Roger Deakins experienced anxiety shooting 1917

Famed cinematographer Roger Deakins experienced anxiety trying to shoot long takes in one go while making war film 1917.

The Oscar-winning director of photography teamed up with Sam Mendes for the fourth time to shoot the war movie, which follows two soldiers as they cross into enemy territory to deliver an important message which could save hundreds of lives. The film is presented to the audience in a single continuous shot, when in fact it was made of several long takes subtly stitched together.

During a press conference for the film in London, Deakins admitted he thought there was a mistake when he read about Mendes’s “single shot” idea on the screenplay, and he experienced anxiety during the challenging shoot.

“We did a lot of rehearsals and a lot of testing... I don’t think I’ve ever had as much anxiety as I did doing some of the shots on this,” he said. “Also, the thrill, because after some of the shots, which are seven or eight minutes, everybody’s got to be on the ball, at the end, everyone would look at each other and high five. It was a real high.”

Deakins, who won the Best Cinematography Oscar for Blade Runner 2049 in 2018 after being nominated 14 times, explained that the longest shot lasted around nine minutes and the shoot lasted around 65 days. The most challenging aspect of the film was trying to get over the uneven terrain and to make the footage look like one seamless take despite different locations and cameras.

“The major difficulty was getting across the terrain and doing some of those really intense, sensitive scenes and making it all seem like a piece,” the 70-year-old added. “I think for me the trick was to make it feel like one camera all the time, I think that was the biggest challenge really. That and the weather.”

1917 hits cinemas from 10 January.