December 11, 2024 • 24 mins
Award-winning Production Designer Julian R. Wagner discusses his new Golden Globe Nominated film for Best Picture, "September 5,” – starring Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro and directed by Tim Fehlbaum! “September 5” premieres December 13th in theaters! Click here to watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/Azud40CQ3IE?si=y20HKp7c7UjCKqYz
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September 5 captures the moment that reshaped media and live news forever. Set during the 1972 Munich Olympics, it follows the ABC Sports team as they shift from sports reporting to covering the hostage crisis of Israeli athletes, a broadcast seen by millions.
At its core is Geo (John Magaro), an ambitious producer striving to impress his boss, legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard). Alongside interpreter Marianne (Leonie Benesch) and mentor Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), the story delves into high-tech broadcasting, lives at stake, and moral choices under intense pressure.
If you would like to support The Jan Price Show All About Movies, now you can make a tax-free donation. Click on the link below for the details: https://creative-visions.networkforgood.com/projects/236266-the-jan-price-show-s-fundraiser
We are on Bluesky! Click here to follow us: https://bsky.app/profile/thejanpriceshow.bsky.social
September 5 captures the moment that reshaped media and live news forever. Set during the 1972 Munich Olympics, it follows the ABC Sports team as they shift from sports reporting to covering the hostage crisis of Israeli athletes, a broadcast seen by millions.
At its core is Geo (John Magaro), an ambitious producer striving to impress his boss, legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard). Alongside interpreter Marianne (Leonie Benesch) and mentor Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), the story delves into high-tech broadcasting, lives at stake, and moral choices under intense pressure.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Jam Rice Show, All about Movies.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You're listening to The Jam Price Show All about Movies,
and today my guest is.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Production jet designer Julian R. Wagner.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We're going to talk about this incredibly amazing film called
September fifth. I just I was blown away by this movie,
I have to tell you, and I'll be very surprised
if it's not nominated for Best Picture this year and
also your production sign because it was really incredible. So
I can't wait to do a d dive into creating
the news room of September fifth and Munich, Germany for
(00:35):
the Olympicy year that we had the terrorist attack Israeli Colombian.
So it's amazing story. So welcome to the show, Julie.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hi, thank you very much. I'm very excited to be
here and to talk about the movie.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm excited to have you here too, because in our
audience now is a little bit more of the detail.
Why don't you give them the nosis of the movie
of September fifth.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Well, the September five is about the tragic events, that's
how and nineteen seventy two and the Olympic village during
the Olympic Games. But we are telling the story from
a totally different perspective. Our story is more about the
work of the journalists on the ground. This is more
(01:16):
journalistic thriller, and we wanted to show and to tell
how the journalists have been working at the time. We
are talking about the moral dilemma of journalists and also
you know, of humans in general, because we are all
facing the same problem every day. We all have, you know,
our mobiles in the pocket, so in any second we
(01:39):
can capture something and we can decide if we put
it online or not. So this journalistic moral dilemma is
a dilemma that we all have. It's about the responsibility
we have. And this is mainly this is what the
story is about.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Even though we all know what happened that day, it
is realer in so many ways. The way it's shot,
the way it is edited, the music, acting, everyone is
really superb in this. But the recreation of that studio
and what they went through, because this was this is
the first time they were using satellite. I believe right
they were going well, now I kind of got I
(02:15):
wasn't sure were they sharing the satellite with it? This
is ABC that the broadcast, But were they sharing a
CBS came in there and they're talking about sharing the satellite.
Is that something that was happening back then?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Well, I mean, you know, talking a bit more about
the event itself and the circumstances. In nineteen seventy two,
the Olympic Games, this was the first event that has
been broadcasted live all around the globe, and that made
it so new and unique, and it changed so much
because we were all able to watch this on TV
(02:48):
and they had to they had, you know, like they
are sharing these satellites. So it was the first event
while you know, journalists have been able to use satellite
as technology, and this is why they broadcasted all over
the globe. And they had they had their spots that
had you know, like a time slot. So every unit
has had a time slot and depending on you know
(03:11):
how I don't know, famous you were and whatever, you
got a better slot or not. It's a bit you know,
like today, and they wanted to follow the story from
the beginning to the end, but at some point they
didn't have a time slot, so they had to share
it at some point, you know, with another TV station.
Then they had to invent what we see in the
movie to use a watermark on the screen just to
(03:34):
make sure that it's their material they're using. Very interesting,
So we learned a lot about journalistic work and and
we can really you know, follow the story and follow
the characters through this process.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Was also pos so the audience know, maybe many people
don't know reduction designer. I wanted to tell a little
bit about what a production designer does into the production design.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Time, so I mean this script. When I got the
script from Tim filber On, the director, we have been
discussing on how to realize the story, and in the
very beginning the script was a bit different. So we
the approach was to tell the story from multiple perspectives.
Wanted to show as well, you know, what happened in
(04:24):
the village. You wanted to talk about to show the
police work, and the focus has always been on the
journalists and on their work. And in the process of
the script writing, Tim and Moritz came to a point
when they realized, it's all about the journalism. This is
the unique perspectives that we want to have. And then
(04:47):
Tim came to me and we discussed it, and we
realized and decided that this is all about authenticity. It's
about you know, we all felt I guess we all
felt a huge responsibility for the victim, but also you know,
for history to be very accurate about this. And however,
I view my role as a production designer as well
(05:08):
in supporting the emotional world of the actors and to
support the drama and the narrative. So in the first place,
as a designer, you have to find the delicate balance
between reality and fiction. And you cannot just go and
copy one to one everything that you learned during the research.
(05:29):
You also have to decide where you take a bit
more creative license and to change rooms or architecture or
what can you do to support the emotions or we
it became the story became a one room swiller. So
you as I saw it at some point, is that
the Olympic village became a gigantic stage where everything happened,
(05:54):
and yet we wanted to tell the story from a
single room or a single student your set. So designing
this small world and still telling the big story, This
was the main approach for me as a designer.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Outside so you just talk about the you know, all
of the electronic that are recreated from nineteen seventy two,
you know, over fifty years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Talk about that process.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Of getting those and getting them working, because you wanted
them to work.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
So let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yeah, As I said, authenticity became the main goal for us,
and for Tim it was very important that everything works.
He didn't want to have any fake devices or anything.
It should all be real from that time and it
should work. And we can talk you know later as
well about the contra room in particular, because this was
(06:44):
very specific, but in general we wanted to have worked
and so we first of all, we started to research
about the journalistic work. How you know, what was the workflow,
what did they do, what kind of machines did they use?
And we had a lot of help by Jeffrey Mason
who was there at the time and the team, and
he was providing us with informations and also with images
(07:07):
photographies from the time. And of course these photographies weren't
you know, precisely showing the sets was more about the
crew and we had to do a big puzzle then,
and you know, we had a tiny part of an
image showing the contrary rule, and then we found an
old catalog from the manufacturer of the devices showing a
(07:28):
room which hasn't been necessarily exactly this room. So I
always saw like the research of journalism became an investigative
journalism itself because we had to dig Dick, We had
to really go into that research process. And then when
we at some point we had quite a clear idea
(07:49):
about how this all looked like, and we also found
the original blueprints of the studio built. Yeah, this was
very exciting. And then I guess from that part on
we had enough knowledge to decide where to be accurate
and where to take a bit more creative license. And
we decided to be very very precise about every single
(08:12):
technical detail and to take a bit more freedom regarding
the space in the architecture, and to make it a
bit more interesting, to allow us to maneuver freely, to
go from one room to another, and to have always
an interesting background to see as well the technical devices.
Because in the original studio set you had no windows.
(08:35):
It was totally shot to the outside, and this is
what we did as well. There were were no windows
to the outside, but from one room to another there
were no windows, and there was always a certain demand
in the script in between the lines saying this technical
setup was state of the art and it was you know,
it was super modern, and I always wanted to show this,
(08:57):
and so we created a U huge VTR room, which
is a huge space with these big VTR machines, and
we put it in the center of the studio set
surrounded by glass windows so you could always see in
the background the machinery and the workflow as we're done.
So this, I would say, is the biggest creative license
that we took. And then when we found out what
(09:19):
we need, we had a great team, you know, the
propmaster and Marcubum and the production buyer Johanna's father, that
had did a great job in investigating all these technical
devices and machines and they were really hunting them down
in all basements of TV broadcast and in museums, private collectors.
(09:40):
They went to the Netherlands, they went to Italy, Czech Republic,
and we were collecting every everything we could get, and
we were We brought it into a studio where we
had hires four technical experts and two propmakers and they
started to refurbish everything and to dismantled partly to rewire
to make it work again. And it was amazing to
(10:03):
see how the studio was growing and getting back to life.
This was really amazing. I remember at some point we
were standing there and we realized basically everything you could
find from this time, from that era was collected in
one room in the big studio, and was like, okay,
this is at the moment the biggest collection of technical
(10:23):
devices from nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Was absolutely amazing that it truly is like, I can't
believe that that you were able to do. I'm sure
you've frozen up a little bit there we go. I'm
sure it's like, detective, how did you even go about
knowing where to go find these things? And you film
this in Germany?
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
We filmed this in Germany in Munich, of course.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, it actually took place.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Yes, we had took place, and we had to film
there because we need to reshoot most of the archival footage.
So the archival footage was a great tool for research
and was very inspiring. But we had a responsibility regarding
the victims, and so we couldn't show any material, you know,
(11:17):
from from people that got killed or injured in this event,
and so we we wanted to reshoot the Olympic Village.
We had to reshoot these swimming race at the beginning
with Mark Spitz and many other scenes. What we were
we used, of course Jim McKay as an original footage
(11:38):
and some other scenes. Also, the iconic image of the
masked man in the balcony has has been reshot So
Munich was the place and as the the Olympic Village
is under heritage, but the original studio was not, so
(11:58):
it was teered down in the past and we went
into a studio and we rebuilt the entire ABC studio
set as well from the exterior, so we had the
exterior and the interior built.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Did you build that by the village or did you
build it in a sound stage on.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
A sound stage. We went to a sound stage and
we had two intentions when we built the studio set.
The first was we we wanted to create a studio
set that was a continuous set. So usually you would
go into a on a sound stage and you would
(12:41):
build many mini sets because it's much easier to work in.
You know, you can film and shoot in one set
and you can still work another. But we wanted to
we wanted to create a world like a time machine
where you would end her the studio and you would
never see behind a curtain or behind a wall. We
(13:05):
you know, and we wanted to move freely because Tim
and Marcus the DP Marcus Furderer, they wanted to to
work like a documentary team, following the story and following
the characters, and basically like the journalists at that time
worked because they wanted to follow the story from the
(13:27):
beginning to the end, and they wanted to cover everything,
and they didn't have a second to think about what
they were doing. They were just following the story and
they did their work, and Tim and Marcus wanted to
work the same way and doing this man, we needed
to create a three sixty degree space, ceilings, floors, everything.
(13:51):
We wanted to move freely from one room to another.
So all the lights have been build in the set
already and this was in a normous task and need
a lot of collaboration from our crafts because we know,
we didn't want to to reset, you know, we wanted
to do long shots. And the second intention was regarding
(14:16):
the actors that we wanted to create a set where
the actors would dive in and they would forget about
the world of twenty twenty two. It was when we
shot it arm so this is again like a time
machine for them too, and they could touch whatever they
wanted to touch. It was for real. There was no
drawer in a desk that hasn't been dressed. Every memo
(14:39):
that you can see that was sticked on, you know,
the it was you know, there were detailed writings that
haven't been fake. There was no Hi Bob or whatever
you might fake on such a memo. It was just
very accurate. And that's how it did, you.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Know, It's amazing and had to believe by doing that,
that is what enhanced the performances in this film, because
they all, I mean, you've got Peter Scars, John mccaro
really wonderful in this, ben Chaplain, and an actress I
had not seen Leoni Finish.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You say her name, She was wonderful. I mean. It
was also interesting how the two.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Women in the film were so instrumental, how they really
needed those women and I'm wondering if they were based
on real people.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I'm sure they were. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
It was interesting, you know how that you know, the
women were coming up with the ideas and how to
go ahead and do it.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
That thought.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yes, yeah, yeah, it's I mean, we have these these
great characters in the story and they're based on you know, true,
true people. Still you can see in mind the call
is very male. But this is how it has been
(16:05):
in nineteen seventy two, and such such a job. And
I must say, and for me as a designer, and
when I when I go into a set and I
see such a wonderful, talented group of actors. I mean,
this ensemble led by Tim in an incredible way. How
they work together and how they were dedicated to everything
(16:28):
that they did was just mind blowing to witness this
from the outside. City said because on the set on
basically just you know, watching, Yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It comes through, it really comes through all of that detail.
That's pretty amazing. I don't think we as the audience
when we're watching now realize how much watching production production
how much. I mean, sometimes you do see it and
you notice it, but now those little fite details makes
(17:02):
such a huge difference subconsciously, I think as an audience
from watching it not being aware of what those details
bring to the production, bring to the film, but for
the actors that has to add so much to the
performances see that you know, play in more of a
(17:22):
real world than play acting.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
And not that anybody play acts, but you know what
I'm saying, you know that that adds to performance.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I would think when it's especially something that's an historic
event that many people are very aware of and should
be more aware of if they're not, maybe this is
a good time for this film to come out for
us more aware of you doesn't change too much.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
In a way. It's what I was watching. It was like,
how much have we really progressed in those fifty two years.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Yeah, it's a good question, and I mean I would
you know what, what I would wish the the audience
you know takes from this movie is the you know,
to understand how the journalist work has been done back
then and also today because it's still the same approach,
(18:21):
and to learn about these questions of you know more
ready Lemma and so it's you know about understanding history,
but it's about you know, thinking about yourself, how you
deal with these questions about you know, with your responsibility
(18:42):
because as sudden the beginning, it's it's it's very tempting
to just you know, cover things captured and sending it out.
But we have a huge responsibility today with all these things,
and especially you know today with all the the fight
(19:04):
news and the the way it's it's it's used in
on a on a political on a political stage. This
is huge. This is something you know that we have
to think about and we have to say everyone has
to think about their own behavior.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Totally googe with you more.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
One of the things that I found interesting how they
felt about this here They're having the Olympics in Munich.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
How many years after the war quite a few twenty
two or something more.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And then to have this happened on there again, that
was really very interesting to see that reaction. Now I'm
assuming everything in this is based on truth, So is
that I mean the way they responded and now they got,
particularly the German interpreter she at the end, I thought
(20:01):
that was very big.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah, I'm just got the second half of your question
because we had an little interference here, but I think
I got the the idea behind it. It's it was
for all of us, you know, for for all of
us Germans. It was there a big tragedy of course,
you know, because of the event itself, but also you know,
(20:26):
we we wanted to show a New Germany, and you know,
we wanted to represent us as an open society. You know,
we wanted to invite the world to us after you know,
all these years. You know that we hoped, you know,
we we could we could come over now, and and
(20:47):
it was supposed to be an event of joy and
and love and all of that. And then again something
like this happened and we haven't been prepared. And honestly,
I knew about that event, but I only learned through
the script, and doing this movie, I learned so much more.
(21:08):
I learned, you know, about all the mistakes we have done,
and why we have done it, and how unprepared we
were because we were so ah, we're so keen about
not being We didn't want to show a military presence again,
and we were so afraid of having, you know, of
(21:32):
doing this again, that we underestimated, you know, any kind
of risks and threats. And this was the tragedy in itself.
And I think we all felt this very much. We felt, yeah,
we felt really bad these dispect Then I worked.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
For two Olympics.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I worked for the nineteen ninety six Summer Olympics in Georgia,
and we had the bombing right in Atlanta, and that
changed how security was after that event.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
And then I went and.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Worked the two thousand and two Winter Olympics in Salt
Lake City. So having worked for two I understand the
need for diligence as far as protecting the people that
are there in the athletes. So this movie is it
really is. So it's really really, really incredibly well done.
(22:31):
Acting is superb, set design obviously, the production designs, and
I urged people really to go see September fifth. It's
going to be opening limited release on December thirteenth, and
then we'll go on wide release January seventeenth for Martin
(22:53):
King Weekend. So when it comes out, I highly recommend.
It's a wonderful It's an interesting piece of history. It
changed the way that news is broadcast. This was the
defining moment that things really changed in our broadcast world.
And it's just a well done movie and something that
is the history that we all should be aware. Julian,
(23:15):
thank you so much. I look forward to hearing your
name when the Oscars are you know, the the nominations
are made, and I wish you much success with the film.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Appreciate you being on the show.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Do all my loyal listeners.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
If you would like to financially support the Jam Price
Show now you can give a tax free donation. Go
to Creative visions dot org. That's creative visions dot org
and find the Jam Price Show in the podcast section
where you can make a tax free donation. Thank you
in advance for your your support. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
The Jam Rice Show All about movies.
The Jam Rice Show, All about Movies.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You're listening to The Jam Price Show All about Movies,
and today my guest is.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Production jet designer Julian R. Wagner.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We're going to talk about this incredibly amazing film called
September fifth. I just I was blown away by this movie,
I have to tell you, and I'll be very surprised
if it's not nominated for Best Picture this year and
also your production sign because it was really incredible. So
I can't wait to do a d dive into creating
the news room of September fifth and Munich, Germany for
(00:35):
the Olympicy year that we had the terrorist attack Israeli Colombian.
So it's amazing story. So welcome to the show, Julie.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hi, thank you very much. I'm very excited to be
here and to talk about the movie.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm excited to have you here too, because in our
audience now is a little bit more of the detail.
Why don't you give them the nosis of the movie
of September fifth.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Well, the September five is about the tragic events, that's
how and nineteen seventy two and the Olympic village during
the Olympic Games. But we are telling the story from
a totally different perspective. Our story is more about the
work of the journalists on the ground. This is more
(01:16):
journalistic thriller, and we wanted to show and to tell
how the journalists have been working at the time. We
are talking about the moral dilemma of journalists and also
you know, of humans in general, because we are all
facing the same problem every day. We all have, you know,
our mobiles in the pocket, so in any second we
(01:39):
can capture something and we can decide if we put
it online or not. So this journalistic moral dilemma is
a dilemma that we all have. It's about the responsibility
we have. And this is mainly this is what the
story is about.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Even though we all know what happened that day, it
is realer in so many ways. The way it's shot,
the way it is edited, the music, acting, everyone is
really superb in this. But the recreation of that studio
and what they went through, because this was this is
the first time they were using satellite. I believe right
they were going well, now I kind of got I
(02:15):
wasn't sure were they sharing the satellite with it? This
is ABC that the broadcast, But were they sharing a
CBS came in there and they're talking about sharing the satellite.
Is that something that was happening back then?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Well, I mean, you know, talking a bit more about
the event itself and the circumstances. In nineteen seventy two,
the Olympic Games, this was the first event that has
been broadcasted live all around the globe, and that made
it so new and unique, and it changed so much
because we were all able to watch this on TV
(02:48):
and they had to they had, you know, like they
are sharing these satellites. So it was the first event
while you know, journalists have been able to use satellite
as technology, and this is why they broadcasted all over
the globe. And they had they had their spots that
had you know, like a time slot. So every unit
has had a time slot and depending on you know
(03:11):
how I don't know, famous you were and whatever, you
got a better slot or not. It's a bit you know,
like today, and they wanted to follow the story from
the beginning to the end, but at some point they
didn't have a time slot, so they had to share
it at some point, you know, with another TV station.
Then they had to invent what we see in the
movie to use a watermark on the screen just to
(03:34):
make sure that it's their material they're using. Very interesting,
So we learned a lot about journalistic work and and
we can really you know, follow the story and follow
the characters through this process.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Was also pos so the audience know, maybe many people
don't know reduction designer. I wanted to tell a little
bit about what a production designer does into the production design.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Time, so I mean this script. When I got the
script from Tim filber On, the director, we have been
discussing on how to realize the story, and in the
very beginning the script was a bit different. So we
the approach was to tell the story from multiple perspectives.
Wanted to show as well, you know, what happened in
(04:24):
the village. You wanted to talk about to show the
police work, and the focus has always been on the
journalists and on their work. And in the process of
the script writing, Tim and Moritz came to a point
when they realized, it's all about the journalism. This is
the unique perspectives that we want to have. And then
(04:47):
Tim came to me and we discussed it, and we
realized and decided that this is all about authenticity. It's
about you know, we all felt I guess we all
felt a huge responsibility for the victim, but also you know,
for history to be very accurate about this. And however,
I view my role as a production designer as well
(05:08):
in supporting the emotional world of the actors and to
support the drama and the narrative. So in the first place,
as a designer, you have to find the delicate balance
between reality and fiction. And you cannot just go and
copy one to one everything that you learned during the research.
(05:29):
You also have to decide where you take a bit
more creative license and to change rooms or architecture or
what can you do to support the emotions or we
it became the story became a one room swiller. So
you as I saw it at some point, is that
the Olympic village became a gigantic stage where everything happened,
(05:54):
and yet we wanted to tell the story from a
single room or a single student your set. So designing
this small world and still telling the big story, This
was the main approach for me as a designer.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Outside so you just talk about the you know, all
of the electronic that are recreated from nineteen seventy two,
you know, over fifty years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Talk about that process.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Of getting those and getting them working, because you wanted
them to work.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
So let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yeah, As I said, authenticity became the main goal for us,
and for Tim it was very important that everything works.
He didn't want to have any fake devices or anything.
It should all be real from that time and it
should work. And we can talk you know later as
well about the contra room in particular, because this was
(06:44):
very specific, but in general we wanted to have worked
and so we first of all, we started to research
about the journalistic work. How you know, what was the workflow,
what did they do, what kind of machines did they use?
And we had a lot of help by Jeffrey Mason
who was there at the time and the team, and
he was providing us with informations and also with images
(07:07):
photographies from the time. And of course these photographies weren't
you know, precisely showing the sets was more about the
crew and we had to do a big puzzle then,
and you know, we had a tiny part of an
image showing the contrary rule, and then we found an
old catalog from the manufacturer of the devices showing a
(07:28):
room which hasn't been necessarily exactly this room. So I
always saw like the research of journalism became an investigative
journalism itself because we had to dig Dick, We had
to really go into that research process. And then when
we at some point we had quite a clear idea
(07:49):
about how this all looked like, and we also found
the original blueprints of the studio built. Yeah, this was
very exciting. And then I guess from that part on
we had enough knowledge to decide where to be accurate
and where to take a bit more creative license. And
we decided to be very very precise about every single
(08:12):
technical detail and to take a bit more freedom regarding
the space in the architecture, and to make it a
bit more interesting, to allow us to maneuver freely, to
go from one room to another, and to have always
an interesting background to see as well the technical devices.
Because in the original studio set you had no windows.
(08:35):
It was totally shot to the outside, and this is
what we did as well. There were were no windows
to the outside, but from one room to another there
were no windows, and there was always a certain demand
in the script in between the lines saying this technical
setup was state of the art and it was you know,
it was super modern, and I always wanted to show this,
(08:57):
and so we created a U huge VTR room, which
is a huge space with these big VTR machines, and
we put it in the center of the studio set
surrounded by glass windows so you could always see in
the background the machinery and the workflow as we're done.
So this, I would say, is the biggest creative license
that we took. And then when we found out what
(09:19):
we need, we had a great team, you know, the
propmaster and Marcubum and the production buyer Johanna's father, that
had did a great job in investigating all these technical
devices and machines and they were really hunting them down
in all basements of TV broadcast and in museums, private collectors.
(09:40):
They went to the Netherlands, they went to Italy, Czech Republic,
and we were collecting every everything we could get, and
we were We brought it into a studio where we
had hires four technical experts and two propmakers and they
started to refurbish everything and to dismantled partly to rewire
to make it work again. And it was amazing to
(10:03):
see how the studio was growing and getting back to life.
This was really amazing. I remember at some point we
were standing there and we realized basically everything you could
find from this time, from that era was collected in
one room in the big studio, and was like, okay,
this is at the moment the biggest collection of technical
(10:23):
devices from nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Was absolutely amazing that it truly is like, I can't
believe that that you were able to do. I'm sure
you've frozen up a little bit there we go. I'm
sure it's like, detective, how did you even go about
knowing where to go find these things? And you film
this in Germany?
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
We filmed this in Germany in Munich, of course.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, it actually took place.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Yes, we had took place, and we had to film
there because we need to reshoot most of the archival footage.
So the archival footage was a great tool for research
and was very inspiring. But we had a responsibility regarding
the victims, and so we couldn't show any material, you know,
(11:17):
from from people that got killed or injured in this event,
and so we we wanted to reshoot the Olympic Village.
We had to reshoot these swimming race at the beginning
with Mark Spitz and many other scenes. What we were
we used, of course Jim McKay as an original footage
(11:38):
and some other scenes. Also, the iconic image of the
masked man in the balcony has has been reshot So
Munich was the place and as the the Olympic Village
is under heritage, but the original studio was not, so
(11:58):
it was teered down in the past and we went
into a studio and we rebuilt the entire ABC studio
set as well from the exterior, so we had the
exterior and the interior built.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Did you build that by the village or did you
build it in a sound stage on.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
A sound stage. We went to a sound stage and
we had two intentions when we built the studio set.
The first was we we wanted to create a studio
set that was a continuous set. So usually you would
go into a on a sound stage and you would
(12:41):
build many mini sets because it's much easier to work in.
You know, you can film and shoot in one set
and you can still work another. But we wanted to
we wanted to create a world like a time machine
where you would end her the studio and you would
never see behind a curtain or behind a wall. We
(13:05):
you know, and we wanted to move freely because Tim
and Marcus the DP Marcus Furderer, they wanted to to
work like a documentary team, following the story and following
the characters, and basically like the journalists at that time
worked because they wanted to follow the story from the
(13:27):
beginning to the end, and they wanted to cover everything,
and they didn't have a second to think about what
they were doing. They were just following the story and
they did their work, and Tim and Marcus wanted to
work the same way and doing this man, we needed
to create a three sixty degree space, ceilings, floors, everything.
(13:51):
We wanted to move freely from one room to another.
So all the lights have been build in the set
already and this was in a normous task and need
a lot of collaboration from our crafts because we know,
we didn't want to to reset, you know, we wanted
to do long shots. And the second intention was regarding
(14:16):
the actors that we wanted to create a set where
the actors would dive in and they would forget about
the world of twenty twenty two. It was when we
shot it arm so this is again like a time
machine for them too, and they could touch whatever they
wanted to touch. It was for real. There was no
drawer in a desk that hasn't been dressed. Every memo
(14:39):
that you can see that was sticked on, you know,
the it was you know, there were detailed writings that
haven't been fake. There was no Hi Bob or whatever
you might fake on such a memo. It was just
very accurate. And that's how it did, you.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Know, It's amazing and had to believe by doing that,
that is what enhanced the performances in this film, because
they all, I mean, you've got Peter Scars, John mccaro
really wonderful in this, ben Chaplain, and an actress I
had not seen Leoni Finish.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
You say her name, She was wonderful. I mean. It
was also interesting how the two.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Women in the film were so instrumental, how they really
needed those women and I'm wondering if they were based
on real people.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I'm sure they were. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
It was interesting, you know how that you know, the
women were coming up with the ideas and how to
go ahead and do it.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
That thought.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yes, yeah, yeah, it's I mean, we have these these
great characters in the story and they're based on you know, true,
true people. Still you can see in mind the call
is very male. But this is how it has been
(16:05):
in nineteen seventy two, and such such a job. And
I must say, and for me as a designer, and
when I when I go into a set and I
see such a wonderful, talented group of actors. I mean,
this ensemble led by Tim in an incredible way. How
they work together and how they were dedicated to everything
(16:28):
that they did was just mind blowing to witness this
from the outside. City said because on the set on
basically just you know, watching, Yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It comes through, it really comes through all of that detail.
That's pretty amazing. I don't think we as the audience
when we're watching now realize how much watching production production
how much. I mean, sometimes you do see it and
you notice it, but now those little fite details makes
(17:02):
such a huge difference subconsciously, I think as an audience
from watching it not being aware of what those details
bring to the production, bring to the film, but for
the actors that has to add so much to the
performances see that you know, play in more of a
(17:22):
real world than play acting.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
And not that anybody play acts, but you know what
I'm saying, you know that that adds to performance.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I would think when it's especially something that's an historic
event that many people are very aware of and should
be more aware of if they're not, maybe this is
a good time for this film to come out for
us more aware of you doesn't change too much.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
In a way. It's what I was watching. It was like,
how much have we really progressed in those fifty two years.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Yeah, it's a good question, and I mean I would
you know what, what I would wish the the audience
you know takes from this movie is the you know,
to understand how the journalist work has been done back
then and also today because it's still the same approach,
(18:21):
and to learn about these questions of you know more
ready Lemma and so it's you know about understanding history,
but it's about you know, thinking about yourself, how you
deal with these questions about you know, with your responsibility
(18:42):
because as sudden the beginning, it's it's it's very tempting
to just you know, cover things captured and sending it out.
But we have a huge responsibility today with all these things,
and especially you know today with all the the fight
(19:04):
news and the the way it's it's it's used in
on a on a political on a political stage. This
is huge. This is something you know that we have
to think about and we have to say everyone has
to think about their own behavior.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Totally googe with you more.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
One of the things that I found interesting how they
felt about this here They're having the Olympics in Munich.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
How many years after the war quite a few twenty
two or something more.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And then to have this happened on there again, that
was really very interesting to see that reaction. Now I'm
assuming everything in this is based on truth, So is
that I mean the way they responded and now they got,
particularly the German interpreter she at the end, I thought
(20:01):
that was very big.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah, I'm just got the second half of your question
because we had an little interference here, but I think
I got the the idea behind it. It's it was
for all of us, you know, for for all of
us Germans. It was there a big tragedy of course,
you know, because of the event itself, but also you know,
(20:26):
we we wanted to show a New Germany, and you know,
we wanted to represent us as an open society. You know,
we wanted to invite the world to us after you know,
all these years. You know that we hoped, you know,
we we could we could come over now, and and
(20:47):
it was supposed to be an event of joy and
and love and all of that. And then again something
like this happened and we haven't been prepared. And honestly,
I knew about that event, but I only learned through
the script, and doing this movie, I learned so much more.
(21:08):
I learned, you know, about all the mistakes we have done,
and why we have done it, and how unprepared we
were because we were so ah, we're so keen about
not being We didn't want to show a military presence again,
and we were so afraid of having, you know, of
(21:32):
doing this again, that we underestimated, you know, any kind
of risks and threats. And this was the tragedy in itself.
And I think we all felt this very much. We felt, yeah,
we felt really bad these dispect Then I worked.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
For two Olympics.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I worked for the nineteen ninety six Summer Olympics in Georgia,
and we had the bombing right in Atlanta, and that
changed how security was after that event.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
And then I went and.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Worked the two thousand and two Winter Olympics in Salt
Lake City. So having worked for two I understand the
need for diligence as far as protecting the people that
are there in the athletes. So this movie is it
really is. So it's really really, really incredibly well done.
(22:31):
Acting is superb, set design obviously, the production designs, and
I urged people really to go see September fifth. It's
going to be opening limited release on December thirteenth, and
then we'll go on wide release January seventeenth for Martin
(22:53):
King Weekend. So when it comes out, I highly recommend.
It's a wonderful It's an interesting piece of history. It
changed the way that news is broadcast. This was the
defining moment that things really changed in our broadcast world.
And it's just a well done movie and something that
is the history that we all should be aware. Julian,
(23:15):
thank you so much. I look forward to hearing your
name when the Oscars are you know, the the nominations
are made, and I wish you much success with the film.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Appreciate you being on the show.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Do all my loyal listeners.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
If you would like to financially support the Jam Price
Show now you can give a tax free donation. Go
to Creative visions dot org. That's creative visions dot org
and find the Jam Price Show in the podcast section
where you can make a tax free donation. Thank you
in advance for your your support. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
The Jam Rice Show All about movies.
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