PRODUCTION
BIG PICTURE BLACK MIRROR
Beyond the Sea “is of a time when we still worshipped the space race and that’s what a hero was, on the front page of a newspaper that was something everyone read, and everyone knew.” Mazey Day, a horror based on the paparazzi hounding a troubled movie star is set in “literally the last moment before every human was a paparazzo, now everyone can take a picture of everyone and so those moments are unique to their period.” “It changes the story,” says Brooker.
“Once you break the rules up a little that is revitalising. It’s interesting to see if we can do a season where we don’t just rely on what people think, and what I even think, is a cliched Black Mirror episode, for want of a better phrase.”
A BOX OF CHOCOLATES What hasn’t changed is that Black Mirror, despite being an anthology, manages to maintain a certain uniformity throughout.
“It’s like when you taste something, but you can’t articulate it,” says Rhoades. But actually, “it’s the mind of Charlie.” “What I always used to say is that the show is a box of chocolates, you
“I MIGHT HAVE COME UP WITH A LOT OF THE STORIES, BUT
THEY’RE INDELIBLY STAMPED WITH THE MARK OF EACH INDIVIDUAL DIRECTOR”
don’t know what flavour you’re going to get, you don’t know what the filling is going to be but you know it’s dark chocolate,” says Brooker “There’s a flavour that does run through all of them even if, this season, we definitely stretched the variety as far as it can go short of putting in one that’s claymation.”
But that flavour goes beyond the
writer. “It’s a huge collaborative thing,” he says. “If there is a unity, it’s probably because there’s a collection of similar minds looking at it throughout. But they’re all treated individually with individual directors and editors. That’s part of the fun, but also the thing that’s terrifying.” Terrifying to produce as Black Mirror
has no uniformity of cast, narrative or locations with each essentially a standalone movie. “The beauty of the show is that each episode has its own director, DoP, hair, makeup, wardrobe, AD, producer and composer,” says Rhoades. “So, there’s a beating pulse to each episode.” And each episode eventually takes on a pace of its own. “They’re going to be moving no matter what,” says Rhoades. “But I think if they weren’t charging forward on their own, it would feel oddly overwhelming. It’s five children and they’re at different ages and you’re trying to get them all to bed.”
84
televisual.com Summer 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
