I wanna party like it’s 1899.
Now that the series 1899 is not being renewed at Netflix, I of course take that as a challenge to watch it. We finished the series then watched "1899 Making of." The show was created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, the German team responsible for the "Dark." It's a spectacularly spooky mind scrambler of a show that needs a character tree to fully appreciate.
1899 is a period piece that takes place in, you guessed it, 1899, on a ship filled with immigrants going to Ellis Island. Bo and Jantje created a microcosm of a world with themes that address class disparity and unrealistic gender expectations. Subjects that are just as relevant today.
The script uses the immigrant's language barrier to build tension between characters. A genius idea that removed a long-standing filmmaking problem, what language should characters speak when they are not speaking the tongue of the film's origin? Until recently, subtitles were the kiss of death for movies and TV, but now made possible by Netflix bringing global production onto our small screen on a more regular basis. (Note: Make sure your language subtitles are on and not playing the "dubbed" version, or you'll be confused and likely give up.)
I was impressed by 1899's filming process. Imagine trying to build a crew during COVID and quarantine, bringing in actors from all over Europe, Denmark, Poland, France, England, and Germany. The auditions being held over Zoom.
Zoom auditions are challenging. The actor often trying to perform in the space between their dining table and the wall, distracted because a dog or small child is mugging for screen time.
The impressive cinematography was led by Nicklaus Summerer, the DP of Dark. Curating a visual style, unlike many Netflix shows. Moody with a taste of dusty bones, likely influenced by old hand crank films and sepia-toned photographs that made the journey on ships just like the one in the 19th century. The production details were impeccable and authentic;[SPOILER ALERT] even when the set turns out to be a facade, it manages to keep its integrity in both realities.
Most viewers are aware of the basic modern ideas of filmmaking. Originally if a director wanted to put a climber on a mountain, they would go to a mountain and shoot. The other alternative is to shoot a climber on a partial mountain in front of a green screen, remove the green screen in post and replace it with an appropriate vista. Shooting on a mountain, is untenable for many reasons: the cost, time, and the logistics of traveling to a mountain. Not to mention the imminent danger to the crew and the actors, a real problem in light of the terrible recent accidents on film sets. Fans of Marvel and action movies are not unfamiliar with the fact that the green screen option has become the default to replace location shoots. It does, however, have limitations. Matching lighting and perspective can be difficult and often produces inconsistent looks and obvious flaws that viewers pick apart, as Corey Hutchinson acknowledges in this article.
The overuse of CGI can give the film a "cartoony" quality that removes the viewer from the immersive intent of any content.
Filmmakers are always innovating to find more efficient ways to construct an idea. New technologies are usually related to the increased ability of a computer to generate something that looks real, and practical ideas are replaced by digital ones. The magic is taking care not to lose believability on screen.
When it comes to CGI, if you can't tell that the image was enhanced, then the effects artists did their job well.
Watch a CGI reel from a great effects company, and you'll be shocked at how pervasive and seamless it is.
1899 used a new technology called The Volume, also used in the filming of the Mandalorian. The alien deserted mountains and vistas were primarily digitally created, either CGI or natural backgrounds stitched together. But there is a new tech involved here. The Volume is a cylindrical LED wall that surrounds a set and plays in the background of a film in real-time along with the foreground action. The camera shoots normally, capturing the scene as a single image. So instead of bringing the actor to the mountain, you bring the mountain to the actor.
The advantage of seeing what you're building in real-time is a benefit to the filmmakers but is fantastically helpful to the actors. Contrary to common ideas, great acting is not about "pretending." We don't ask actors to pretend to eat a hot dog. We ask them to take an actual bite. (But heavens, don't swallow them! I saw an actor barf on set once because he refused the spit bucket and ended up eating 13 weenies.) Films are best when actors can immerse themselves into a scene to feel as a character feels.
The new enveloping video tech forces actors into a space where they do not imagine a sunset but instead react to the sunset. Interestingly, actors in the "1899 Making of" talked about being genuinely seasick during shooting while they filmed scenes with the ocean waves wrapped around the set. Our surroundings have an impact on our actions and our being.
Our behavior in the presence of a physical tidal wave is starkly different than a conceptualized reaction in a vacuum staring at a giant green screen.
Green screen is difficult for an actor to relate to the fantasy, but it is extremely taxing on the senses. At the end of the day, crews can be exhausted from staring at the unnatural light for hours.
The nuance of performances is perhaps imperceptibly better to most of us watching a single take or scene, but the aggregate effect on the entire film could be pronounced.
I'm not suggesting that the Volume technology would replace the green screen; the complexity of new ideas prohibits use when foreground action or complicated camera moves through the scene are needed. As in these side-by-side example from an intensive CGI project I created with the very talented Embassy Visual Effects company in Vancouver.
One day there’ll be a way to create rooms with video walls, or immerse yourself on a Star Trek Holodeck, but until then, I'm excited to see where this tech goes. When you want to put that climber on the mountain, it's an incredible new option.