Poor Things cinematographer Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC

Poor Things is a brilliantly imaginative, comedic and visually
stunning film about Bella Baxter, a young woman who is brought back
to life by mad scientist Godwin Baxter. She experiences a personal
and sexual awakening as she travels the world, discovering what it
means to be a confident woman free of societal constraints.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan had
previously worked together on The Favourite. They wanted to push
the boundaries of how Poor Things looked in every possible way.
“He's so prolific with ideas that you go, 'Okay, you want to try
that? Okay, let's try that!' And, he gives me a lot of challenges
that I go off and find a lens that he's trying to talk about,” says
Robbie. Robbie shot Poor Things in a variety of different formats
and with a range of unusual lenses. The film is a period piece, so
he and Lanthimos decided to use the 1:6:6 aspect ratio, which is
closer in composition to portraiture. They also chose to shoot
entirely on film, using KODAK 35mm black and white, color negative
and Ektachrome Reversal film stocks. For Bella's reanimation
sequence, Robbie used a Vista Vision camera, which is a special
widescreen format from the 1950's. The 35mm film stock is turned on
its side, so that the picture is ultra-widescreen and high
resolution. The film is energized with purposefully intrusive
cinematography, lenses and zooms. Robbie selected a Petzval lens
once used on old projectors. He also placed a 4mm lens, made for
16mm cameras, onto a 35mm camera, to create an extreme fish-eye,
vignetted frame. “Yorgos wanted even wider fish eye lenses that
created a vignette, with a dreamy focus bokeh on it. We wanted
another era feeling to it, with a painterly quality to it, and to
have a lot of character. You're jumping between so many different
lens choices that would, they would definitely jar, but that's what
the attempt is- to jar the audience.” On set, Lanthimos prefers to
be able to use all 360 degrees of the entire space. He also didn't
want any lights on the set, so it had to be completely built and
lit with every direction shootable. It was more freeing for the
actors and for the camera, but it did present a challenge for
shooting on film, which needs a lot more light to make images.
Robbie had to use many practical lights throughout the set, with
sky lighting in the ceiling, especially for the outdoor scenes.
Robbie is very proud of Poor Things, and he thinks it's funny and
more accessible than some of Lanthimos' other work. “The universe
that Yorgos has created is the one you want to enjoy and get into
with this film,” he says. Find Robbie Ryan:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0752811/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 Listen to our
previous interview from 2019 with Robbie Ryan on The Favourite and
his other work. https://www.camnoir.com/ep32/ Sponsored by Hot Rod
Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by ARRI:
https://www.arri.com/en The Cinematography Podcast website:
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