Behind the scenes footage shows how Stephen Graham thriller Adolescence filmed ‘insane’ one shot episodes
When it comes to Netflix, the streamer has a near-unparalleled ability to create hit shows that get everyone talking about them.
Whether it be Baby Reindeer, Squid Game, or Stranger Things, some of the most talked about shows tend to come from the streamer.
By all accounts, Netflix have done it again, with the Stephen Graham thriller Adolescence already setting social media ablaze.
With a 100 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score, a debut as the top show in both the UK and the world on Netflix, and many fans taking to social media to call it a ‘masterpiece’, it’s fair to say Adolescence has been well received.
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The series, which centres around a 13-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of murder, consists of four episodes, with each hour-long episode shot in one single take.
Many watching will be wondering how on earth Stephen Graham and co were able to pull it off – and we finally have the answer.
Netflix has released several behind-the-scenes featurettes that show how the series, which is incredibly complicated, was shot.
Check out the featurette below, which explains in part how they were able to pull off such a huge undertaking (WARNING: Spoilers for episode one of Adolescence).
The director of Adolescence, Phillip Barantini, previously worked on a similar project, Boiling Point, which also starred Stephen Graham and was an hour and a half-long single-take film.
Four separate episodes an hour long each is an even bigger undertaking however, and was achieved through meticulous planning, a long rehearsal process, and tight scripting.
In the behind-the-scenes of episode one Stephen Graham described the episodes as like seeing ‘a swan glide gracefully across water, but its legs are flapping like mad’.
The footage shows rigs set up to follow action in addition to camera operators sprinting from point to point in order to hand off the expensive cameras.
Matthew Lewis, the show’s Director of Photography, said that it took them a ‘few weeks’ to figure out how to process the fact that there ‘was no cuts, and whatever is shot is the episode’.
The first episode, which covers the arrest and interrogation of Jamie Miller, was shot on their second try.
Barantini has confirmed that they aimed to shoot every episode just ten times, but that due to restarts it oftentimes ended up being about 15 tries per episode.
Speaking about the process, Stephen Graham said at the Next on Netflix event: “It’s almost like a play. Without sounding pretentious, it's the marriage of both mediums.
“It technically is a play, and it’s the most zen I’ve ever been, because it's naturalism and we are playing to the camera.
“We spent a whole week rehearsing as actors with Phil, and we went through every beat, through every moment, piece by piece.
“You immerse yourself into that character from as soon as we say ‘action’, to as soon as we say ‘cut’.”
The show sits in a rare club of being rated at 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. David Opie of Empire Magazine said in their five-star review of the show: “Far more grown-up than its name might suggest, Adolescence is a triumph of creative and technical artistry where the ‘gimmick’ at hand elevates it to one of the year’s finest. Episode 3 in particular is already a highlight of the year.”
Nadini Balial said in their four-out-of-four star review for RogerEbert.com: “No one will want to watch this series, but that is precisely why everyone should.”
Adolescence is available to watch on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, Social Media, Stephen Graham, TV, TV and Film, Adolescence, UK News, Entertainment, Rotten Tomatoes
Michael Slavin