{"id":40867,"date":"2021-05-24T09:04:42","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T09:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=40867"},"modified":"2026-03-05T04:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:50:21","slug":"the-underground-railroad-what-it-took-for-barry-jenkins-to-bring-it-to-your-screens","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/articles\/the-underground-railroad-what-it-took-for-barry-jenkins-to-bring-it-to-your-screens\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Underground Railroad:\u201d What It Took for Barry Jenkins to Bring It to Your Screen(s)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns article-content is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" data-attachment-id=\"40850\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/underground-railroad-02-lr-1200x630\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Underground-Railroad-02-LR-1200x630-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,630\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;C&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;C&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Underground Railroad-02-LR-1200&amp;#215;630\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Underground-Railroad-02-LR-1200x630-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C538&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1_Underground-Railroad-02-LR-1200x630-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C630&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40850\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> is a 10-part series based on Colson Whitehead\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2016 novel of the same name. Shot in numerous locations across Georgia over 116 days, it follows a young woman named Cora (Thuso Mbedu) who flees slavery on a literal underground railroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barry Jenkins, the Oscar-winning director of <em>Moonlight<\/em>, served as showrunner and directed all ten episodes of <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> for Amazon Studios. The limited series was produced by Plan B, the Brad Pitt-owned production company that co-produced <em>Moonlight<\/em>, and was shot by Jenkins\u2019 longtime collaborator, director of photography James Laxton, ASC (<em>Moonlight<\/em>, <em>If Beale Street Could Talk<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad full of engineers and conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Over the course of her journey, Cora is pursued by Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), a bounty hunter fixated on bringing her back to the plantation she escaped; especially since her mother Mabel is the only runaway he has never caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Underground Railroad - Official Trailer | Prime Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_Pq5Usc_JDA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Cora travels from state to state, she contends with the legacy of the mother that left her behind and her own struggles to realize a life she never thought was possible. The change in setting that comes with almost every episode serves as a window into Cora\u2019s state of mind. Rather than the traditional serialized structure that returns to the same world and characters with each episode, we see Cora and her landscape evolve over the course of the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s heady, fantastical stuff, captured with luscious, stylized visuals that provide an unflinching gaze on the horrors of slavery. Writing for <em>Vox<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/culture\/22423837\/underground-railroad-review-amazon-miniseries-barry-jenkins-colson-whitehead-book\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Emily VanDerWerff<\/a> describes the elements that tie together the entire conceit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEven as Cora is sort of traveling forward through time, she\u2019s endlessly pursued by a slave catcher named Ridgeway\u2026 who longs to drag her back into slavery. The closer Cora gets to something like a world where Black Americans can live with freedom and dignity, the more doggedly Ridgeway pursues her. The country\u2019s racist past always has a hand joined to its racist present, and Whitehead\u2019s use of Ridgeway is a far more compelling exploration of this idea than any big, heartrending speech Cora could give on the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In adapting <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> for the screen, Jenkins and his team retained and even emphasized in subtle ways the episodic structure of Whitehead\u2019s novel. \u201cEach episode of the series could fairly easily stand alone as its own tale, with casual viewers having only the most cursory understanding of the main characters and their situation,\u201d VanDerWerff writes, before adding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis structure allows the series to be brutal without ever feeling like it\u2019s being brutal for brutality\u2019s sake. The first episode features some horrific images of slavery, but it picks and chooses its moments. In one sequence, Jenkins cuts between white party guests barely paying attention to a slave being whipped in front of them, to the other slaves watching the whipping, to the face of the man being whipped with the man whipping him out of focus in the background. The build of the sequence allows the viewer to prepare themselves for what they\u2019re about to see, while also making it clear that no one should want to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/culture\/22423837\/underground-railroad-review-amazon-miniseries-barry-jenkins-colson-whitehead-book\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Underground Railroad <\/em>is a towering series about the ways slavery still infects America (Vox)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Underground Railroad - Official Teaser Trailer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qn0MzTcryTA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2021\/04\/the-underground-railroad-showrunner-barry-jenkins-talks-strong-moral-and-ethical-compass-needed-to-depict-antebellum-south-1234746774\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alexandra Del Rosario<\/a> at <em>Deadline<\/em>, Jenkins revealed that the episodic structure of <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> also gave audiences a choice in how they experienced the series, something he wouldn\u2019t have been able to do with a feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe sign post for me was to be very forthright about the truth we were telling and also to have a very strong moral and ethical compass,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason this isn\u2019t a feature film,\u201d he continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI didn\u2019t want to force the audience into a captive experience, they can pause, play\u2026 you can do whatever. I think what\u2019s really beautiful about putting images into the world is that when someone\u2019s ready to find that image, it will be there. What we all did in creating this show, I think it honored our ancestors, we were respectful, respectful of the text and respectful of the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2021\/04\/the-underground-railroad-showrunner-barry-jenkins-talks-strong-moral-and-ethical-compass-needed-to-depict-antebellum-south-1234746774\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018The Underground Railroad\u2019 Showrunner Barry Jenkins Talks \u201cStrong Moral And Ethical Compass\u201d Needed To Depict Antebellum South (Deadline)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-05-LR.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Barry Jenkins and Thuso Mbedu on the set of \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40853\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Barry Jenkins and Thuso Mbedu on the set of \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins discussed <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>\u2019s episodic structure further in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/features\/barry-jenkins-interview-underground-railroad-b1843818.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">James Mottram<\/a> for the UK\u2019s <em>Independent<\/em>. With television, he said, the viewer is control. \u201cYou get to a scene that\u2019s too much, you can pause and fast forward through it. You can choose who you want to watch it with, and you can choose when you want to watch it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nothing in <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> was \u201cfalsified or over-sensationalized,\u201d Jenkins told Mottram, but it was essential not to avoid the \u201cdifferent kind of trauma\u201d that might come from watching scenes depicting the sickening violence inherent in slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-luminous-vivid-amber-color has-css-opacity has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color has-background is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color has-background\" id=\"navigating-the-metaverse\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/?s=metaverse&amp;v=content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/?s=Motion%20Picture%20\/%20Film%20and%20Documentary&amp;v=content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/?s=Television%20Programming&amp;v=content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NOW STREAMING \u2014 BEHIND THE SCENES OF FAN-FAVORITE SERIES:<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-medium-font-size\" id=\"the-metaverse-may-be-a-wild-frontier-but-here-at-nab-amplify-we-ve-got-you-covered-hand-selected-from-our-archives-here-are-some-of-the-essential-insights-you-ll-need-to-expand-your-knowledge-base-and-confidently-explore-the-new-horizons-ahead\"><em><em><em>As the streaming wars rage on, consumers continue to be the clear winners with an abundance of series ripe for binging. See how your favorite episodics and limited series were brought to the screen with these hand-picked articles plucked from the <\/em><\/em><\/em>NAB Amplify<em><em><em> archives:<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/articles\/create-severance-about-that-work-life-balance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cSeverance:\u201d Now, About Solving the Work\/Life Balance\u2026<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/articles\/create-entering-the-gilded-age\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Entering \u201cThe Gilded Age\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/articles\/create-class-is-not-in-session-the-wonderful-horror-of-all-of-us-are-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Class Is Definitely Not In Session: The Horror Delights of \u201cAll of Us Are Dead\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/articles\/create-the-dropout-is-a-slo-motion-car-crash-and-we-cant-look-away\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cThe Dropout\u201d Is a Slow-Motion Car Crash (and We Can\u2019t Look Away)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amplify.nabshow.com\/articles\/the-terrible-universal-appeal-of-squid-game-is-by-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The (Unavoidable) Universal Appeal of \u201cSquid Game\u201d Is By Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-luminous-vivid-amber-color has-css-opacity has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color has-background\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we assume that we can\u2019t look at these images, if we can\u2019t bear witness to this brutality, we risk erasing my ancestors, and we risk this vacuum, this chasm, this cavity,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cBecause I can\u2019t not tell the truth. I can\u2019t not tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, in reality, only one-and-a-half episodes take place on the plantation, as Jenkins points out. \u201cWe just barely scratched the surface of what this world was actually like, of how militaristic it actually was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/features\/barry-jenkins-interview-underground-railroad-b1843818.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barry Jenkins: \u2018If we can\u2019t bear witness to brutality, we risk erasing my ancestors\u2019 (Independent)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-14-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"William Jackson Harper as Royal and Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40862\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">William Jackson Harper as Royal and Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Making <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> was an \u201cirresistible opportunity\u201d as Jenkins put it, to \u201cre-contextualize how we view my ancestors,\u201d he said in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/barry-jenkins-academy-awards-race-and-ethnicity-entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-37410f3f61f211e9518e8af9fdd57962\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amanda Lee Myers<\/a> for <em>The<\/em> <em>Associated Press<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen this trailer came out, someone said, \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t want to see another show about slaves. I want to see positive imagery.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, that inherently says that any imagery depicting my ancestors is negative,\u2019\u201d Jenkins recounted. \u201cNo, we have to really relearn how to look at these people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To Jenkins, enslaved Black Americans demonstrated \u201cone of the greatest acts of collective parenting the world has ever seen,\u201d he told Myers. \u201cIf everyone had taken up arms and decided they were going to rebel, everyone would have perished and there would have been all these children left behind,\u201d he said. \u201cThe choice was to protect these children out of faith that at some point this thing would end and these children would go on and carry the legacy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/barry-jenkins-academy-awards-race-and-ethnicity-entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-37410f3f61f211e9518e8af9fdd57962\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barry Jenkins on his unflinching epic \u2018Underground Railroad\u2019 (Associated Press)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-01-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40866\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the stylized imagery and lush visual aesthetic of <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>, Jenkins opted for a graphic, unvarnished approach to filming the violence and cruelty the series depicts. \u201cPeople say these images are so beautiful but what\u2019s happening in these episodes is so brutal,\u201d Jenkins remarked in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motionpictures.org\/2021\/05\/director-barry-jenkins-mixes-beauty-and-brutality-in-the-underground-railroad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hugh Hart<\/a> for the Motion Picture Association\u2019s <em>The Credits<\/em>, going on to explain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut it\u2019s beautiful while these things were happening. It would be almost irresponsible of me to remove the [natural] beauty from these happenings. It\u2019s some attempt at verisimilitude. This is what it looks like for the characters. This is what it should look like for the audience. Instead of spending all this time trying to fight the elements, trying to fight mother nature, you start working with the current and go \u2018Let the water be water.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visual style of <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> was partially inspired by the paintings by Chicago artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.davidzwirner.com\/artists\/kerry-james-marshall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kerry James Marshall<\/a> and photography by Australian photographer <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artnet.com\/artists\/bill-henson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bill Henson<\/a>, Jenkins told Hart, but there were other factors also in play:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut really what determined the look was that in the writers\u2019 room, we decided that each time Cora arrived in a new state, it would look and feel the way it did because it was a manifestation of Cora. That was the starting point for the aesthetic. The other thing we decided early on is that we wanted as few edits as possible. Instead of cutting to a new shot, we would create a new shot with movement of the camera, often motivated by the movement of a character, usually Cora.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-08-LR.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40856\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depicting the railway cars and tracks of <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> in a realistic fashion was also crucial for Jenkins, as he explained to Hart. \u201cI told our production designer Mark Friedberg that it can\u2019t be fake. I want real tracks, real trains, real tunnels. I don\u2019t want green screen, I don\u2019t want CGI,\u201d he said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo we found a private rail network and built our tunnels above them. So much of this project was about trying to contextualize what it would be like to be my ancestors. When Thuso first came down on the tracks I told her, \u2018You need to get down on the ground, and touch it, and bang on it.\u2019 The train\u2019s like an alien that comes down, knocks on your front door, and hands you a pepperoni pizza. That\u2019s how strange it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-15-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Sheila Atim as Mabel in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40863\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sheila Atim as Mabel in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motionpictures.org\/2021\/05\/director-barry-jenkins-mixes-beauty-and-brutality-in-the-underground-railroad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Director Barry Jenkins Mixes Beauty and Brutality in \u201cThe Underground Railroad\u201d (The Credits)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins further discussed the violence portrayed in <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/article\/barry-jenkins-the-underground-railroad-filmmaking-interview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matt Zoller Seitz<\/a> for <em>Vulture<\/em>, delving into both the ethical and practical issues of filming the horrifying torture and murder of Big Anthony in the first episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is an internal logic Jenkins applied to deciding which acts of violence to show, as well as how they should be showed, and the length of time and even the distance that should be employed. \u201cFor starters, it depends on how crucial the violence is for the character, especially the main character,\u201d he says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur main character in the show, Cora, is a woman who has just given up on everything. She\u2019s been abandoned, she\u2019s born into slavery, she\u2019s very bitter and angry, and she feels a bit worthless. And so when this guy comes and says, \u2018We need to leave,\u2019 she tells him no. It takes an extreme act to push her to the point where she decides, \u2018You know what? Actually, yes, you\u2019re right \u2014 we must go.\u2019 That act was a public, brutal, horrific immolation of one man, Big Anthony. That\u2019s why I thought it was so important to dwell on that particular incident.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The technical aspects of shooting the gruesome sequence were \u201cinteresting,\u201d says Jenkins. \u201cFilming the sequence, there\u2019s no blood, there\u2019s no fire, of course, and the actor\u2019s on a stunt harness. The visual effects are very good. They could have been better, but there was a point where I realized, That\u2019s enough, we\u2019ll stop,\u201d he recounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And by \u201cbetter,\u201d Jenkins wants to be clear that he means the level of realism that could be achieved:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe thing I wanted to be extremely real is this man is being hung up by his wrists, and he\u2019s being attacked by this whip. And we often see these photos of the formerly enslaved, and we see the healed wounds on their back. But we\u2019ve never been allowed to see what happens if you suspend a 300 or 250 pound man by his wrists and serrate his flesh. That\u2019s going to do certain things to that flesh, and I have never seen those things. To understand the absolute brutality of what the system of American slavery was, I wanted to show very organically what that process would look like.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-001.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"\u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-45106\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins said that he made the choice that this would be the one image that he would not turn away from. \u201cThis is going to be the place, this is going to be the time, this is going to be the one image that I\u2019m not going to look away from,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the audience wants to look away, they can. But I cannot allow them to deny the fact of this image.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The director emphasizes that there are very few actual moments in <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> when the audience sees someone being whipped. \u201cThere are only three instances of whipping in this entire show, and there\u2019s no moment when you see a whip contact flesh and then blood comes off,\u201d he underscores, adding, \u201cYou know, we always kinda hide the whip. We filmed that scene in a great big wide shot at night, intentionally, and on set, the first shot we did was the wide. I thought, \u2018Let\u2019s start wide. Let\u2019s see how it feels, then figure out what else we might need for the scene.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beautifully Shot Moments from The Underground Railroad | Prime Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SkHK_y-1DGY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the very first take, Jenkins realized, \u201cWe\u2019re done. That\u2019s all we need,\u201d he recounted. \u201cWe\u2019re not getting any closer than this. Not at this moment.\u201d But the question that remained for the director was, \u201cWhat remains to be excavated from this image?\u201d Because if the filmmakers were going to create this image, it had to add something to the conversation. \u201cAnd then I thought, \u201cOkay, let\u2019s come off the acute trauma, and now let\u2019s find the way this trauma metastasizes among this group.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout the series, Jenkins will begin a violent scene by showing the act from a distance, or partly obscured. And then he very deliberately moves the camera to show spectators reacting to the violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause to me that\u2019s the entire point,\u201d Jenkins says. \u201cThat\u2019s the point. You know, I think we have to bear witness, and we were forced to bear witness. This is how the aggrievement of one becomes a trauma shared by all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/article\/barry-jenkins-the-underground-railroad-filmmaking-interview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barry Jenkins Felt His Way Through The Underground Railroad (Vulture)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-002.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"\u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-45105\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2021\/04\/barry-jenkins-on-bringing-underground-railroad-to-tv-form\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Camonghne Felix<\/a> for <em>Vanity Fair<\/em>, Jenkins described his relationship with the color blue, which permeates the director\u2019s work, and is at least partially inspired by Marshall\u2019s paintings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marshall \u201chas a very interesting relationship [to] the color black, and with how he builds his colors with the absence of white pigment,\u201d Jenkins told Felix. For <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>, the production team used a process for building the shades of blue, as an artist might, that would be incorporated into the moonlight. As the series continues, \u201cit sort of evolves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn the first episode of the Amazon series, the blue moonlight inks the night and falls around the main character, Cora, and the young Black child she attempts to protect, as an expected but horrifying violence occurs,\u201d Felix writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou understand immediately that the color has shown up as a guide to help us truly understand the physical cost of slavery on African bodies, to understand the cost of Black defiance and the inhumanity of white domination. Jenkins sees Black people, and while episode one may feel suffocatingly painful at times, the story opens up: He will not let Black trauma be the guiding vehicle of this story \u2014 Black victory is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins, for his part, appreciated the juxtaposition of that traumatic sequence with the previous scene with two lovers bathed the moonlight. If there is shame in these images, the shame is not ours,\u201d he said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I think about the first episode, you know, seven minutes in, you\u2019re getting a very sharp depiction of trauma, but I love that just before that, you have these two lovers standing in a field, they\u2019re having almost a Shakespearean conversation in a certain way. In a very nuanced way, even amidst the trauma, the people, the characters still retain their humanity. And because of that, I think their personhood remains intact. The condition of slavery is not a thing that\u2019s fixed or static or that has fidelity to them as persons. These things are being visited upon them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2021\/04\/barry-jenkins-on-bringing-underground-railroad-to-tv-form\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barry Jenkins on Bringing <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> to TV Form (Vanity Fair)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-09-LR.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Showrunner Barry Jenkins (center) on location while filming \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40857\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Showrunner Barry Jenkins (center) on location while filming \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcrw.com\/culture\/shows\/the-treatment\/barry-jenkins-the-underground-railroad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Elvis Mitchell<\/a> on NPR\u2019s \u201cThe Treatment,\u201d Jenkins discussed his awareness of the color spectrum in his work, including what Mitchell calls \u201cthe visceral power of the color red and how it makes people react to people of color.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn <em>Medicine for Melancholy<\/em>, if you look at our raw data, it\u2019s entirely red because we knew we were going to desaturate the image, but we wanted to retain even in this black and white prism, some warmth in the characters&#8217; skin,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cIn the first and last episode [of <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>], this idea of red, these very warm tones were very important both in the wardrobe, but also yes, reflected in the characters\u2019 skins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins also discussed the use of sunrise and sunset imagery throughout the series:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe filmed the show entirely in the state of Georgia, and we filmed it primarily in the winter, fall into winter, and so, it was impossible to make the show without capturing every single second of the daylight. For me, it was interesting because, from the fall to winter solstice, the sun rises in the east, but it rises from a point farther and farther south. And so if you&#8217;re standing anywhere, especially as these characters in the state of Georgia watching the sunrise, you are looking towards the motherland, and there was something about that that resonated with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcrw.com\/culture\/shows\/the-treatment\/barry-jenkins-the-underground-railroad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barry Jenkins: \u2018The Underground Railroad\u2019 (NPR)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins detailed the production team\u2019s efforts to create a realistic Underground Railroad for the series in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/leisure\/arts-and-culture\/a36108498\/underground-railroad-series-amazon-barry-jenkins-colson-whitehead-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hunter Harris<\/a> for <em>Town &amp; Country<\/em> magazine. \u201cWe filmed this initially in the state of Georgia, and filming on train tracks anywhere in this country right now is very difficult, as it should be,\u201d Jenkins noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wanted the trains and tunnel to be real. I didn\u2019t want CGI trains. We found a rail museum in Savannah for the South Carolina episode, and we built the tunnels over these train tracks. Instead of a big, sweeping shot, she gets down and starts banging on the tracks. I wanted to channel everything through Cora\u2019s experience. The reason I wanted to adapt this book is because when I was a kid they used to say, \u2018the Underground Railroad,\u2019 and I imagined Black folks underground riding trains. It was \u2018cool, man. Thank you for giving me that gift.\u2019 You\u2019ve got to go through hell to get to it, but you gave me back my childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dottie Starling, the show\u2019s VFX supervisor, commented, \u201cI wanted to approach it in a way where it allowed Barry to shoot the way he wanted to tell his story, and I do what I have to do so we do it financially right or we do it technically right. It was a world that had to be so real, but it\u2019s a world that wasn\u2019t real at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visual effects that were employed for <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> had to play a supporting role, which meant they had to be seamless and undetectable by the viewer. \u201cWe always want the audience to be as grounded as Cora,\u201d Jenkins commented in a director\u2019s statement. \u201cAnd Dottie was really great at allowing James and I to do the things that we do to move the camera the way we want to move it to allow the sets and the backgrounds and all these things to be interactive in a way that we\u2019d love for them to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-12-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40860\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Few showrunners also direct all the episodes they oversee, but for Jenkins there was never any other way to approach making <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>. Knowing how grueling the work ahead would be, Jenkins reached out to his peers for advice on getting through it, he told Harris:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI talked to a few other directors, Steven Soderbergh and Cary Fukunaga, and they both told me, \u2018This is going to kick your ass. And there are going to be moments when it seems literally impossible.\u2019 And yet, I knew that having this on the horizon was the best thing for me, because it scared the shit out of me. And having those dudes, both of whose work I respect, tell me, \u2018No matter how hard you prepare for this, you can never prepare for this.\u2019 There was something very energizing about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/leisure\/arts-and-culture\/a36108498\/underground-railroad-series-amazon-barry-jenkins-colson-whitehead-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Barry Jenkins and Colson Whitehead Made <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> (Town &amp; Country)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-17-LR.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Cinematographer James Laxton and showrunner Barry Jenkins on the set of \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40865\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cinematographer James Laxton and showrunner Barry Jenkins on the set of \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins and cinematographer James Laxton discussed how they approached violent sequences in <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> in a sensitive yet truthful manner in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/eye-piece-the-underground-railroad-barry-jenkins-james-laxton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Caleb Hammond<\/a> for <em>MovieMaker<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere were times where I thought it was going to kill me, I legitimately thought this is going to kill me. I\u2019m not going to survive this,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s a reason that typically you don\u2019t have the same director directing 500 pages of a show. It\u2019s really hard to maintain a certain quality level, because you can\u2019t focus on every minute detail. There\u2019s just too much information. I don\u2019t know how the fuck James did it. I walk to set, I have to see what\u2019s there, and then try to find a performance with the actors. And all this fucking infrastructure, the lights, the trailers \u2014 all this shit James has got to be plotting out. Then on the day, he has to be present. It\u2019s so difficult. What is it: Random access memory, where the computer works in the background? You\u2019ve got to have 64MB going in the background at all times, in order to make this work. I thought it was gonna kill me, I really did.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne thing that we try to do in general, but also applied to the violence here in this series, is to see things through characters\u2019 perspectives,\u201d Laxton said in the interview. \u201cWe felt if we could see even the violent moments from a perspective, it would actually mean something, as opposed to just objectifying some violent act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-13-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"William Jackson Harper as Royal in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40861\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">William Jackson Harper as Royal in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Atsushi Nishijima\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The imagery for <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> is captured in long takes that contain shots within shots. As part of their freewheeling conversation with Hammond, The director and DP discussed their approach to the material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the first things in prep that I remember Barry saying many, many times over is he doesn\u2019t want to cut,\u201d Laxton said. \u201cClearly there\u2019s many edits in the show. When a director says things so adamantly and so purposefully, there\u2019s clearly something behind it. I would often think about what Barry is looking for when he talks about really wanting these things to play out.\u201d The cinematographer continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI thought, there\u2019s something going on in this story with the mythology and symbology behind this underground railroad train. And yet we were telling a very true story of American history and Cora\u2019s journey on it. There\u2019s something about not wanting the audience to feel like they\u2019re being tricked, or missing something or not wanting some sort of cinematic trickery to be disguising something that wanted to feel true. So the fluidity behind some of these camera moves, I assume always came from that concept of wanting to present a perspective to our audience that didn\u2019t feel like we were leaning too heavily into the symbology of this train, but actually seeing it physically, panning from a character to straight up a moving physical train that we really physically did. We were lucky enough to film some real trains and some real actors adjacent to them. There\u2019s something really powerful about that, as opposed to cutting to some crazy visual effect.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-10-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Aaron Pierre as Caesar in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40858\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Aaron Pierre as Caesar in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s it, man,\u201d Jenkins agreed. \u201cI sometimes feel like when there\u2019s a cut, I can feel the manipulation. And it\u2019s all artifice \u2014 we\u2019re creating all of it,\u201d he said, adding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut, every edit where you cut to a new piece of media is a whole separate moment in time. So the longer you can extend a moment in time, the more grounded, the more visceral that is. James is absolutely right, we have this train that\u2019s a personification of the actual Underground Railroad. When I was a kid, and I first heard the words, \u2018Underground Railroad,\u2019 that shit felt real. I literally imagined Black people on trains underground that they built. So I wanted to find a way to get whatever extra artifice out of each shot that we could. With some of the stuff James and I have done over the last two films, there\u2019s something moving \u2014 as opposed to using an edit to juxtapose an image, just like we do as human beings, where one piece of information draws your attention to another piece of information \u2014 and so instead of cutting to another shot, let\u2019s create another shot with the camera.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/eye-piece-the-underground-railroad-barry-jenkins-james-laxton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> Director Barry Jenkins Talks With DP James Laxton: \u2018This Is the Hardest Thing I\u2019ve Ever Done\u2019 (MovieMaker)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laxton\u2019s partnership with Jenkins goes back to their days as roommates at Florida State, with Laxton serving as Jenkins\u2019 \u201cclosest artistic collaborator since,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/05\/06\/arts\/television\/the-underground-railroad-barry-jenkins.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reggie Ugwu<\/a> noted in <em>The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt the end of the day, I would go home and have a think and have a cry as my own sort of way to cope,\u201d Laxton said to Ugwu. \u201cTo walk around in a space where people are dripping with blood from being whipped or hung or mutilated in some way, to have to talk to them, like, \u2018Can you step to your right to be on your mark a little bit more?\u2019 That clearly takes a toll.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added, \u201cDealing with what we saw will probably stick with me for a very long time, if not forever. But I hope these images stick with the people who see this show, too, because it\u2019s important for us all to recognize our history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/05\/06\/arts\/television\/the-underground-railroad-barry-jenkins.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Epic Journey to \u2018The Underground Railroad\u2019 (The New York Times)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-06-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40854\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laxton employed Arri ALEXA LF and ALEXA Mini LF cameras to capture footage for <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>, performing extensive testing with Panavision\u2019s Dan Sasaki to tweak the Primo 70 series and T-Series Anamorphics to his specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur job as filmmakers was to paint with a fine brush nuanced scenes of Cora falling in love or having fun at a corn-shucking festival on Valentine Farm,\u201d the cinematographer said to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icgmagazine.com\/web\/black-like-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Valentina Valentini<\/a> in an interview for <em>ICG Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was no small task to create entirely disparate locales using existing locations in Georgia, but Laxton and his team, cognizant that new characters and new spaces alone wouldn\u2019t cut it, also helped to build separate visual worlds by treating the color palette differently in each state and creating a unique LUT for each episode,\u201d Valentini writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStarting with Chapter 1, \u2018Georgia,\u2019 Laxton and his longtime colorist, Alex Bickel, at New York City-based Color Collective, used a Kodak emulation; for Chapter 2, \u2018South Carolina,\u2019 it was an Anscochrome LUT with E6 chemicals to emulate the same combination of stock and processing Still Photographer Gordon Parks used in his <em>Segregation<\/em> Story series\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChapter 3 and Chapter 7, both set in North Carolina, used a Fuji Film LUT; Chapter 4, \u2018The Great Spirit\u2019 was Ektachrome; \u2018Tennessee: Exodus\u2019 was three-strip Technicolor with a modified white point based on Erwin Olaf\u2019s Keyhole series; and for \u2018Tennessee Proverbs,\u2019 back to Ektachrome. Chapter 8 \u2018Indiana: Autumn\u2019 was Technicolor three-strip again but modified to emulate blues and greens in reference to photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue; \u2018Indiana: Winter\u2019 was Agfa; and finally, for Chapter 10, \u2018Mabel,\u2019 the filmmakers used two different LUT\u2019s \u2014 the first half of the episode was Bleached Kodak, and the second half was Ektachrome with inkier blacks. Because of Laxton and Jenkins\u2019 feature-film background, they were keen to preserve a cinematic language even while working on a TV series together for the first time. And Bickel, who has colored all of Laxton\u2019s features, helped to maintain a visual through-line in post.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-07-LR.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mikaela Kimani Armstrong as young Cora and Sheila Atim as her mother Mabel in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40855\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mikaela Kimani Armstrong as young Cora and Sheila Atim as her mother Mabel in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icgmagazine.com\/web\/black-like-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Black Like Me (ICG Magazine)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking with <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/craft-considerations\/making-amazon-the-underground-railroad-visual-design-1234640070\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IndieWire<\/a><\/em>, Laxton said \u201cheightened but true\u201d was a guiding principle in creating the distinct looks for each episode of <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>. \u201cWhen working with Barry, what you get is this license to lean heavily into your craft,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re only able to do that because he tells stories that need that from us. It\u2019s one of my favorite parts about working with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But any heightened elements also had to be grounded in reality, Laxton said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you are dealing with these elevated and fantastical elements, there\u2019s fear in me, and I assume a fear in Barry as well, that we were going to dip our filmmaker hand too far down into the depth of making images that didn\u2019t feel believable. The camera pans and moves from one character to another character, or one character to a train, always in service of trying to make sure these images feel heightened in their sensibilities, but need to feel desperately true to our audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/craft-considerations\/making-amazon-the-underground-railroad-visual-design-1234640070\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Crafting the Stunning Visual Worlds of \u2018The Underground Railroad\u2019 (IndieWire)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a collaborative effort such as filmmaking, a multitude of crew members contribute a variety of skills that make the whole enterprise possible. But for <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>, one crew member, in particular, stood out. During production, therapist Kim Whyte was hired to help the cast and crew members process their emotions in order to create a safe environment on set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jenkins discussed the therapist\u2019s role during a wide-ranging conversation recorded for <em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> with Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of <em>The New York Times<\/em>\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/08\/14\/magazine\/1619-america-slavery.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The 1619 Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Initially, Jenkins eschewed any need for Whyte\u2019s services. \u201cI thought, you know, \u2018I\u2019m a real smart cat. I\u2019ve been doing this for 20 years, there\u2019s a crew, there are actors, and I know exactly what we\u2019re doing. And I know that nothing I\u2019m going to deal with is even remotely comparable to what my ancestors dealt with.\u2019 And yet we\u2019re in the same actual spaces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI do believe that somehow, you know, [we were on] the same soil, and it would catch up to me. There was a day when I just walked myself off set and said nothing to nobody \u2014 which is very expensive on a show this big. When I\u2019m not present, nothing happens. There was another day we had a guidance counselor. She tapped me and then pulled me off my own set. I said, \u2018Yo, you can\u2019t pull me off set, man! I\u2019ve got to be strong for the crew. They see me talking to you, man, they go, Something is wrong. She was like, \u2018Yeah, you\u2019ve got to be strong for them, but who\u2019s going to be strong for you when you break down?\u2019 And so we had a little session, I unleashed some things, and then I got back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1081\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-11-LR.jpg?resize=1081%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Chase Dillon as Homer and Joel Edgerton as slave catcher Arnold Ridgeway in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40859\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chase Dillon as Homer and Joel Edgerton as slave catcher Arnold Ridgeway in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/barry-jenkins-nikole-hannah-jones-1234950961\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">THR Talks: Barry Jenkins and Nikole Hannah-Jones on the Nuances of Storytelling and Trauma (The Hollywood Reporter)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One surprising influence on <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> is \u201ca slice of Soviet sci-fi,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empireonline.com\/tv\/news\/underground-railroad-director-barry-jenkins-tarkovsky-inspiration-exclusive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ben Travis<\/a> writes in <em>Empire<\/em>. Andrei Tarkovsky\u2019s final film, the 1979 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YuOnfQd-aTw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stalker<\/a><\/em>, which is based on the novel \u201cRoadside Picnic\u201d by the Strugatsky brothers, was apparently the only film Jenkins allowed himself to rewatch while working on the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was sitting in my apartment and Criterion Channel comes up \u2014 I don\u2019t know if it was a trailer or just a snippet of <em>Stalker<\/em>,\u201d Jenkins recalled to Travis. \u201cAnd I just forgot how much it is about these men on this train. They even go underground for a little bit. But they\u2019re journeying into this alternate reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empireonline.com\/tv\/news\/underground-railroad-director-barry-jenkins-tarkovsky-inspiration-exclusive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>: Director Barry Jenkins Talks Tarkovsky Inspiration And The Series\u2019 \u2018Honest Images\u2019 (Empire)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"960\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-03-LR.jpg?resize=960%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40851\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thuso Mbedu as Cora in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ahead of the series premiere on Amazon Prime Video, Jenkins released a non-narrative short made in parallel while shooting <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em>. As Jenkins explains in his introduction to the 52-minute video, titled <em>The Gaze<\/em>, the short is not meant to be viewed as an episode of the series but as a related project inspired by it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn my years of doing interviews and roundtables and Q&amp;A\u2019s for the various films we\u2019ve made, there is one question that recurs,\u201d Jenkins comments in a <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/546795671\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">director\u2019s statement<\/a>. \u201cNo matter the length of the piece or the tone of the room, eventually, inevitably, I am asked about the white gaze. It wasn\u2019t until a very particular interview regards <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> that the blind spot inherent in that questioning became clear to me: never, in all my years of working or questioning, had I been set upon about the Black gaze; or the gaze distilled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"720\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jwolfepr.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Underground-Railroad-04-LR.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Aaron Pierre as Caesar and Will Poulter as Sam in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios\" class=\"wp-image-40852\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Aaron Pierre as Caesar and Will Poulter as Sam in \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d Cr: Kyle Kaplan\/Amazon Studios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Want more? Listen to Jenkins discuss five key scenes from <em>The Underground Railroad<\/em> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.filmcomment.com\/blog\/the-film-comment-podcast-barry-jenkins-on-the-underground-railroad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Film Comment<\/em> podcast<\/a> with <em>Film Comment<\/em> editors Clinton Krute and Devika Girish:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"300\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1051017376&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Watch \u201cA Conversation with Barry Jenkins, Thuso Mbedu, and Ta-Nehisi Coates\u201d from Amazon Prime Video, in the player below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Conversation with Barry Jenkins, Thuso Mbedu, and Ta-Nehisi Coates | Prime Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GxytGaYDuec?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New 10-part series on Amazon Prime Video is based on Colson Whitehead\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2016 novel, \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40850,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":""},"categories":[248],"class_list":["post-40867","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amplify"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cThe Underground Railroad:\u201d What It Took for Barry Jenkins to Bring It to Your Screen(s) | Jennifer Wolfe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New 10-part series on Amazon Prime Video is based on Colson Whitehead\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2016 novel, \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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