Teaser Trailer For Peter Jackson's Colorized WWI Documentary Film THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD
In case you’ve been wondering what Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has been up to the past few years, his been directing a World War I documentary called They Shall Not Grow Old. What’s so cool about this film is the fact that it shows us the Great War in a way we’ve never seen it before… in color.
Using state of the art technology to restore original archival footage which is more than a 100-years old, Jackson brings to life the people who can best tell this story: the men who were there. Driven by a personal interest in the First World War, Jackson set out to bring to life the day-to-day experience of its soldiers. After months immersed in the BBC and Imperial War Museums’ archives, narratives and strategies on how to tell this story began to emerge for Jackson. Using the voices of the men involved, the film explores the reality of war on the front line; their attitudes to the conflict; how they ate; slept and formed friendships, as well what their lives were like away from the trenches during their periods of downtime.
Jackson and his team have used cutting edge techniques to make the images of a hundred years ago appear as if they were shot yesterday. The transformation from black and white footage to colourised footage can be seen throughout the film revealing never before seen details. Reaching into the mists of time, Jackson aims to give these men voices, investigate the hopes and fears of the veterans, the humility and humanity that represented a generation changed forever by a global war.
We get to see the results of their hard work in this teaser trailer and it’s pretty stunning. It’s amazing seeing this 100-year-old footage brought to life in color like this. Everything I’ve ever seen from WWI has been in black and white and as a history buff, seeing this footage in color is so cool, and even kind of moving. Check it out for yourself and tell us what you think.
