How Was 1917 Filmed — The Making of 1917 Explained

How 1917 Was Filmed

How did they film 1917?

1917 is a 2019 war film that follows two British soldiers, Lance Corporal Schofield (George McKay) and Lance Corporal Blake (Dean Charles-Chapman), as they cross enemy lines during World War I in order to deliver a message that has the potential to save 1,600 lives. The film utilizes invisible cuts and other editing techniques to appear as if it was shot in one take. This next video looks at the hidden cuts of 1917 — obviously, major spoilers ahead:

Sam Mendes served as the director of 1917 and co-wrote the script with Kristy Wilson-Cairns. Roger Deakins was the film’s cinematographer; Thomas Newman was its composer. Now that we’ve reviewed what 1917 is and some of the chief people who worked on it, let’s jump into the production history to better understand the difficulties of shooting a military masterpiece.

How Was the Movie 1917 Filmed on Location?

Where was 1917 filmed?

For a movie like 1917, you can’t just go out into the country and begin shooting. Everything from cast and crew to practical effects has an impact on the local environment – and you need permits from the government to minimize your effect on the ecology. It’s of the utmost importance you manage shooting locations effectively.

“Normally with location movies, you’re in and out in a couple of weeks,” location manager Emma Pill said. That wasn’t the case with 1917 – which was shot for upwards of 60 days from April 1st through mid-June.

But where was 1917 filmed? Well, one reason why filming of 1917 took so long was because it was shot at multiple locations, including Low Force, on the River Tees, Teesdale. This next video by Andy Beck shows us some of the actual places where 1917 was filmed. Listen along as Beck answers the question: where was the film 1917 shot?

Surprisingly, it wasn’t the river that presented the most challenging natural obstacle; it was the environment of Salisbury Plain (where a good portion of the filming of 1917 took place) and its local bird population, specifically the endangered stone curlew birds.

Nate Jones of Vulture reported that the production team of 1917 had to minimize its footprint so as to not upset the stone curlew birds and the chirocephalus diaphanus shrimps that lived in the sunken soil created by tank treads. In fact, some members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds were actually on the 1917 set to make sure the stone curlews weren’t harmed – and not only did the production team not harm the birds, they unintentionally created a new habitat for them.

The barn that was built for production was supposed to be torn down after shooting was completed, but before it was able to be taken down, birds were discovered nesting there – thus making it illegal for the barn to be destroyed.

Another obstacle that production had to prepare for was the possibility of finding bodies that needed to be exhumed. Pill said “I had to get a license to exhume bodies… Obviously if they were modern bodies, you’re calling the police. But ancient bodies [3,000 years old], you have to have a license to have permission to exhume them from the ground.” In the end, production didn’t find any bodies. So, where was the movie 1917 filmed? 1917 was filmed across the U.K. in a variety of locations.

The 1917 Cast Was Thrust into the Fire

How was 1917 filmed with a big cast?

It’s reasonable to suspect that the weather in Salisbury, England in April would be dark and dreary, but for Mendes and the 1917 team, it was anything but what they expected. In fact, the first day on the shooting schedule was so sunny that Deakins decided they couldn’t film. If you’ve seen the film,  you know that it's mostly overcast or dark – so for continuity’s sake it wouldn’t make sense if there was one shot in the sun and the next shot was under clouds.

The sun played a huge role in the production of 1917 because it served as the film’s primary light source. Roughly 80-90% of the film was solely reliant on natural lighting, but there are a couple scenes that were illuminated by fire and explosions. Watch this next clip to see Mendes break down “the desolate town” scene from 1917 – and read our article on how Roger Deakins shot a oner film for more technical details.

UP NEXT

How Roger Deakins Shot a “Oner”

Now that we’ve broken down some of the production hurdles 1917 overcame, let’s move onto the cinematographic challenges. In this next article, we analyze how cinematographer Roger Deakins and director Sam Mendes shot a “oner” or a “one shot film.” We’ll show you all of their camera equipment and camera tricks so that you can attempt a oner of your own.

Up Next: 1917 One Shot Explained →