8 Details You Didn't Know About 1917
2. 9 Minute Scene
Despite the feeling of one continuous shot, the longest scene filmed was "only" around 9 minutes long. Maybe it doesn't sound like it, but nine minutes is a really long time shooting. The average shot in English language movies has dropped down significantly and is only around 2.5 seconds. This number puts 1917's 9-minute shot into perspective.
The director Sam Mendes and the editor Lee Smith said that despite the feeling of one continuous shot there were plenty of hidden edits where the shots were linked together. These edits happened mostly when the characters went behind objects or when the shot got dark enough to conceal an edit.
The shortest shot in 1917 was 39 seconds long, which still is a lengthy shot compared to other contemporary movies.