Peter Jackson is Directing a World War I Documentary in a Way That's Never Been Done Before
Peter Jackson has a pretty awesome new and unexpected film project that he's working on. It's not a crazy epic fantasy adventure like The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. He is directing a feature-length documentary about World War I to celebrate the centennial of the war’s end. He is going about this in a very cool way.
He has been digging around for footage from the Great War in the archives of the BBC and London's Imperial War Museum for footage and material to work with. The filmmaker is taking that old historical footage and restoring it in a way that has never been done with historical footage before.
The Imperial War Museum approached Jackson a couple of years ago to see what could be done with their archive footage and with today's filmmaking technology he will bring this old ruined grainy footage back to life in in clear and crisp HD. Jackson explains what he's doing with the film in the video below and even shows off some stunning examples of what they plan on doing. It's pretty incredible to see what they are able to do with this footage! It will be a 2D and 3D film. Jackson says:
“We’re making a film [that is] not the usual film you would expect on the First World War. We’re making a film that shows this incredible footage in which the faces of the men just jump out at you. It’s the people that come to life in this film.”
The documentary will bring to life the real stories of people who lived through the 1914-18 war, which was said at the time to be the “war to end all wars." Jackson and his team have gone through hundreds of hours of interviews with the war veterans in order to focus on the personal experiences of the people involved.
“We have made a movie which shows the experience of what it was like to fight in this war, not strategy [or] battles."
The untitled project will get a U.K.-wide release as part of the BFI London Film Festival this fall. A copy of the film will also be given to every secondary school in Britain, to help younger generations understand the events of the war. BBC content chief Charlotte Moore said it would “bring unheard voices from a hundred years ago to life for a whole new generation to experience.”