Robbie Ryan (‘Poor Things’ cinematographer) on working with Yorgos Lanthimos: ‘You don’t know what’s coming next’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“It’s always a new day with Yorgos [Lanthimos], you just don’t know what’s coming next,” says “Poor Things” cinematographer Robbie Ryan while discussing the film’s director. “That is the exciting part of it. You just know that it is going to be an amazing experience and an amazing challenge. I always say he’s like a master cinematographer himself, so I’m always catching up.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Ryan says they wanted to create a world for Bella Baxter (played by Oscar winner Emma Stone) and for viewers to see it through her eyes. “[Yorgos’] visual sensibility was that the world would be quite wild. That was able to help have these interesting lens choices. Yorgos likes a wide lens so I knew that would probably feature in this one, but what was different was that we did a lot of zooming in the film. It was a new challenge for me in that respect.”
Production design played a key element to Ryan’s work as a cinematographer. The large, immersive sets were built to bring Bella to Lisbon, Paris and London. “It kind of still felt like we were on a location,” he says. “They built the locations in this amazing detail. Everything in front of the camera is there. It was the same approach I would do normally, it was just that I had to do a lot more lights.”
Ryan was nominated for an Oscar for his previous collaboration with Lanthimos on “The Favourite.” “Poor Things” is an incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Following the movie’s Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, Searchlight Pictures set a nationwide release date for December 8.
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