Saltburn cinematographer Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF

Cinematographer Linus Sandgren believes that films don't always
have to look pretty. “A film should look appropriate for the story
we're telling. It's about communicating the emotions of the film.
And that can be ugly.” For his latest project, Saltburn, the
beautiful images counterbalance the evil within the main character,
Oliver Quick. Oliver is an outsider at Oxford who grows obsessed
with Felix Catton and his friends, who are effortlessly born to
power and privilege. Director Emerald Fennell wanted to create a
“vampire movie without vampires” due to Oliver's ability to latch
on to Felix and his family. Linus met with Fennell, who described
her vision of the film. She was influenced by the rich colors in
Caravaggio paintings, the early vampire film Nosferatu, and
Hitchcock movies for suspense and voyeurism. It was important to
tell the story as though the viewer is observing the film from a
distance, as if it were a painting. To create the language, Linus
found images of paintings and photography that were light-specific
to put into a lookbook. They chose to shoot on Kodak film that
emphasized the red spectrum, and for a portrait style look, Linus
shot in the nearly square aspect ratio of 1.33:1. With the
exception of shooting around Oxford University, Saltburn was almost
entirely filmed at one estate in Northamptonshire. Linus and the
team scouted around the grounds and inside the building, thinking
like a painter to decide on shot composition, lighting, furniture
placement and blocking for the actors. Outdoors in daylight at the
Saltburn estate, it's summer, so Linus felt inspired by fashion
photography, impressionist paintings and the square framing and
colors of a Polaroid picture. He captured the Gothic feel of the
grounds at night, adding to the suspense of Oliver's encounter with
Felix's sister Venetia and the showdown he has with Felix in the
maze.  Saltburn is currently in theaters. Find Linus Sandgren:
Instagram @linussandgren_dp Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras:
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