While filmmaking has come a long way from the studio system heyday of the Golden Age of Hollywood, there are numerous practical techniques from the early years of cinema that are still practiced today. Perhaps the most practical technique of all is one that makes the least common sense to an outsider, which is that most movies are shot completely out of order. This is done typically because of issues of a location or set only being available for a certain amount of time during production, meaning that the filmmakers need to finish filming there first before moving on to another setting. These issues are then compounded by the schedules of the cast members — for instance, perhaps a certain actor appears near the end of a film, but is only available early in the shooting schedule. While this may seem bizarre to those coming from the world of theatre, it’s a reality of film and television that has come to be widely understood and accepted.
As such, it’s a rarity that a movie will shoot anywhere near chronological order, as it seldom makes practical or financial sense to do so. Yet, every once in a while, the stars align in a fashion that makes shooting in sequence not only financially sound but also creatively attractive. After all, while every film and television actor has to become used to doing their work in a jumbled fashion, there’s no doubt that filming in sequence creates a much more natural environment for them to build and pitch a performance. That’s why “The Long Walk,” the adaptation of the Richard Bachman, aka Stephen King, novel directed by Francis Lawrence, contains such richly developed and incredibly well-honed performances from its ensemble cast. Thanks to the needs of the script, Lawrence realized that the film could be shot chronologically, and it’s because he made the choice to do so that the movie has ended up that much richer and unique.
Filming ‘The Long Walk’ in order made it a similar experience in front of and behind the cameras
Francis Lawrence could’ve made the film in a more traditional, non-chronological manner, and it still would’ve been great. Yet when Lawrence saw the opportunity to shoot the movie sequentially, he knew that choosing to do so would pay dividends for the effect it would have on the actors, the crew, and, ultimately, the audience. As he told IGN recently, this was a first for him in his career:
“We shot this movie chronologically and that’s not something that I’ve ever gotten to do. There’s just no movie that’s been built in a way that sort of afforded me that opportunity. But because of the nature of this movie, these young men gather, they all meet each other, and once they start walking, every day, the location changes and you’re in a new scene. And so we could choose chronologically.”
This choice not only helped in little ways with things like keeping continuity for costumes, hair, makeup, and the like, but it also helped Lawrence and cinematographer Jo Willems figure out how they were going to make the film look aesthetically. Just as the actors were having a meta experience building bonds between themselves off-camera that were abruptly ended when a character would be killed during the course of the Long Walk, Lawrence and his crew began to realize that the focus of the story wasn’t the world around these boys, but the boys themselves. As Lawrence continued:
“I did worry a little bit in the very beginning about how I shoot these guys, how I block them, how do you shoot them walking, talking, doing all these things. And what I realized that the important thing is in this, again, is the camaraderie, as it’s the heart of the story. … I have to really focus on the characters and what the characters are going through physically, psychologically, emotionally with one another, seeing the degradation over time and over days and after nights and when the group’s whittling away.”
Indeed, the slow progression of each character’s degradation — both physical and mental — is something that can be seen acutely in the film. While the movie does not take place (and was not shot) in real time, it still carries with it some of the sensation of watching a documentary, as the reality of these boys marching endlessly to their doom sets in for both the characters and the audience. It’s an effect that couldn’t have been conveyed as well had the film been shot more traditionally.
The sequential shoot also influenced post-production of ‘The Long Walk’
Undertaking such a unique filming experience was always going to have an effect on “The Long Walk” for its actors and crew on set. Yet the ripples didn’t stop there, as the choice to shoot in order had an effect on post-production, too. According to a Q&A that Movieweb conducted with editor Mark Yoshikawa after a recent advance screening of the film (which this writer was also present at), filming in order ended up influencing both the editing and sound design of the movie. There were added restrictions to the post-production process as a result, but there also emerged a uniquely powerful psychological effect, as well. As Yoshikawa explained:
“The one thing also about this film, is you couldn’t move things out of order and rearrange things as you normally would as an editor, because people died in a certain order. It started off with 50, and it gets less and less and less. I think there’s also on the big screen something visceral about that of seeing a crowd of people, and it’s all this activity, and all this foley that they had to shoot, and all this, you know, people talking, and then by the end, you just feel like it’s a dozen, and then it’s 10, and then it’s three.”
Yoshikawa also discussed how, thanks to shooting in sequence, he was able to cut together the movie as it was being shot, which meant that Lawrence could see an assembly cut of the film almost immediately after principal photography wrapped. All of this meant that “The Long Walk” was in a fortuitous position to be made in a way that served the film’s practical needs while allowing it to reach its creative potential. To be sure, not every film can (or even should) be made like this. However, filmmakers may have become so used to the “normal” method of non-sequential shooting that they might not even consider that they have an option to do it this way. Hopefully, in addition to becoming recognized for its wonderful performances and filmmaking, “The Long Walk” might mark a bit of a creative sea change for film shoots going forward, too.
