Sam Mendes' war epic, 1917, makes use of unprecedented technological marvels to achieve its goal of total immersion. Through clever editing, camerawork, and nigh-imperceptible use of CGI, 1917 presents its entire story as taking place within a single, uncut shot. Well, two, since there's a mid-movie act break to bring the film from dusk to the dead of night.

Upon releasing in December 2019, the World War I-set drama earned significant critical and commercial acclaim, racking up multiple Oscar wins and grossing an impressive $368 million at the global box office. In addition to its status as an intimate and intense look at the overwhelming portrayal of the trials of young people during wartime, 1917 is also a stunning technological achievement. And you can enjoy it at home right now since 1917 if available on Digital right now, and on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24th.

Related: Screen Rant's Epic 1917 Review

One of 1917's Oscars went to Roger Deakins for his work on the film's legendary cinematography. For a movie like this, though, getting the perfect shot was a lot more complicated than usual. After all, for the film to maintain the look of a single, unbroken shot, every moment of 1917 had to be deliberately constructed and placed to maintain the seamless illusion. This behind-the-scenes clip, seen above, goes into detail about how the filmmakers used creative camerawork to capture World War I in all its harrowing detail.

The goal of 1917 was to fully immerse viewers in a war from over one hundred years ago. World War I is a conflict that most people only know from high school textbooks or Wikipedia perusals. It's easy to reduce the millions of lives lost to a statistic, a footnote in history, but 1917 takes great strides to personalize the war, to show the real horrors that young men were forced to endure for God and country. Far from a gimmick, the unbroken camerawork of 1917 puts audiences side-by-side with the two main characters as they fight for survival against overwhelming odds. The film is a brutal and realistic look at the raw violence of war from the perspective of people who fought, not to win, but only to survive.

In addition to words from director Sam Mendes, this behind-the-scenes clip features snippets of interviews with the film's stars, George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, as well as steadicam operator Peter Cavaciuti and producers Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall. The footage also shows off some of the unorthodox methods used to capture the film's shots, some of which can only be described as next-generation Steadicam technology.

More: Co-Writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns Interview: 1917

1917 is out now on Digital HD and releases on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24, 2020.