Duell - Enemy at the Gates - Working Method

First and foremost, the locations in the Berlin area had to be convincing for this war film set in 1946 in Stalingrad in order to get the project into Studio Babelsberg at all. Duell" gave the studio a second boost.

Three locations were to be sought:

• A body of water with a cliff at least 25 meters high, which was to replace the Volga (a difficult undertaking both in the Berlin lowlands and in the Elbe alluvial plain). It eventually became an open pit mine near Cottbus.
• A site measuring 300 x 300 x 500 meters with at least three-story brick buildings in a U-shaped arrangement was supposed to represent the "Red Square" in Stalingrad. It was to be expected that this would be found among the many empty barracks sites around Berlin - but the site was also to be capable of being completely blown up. In the end, the decision was made in favor of the Krampnitz site near Potsdam, where only a few buildings were still standing. On the other hand, other sets could be shot there.
• The third main location was a factory site where the snipers could fight their duel. This was found in the old cement factory in Rüdersdorf.

After months of searching for Locations and doing research, I was ultimately mainly occupied with model building and learning technical drawings. In this large international production, I was a cog in the wheel of the 40-person art department with little decision-making power.

Model Making / Technical Drawings Location Krampnitz