on swift horseWhich had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, is an investigation of two oppressed people against the backdrop of 1950s America. Based on Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel of the same name, the movie follows Muriel and Lee as they move from Kansas to San Diego to start their newlywed life together. While their future seems certain, Lee’s brother Julius feels aimless on his return from the Korean War, leading him to work in a casino in Las Vegas.
Muriel (Twisters The star Daisy Edgar-Jones) is not as sold on her life as one might think, however, and she finds herself admiring Julius (Jacob Elordi) as they parallel each other in more ways than anyone expects. They are each hiding from Lee (Will Poulter) their true selves, but their relationships with Henry (Diego Calva) and Sandra (The bottles Sasha Kale) respectively give them away.
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Screen Rant Interviewed cinematographer Luc Montpellier (ASC, CSC) about his approach to on swift horseCollaboration with director Daniel Minahan, and how some scenes with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi changed the day thanks to the naturalistic acting and storyboarding.
On Swift Horses cinematographer explains how he framed the story as authentically as possible
“What’s beautiful about this is that you’re left to distill the story.”
Screen Rating: on swift horse Not only explores a specific time period in the 1950s, but also the lives of characters with their specific experiences during that time. How did you prepare to explore that authentically?
Luc Montpellier: Very good question. I would start by saying very politely. You bring up some great points that Dan talked to me about early in the film; About not romanticizing the ’50s so that you feel disconnected. If you were alive in the 50s, this is what it would feel like to not be able to express yourself. I think that, at the heart of the film, is really important because you can easily be distanced from it.
As far as the cinematography was concerned, it’s more of a challenge because it’s so much easier to ask, “How do we remember the 50s?” This is an old photograph that has been degraded, but we wanted to go in the complete opposite direction. You still had to represent the era because the culture and society has a very specific suppression. You can’t romanticize it, so my goal was to have documentary photography of the time as a big influence because they’re basically slices of life.
Gordon Parks was a big influence in this way, where his photography was immediate and very emotional. We used a lot of photography and fine art references because what’s beautiful about that is you’re left to distill the story. How do you do that in a film?
The film is so quiet. Many of the feelings inside happen without words only in a glance between Jacob and Daisy’s character, this is a mandate of how the cinematography should be. It needs to be there at the right time, but not too imposing. I was quite nervous about how you hit the scale. I hope that the audience really goes there with us and is able to be there with our characters. I think it is really important to connect today’s young people with that time before we had language to describe what they felt.
Screen Rant: Daniel Minahan has directed some amazing television, from Six feet under to Game of Thrones And further. What did he bring to the feature film that most surprised or excited you?
Luc Montpellier: What really surprised me was his willingness to distill ideas he had and to workshop things. I heard Jacob say that instead of an audition, there was a swing dance workshop.
That’s what I noticed and what I love, the idea of ​​not letting the process of making a film with so many people take you away from the core feelings you’re trying to create. He had a very interesting way, and you wanted to know how much I wanted to work based on what I had done. It was a real collaboration like that, but he still was able to really guide us in a very precise, but sometimes abstract way and say, “How do we fill this in? How do we do it?” He always asked questions.
At the end of the day, it’s not about being LGBTQ. It’s about people who can’t live their true lives, and that was the mandate. How do we show that and connect with them? It’s just a feeling, but I thought we got along very well that way.
Swift Horse’s strength lies in his character work
“I felt like a supporting actor in the whole thing. That’s how I would describe it.”
Screen Rant: You mentioned how the story is very internal. How do you decide the camera movement for each character and what do your choices of framing say about them?
Luc Montpellier: That’s a very good question. You pretty much describe my entire prep process with the director, whether it’s lighting or tone. I was asked, “How did you translate the book? Did you read it?” For the film, Dan said, “I prefer you don’t.” I really relied heavily on Dan and the producers, who I gravitated towards as my conduit.
In the beginning, it was trying not to be obsessed with adapting and instead to get to the heart of a personal story. Dan did that for me. He personified the story because it is quite close to him, living as a gay man, and it was important for me to hear. I just listened to Dan and went through the script. Every scene had to be felt rather than just understood.
I know it sounds out there, but I tried to let my internal feelings about where it should be and what it should do be what guide me. It was really about trying to get into what the characters are going through in every moment in the film, and trying to put yourself in their shoes. It was difficult, and I had to do my homework, whether it was to expose a subtext between Daisy and Jacob’s character or to highlight a certain point of view. Blocking became a very big thing, and sometimes it would shift because you have an idea of ​​what scenes are about, but then you do a blocking on set in the morning. It’s like you almost have to be willing to throw everything away and just trust your instincts.
Screen Rant: That’s exactly what I was going to ask you. How much changes on the day?
Luc Montpellier: Sometimes you just don’t know the process that they do with each other, so everything was drawn from performance. I know it’s been said before, but the camera is very much like a third person on the scene. That’s how I see the camera, so really it was by instinct.
A lot of it started with the discussions with Dan, because I couldn’t just find it that day. Dan works a lot with actors, so when they arrived on set, I felt all this and my work with him. It is no different than an actor who decides to look at one another; The camera needs to be there in the same way. It’s hard to pinpoint because every moment changes, but it was by instinct. I had to make the world that way, and I felt like an actor in the whole thing. That’s how I would describe it.
Screen Rant: There are quite a few intimate scenes throughout the film. What is your approach to capturing these moments and making sure they serve both story and character?
Luc Montpellier: Sometimes it is decided when not to plan it. You have the American dream that everyone has an idea about, so you have to present it in its true grandeur. You see people living their truth behind closed doors all the time. As Diego’s character says in the hotel room, “Cheating together is the only thing we can do in plain sight.” It really resonated with me.
In those moments, we made the conscious decision to not shoot list. Everyone needs to be in the moment, and we knew that there was tomorrow in history. They’re on a roll, whether they’re dancing around together and throwing money at each other. It was very naturalistic, so we just stepped back and saw what happened. Our operators were in a dance with the actors, and we did not plan that. All we knew was the script, and I think if we were too prescriptive with it, it would feel more clinical.
As you can imagine, shot listing and storyboarding were very important in the big moments. We all have this idea about what people think about the American Dream? Let’s try to imagine that when we go to the intimate moments, you’ll be like “wait a second, we never talk about that.”
As on Swift Horse captures and dismantles the 1950s American dream
“It’s an extension of the American dream of Vegas, which was very artificial.”
Screen Rant: Speaking of the American Dream, we get to see the early days of Las Vegas, as well as San Diego and Kansas. Do you have an affinity for a particular location, or was there one that was the most challenging to set up?
Luc Montpellier: Vegas was the most challenging because it had a very specific look and feel in that period. Of course, we couldn’t make the whole city, so we had to be very clever with the wonderful help of our production designer to literally design the frames. This is where we put all our resources. But again, that juxtaposition is about living in this way at the time and dealing with the art of it all. It is an extension of the American dream of Vegas, which was very artificial. Everything is fake, and with the characters in that was excellent to be able to combine things. But for me, Vegas in the fifties was the most challenging.
That’s why Dan had the great idea to show the world outside with reflection. He could literally paint these pictures with Jacob in the phone booth. We literally just put the chasing lights outside for the casino, and the extended world was reflected. It means it’s abstract enough that you’re in the moment, but I love the movie artistry and the magic. You don’t need to see the cars that are period. We always tried to base it on that pocket of fact that was time accurate to be able to put you in that place.
It’s funny how you try to distill the essence of these places at the time, very much in contrast with suburbia. It was important not to romanticize Vegas and all that, because you need to feel like it’s a pretty restrictive society at that time. But Vegas is still probably the most fun because you also have so many more elements you can play with. We talked a lot about lights, and Dan found this amazing stock footage that seamlessly cut into our film for the horse racing too. The track we shot in was the same as Sea Biscuit, I believe, but treated in a very different way. And the extras you see in the stands, if you pan the camera left five degrees or not, there’s nobody there. It’s not a studio film, so we have to be selective.
Screen Rant: Even though it’s not a studio film, you have 50% of the next generation of great actors in this movie. Was there a moment on set when you’re really like, “You know what? I’m watching Tomorrow’s Leo DiCaprio.”
Luc Montpellier: Absolutely, it was a huge deal for me. But I would even distill it down to watching raw, amazing talent. This is not just a buzzword to me. You were there, watching what Jacob and Daisy did with their characters. And what I loved about it was that nobody was there like a movie star. All were there in the service of history.
I saw a clip of Will Poulet talking about going in and seeing scenes lit a certain way on the sets. “How did this impact your performance?” I think this is a perfect question for me. I feed them, and it was great to actually hear him talk about how he was impacted. I tried not to have any lights on the floor so that when you entered a place, you didn’t feel like you were making a film. Everything was lit from the window. These are all conscious decisions on top of just making it feel honest and real. They are able to go to places that you might not have expected because of this.
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Source: Screen Rant Plus