'1917' Story Making

         

         Sam Mendes had sent out a script for "1917" with a bold ambitious vision, unfortunately this wasn't taken as serious as he had hoped. The story was inspired by tales that Mendes’ grandfather had told him about World War 1. It follows two British soldiers on their mission through no man’s land in hopes of delivering instructions to advancing troops. For them there was no option except success, they could not fail, and the cameras would follow them every step. This is the idea of “one-shot” filmmaking which does not follow a fixed path. Unfortunately, the film does have one visible cut, however it is still marketed as a one-shot film.

         In my opinion this film is a very creative idea brought to the public from a primary source. Although it would be much more realistic if it was a true one-shot film, they were able to portray the idea that the viewer is right in the film with the soldiers and you still get a sense of the trauma these soldiers went through.

         I think although this kind of story is well known, nowadays people don’t quite know what the war was really like as a soldier, only as teachers and professors told us what happened. This makes me wonder if people will have even more respect for soldiers now that they have seen a glimpse of their experiences up close.

Articles: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/1917-one-shot-film-roger-deakins-lee-smith/index.html