Making 1899 – Picture: Netflix
Netflix’s new ambitious series 1899 has just dropped onto the service globally and alongside it comes an hour-long documentary looking into the behind-the-scenes on the show taking you from early development through to season 1 wrap.
Making 1899 arrives as a surprise on Netflix globally, available in both English audio and English audio description with a myriad of subtitle options.
It’s an extended 50-minute documentary that we first caught a glimpse of at Netflix’s Geeked Week.
It features interviews and thoughts from much of the cast and crew of the show, plus the two creators, Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar.
Other people featured in the documentary providing insight into their characters and the development of the show include:
- Emily Beecham
- Andreas Pietschmann
- Aneurin Barnard
- Miguel Bernardeau
- Isabella Wei
- Mathilde Ollivier
- Rosalie Craig
- Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen
- Maria Erwolter
- Fflyn Edwards
- Anton Lesser
Much of the documentary focuses on the new technology used to produce the Netflix limited series, which they refer to as “The Volume.”
The two creators sitting down to discuss the volume said Netflix pitched them the technology, and originally, they didn’t take it seriously, saying that they were “more traditional filmmakers”.
Effectively it’s a giant LED sound stage. Rather than using blue or green screens that will later have images courtesy of post-production, this tech displays the image in real-time.
Behind the scenes on 1899 – Picture: Netflix
It’s similar to the tech used by The Mandalorian and even Netflix’s upcoming series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, will employ similar tech.
To date, this is one of the splashiest making-of documentaries Netflix has put together thus far (more on their previous efforts below)
That’s undoubtedly because Netflix drafted Andrew Amondson, a documentarian with 20 years in the business as a writer, producer, and director, to direct the documentary.
Previous projects Amondson has worked on include The Residents, Relapse (A&E), Intervention (A&E), Restoring Time, and Reflections.
Netflix has previously released behind-the-scenes documentaries for titles like Power of the Dog, The Queen’s Gambit, Our Planet, and Army of the Dead.
The documentary is edited by Luca Lucchesi and produced by Good Old Factory.
Have you checked out 1899 yet? Let us know in the comments down below.
