It’s all the hype on TV right now, impressing viewers and critics alike, with child star Owen Cooper making headlines with his first ever acting credit.
Starring the likes of Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty, the miniseries is made up of four hour-long episodes that are filmed in continuous one-hour long takes, following a 13-year-old boy who has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Leaving absolutely no margin for error, it makes the Netflix show that bit more gripping to watch – but how did they shoot all of it?
Well, Netflix have released a behind-the scenes explainer for each episode, though one scene sticks out more than the rest to fans on social media.
One took to X, asking a film account: “Please watch Adolescence (Netflix) and tell us how it’s ALL done! Especially episode 4 (driving in the van). This show is blowing my mind!”
But it’s all laid out in the video posted on Tudum by Netflix, which starts by stating: “Each Adolescence episode was shot in a single continuous take.”
It’s not the first time Graham or director Phillip Barantini have adopted this style of filming, having done it for Boiling Point, which was a 90-minute single-take film.
The van scene is featured in the video, which sees Graham’s character, Eddie Miller, load his family into his van after it has been vandalised.
While it looks like he’s driving the van in the series while acting, this obviously isn’t the case, and with no cuts, there isn’t an opportunity to hook it up to another vehicle to do the steering.
The man on top drove the van, allowing the one-take method to carry on (Netflix)
Instead, as seen in the photo above, someone is stationed on top of the van, and is responsible for driving the van while Graham stays in character.
A camera can be seen in front of the van’s windshield, capturing the character’s movements and blocking their view – another reason why the British actor couldn’t have been driving.
It’s a lot to commit to, but the filming method produces some of the most authentic and raw moments from actors, as viewers experience their emotions in real-time as well.
The method seems to be a hit, as the series boasts a score of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, debuting as the top show in the UK and the world on the streaming platform.
While it’s a lot more work to film, Graham believes it’s all worthwhile (Netflix)
Speaking about episode one in the behind-the-scenes video, Graham said that the episodes as seeing ‘a swan glide gracefully across water, but its legs are flapping like mad’.
Footage across all the behind-the-scenes videos reveals meticulous movements from camera operators to ensure they keep the scene going and get the shot they want, handing cameras off to each other up the stairs, for example.
The show’s director of photography, Matthew Lewis, admitted it took a ‘few weeks’ to work the exact process out.
It’s a stressful way of shooting, with a lot of planning and rehearsal required to get it all right, though Cooper previously revealed that one of his favourite moments came from a bit of improvisation with Doherty.
