Credit: The Blacklist is getting crafty in response to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down production. What was the NBC drama to do? The Blacklist, Season 7 Finale, Friday, May 15, 8/7c, NBC. “The Kazanjin Brothers” drew a ton of reaction on social media when it … What Happened: The Blacklist wasn't finished filming what turned out to be its Season 7 finale when production was forced to close. Our editors in LA would very quickly assemble the shots. Did you have to rewrite the story to fit into the animation mode? “The Blacklist” is the latest show to explore a creative solution to the coronavirus production shutdown. Let us know what you think in the comments below. More than ever, Liz now finds herself stuck exactly where she did not want to be — between these two parental figures. Zee Hatley, our post supervisor, arranged to have microphones sent to the actors where they were quarantined. First thing in the morning, [fellow executive producer] John Eisendrath and myself would watch that scene and give our notes so London could make the changes overnight. ... 'The Blacklist' Season 7 Finale Will Be Partially Animated Due to Coronavirus Shutdown We really worked around the clock. By Philiana Ng‍ 11:31 AM PDT, May 5, 2020 . The title of this hybrid episode is “The Kazanijan Brothers.” It will serve as the finale and will conclude the story of this season. The Blacklist bosses on Liz's 'dark' decision and that big choice in the season finale. Tonally, we knew we wanted the animation to match the dark, criminal-filled world of The Blacklist, and we used the comics as inspiration, but beyond that it was a bit of improvisation. However, he noted: "It's possible that if we knew how much work it took to do an animated half of this episode, we might well have not come up with the idea." While Liz was not pleased with how her mother chose to scheme her way back into her life, she has since teamed up with her to get the upper hand — and some long-awaited info — on Red. They both need Liz. The seventh season of the American crime thriller television series The Blacklist was ordered on March 11, 2019. The Season 7 finale of The Blacklist was something else. The season was originally set to contain 22 episodes. A motel shootout, a car chase through the city, an action sequence with a helicopter — those are a few scenes that we goosed up a bit simply because we knew they were going to be animated. James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington in ‘The Blacklist’ season 7 episode 19 (Photo by: Sony Pictures Television) NBC’s The Blacklist shut down production early on season seven in New York as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold of the state. 'Sabrina' Cast Teases the Tumultuous Final Season (VIDEO). The Blacklist was so close — just five days short — to finishing up Season 7 before production was shut down due to COVID-19. The Blacklist Season 7 Episode 19, the unintentional season finale, will be a blend of live-action scenes and animation, and it will come as a graphic-novel style animation. To close out its seventh season, the NBC crime drama will employ a combination of live-action footage from the partially filmed 19th episode and graphic-novel-style animation. The Blacklist season 7 finale airs Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Copyright © 2020 NTVB Media, Inc., All Rights Reserved, 'The Blacklist' Star Diego Klattenhoff on 'Emotional' Ressler-Centric Episode, Worth Watching: Netflix Says 'Death to 2020,' Fox's 'Masked Dancer,' 'Shameless' Hall of Shame, Restaurants 'Hustle' to Survive, 'How I Met Your Mother,' 'Frasier' & More New Year's TV Episodes to Watch on Hulu, Is It Business as Usual in the 'Prodigal Son' Season 2 Premiere? The actors were all great sports. What appealed to you about animating part of the episode? The Blacklist has a lot of graphic novel-like elements. What type of animation were you looking to do? The Blacklist Season 7 Finale Recap: A Very Animated Liz Chooses A Side The Blacklist rarely gets credit for its weirdness, but maybe this episode, the Season 7 finale, … Katarina and Reddington are hellbent on destroying each other. News came last week that due to the coronavirus pandemic shut downs, part of the season 7 finale of NBC's The Blacklist will be seen in a non … Will Liz have to choose between trusting Katarina and her protector Reddington (James Spader)? A larger-than-life anti-hero. We kicked around the idea of shooting those comics, using the images and likeness of the characters to fill out the scenes we hadn’t shot. There’s a pretty seismic shift on the horizon. https://ew.com/tv/the-blacklist-season-7-finale-animated-coronavirus-shutdown Yes. Jon Bokenkamp: Oh, yeah. Can we expect a somewhat changed Blacklist next season? The Blacklist EP Reveals How the Show Pulled Off Its Half-Animated Season Finale — Plus, Grade the Episode By Rebecca Iannucci / May 15 2020, 5:59 PM PDT Courtesy of NBC Sony Pictures Television. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. So to ensure a complete episode, animated sequences were created to fill the gaps of all the missing scenes. The drama’s makeshift Season 7 finale (airing Friday, May … “The Blacklist” is getting more animated for its Season 7 finale. I really respect them taking the chance. Raymond Reddington has always been an animated guy — but The Blacklist is about to take that literally. What develops in this last episode, and how it propels us going forward, is something we’ve been working toward for years now. By … The actors all found a quiet place in their homes to record their lines. James Spader is Raymond "Red" Reddington, a mastermind criminal who teams up with the FBI. The last completed episode of a planned 22 episode season was episode 18 which could have served as a season finale if necessary. On Friday May 15, 2020 NBC aired the Season 7 finale of The Blacklist, and it took creative guts and a herculean effort to do so because production shut down due … Executive producer Jon Bokenkamp tells TV Insider all about it. Get an exclusive sneak peek at The Blacklist's Season 7 finale, which will blend comic book style animation with live-action after filming was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Producers got creative when filming of the … The season premiered on NBC on Friday, October 4, 2019 at 8.00 p.m. So we were constantly looking at shots, giving notes, trying to find the look of the show — I’m in Nebraska, John and the editors are in L.A., the animators are in London and Atlanta, the actors are all over the place. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Then I wondered if we could animate what we didn’t shoot. Terrible idea. Any kind that we could get done in time! Sony and NBC took a leap of faith on this concept without knowing how the final product would look. The Blacklist Airing Partially Animated Season 7 Finale Due to Coronavirus James Spader and Megan Boone will be partially animated to finish out The Blacklist season. The Blacklist Airing Partially Animated Season 7 Finale Due to Coronavirus James Spader and Megan Boone will be partially animated to finish out The Blacklist season. How about complete the finale with animation. We really did have people in all sorts of time zones working simultaneously. The Blacklist Bosses Explain How the Animated Season 7 Finale Came to Be Liam Mathews 5/15/2020. We had five weeks to do 20 minutes of footage. For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, please visit coronavirus.gov. Wherever the finale leaves the characters, fans can look forward to more of Red’s shenanigans, as NBC has renewed The Blacklist for an eighth season. A rogues’ gallery of bad guys. They both hope they can trust her. A strange thing happened to “ The Blacklist ”: the pandemic cut Season 7 short — from 22 to 19 episodes — including work on the momentous finale, “The … We decided we could try and get it finished, despite the time crunch. The Blacklist season 7 finale airs May 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. 10 funny mockumentaries to remind us about the absurdity of life, Family-friendly Halloween films for boos big and small. One of our former writers, Nicole Phillips, had written over a dozen comics for The Blacklist. An animated Raymond "Red" Reddington ( James Spader ) and a very unexpected choice made by FBI agent Elizabeth Keen ( Megan Boone )! The animated season 7 finale of The Blacklist ended up dividing some fans of NBC 's crime drama. I know nothing about animation, I had no idea what we were getting into. A scene would be worked on by animators in London. They do these great big sequences for tentpole movies. Season 7 of The Blacklist ended with a creative live-action/cartoon hybrid episode due to the coronavirus lockdown, but it didn't quite work. Spoilers for 'The Blacklist' Season 7 Episode 19 'The Kazanjian Brothers' 'The Blacklist' Season 7 just did what very few in television history have been able to achieve: a very gritty, darker than usual, graphic novel-esque animated season finale. Due to widespread industry shutdowns resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the show wasn't able to complete filming on the final episode for the season, titled "The Kazanjian Brothers." Slightly. By … The hybrid episode, titled "The Kazanijan Brothers," will serve as the finale for the shortened season, which was originally intended to run 22 episodes. Later in the day, we’d do the same thing with an animation team in Atlanta. This season on The Blacklist, super-spy Katarina Rostova (Laila Robins) made her grand re-entrance into the lives of Elizabeth Keen (Boone) and Raymond Reddington (Spader). Why Blacklist Season 7's Cartoon Ending Didn't Work. What can you tell us about the season finale story? (PHOTOS). NBC's The Blacklist aired its season 7 finale this past week with a hybrid format, crossing between live-action scenes and graphic-novel style animation. The Blacklist goes animated for season 7 finale amid production shutdown. But that got us thinking. A reflection of James Spader, as seen in the season finale of “The Blacklist.” After the pandemic stopped production, the show used animation to complete the episode. The Kazanjian Brothers (Sony Pictures Television). The Blacklist's Season 7 finale airs Friday, May 15 at 8/7c on NBC. The Blacklist joins Pop TV's One Day at a Time in extending its season using animation. So we did a gut check. The three have been heading toward quite a collision, and it appears we'll see some of it play out in animated form. They typically have months to work on a single scene or sequence. As executive producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Additionally, some of the sequences we had not yet filmed were action sequences, and we realized we had a chance to do things in animation that we could never do with live action because of our schedule and the restraints of physical production. The Blacklist was so close — just five days short — to finishing up Season 7 before production was shut down due to COVID-19.. What was the NBC drama to do? So we accelerated the story a bit, giving us a bigger push going into Season 8. Those audio tracks were then sent to L.A. where the performances were stitched together. Realizing that we had to modify this episode to serve as our season finale, we had an opportunity to make changes to the scenes that had yet to be animated. You can imagine our cast hiding in linen closets and pantries trying to record their lines on their iPhones. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all live-action Hollywood productions back in March, NBC's The Blacklist was left without a Season 7 finale. After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down production mid-episode, 'The Blacklist' crafted a Season 7 finale by combining live-action and animated scenes. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Raymond "Red" Reddington, Elizabeth Keen (Sony Pictures Television). To complete the episode, stars James Spader, Megan Boone, and their castmates recorded audio at home, with the rest of the episode also being animated and edited remotely. © Copyright 2020 Meredith Corporation. The Blacklist fans are super divided on the animated season finale episode. Originally, we thought we could play the episode like an old radio show — put the image of a radio up on the screen, and people at home could gather around and listen to the episode. The Blacklist Bosses Explain How the Animated Season 7 Finale Came to Be By Liam Mathews @liamaathews May 15, 2020 2:58 PM EDT Like every other production, The Blacklist had to … Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. You can watch it … This … Did you consider any other ideas before you landed on animation? 'The Blacklist' recap: Never trust a rich Robin Hood. The look and feel of the show has a pulpiness to it that lends itself to comics, so the concept of animation felt organic for our universe. Rather than … 'Bridgerton' Couples: Who's Together at the End of the Netflix Series? Liz’s [Megan Boone] mother Katarina Rostova [Laila Robins] has re-emerged with some very real information about Reddington and why he entered Liz’s life in the first place. We hired  a company called Proof [which animated the non-live action scenes]. I think it’s probably more accurate to say we embark on an entirely new one. 'The Blacklist' Season 7 Finale Will Be Partially Animated Due to Coronavirus Shutdown. UPDATED, 3:05 PM: NBC has released a trailer for Friday’s hybrid live action/animated season 7 finale episode of The Blacklist. Keep up with your favorite shows... delivered to your inbox! Go behind-the-scenes of The Blacklist's animated Season 7 finale on NBC. Klattenhoff teases more about Ressler's past in 'Brothers,' featuring guest star Anthony Michael Hall as Don's brother Robbie. Check out the new The Blacklist S07E19 exclusive sneak peek starring Megan Boone! The choice before her is not an easy one. Complete episode, animated sequences were created to fill the gaps of all missing! Zee Hatley, our post supervisor, arranged to have microphones sent to the coronavirus production shutdown us what! 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