i think the best situations are really collaborative where you re.you re extending each other in a way. you re pushing each other to do better, to think in a different way. you re challenging each other, i think. but, for example, to be very literal about it, i mean, you re known as a guy who s brilliant using light on film and that is that entirely your domain when it comes to making the mechanics of making a movie? the mechanics, yes, but you re working with the whole team. you know, depending on the movie, you could have five or six electricians working with you and maybe 150, you know, depending on the complexity of the shoot. and so, yes, you are generally the person envisaging what you really want it to look like in terms of the light and how you re going to achieve that technically. you know, there s almost
why is that? i do think if the cinematography, the imagery or any other aspect of bringing that story to a screen is more noticeable or draws attention to itself whether it s a flamboyant camera move or some very kind of well crafted arty lighting i think it s a mistake, you know? so you consciously are seeking to avoid that? i think sometimes i kind of draw back and say, no, that s going to draw attention to itself, you know? let me ask you about one particular film where there was a huge amount of discussion of how you did that, not in a particularly showy way, but partly in a technical way, partly in a sort of just awestruck way. and i m talking about in 1917, the sort of epic movie that you made with well, sam mendes directed it and then it almost looked like it was filmed in a single take i mean, obviously it wasn t. right. we know that. but there were some very, very long takes in it. right. how stressful is it putting
so even though the backgrounds had changed, in some very specific scenes, there s a lot of manipulation, like the, um, the, er, the threesome, with the two girls and ryan, you know, and they re interchanging and becoming one and splitting. well, how are you going to do that? that s, obviously, you use the technology that s available to tell a story, in hopefully an interesting and, you know, perceptive way. but, um. so you re not, you re not anti technology, clearly. no, not at all. yeah. i mean, no, because i have to say, withjoel and ethan, i was the first one that used a digital finish on a film, on o brother, where art thou? i want to end with a thought that, you know, it s a treat to talk to somebody who has been steeped in film making for so long, and your experience is vast, and your movie stats speak for themselves, and we ve talked about it all in terms of this amazing collaboration that you ve had with a series of brilliant directors. is there a time, will there be a time,
something, it s missing something. i think the actors. what are you missing? well, i think the actors are missing something to. ..relate to, in a way. i think you re missing the environment everybody s working in that feels like part of the story. i don t know. i can t explain myself very well but there s something about being on location and being in a real environment. it s like on 1917. sam was determined to do as much in camera as possible. sure, there s some effects work. yeah. i mean, if you ve got that technology, why not use it? there are respected film makers who now work with smartphone technology. yeah, yeah. ..and film on a smartphone. absolutely. and, you know, to a certain extent you can imagine that increases spontaneity. you can film something in a very unique sort of way, when it s this tiny,
not about that, just about life, you know, and the film and he was so pleased to be working on a film that actually felt meant something at that point in his life, because he d been doing a few films that he wasn t that proud of. and it was just really lovely to sit and talk with somebody of his reputation, but, you know, just a regular guy. the point about introversion or maybe self effacement, with you seems to go even further, though, because you have always said, i think, about the way you make your movies that you don t want people to really think hard or notice or regard as sort of special the treatment, visual treatment you ve given the movie because you sort of say if they re coming up to me, saying, i love that brilliant shot you put in at x or y point in the movie, you almost feel that s a failure.