So I think its really fascinating because this is just the start. How did the script work did you write in German and then have things translated? Wllers eye isnt just a mystery, but one of the running jokes that makes Dark so rich. Odar:Thats the purest geometrical form you use to create all the other forms. I still think that young Katharina is related to Old Katharina now because they just look the same. You can change anything. Friese compared it to the Season 1 episode that first travels to the 1950s and the Season 2 episode that revisits the day of Michaels death. When we got to the second season, we changed it again. Friese: Yes. Everything is planned in that one holy book. We put a lot of effort into getting things right. So theres always a tone in the end, which all mean something different. 1899, which made the TIFF Primetime Program That was very fun. He almost reveals what happens before hes interrupted. Friese: I completely agree. And that's the same here again, now with the pattern pyramid and the triangles. I put a lot of thought into it: What kind of information and when do you explain certain rules? Friese wouldnt drop any spoilers not even saying how Season 3 will differ from the first two cycles but gave a few clues as to the faces viewers can expect. You will have to see. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. But everyone now has seen all three seasons, and it gets really complicated. bo OdarBut lets not forget thatDarkwas three seasons. It feels quite right and satisfactory. We had old material that was actually a different story a couple of years back, she said. In German, its so negative. Creators Baran bo Odar Jantje Friese Stars Emily Beecham Aneurin Barnard Andreas Pietschmann See production, box office & company info Watch on Netflix S1 with subscription Add to Watchlist But of course, the number is also very magical: 1899. You just trying to be flexible, to really allow the process to surprise you while youre going through it, but still kind of knowing where youre sailing to. If you dont know where youre going, you can just write whatever. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. "I think we created a very small world, to be honest, on Dark. Friese: Kerberos, for example, is a computer authentication protocol. So, as I said, we learned a lot. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. It was really fun. But in English, it means something positive. Poguelandia is not quite the paradise the Pogues hoped. Odar:Every episode [when] someone wakes up, you hear almost like a computer voice. How does it feel to be almost in a prison, because you cant get out of yourself? Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! ", "We're really bad at celebrating ourselves," he added. How did the idea come about for 1899? Friese credits casting director Simone Br for the series uncanny casting coups. And because of that tone, you understand how the whole sentence is meant. Jonas and Martha sacrifice themselves and their own worlds in order to stop the loop and save the origin world. Was it always your intention to introduce multiple worlds from the outset? Still, there are enough locations that do exist, exteriors that even when dismantled were the site of many memories for those who worked on Dark. Its understandable that even Odar didnt want to give up the show right away. The international cast worked on one of the biggest virtual stages in the world. At the same time, the refugee crisis was happening in Europe [around 2015/2016] and it was a very unstable phase. Speaking how we think French people would speak. Some of it was something that we developed throughout the process. Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. With that being said, is there still a story to tell in the universe of Dark, or do you feel closed at this point? Its not every word but you learn how a language sounds and, especially if you do a lot of takes, you get really used to it. Brexit happened. Read on to find out what the pyramids and triangles mean, and which Easter eggs you mightve missed. ", Triangular symbols, such as those used in alchemy to denote the four elements, have popped up in the promo materials for the show so far. Then its really a lot of bouncing back and forth between the two of us at the beginning, throwing in random ideas in the beginning and trying to figure out what ideas actually stick. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. But thats what we learned: So okay, what do we have to put in the background so it glues these things together? Baran bo Odar Definitely. For me, its a very happy ending, realizing its not just about you all of the time. It evokes images of the 19th century but combines them with almost science fiction technology and pop tunes on the soundtrack. You see Adam blowing wind on the one world, and on the other, you see Eva blowing wind on the other world. Thats where we basically put the groundwork, going for deterministic time travel rules. It's really awkward for us, this huge success, we always question it. So, you would have the English dialogue on the left side and then the translated dialogue for that character in their language on the right side. I cant tell you exactly at what point; it wasnt in the first rough concept, but I think it was during the writers room on the first draft in Season 1, said Friese. When we started with the show, obviously we werent sure whether we were going to get any audience because its just such an unusual narrative, said Friese. Of course, thats just a tiny part of the hook of Season 3s new alternate reality, one in which Marthas younger brother never travels back in time and never becomes Jonas father. So it is truly a beast of its own, but shares a lot of the same maybe mechanisms as Dark does. Fear not, Tudum is here for you. "When we. We put a dot, wait a little, and then we put a question mark at the end. The treasure hunt is just getting started. Where does he come from? Can we change anything? And in that script note, there would be a meta-conversation about language. And he's not just talking major landscapes, but also more intimate set pieces, too. Michael (Sebastian Rudolph) is Michael. The song White Rabbit plays over the opening credits. [Note: The following interview discusses Season 3 of the Netflix series Dark.]. Two weeks after the release of Season 1, I was on Twitter honestly 24 hours a day. On set, Odar had phonetic scripts to reference as he directed scenes, and language assistants would be standing by to make sure nothing got lost in translation. The largest LED "Volume" of its kind in Europe, it unlocks the ability to capture a significant amount of complex visual effects shots in-camera through virtual sets and locations created with game engine technology, as opposed to a traditional green screen. But if you know where you want to end, it is even harder to then lay out the structure for the episodes to get there. These meet-cutes will bring on all the feels. Obviously, we were fighting for our own characters to to be heard, but then you just have to make choices.. Then one day, I told myself: Lets forget about what theyre saying and listen to how theyre saying it. the prospect of diving into another twisty metaverse from the minds of Dark creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar likely comes with equal measures of excitement and trepidation. In the series, a boy goes missing in the small German town of Winden, and as the series unspools, viewers learn that secrets, time travel, and a metaphysical battle between good and evil are behind that mystery. (Seriously, if someone can please step in and explain the Elisabeth / Charlotte Doppler effect, slide in right here.). 2023 Emmys Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie, We actually mirrored all the images that take place in a mirrored world, which means you mirror the sets. Friese and Odar have been otherwise tight-lipped aboutthe series so far, buta teaser revealsall of the cryptic clues, strange symbols, and dark imagery fans of their work will recognize. Doubtlessly, you have questions on your mind, about the two new worlds introduced in the final season, how the Dark production team put the parallel universe into reality, what Jonas and Marthas final sacrifice meant, the logic behind the final dinner scene, and most importantly this: is there more to the story? I stick to a very weird process, which is that everything needs to fit into a book of [a certain] size. One of the most challenging roles to cast was the nurse Ines who actually adopts Mikkel when he travels back to 1986. But those limitations are actually amazing, because its still a tool to create illusion. So with every project we did, we, we always had that in mind that one day we want to reach a global audience., After the 2014 film Who Am I No System Is Safe, a techno thriller thats been compared to Fight Club and Mr. According to Friese, creating the mythology of one of their shows is a long, painstaking process. How much room do you give for people trying to figure it out and when do you push them into the right direction? So that is like five pages of conversation between the writer, the translator, the language expert: Here should they say tu or vous? It became a really complicated process. A lot went down between the lifelong friends like, a lot. And Prometheus, obviously, is also a little wink to the ending of Season 1. Odar: Its really up to the audience to answer it. Jantje Friese: It was actually really weird because I think there are so many people, especially in the industry, who are working, working, working, working to finally get to that moment of. It takes 60 seconds to spin and its a huge turntable. In the first season ofDark we still had stuff on the walls, but no one ever looked at it. You can follow the Back to the Future kind of way where you can actually change stuff in the past that will affect the future which with my very personal more deterministic view of the world is nonsense, said Friese. (Laughs.) There are a lot of symbols throughout, a lot of referencing systems in terms of religion, mythology.. But I honestly believe that the contrary is true, Friese said. Jantje Friese (born 1977) is a German film producer and screenwriter known for co-creating the Netflix series Dark (2017-2020) and 1899 (2022) with her creative and romantic partner Baran bo Odar. As we learn quickly in Season 3, the worlds are very similar but also slightly different, but time-travel is still in play and the other Martha and her world are still progressing toward the same world-shattering apocalypse that happened in Jonas' world. Friese:Oh, absolutely. At first, you think everything is possible, but its not. Do you wish there were more than three seasons to explore the story? Go Behind the Cutting-Edge Technology of 1899. I think its a very individual thing. "Slowly you build your own mythology and set of rules. This is one of the first TV shows, afterThe Mandalorian, to use new LED Volume technology to create virtual sets. But I dont want to fill those gaps. Odar:We mirrored the image in the camera. ", Odar mentioned that it was a children's book on quantum physics that finally made it all make sense to him sort of. This Article is related to: Television and tagged Baran bo Odar, Dark, Jantje Friese, Netflix. Some said: Oh, it felt more at ease, like it was easier to comprehend. Do Ellis Dragons Unstable Inventions Exist in Real Life? They will never be able to overcome their inner longings, their ego. In talking about a mirror world, though, we wanted to use that trick and actually mirror the images.