presented as one long shot a la Birdman
The trailer itself presents at least three examples of standard angle/reverse angle cutting, so I don't think the entire film will be presented as a single shot. Certainly it looks like numerous shots could be quite extended, but the very nature of filming a story in one continuous shot implies what you watching is happening in real time. It may be stretching credulity to conceive of everything shown in the trailer as happening in a two-hour window.

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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#7 Post by knives » Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:40 pm

Russian Ark doesn't occur in real time. There's been many less experimental examples as well of time being shown to pass drastically in one shot. It's a particular favorite technique of Gondry for example.

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Never Cursed
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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#8 Post by Never Cursed » Thu Aug 01, 2019 5:20 pm

Roger Ryan wrote:
Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:34 pm
The trailer itself presents at least three examples of standard angle/reverse angle cutting, so I don't think the entire film will be presented as a single shot. Certainly it looks like numerous shots could be quite extended, but the very nature of filming a story in one continuous shot implies what you watching is happening in real time. It may be stretching credulity to conceive of everything shown in the trailer as happening in a two-hour window.
Just because those instances are in the trailer doesn't mean that they're present in the final edit, no? It might have been easier to relate that scene (the one with the commander giving the leads their orders) in a trailer if it was conventionally edited, but that doesn't mean that it won't be presented in a different way in the final product. Moreover, lots of movies, Birdman included (with its transitions from night to day) have one-shot/pseudo one-shot sequences where time progresses in an abnormal way, so I don't see your point re: long takes implying real time.

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Re: Trailers for Upcoming Films

#9 Post by Roger Ryan » Fri Aug 02, 2019 8:42 am

Never Cursed wrote:
Thu Aug 01, 2019 5:20 pm
Roger Ryan wrote:
Thu Aug 01, 2019 4:34 pm
The trailer itself presents at least three examples of standard angle/reverse angle cutting, so I don't think the entire film will be presented as a single shot. Certainly it looks like numerous shots could be quite extended, but the very nature of filming a story in one continuous shot implies what you watching is happening in real time. It may be stretching credulity to conceive of everything shown in the trailer as happening in a two-hour window.
Just because those instances are in the trailer doesn't mean that they're present in the final edit, no? It might have been easier to relate that scene (the one with the commander giving the leads their orders) in a trailer if it was conventionally edited, but that doesn't mean that it won't be presented in a different way in the final product. Moreover, lots of movies, Birdman included (with its transitions from night to day) have one-shot/pseudo one-shot sequences where time progresses in an abnormal way, so I don't see your point re: long takes implying real time.
Fair enough. I agree there are numerous ways you can tell a story and imply the passage of time while holding on a single shot (the night-to-day or back is often done by the familiar effect of simply changing the lighting). To that end, I hope the content of 1917 justifies the one-shot approach (as it does in Birdman or Russian Ark). Cuarón's use of extended takes in, say, Children of Men work wonderfully because they are so organic to the real-time nature of the events occurring during those scenes. However, I think the effectiveness would be diminished if the one continuous shot conceit was imposed on the entire film.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#10 Post by Never Cursed » Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:57 pm

A behind the scenes promo video confirms that this is made to look like one shot and that the events of the film occur in real time.

EDIT: Vanity Fair article on the film with some new plot details
Sam Mendes wrote:(1917) is set in northern France during the spring of 1917, just at the point the Germans had retreated to the newly built and massively fortified Hindenburg Line. The British troops woke up one morning to find that the Germans had simply disappeared. There was a period of terrified uncertainty—had they surrendered, withdrawn, or were they lying in wait? It is across this mostly abandoned and shattered landscape that our two men have to journey. The Germans had destroyed anything of value—burnt down the towns, taken most of the civilians, chopped down the trees, and they had left behind booby traps, snipers, and a few other unexpected surprises.
Last edited by Never Cursed on Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#11 Post by Roger Ryan » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:06 pm

Never Cursed wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:57 pm
A behind the scenes promo video confirms that this is made to look like one shot and that the events of the film occur in real time.
Given this approach, I laughed out loud when hearing the AD remark "okay, back to one" during the video! It will be interesting to see how the seamless transitions are handled.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#12 Post by Nasir007 » Mon Sep 30, 2019 2:59 pm

I see night shots and day shots. There isn't a 2 hour stretch where you would go from full light to full dark. You could go from full light to dusk or dusk to full night.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#13 Post by tenia » Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:01 pm

Spring in North of France ? You can go from full light to full dark in an hour.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#14 Post by Never Cursed » Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:01 pm

I'm guessing there will be timelapses and each segment in-between will be in real time, like Birdman

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#15 Post by Nasir007 » Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:37 pm

They are claiming in the BTS that it is completely 100% real-time, no lapses.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#16 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:37 pm

BTS?

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#17 Post by Big Ben » Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:43 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:37 pm
BTS?
It either means Behind the Scenes or he's talking about the K Pop group.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#18 Post by swo17 » Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:48 pm

[-X Built to Spill

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#19 Post by knives » Tue Oct 01, 2019 8:59 pm

Nasir007 wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:37 pm
They are claiming in the BTS that it is completely 100% real-time, no lapses.
Which as Tenia said isn't so ridiculous. France is very far north and close to the solstices night and day can move by very quickly. London which is just a little north can have the sun set as late as 10:00.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#20 Post by solaris72 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:05 pm

I remember reading that Tarkovsky wanted to make a film just like this, all one shot, real time, and set during a battle. Obviously would've needed to either use invisible edits a la Rope (perhaps easier to do on a battlefield but Tarkovsky likely wouldn't have been satisfied with using explosions or things rushing past the camera to hide the edits) or else some kind of special camera setup. I don't know enough to say if this latter idea was possible, the fact that (as far as I know) extended camera rolls weren't done makes me suspect that it wasn't. Perhaps if you had two 35mm cameras and one lens with a prism reflector...second camera could start running a minute before the first runs out, and then you could change the mag on the first. But the apparatus would have to be pretty big.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#21 Post by Soothsayer » Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:41 pm

solaris72 wrote:
Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:05 pm
I remember reading that Tarkovsky wanted to make a film just like this, all one shot, real time, and set during a battle. Obviously would've needed to either use invisible edits a la Rope (perhaps easier to do on a battlefield but Tarkovsky likely wouldn't have been satisfied with using explosions or things rushing past the camera to hide the edits) or else some kind of special camera setup. I don't know enough to say if this latter idea was possible, the fact that (as far as I know) extended camera rolls weren't done makes me suspect that it wasn't. Perhaps if you had two 35mm cameras and one lens with a prism reflector...second camera could start running a minute before the first runs out, and then you could change the mag on the first. But the apparatus would have to be pretty big.
Can't remember where but I think Tarkovsky was hoping to do this in the "Kulikovo Battle" sequence that was originally planned for Andrei Rublyov but not included due to budget cuts.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#22 Post by solaris72 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:49 pm

Soothsayer wrote:
Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:41 pm

Can't remember where but I think Tarkovsky was hoping to do this in the "Kulikovo Battle" sequence that was originally planned for Andrei Rublyov but not included due to budget cuts.
Ah that would make sense- a single segment rather than a feature film would allow it to be recorded on a single mag.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#23 Post by Nasir007 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 5:11 pm

I think a single shot war film is simply not possible without CGI trickery. Dunno how he would have pulled it off with regular cameras. Even Russian Ark which is the only single-shot movie I have seen has some CGI elements.

Even with CGI available, not many film-makers in Hollywood seem to go in for long takes so it is nice to see directors try it.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#24 Post by aox » Thu Oct 03, 2019 8:00 am

I submit Fish & Cat as another film that pulls off the one shot.

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Re: 1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)

#25 Post by The Curious Sofa » Thu Oct 03, 2019 1:11 pm

I can see how a theatre director like Mendes would be attracted to the concept. In the end it’s not that different from putting on a play, so I could imagine him pulling it off.

I’m no fan of the single shot film but Mike Figgis’ Timecode was at least impressive in it being four feature length shots sharing a split screen, following four plot lines, which keep intersecting. Its just that the conceit and its execution were so much more compelling than the content. That has been the case with all genuine single shot movies I’ve seen, which attempted a conventional narrative.

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