Seamus McGarvey, ASC on HBO’s The Nevers, Flying Saucer Rock ‘n’ Roll, Bad Times at the El Royale, Harry Dean Stanton, Oliver Stone and more

Seamus McGarvey is drawn to character-driven stories and loves how
the camera studies the face in a very particular way. Even when
shooting action-packed shows such as The Nevers, Marvel's The
Avengers, or the Oliver Stone film, World Trade Center, Seamus
stays focused on the characters and uses a naturalistic approach to
his composition. The Nevers was Seamus' first extensive experience
working on a television series. He had only shot TV episodes here
and there, such as “Nosedive,” a favorite episode of Black Mirror,
starring Bryce Dallas Howard. For Seamus, shooting a television
series was a much faster production schedule and made him think
with economy. The Nevers creator Joss Whedon wanted the show to
have a contemporary edge, but set in Victorian times, about people
known as “The Touched” who suddenly develop supernatural,
superhero-like abilities. Fortunately, they had a long
preproduction prep time for the action-packed series, which made
for a close-knit, collaborative and well-prepared crew. Seamus also
worked closely with the second unit, who shot the numerous stunts
in The Nevers. He was also able to use some old-school camera
tricks for Primrose, a character who's a giant. Seamus had to
double the actor's actual height with forced perspective, used a
slightly slow-motion camera, and the aid of some special effects,
making sure that the lighting stayed consistent between the
normal-sized shots and the giant shots. From an early age, cinema
as an art form always fascinated Seamus. He was excited to work on
a tiny throwback short film in the late 1990's called Flying Saucer
Rock 'n' Roll, which is a spoof of black and white sci-fi B movies.
It's still his favorite film, because it's so full of invention,
charm and joy. Seamus went back home to shoot it in Ireland, even
after he'd already established his career with several feature
films, and they shot it for no money. Steven Spielberg even saw it,
loved it, and invited the director, Enda Hughes to meet with him to
develop something at Amblin. Seamus also enjoyed working with
director and writer Drew Goddard on Bad Times at the El Royale. The
set for the movies was completely built from scratch, which enabled
the crew to build in practical light sources and be involved in the
design from the beginning. The camera was able to move all over the
set and look in all directions. Bad Times is a mystery puzzle movie
that all fits together in the end, and Seamus used many visual cues
of double images, mirrors and the camera peering through the
lattice work to hint at all the character's hidden secrets. Because
of his love of natural photography, Seamus also enjoys shooting
documentaries, such as Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction, about
the legendary actor Harry Dean Stanton. He occasionally uses
documentary sensibilities in narrative film as well. In We Need To
Talk About Kevin, director Lynn Ramsay and Seamus went with actor
Tilda Swinton's idea to spontaneously shoot in the rain as part of
a flashback scene. Seamus is currently in post-production on
Cyrano, his latest production with director Joe Wright. You can see
The Nevers streaming on HBOMax. https://www.hbo.com/the-nevers Find
Seamus on Instagram @seamiemc & Twitter:@mcseamus Find out even
more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links:
http://camnoir.com/ep124/ Hear our previous interview with Seamus
McGarvey: https://www.camnoir.com/ep37/ Sponsored by Hot Rod
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