One of the many notable things about Netflix’s Adolescence, which has just won several top prizes at the Emmy Awards, was that all four of its hour-long episodes really did involve filming everything in one go, without interruption.
Adolescence might have highlighted the dangers of social media – but its success also owes something to it.
After filming Adolescence, Cooper said he had decided “that I’d do this happily for the rest of my life.
The Post Office a year earlier, Adolescence was not only successful, but had a real-world impact.
You can expect Adolescence to continue its awards momentum into next year, at the Golden Globe, SAG, and Bafta TV Awards.
How the Emmys were won by Adolescence.
Seven hours ago.
Reporter Steven McIntosh works in entertainment.
Over the years, a lot of really amazing pieces of art have been captured in a single take, such as the Spice Girls’ Wannabe music video and the epic 1917 World War One.
However, many of the most well-known examples, such as that girlband masterpiece from the 1990s, weren’t actually shot continuously in real life. To make it appear as though they had been, they merely employed some astute editing.
One of the many noteworthy aspects of Netflix’s Adolescence, which recently took home multiple Emmy Award-winning top prizes, was that all four of its one-hour episodes were actually shot in one continuous shot.
When the series debuted in March to great acclaim, this shooting method was widely commended for making the viewing experience more immersive and captivating.
A bracing portrayal of a teenage boy accused of stabbing a female classmate immediately captivated audiences. However, the show was much more than just another crime drama with a procedural plot.
Its examination of how social media and cellphones affect teenagers encapsulated the current culture and tapped into parents’ anxieties everywhere.
The complete list of Emmy nominees and winners.
Emmy history is made by adolescent star Owen Cooper.
Sydney Sweeney, Jenna Ortega, and Selena Gomez on the Emmy red carpet.
Owen Cooper, an actor from Warrington who was just 14 years old when the series was filmed, was the drama’s breakout star.
In the first episode of the show, Cooper portrayed Jamie Miller, the main character, a schoolboy who is suddenly awakened by the police entering his home.
He is arrested after they discover him in his bedroom. The boy’s father, portrayed by Stephen Graham, who co-wrote the series with writer Jack Thorne, insists, “You’re making a big mistake.”.
However, as the episode progresses, it becomes evident that there is no error. Adolescence starts to consider its main questions after damning CCTV evidence finally establishes Jamie’s guilt: what caused this murder and what possible motivation could an adolescent have had?
The plot was inspired by actual occurrences. Graham said to Chris Moyles of Radio X, “I read an article about a young boy who’d stabbed a young girl to death, and it made me feel cold.”.
In a matter of months, news outlets reported on a different but comparable teen stabbing. Graham pointed out that these two incidents occurred at different parts of the nation.
“And I just thought, why is this happening? And not just because I’m a father, but I think any human being with a moral compass can look at that situation and ask themselves, as we live in a time when these young boys are killing young girls by stabbing them.”.
Graham was aware that the young performer selected to play Jamie would be crucial to the show’s success, and casting director Shaheen Baig found talent in Cooper, who had first shown an interest in acting at the age of ten.
I don’t know where it came from, but I asked my parents if I could start taking drama classes, and I think they were a little shocked because I’ve always wanted to be a football player,” Cooper said in a joint interview with Baig.
“I still play football, so it was a little unexpected when they asked if I wanted to start taking drama lessons. “..”.
“I really [was] trying to find somebody with the emotional register to be able to play Jamie,” Baig recalled.
“I recall thinking, ‘Okay,’ after watching the improv tape that Owen sent us. In addition to having a fantastic on-camera appearance, he had really clever improv. It seemed so natural. “..”.
Numerous headlines about Cooper asserted that he had never taken action before. However, that was not the case.
Esther Morgan, a drama teacher who assisted in running the weekly acting classes Cooper had taken for two years in Didsbury, Manchester, acknowledged, “It has frustrated us a bit.”.
In April, she told BBC News that the Adolescence team had asked to view tapes of their “strongest northern boys” when they approached the Drama MOB school to cast the series.
“They kept returning for Owen,” she remembered. “He simply possessed something. “,”.
Cooper had tried his hand at acting, even though he had no TV or movie credits to his name.
Morgan actually implied that the drama school’s emphasis on improvisation contributed to Cooper’s ease with one-take filming.
“It felt amazing, but I didn’t realize it would be as good as it was, and I didn’t expect it to be talked about so much,” Morgan said at the show’s premiere. “.”.
After dominating the news agenda for a few weeks, the series eventually became the second most watched English-language series on Netflix (after Wednesday’s first season).
“We wanted to ask a question that generated conversation on people’s couches, in bars, in classrooms, and possibly even in parliament,” Thorne stated.
After that, the government backed Netflix’s plan to provide the drama to educational institutions. Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, stated that the “emerging and growing problem” that the show brought up needed to be addressed.
This sentiment was echoed by many reviewers. if you are a parent of a boy in school. “It will chill your blood,” Anita Singh of the Telegraph said. I will remember it for a very long time because it is a drama that is so subtly devastating. “.
Evidently, the Emmy voters also remembered it. Due to its indisputable impact, the show was considered the clear favorite for best limited series.
It was even worse than Colin Farrell’s agonizing months spent underneath acres of prosthetics and in a hot and heavy bodysuit for the Batman spin-off The Penguin.
After Baby Reindeer, another of Netflix’s watercooler hits, won multiple awards in 2024, Adolescence’s victory this year extends the streaming service’s winning run.
Even though adolescence brought attention to the risks associated with social media, it also contributed to its success.
From the first arrest at the start of the series to the camera following a student who escapes the classroom through a window in episode two, a number of scenes went viral. The one-take shooting method improved both moments.
The LA Times observed, “If you care to think about it, the choreography of camera and bodies is remarkable, navigating crowds and corridors and public places with impossible grace.”.
“A great cast can also fully inhabit the role and the moment in long, unbroken scenes. “,”.
In the third episode, however, Jamie spends an hour with a child psychologist in a chamber piece that was possibly the show’s high point. Almost no other characters show up while Erin Doherty’s character Briony gently questions Jamie.
Cooper goes through all the stages of acting, from cocky to distraught, from vulnerable to angry. Considering that Cooper only makes two of Adolescence’s four episodes on screen, this performance most likely won him the Emmy.
However, the acting was hailed everywhere; Doherty and Graham both won for their parts, and the show was recognized for its directing and writing.
Cooper claimed that after finishing Adolescence, he had made the decision “that I’d do this happily for the rest of my life.”. I believe that adolescence was the ideal time for me to begin.
He went on, “I believe I was extremely fortunate to be involved.”. “All I wanted to do was seize the chance without hesitation. All I wanted to do when I went in was learn. genuinely wanting to do the work. And I’ll apply that to all of my future employment. “.”.
As with Mr. Bates vs. Adolescence was successful and had an impact on the real world, as demonstrated by the Post Office a year prior. It was one of the infrequent success stories that TV executives hope to see.
It is anticipated that Adolescence will maintain its winning streak at the Golden Globe, SAG, and Bafta TV Awards in the upcoming year.
Cooper should return his Emmy tuxedo to the dry cleaners.
