How 1917 Was Filmed

War epic 1917 has been widely hailed as a mind-boggling technical achievement, largely thanks to the illusion that it looks like the whole movie was shot in one continuous take.

The truth is it was actually a series of perfectly choreographed long scenes stitched together in editing with help from visual effects wizards and some state-of-the-art camera equipment.

Legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins shot the film digitally on three prototype Alexa miniature large format cameras from film equipment provider ARRI, a company ironically founded in 1917.

His cameras were, variously, on a 50-foot Technocrane driven on the back of a truck, mounted on motorbikes, carried by grips, placed on wire mounts or attached to drones. Steadicam operator Peter Cavaciuti was also deployed to run down trenches with his camera facing backwards to create the feeling of being right there amid the mud and bullets. Deakins and director Sam Mendes were often controlling cameras remotely from a van as the action unfolded.

Cuts were placed at moments unnoticeable to the audience – like during an explosion that clouded the screen or in a brief CGI shot.

It all worked seamlessly to tell the story of two soldiers on a race against time to stop an attack during World War I.

The many awards and big box office numbers which greeted 1917 prove it to be a rarely bettered technical triumph.

—Sandro Monetti