Netflix directors unpack Storytelling during Variety Unplugged Event

The directors behind some of the year’s biggest Netflix hits came together to discuss their creative processes and storytelling techniques in conversations moderated by Variety in collaboration with Netflix.

Antonio Campos, who directed “The Beast In Me”; Max Winkler from “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”; and Alexandria Stapleton, director of “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” spoke with Variety Jazz Tangcay on their visual language, the challenges of documenting an unfolding story and portraying real people.

Campos described his show as “contemporary noir,” saying “we embrace weird ideas… I always think of the editing as the rhythm of the show and make it dynamic.” Campos said he and his director of photography, Lyle Vincent, often drew inspiration from 1970s paranoia thrillers like Gordon Willis or “Michael Clayton.”

Winkler also drew inspiration from films, such as Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’, in building the silence and tranquility of the plains, aiming to make Gein’s character seem small. Stapleton discussed the chaos and challenges of working on the story of Sean “Diddy” Combs as the grand jury trial unfolded in real time. “The other thing we were fighting was that everyone was really obsessed with these really outrageous details,” Stapleton said. “[There’s] a whole doc about baby oil, and so we really wanted to dig under the hood to understand the context, the timeline, and the whole origin story: how was this even possible?

Winkler also spoke about the extensive interview and research process involved and the use of a recording of Gein to shape star Charlie Hunnam’s performance, while Campos said he was also intimately involved in the production process, overseeing everything from color correction to sound mixing. Stapleton’s editing process was trickier, as the team had no idea of ​​the outcome of the trial until the final episode, and often had to deal with curveballs, including the need to find new footage and judges to interview.

The Duffer Brothers and Marc Munden also appeared in a separate conversation with Variety Michael Schneider will discuss ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Lord of the Flies’ respectively.

Ross Duffer began by acknowledging the decade-long process of making “Stranger Things,” saying, “Every year we learned something new, tried something new and tried to swing for the fences as much as possible.” Matt Duffer called wrapping the show “very emotional,” adding that they were trying to “tap into what it felt like in that first season.”

Munden explained the importance of staying as true to the source material of “Lord of the Flies” as possible, saying, “I think the main difference is that in a sense you just get to see a lot more of the characters than in the previous adaptations, and my view was really to stay true to that period of the 1950s, in the middle of the Cold War, and bring all those elements into it.”

The directors also discussed the challenges and joys of working with young actors. Ross Duffer said, “What we were looking for is kids that felt very authentic, but because they’re so young it forced us to adapt the roles because they’re not necessarily playing Mike as written or Dustin as written. They bring their own personality to it, and I think they actually make them a lot more interesting.”

Munden revealed the difficult shooting conditions in Malaysia, including deserted islands, monsoons and dangerous wildlife. “We could never shoot at night, but a fifth of the script took place at night, so we ended up taking the infrared filter out of the camera and filming day by night, which turns all the foliage pink and orange,” Munden explains. “Maybe people wouldn’t recognize it as night, but it could mean something else, but it just adds to the hallucinatory feel of the piece.”

All three directors spoke about the emotional experiences of filming the final episodes of their shows, and the pride and satisfaction of seeing their vision come to life.