page_title: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
section_title: Casting and filming
hierarchical_section_title: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch / Production / Casting and filming
caption_attribution_description: English: St. George's Walk 2015
context_page_description: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is a 2018 interactive film in the science fiction anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by David Slade. The film premiered on Netflix on 28 December 2018, its release date only officially announced the day before. Netflix did not confirm the interactive nature of Bandersnatch until its release, though there was much media speculation.
  In Bandersnatch, viewers make decisions for the main character, the young programmer Stefan Butler, who is adapting a fantasy gamebook into a video game in 1984. Other characters include: Mohan Thakur and Colin Ritman, who work at a video game company, Stefan's father Peter, and Stefan's therapist, Dr. Haynes. A postmodernist work with free will as a central theme, the film was named after a real video game planned for release by Imagine Software in 1984, the game in turn named after a bandersnatch creature of Lewis Carroll's creation.
  Brooker and executive producer Annabel Jones were approached by Netflix about making an interactive film in May 2017, during which time Netflix had several such projects for children underway.
context_section_description: Bandersnatch was directed by David Slade, who previously directed series four episode "Metalhead". It starred Fionn Whitehead, Will Poulter, and Asim Chaudhry. Whitehead was only informed of the film's interactive nature after being offered the part. Davies was played by independent game developer Jeff Minter at Jones' suggestion, having previously appeared in a documentary made by Jones and Brooker. Some of Ritman's character was informed by Minter's own background. Writer Warren Ellis was also asked to portray Davies but could not commit to the open shooting schedule and travel that the show required.
  Production took eight months, Netflix requiring assets to be locked in by the end of November 2018. The actors had two weeks to prepare, while filming lasted around 35 days, which was considerably longer than the average for a Black Mirror piece. Exterior filming took place at the shopping centre St George's Walk in Croydon, London, in April 2018. A flowchart was initially used on set but actors found it overcomplicated the situation. Whitehead and Poulter both compared the experience to theatre acting. Slade highlighted Colin as the hardest character to understand, as one scene needed to be shot three times, with Colin having different levels of knowledge at each stage. Slade told Poulter to focus not on how his character knew information, but simply that his character did know. Whitehead found it difficult to maintain his character's constant anxiety and tension.
caption: Some exterior scenes were filmed in St George's Walk, Croydon, London.
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