Before few days left for the release of yet another series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Moon Knight, the director duo of the series Justin Benson and Arron Moorhead revealed that the shots that were filmed were inspired by Spielberg, along with other references that they put together for the series. The duo was also accompanied by Egyptian filmmaker Mohammad Diab.
Steven Spielberg, Alfonso Cuarón, & More Inspired The Director Duo
Disney+ Moon Knight is live on the streaming platform. The early reviews confirm what Kevin Feige and other cast members have been saying about the series being one of Marvel’s most unique series yet. The series will be helmed by the Dune star Oscar Issac in the titular role, playing an anti-hero with a dissociative identity disorder.
Slater, the showrunner along with others has pitched in their unique influences and brought the show to life. Amongst them, are the director duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who also directed the past year’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which revealed the influences that inspired the series?
They credited Spielberg and Bergman for the inspiration, and said, “We actually went to a lot of different things about people who are struggling with identity, but even as lofty as something like ‘Persona.’ In terms of the camera work, it was a bit of a combination of the legendary moving master shots that Spielberg does. Of course, as a filmmaker, you reference Spielberg and you think, ‘He’s a master for a reason.”
While also referring to Steven’s War of the Worlds, they said, “He’s able to develop a wide into an insert into a closeup and all that. It’s not just, ‘Wow, how clever.’ What it does is it lets you establish character without cutting much.”
Moon Knight Took Inpiration From Children Of Men, The Exorcist, And The Descent
Benson has also acknowledged that Cuarón’s Children of Men has inspired Moon Knight to keep the protagonist anchored to the character’s perspective. Alfonso is the master of editing and his long, uncut shot sequences which we witnessed in Roma. Benson said, “So we’re watching something like ‘Children of Men,’ which has very, very few cuts in it, and relating that to how we feel about the master shots that Spielberg puts together.” he said.
Talking about how long shots can assist the presence of the experiences of the present. “And it all jived with the way that we wanted to present this, which is something that feels like it’s very subjective to Steven Grant and Mark Spector’s point of view. It’s always kind of being presented as he experiences it. And minimizing cuts is a really good way of doing that.”
Finally, hinting at the horror bent that one can experience in the film, the duo said, “Also I’ll give you three more sort of references or titles that came up a lot on set. But unfortunately, we won’t be able to say exactly why, because we’d be ruining it for everyone. But I think it’s interesting to hear. ‘The Descent,’ ‘Free Solo,’ and the opening scene of ‘The Exorcist.’ They were all brought up a lot.”
Moon Knight will be streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from March 30, 2022.
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