In German popular culture, the “Golden Twenties” are known as a pompous era of fabulous parties. However, that was only true for the upper class at the time. The majority of people in the 1920s lived a less glittery, more gritty reality not often portrayed in the media. In fact, just before the launch of Audible's original audio drama “Die juten Sitten”, a TV series called “Babylon Berlin” further perpetuated the stereotype of varieté dancing and fancy flapper outfits. This is where the radio play and its trailer come in: They intentionally diverge from the usual glamorous tropes. The story is set in Berlin, often known for its extensive party culture. However, the focus is not on these roaring celebrations but on an authentic historic brothel and its inhabitants. Many aspects of the radio play are historically accurate and shine a light on life in a golden era’s dirt.

We wanted our cinematography to not only pay homage to but also mirror the historic background of the radio play. So instead of a digital camera, we used a self-built construction of 100 pinhole cameras arranged in a perfect circle. 6 meters of film were threaded through these in the dark and then exposed with one single flash of light. This created 100 single images of one moment, which were then developed, scanned and digitally arranged to create a 360° video snapshot. This complex process allowed for only one trigger of the flash per hour. In total, we used around 50 meters of film to create 8 analog 360° shots. This method not only provided unseen visuals, but, through the modernization of a photographic technique from the time of “Die juten Sitten”, brought the heart and soul of the analog camera back into the digital world of modern filmmaking.