I knew from the first page of the script it was very specific, that it was going to be on academy aspect ratio, black and white negative, and it’s going to have a mono soundtrack. Regarding the visual style of the film, Pattinson said, “I love when something is very, very ambitious in its desires.
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I don’t think that color would help the movie at all. But more importantly, it conveys the bleak and austere lifestyle of these two lighthouse keepers. It takes place in a time when black and white photography existed. I genuinely didn’t notice the smell of rotting fish after an hour.” THE asked why Eggers opted to shoot in black and white, to which the filmmaker replied, “On a very simple, surface level it’s old timey and it’s an old movie. Then you kind of realize that you’ve become one with the stink and you’re only adding to it yourself as well. Said Pattinson, “It definitely was for the first day. Sure, movie magic can fake a lot, but still, this particular movie lends itself to the question asked by the amusingly named which was… was it stinky on set?Įggers got to the point, replying, “Yes, it was really foul on set toward the end.” The Lighthouse features two men living in close quarters before proper plumbing was invented and Eggers definitely shows you what that would really be like, noting, “Any fluid that a male body can excrete is featured.” If it’s cold and rainy all the time you don’t have to fake it.” THE STENCH It’s cold and raining, but it’s nice… I think it’s more frustrating to have to play cold and rainy. Pattinson though said he welcomed the harsh circumstances, explaining, “It’s funny… I guess it felt challenging with the elements and stuff but it’s one of those nice little things where every challenging aspect of it fed into the character because the same challenges you’re facing making the movie are the same challenges you’re making in the scene so you’re never going against it. The camera equipment is going to break down in those conditions. A human being cannot work quickly and efficiently with gale force winds, in the pouring rain, when it’s just above or below freezing, on a rock, in the Atlantic ocean. Most of the scenes are in this terrible weather. They were incredibly well trained and smart and did their work quite fantastically. The least challenging thing was the seagulls. Said Eggers, “ Everything was a challenge. Watching the characters endure grim, grimy, punishing circumstances, The Lighthouse certainly seems like a film that would be challenging to make, prompting to ask what one of the biggest challenges was for them while shooting. It was a fun dynamic to build It was exhausting but definitely a pressure cooker.” CHALLENGES, WE GOT A FEW But there’s something about the way Willem plays him… He’s naughty and there’s something mischievous about him that makes it fun. But if you had someone else playing Willem’s part, it could have been this miserable experience of someone being incredibly bullying or horrible in many ways. It’s a strange movie because in some ways it’s so dark. When it came to spending so much time with one other actor, Pattinson remarked, “I’m happy it was with Willem because it makes it a lot easier. I couldn’t think of anyone else who could possibly play these roles and inhabit them the way that these two gentlemen do.” They couldn’t have began their careers more differently but certainly as it stands now, both of them make strong choices about doing unique, challenging movies so I figured we needed people who were going to sign up for getting punished by weather and have to do incredibly challenging things, physical things and who would be up for it? Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. There was an Esquire cover in the UK where they cleaned them up and they looked like an estranged, sexy vampire father and son. So the fact that they both have cheekbones and noses and teeth is a good thing if you know what I’m saying. People have said there are ways they wonder if this is the same person, or father and son. I’m not saying I think this or I don’t think this either. “The film is somewhat about identity and - people have said this. “That’s a good question and I still haven’t spent any time thinking for a good answer!” replied Eggers. So what was it about this particular duo that felt right to Eggers? Dafoe and Pattinson are the only two actors onscreen for the vast majority of The Lighthouse, making their chemistry key.