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5/17/2020 3:27 pm

Director Marc Jobst Discusses The Witcher Season One

It’s been nearly five months since the release of The Witcher on Netflix, and though production has been postponed on season two, there are occasional interviews that give valuable insight into the creation of the show. Director Marc Jobst (Punisher, and Daredevil), sat with At the Flicks to discuss his past work and involvement with The Witcher.

It is no surprise that the method of writing for television has changed since the rise of streaming services and Jobst speaks to how that influenced The Witcher:

Interestingly enough, writers are beginning to write for that. When I first started working for Netflix, I remember having dinner with them and saying to us, “Don't think of this as episodic TV. Think of this as chapters within a book.” That's fundamentally different to how you tell a story. In the traditional British model of the BBC or whatever, you have a cliffhanger at the end of every episode, and that's what the audience hooks into. That's what will lead them into coming back the following week.

If you are writing for a binge-watching audience, you think they're going to do at least two- possibly four episodes. You don't have to have that hook. It means that you can have one episode as a chapter. You can lead on to the next episode, which is a different chapter—maybe even unrelated. Then you can come back to the storyline much later on.

0115 image 1Credit: Marc Jobst

When asked if Jobst has ever played the game, the answer is no. He started to understand the world of the show as he went along and started to find things that interested him about Geralt:

I feel like I have come into it as an audience member who doesn't know the show and say, ‘Okay, what am I interested in?’ I'm interested in who this guy is. Who is he? What is he? What does he do? Why does he do what he did? Does? Why is he silent and sullen and why is he so grumpy all the time?

There’s nothing wrong with being grumpy! It's just that when you're making a live action drama with your grumpy character as your lead, you need to start to understand him. You need to give the audience access to that character as being resident to their own grumpiness. What makes us grumpy? How do we deal with being grumpy? How does he deal with it?

We do get a glimpse into what Geralt’s past and abandonment issues are via a delirious memory of his mother. Whether or not Visenna was actually there to save him, that is left for the viewer to decide.

He gets bitten by the ghouls and gets fevers. In this deliriousness, he flashes back to his childhood—the little boy who gets abandoned by his mom, taken to Kaer Morhen and becomes the Witcher that he is.

In his deliriousness—or IS he delirious? The big question mark in that scene by the tree where his mother comes to visit him: is it his mother or is he dreaming it? We left it deliberately ambiguous. There's been a lot of argument on fan pages about this, but I wanted to leave it ambiguous for Geralt to say, “Tell me, at least, that you knew what you were doing.” Again, I think some of the skillfulness in the storytelling is it's not telling you that that's why he is grumpy. It's just giving you a backstory as to a child that has been abandoned. That could therefore give reason for somebody who feels the world is against him or not for him.

0115 image 2Credit: The Witcher (Visenna and Geralt)

Marc Jobst goes further into filmmaking and his career in this insightful interview. If you have the time, it is well worth the listen! Let us know what you thought in the comments below or in our forum!

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5/4/2020 7:19 pm

Discord Group Adopts Animals on Behalf of Cast and Crew

2020 has been a crazy time so far, but there are some silver linings during quarantine. First, there was #TheGreatWitcherBakeoff, but now member from The Amazing Devil Discord Group have started a sweet campaign called the #GreatWitcherZoo.

The Amazing Devil is an alt-folk band comprised of Madeleine Hyland and Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier on The Witcher. In the last 24 hours, members of the discord group have “adopted” animals on behalf of the cast and crew, and it’s as wholesome as you might think:

Actors Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan also have such fitting animal adoptions:

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We love the kindness and thoughtfulness by the members of The Amazing Devil Discord Group. Not only have they brought joy to the cast and crew but are supporting beautiful animals in the process. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below or in our forum!

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4/22/2020 6:16 pm

The Witcher Bake Off Is A Thing and It's Tasty Fun

Although production for season two of The Witcher has been postponed, the cast and crew members have been baking up some delicious fun—literally. What started with a simple twitter post from casting director Sophie Holland, has cascaded into drool-worthy baked goods and a bit of fun.

Looks like some delicious bread, and why not add a little fun by challenging someone else to a bake off?

Actor Paul Bullion, playing the witcher Lambert in season two, brought his A-game with the help of his housemate Jack Douglas:

Things got tastier from there when the King of the Elves, Tom Canton served up a savory beef wellington:

Jeremy Crawford brought an axe to a knife fight and slayed with a dwarven apple pie—WITH The Witcher logo shaped crust!

Adele Oni didn’t say much as the lethal Téa in season one, but she really doesn’t need to with her skills:

Mecia Simson, playing the powerful sorceress Francesca Findabair next season, added a bit of magic to the game:

Yasen Atour, playing the witcher Coën, accepted the contract and became our flour bae in the process:

Showrunner Lauren Hissrich made a tasty meatloaf, but it sounds like she’ll have to try harder to impress this crew:

 

The Witcher Bake Off is the tasty competition we need right now. Think we’ll end up having an entire cookbook worth of recipes? Who would you like to see tagged next? Let us know in the comments below or in our forum!

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4/17/2020 10:28 am

Netflix Expands Hardship Fund to $150 Million

Covid-19 has been simply something the modern world has never seen before. We have the technology and the global communication to combat this virus better than ever before but, that demands sacrifice and with that, the television world has been hit hard. Social distancing by its very nature won't allow for production on new shows to continue. Today, according to Variety.com, Netflix has enhanced it's hardship fund to $150 million. Back in March, Netflix announced it would continue to pay crew on their many productions with a hardship fund of $100 million. With the uncertainty of the situation continuing, Netflix is now set to cover their crews through the month of April with the recent 50% increase. This kind of commitment is paramount for the crew on The Witcher:

The Witcher alone employs more than 400 people. The Netflix fantasy drama shoots just outside London and had been filming for five weeks — after nearly half a year of preparation — when the stop orders came in.

As fans of The Witcher ourselves, this relief package for the hard working crew members of the show really shows how much Netflix cares about their original content and their commitment to their people. To all our users, The Witcher.tv is wishing you good times, hope and healthiness! Stay strong and binge the first season of The Witcher in support! Let us know what you think in the comments below or in our forum!

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4/13/2020 6:58 pm

Actor Kristofer Hivju and Wife Recover After COVID-19

We are happy to hear of an update from actor Kristofer Hivju, who unfortunately tested positive for COVID-19 along with (possibly) his wife, Gry Molvær Hivju, last month. In a post made on Instagram, he informed fans that he and his family were in self-quarantine to recover. Not long after, filming for the second season of The Witcher halted and the studio was disinfected.

Today Hivju has a good update via Instagram:

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Hi! We are fully recovered and in good health after I was infected by the Cororonavirus, and most likely my wife @grymolvaerhivju
After several weeks inn quarantine, and also a couple more indoors after beeing free of all symptoms, we are finally safe and sound. We were lucky to only have mild symptoms of the Covid 19. We send our love and thoughts to all of the people where the virus has hit much harder, and to everyone who has lost their loved ones due to the Cornonavirus. Thank you for all of your support, and please remember to stay vigilant and keep your distance, wash your hands, and most of all ; take care of each other in this strange time. Lots of love from us❤️🙌🏻 #takecare @panoramaagency

Currently, Netflix is still implementing social-isolation policies. Filming for all Netflix shows, including The Witcher, have been halted with no concrete date of return. While this may put a damper on the release date, the safety of everyone involved is much more important.

What do you think? How are you handling this tough time? Let us know in the comments below or in our forum!

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