Damn: Frank Miller walks the fantasy set and explains his Netflix series

In comics like Reckless and The Night Knight ReturnsFrank Miller wrote subversive superhero stories that became templates for those looking to put a new spin on genre tropes. So of course his curiosity and desire to change the traditional narrative led him to DamnedNetflix’s latest fantasy series. “I always wanted to get into something Arthurian,” Miller admitted on the set of the series in the UK.

Co-created with showrunner Tom Wheeler, and based on his novel of the same name, the show takes the legendary sword Excalibur and the agency of the future King Arthur and places them in the hands of Nimue, The Lady of the Lake, who played for 13 reasons why star Katherine Langford. Damned It was born out of rather unusual circumstances: Netflix approached Miller and Wheeler and opted for adaptation of the series before the book was finished (and at the time of filming, it had not yet been released). The series and the prose versions of the story ended up unfolding simultaneously, with a somewhat chaotic effect.

“The book was three-fourths of the way and we were preparing a writers’ room,” Wheeler said, “Frank was still drawing his pictures. The hilarity ensued. The duties of the two creators ended up divided, with Miller taking care of the book and Wheeler the program, but they worked to keep both entities different.

“They are not identical, because then we would not be doing justice either,” Wheeler explained, which makes sense considering the already fluid approach to adaptation in the centuries-old legend’s new vision. Playing strictly according to the book in any case would be counterproductive. But there is still a connection between the two, each side of the project that reveals things not said in the program and vice versa. “I think if you just watch the show, there will be a lot of questions where you think, ‘Oh, God, I have to go back and read something from the book.’ If you’re curious, things are revealed in the book that are not revealed in the program “. Speaking of her collaboration with Wheeler, Miller had no doubts. “He is a logical and very solid person, and I am a maniac.”

Photo: Netflix

The day I visited the set in August 2019, Wheeler was dizzy for the cameras to roll. “We are exploiting various fawns and the Green Knight in the other room and setting them on fire and I don’t know what else!” A dimmer scene was also planned between Arthur and the fawns, a magical race hunted down and hunted by a fanatical faction known as the Red Paladins. The scene took place in a windmill, as Arthur warns the fawns to cover themselves as he prepares to leap to his defense. Before that can happen, the Paladins attack and set the windmill on fire.

By witnessing the scene in action, it became clear that each department in DamnedNot only the writers’ room, it was working in contrast to the traditional Arthurian adaptation and storytelling. This modern version of Arthur extends to the man himself, both in the casting and in his narrative arc. In the series, Arthur is portrayed by Devon Terrell, a black actor, and acts in defense of minorities who suffer a purge at the hands of traditional institutions. Unlike many television fantasy sets, there are a number of black and brown actors among the main cast, as well as extras and tertiary characters.

One thing that couldn’t go away was swords and witchcraft. On set, the show’s armorer was eager to showcase the character’s different weapons, from Excalibur (also known as the Sword of Power among other names during the series) to Merlin’s curved dagger, including the myth-inspired combination. Celtic weapon grips that tell the story of a connection between the two.

A tour of the graphics department of the hidden program on set showed how Damned drawn from different aspects of British history, both aesthetically and narratively. The designers drew on Celtic history for the Arthurian clan, while borrowing patterns and texts from ancient Nordic manuscripts, and from medieval France and other parts of Europe. The influences create a connection between the Arthurian clan and the Fey through their visual influences, with Celtic designs and the shapes of the natural world that influence their dress and others. In their homes and habitats, you can find a mix between the twisted natural architecture of trees and bones and more traditional Celtic patterns: a stark visual contrast to the more rigid lines and dark chambers of the Court (here a mix of Norman castles like reference).

Photo: Netflix

If the scenes on display and most of the sets were any indication (the prioritized production contained indoor filming spaces on location work), the show’s interest is primarily off the court. The Nimue and Arthur of this story are primarily concerned with the underclass of the magical races, rather than representing the Christian ideals of the Round Table. That entanglement with magic is evident in the very construction of the show, from the settings to the design of the Excalibur sword, which is not as pure as legends usually have. Damned it points more to the moral gray of popular contemporary fantasy than to the traditional chivalry of these tales.

Instead of the traditional supernatural enemies that Arthur faces in legends (although they also exist), the greatest enemy is man, a choice that aligns Damned with The Wizard. Much of the creature’s design was quite delicate, compared to the black and red menace of the human costume / makeup. The joint work seemed to embody this as well; All the places held by the heroes were lush outcrops and pagan hiding places, while the enemy resided mainly in the dark corridors of the castles.

the “not-so-normal people, “known as the Fey, were designed with particular hairstyles and pins to look naturalistic and one with the earth, rather than aliens or aliens. Of course, their appearance still has some historical basis: both braided hair and the clothing patterns, woven with spirals and circles within the circles, are an intentional tribute to Celtic warriors embedded in the natural world, like pieces of tree bark chest. At a glance, that natural unpredictability has made its way into the designs for different races of Damned and how each one interacts with the world. Among those on display in the workshop were the “cliff walkers,” a race of people who gradually turn to stone, snakes with scaly skin, and more humanoid peoples who became one with the natural world in one way or another. .

Photo: Netflix

Through that design and association with nature, Damned he immediately distances Arthur himself from the chivalrous courts commonly associated with his stories, and instead purges the very contemporary theme of environmental degradation and destruction. The most interesting twist of the show is the departure from the traditional English and Christian court as a symbol of virtue and honor and towards foreign styles. In addition to the fictional castles built on the lot, the team also explored locations around England that they would later rebuild within their ensemble. The production turned Waverley Abbey at Farnham into The Hidden Chamber, with matching moldings and stonework, but taller and covered in mossy foliage, unlike the crumbling and driest abbey in the real world. different to The Wizard, DamnedThe focus of magic is less an access to dark powers and corruption than a communication with nature itself.

The earliest runes and cave paintings were used and “augmented” for the display, the designers sought to replicate the bold and graphic illustrations of Miller’s work in the book, as well as the work of his past. The comic artist’s work is also not the only basis for the show’s visual identity; scattered among the conceptual boards in the office are images of Zhang Yimou Hero and Justin Kurzel Macbeth. “We take the things we like and make them strange,” said a member of the art department..

That part of his plan for the creature and the design of the world was universally considered. Another model of the Excalibur sword is shown, this version of the accessory with twisted and twisted metal that wraps around the hilt and beyond as it literally becomes an extension of the wielder’s arm, an object that is neither good nor bad, like its ambiguous and multifaceted design would. suggest.

That ambiguity, down to the laws of show design, seems to be an important part of how Damned it is distinguished from the tales of heroism on which it is based. When talking about the book and the illustrated fiction, Miller comments that “the fact that they are illustrated made people think they are for children”, something that Damned It promises a lot not to be. “You won’t stray from this saying ‘oh, how glamorous,'” jokes Miller, “there is enough violence for the whole family.”

Damned is now streaming on Netflix