Succession Season 4 Episode 3: How They Filmed It
Cox was informed of the decision just weeks before production on season four began. “Jesse told me just before the season started that this was going to happen,” the Scottish actor confirmed Meeting. “And I knew I was going; I’m very proud of myself for managing to keep this secret.”
A setting of heartbreak
The sequence in which the siblings learn that Logan died on the way to Sweden will go down as one of the best scenes in history successor Story, a naturally emotional moment enhanced by the way it was shot.
Capturing the sequence in one uninterrupted, unwavering shot was critical to director Mark Mylod. “In planning the shoot, the camera had to be sadistic voyeuristic; it had to stay very close without taking your eyes off them,” he explains.
To capture the emotional landscape required, director Mark Mylod chose to capture the “phone call” scene in a single shot with three cameras. Credit: HBO / BINGE
The only problem is successor is shot using multiple 35mm film cameras with magazines capable of holding a maximum of ten minutes of footage before reloading. And that should be a single 28-minute recording.
“The cinematographers hid rolls of film on set and we hid a third camera body, so basically we did super-fast reloads and made sure there was always one camera running so they had to reload at the same time. ”
Mark Mylod has revealed the grueling 28-minute shot that changed the course of SuccessionCredit: screenshot
The final result? Kieran Culkin said, “It was like playing a one-act play on a boat. Across multiple rooms with hundreds of background actors and three hidden cameras.”
filming the death scene
Part of what made Logan’s departure from the series great was that it wasn’t great at all. After three and a half seasons of mythological presence, the great Logan Roy passes out unnoticed in a bathroom.
In conversation with diversityMylod explains the logic behind not giving the audience an indulgent Logan death scene.
“Instinctively, it felt oddly disrespectful. It became a point of discussion, we spoke to Jesse about it, and he felt exactly the same as I did,” says Mylod. “So we went on with that and we showed Brian’s face or Logan’s face just the one time in what I hope is quite a poignant scene with the phone to his ear.”
The decision was also made not to force Cox to literally play dead, so the body we see on the plane is a stunt double.
“To get to the real action, 90 percent of the time it was a stunt double down there, that one shot where you see Brian lying on the floor while the heart compressions continue is actually a composite shot and Brian’s head – us taped them together in the mail.
It’s 2 a.m. in London
To maintain the emotional level required on set, Mylod wanted to ensure the actors were clashing in real time. The Roy siblings finding out Logan died was the first sequence filmed for this episode, meaning Welsh actor Matthew Macfadyen (whose scene was filmed on the plane). after the boat) had to hop to the phone to deliver his lines.
Welsh actor Matthew Macfadyen on the set of Succession.Credit: screenshot
“When we were shooting on the boat, Matthew was always on the phone. He was actually in London at the time – the poor man was sometimes with us until 2am,” says Mylod diversity.
Not surprisingly, when it came time for Macfadyen to film his scenes, the rest of the cast returned the favor. “Once we got on the plane, the rest of the cast, the other siblings, were there for him behind the camera to give him the kind of consideration back.”
Keep the farewell a secret
In a strange case where life imitated art, the production was concerned there would be real-world consequences if Logan’s death leaked out (maybe the stock market wouldn’t crash, but fans would no doubt be sad). To avoid spoilers, the cast and crew signed NDAs, particularly those related to the boat scene, including more than 250 extras.
“We spoke to the extras and asked for their cooperation, and both on that occasion and in subsequent episodes, everyone kept in touch,” explained Mylod vulture.
The director also confirms that Cox was invited several times to film scenes that ended up being a ruse. “We’re basically making him do dummy scenes – scenes that didn’t actually exist. As deception.”
But the biggest misdirection fell to Brian Cox, who crashed filming of his own funeral just to confuse the paparazzi hounding the set.
“As soon as I got out of the car, paparazzi started shooting left, right and center, so they thought Logan’s at the funeral, what’s he doing?” the actor shared meeting.
