Maxance Vincent
Cinematographer Christophe Nuyens shot the first six episodes of the second season of Andor, with director Ariel Kleiman. The two worked on the season’s introductory story arcs, from Cassian’s latest mission a year after the events of the first season, and the introduction of Ghorman in episodes four to six.
Nuyens recently chatted with Awards Radar on Zoom about his work on the show. The conversation was wide-ranging and covered several topics that the first six episodes showcased from a visual standpoint. You can read the full interview below, which was edited for length and clarity:
When you joined this season, what were your initial discussions with the director, Ariel Kleiman, about what it would look like, and essentially develop what was first laid out in the first season?
Yeah, I think there was a good base, but it was also a bit different. Different planets and worlds were explored this season. Actually, I started prepping and shooting with episodes four, five, and six. That was the first block I worked on. Ghorman was a totally new world. We had to figure out how the world would look and how it would be lit. That was our biggest focus.
Was it shot more like a film than a regular TV series?
Yes, we did a lot of prep before we started shooting. For me, that’s the film approach. We have to think and prep well before we start shooting, and that’s more in line with making movies than television.
I assume you also had discussions with Tony Gilroy about his vision for the series?
Yes, but he wasn’t there all the time. Every time we saw him, he explained very well what he wanted. However, the scripts are so detailed that there was not too much to explain either. That was a good thing about the way he presents the scripts. They’re full of details, and it’s so fun to work on them because it gives you more room to think creatively. On our side, for example, with each conclusion of every episode I worked on, there’s always a parallel montage. They’re so detailed that we really could find bridges to go from one world to another world. We always try to link those moments together until the end. I loved working on the end arc of every episode, because the tension is rising, and you have all those little bits of scenes in this world and the other world, which was great to do.
What I find interesting about the show, especially this season, is how the visuals are more important than the line of dialogue. The writing is amazing, but I was more primed to look at the environment and the actors’ faces than necessarily listen to what they were saying. There’s a great example in the fourth episode where Syril talks to his mother as he walks in the streets of Ghorman. The visuals tell the story first and foremost in that sequence rather than the dialogue. They do complement what they’re seeing, but we’re definitely more keen to observe what we’re seeing. Was that the primary intent of letting the images speak for themselves and guide the audience more than anything else?
Absolutely. It’s our job to tell a story with the images. That scene you mentioned is a good example. It’s the first time we see Ghorman. We were looking at where Syril can walk and how we can show the whole city so people understand straightaway that this is Ghorman, and the people look like this. It looks slightly like Italy and France, but in the Star Wars world. It’s a short scene, but there was much effort in preparing to figure out how we would do this one. It’s also rare to shoot a scene like this on television, because you don’t really get that with what I would call “normal” television. In a show like Andor, there are a lot of moments where the images speak, even without dialogue. You’re not just shooting dialogue scenes, you’re visually telling a story. For me, as a cinematographer, it was truly a joy to work like that.
There’s another scene, which the visuals primarily tell a story first and foremost, in the first episode, where we get reintroduced to Mon Mothma in Chandrila as she prepares for the wedding, and the camera follows her in one continuous take. Was that shot as a one-take or was it meant to look like one?
It was meant to show the whole flow of the wedding. This was also a massive set on paper and in person, as well. When we saw the set, we figured that we could do a nice one-take that follows her and the flow of everyone talking to her. I think it helps, attention-wise, to stay with Mon Mothma. You’re with her and discover everything with her. Everything on Chandrial was based around Mon Mothma, and for us, it was important to stay with her. You also see it at the end of episode three, when everything starts to go out of control, and she loses control. We stayed with her, and we were turning around her, as if she were dizzy.
Star Wars is usually a visual effects-heavy production, but there’s a lot of practical locations and filmmaking done in this series. I assume that was also fun to do as a cinematographer?
Definitely, because it’s nice to have VFX, but sometimes, as a cinematographer, it can be difficult. A good example of this is the wedding. It’s a it’s a huge set with a lot of windows. Normally, you have a green screen outside to put the landscape over there. But for that scene, we couldn’t do it that way. It was important for us that there was a lapse of time during the day, as the sun was going lower, and the height of the scene had to be at the moment that the song was also low. However, to make that happen, we decided to put a painted backdrop outside. It was the old-fashioned way of doing things, and it’s so nice to work like that. We did the same thing with the scene with Krennic in the mountains. The mountain view you see is a painted backdrop. I love working like that. You can make the lights more natural, and it makes everything more creative.
When it comes to shooting massive action set pieces that are visual-effects heavy, like the TIE Avenger chase in the first episode, does that bring any different challenges than shooting an action scene practically?
It’s totally different. What I liked about working on the show was how there were many different ways of working. There are lots of previsualizations, shortlisting, and planning, because it’s shot over several months. I think the first thing we shot with the TIE Avenger was the hangar sequence, then we moved it to Yavin, and then afterwards, we put it on the gimbal to shoot all the interior scenes. Light-wise, we had to know where we were going. For example, when he was shooting lasers, you had to see those red flashes on his face. For the VFX team and us, it was really important that everything felt as real as possible. We discussed everything from the colors of the lasers to the explosions. It’s very different from practical filmmaking.
Did you do anything to visually represent the passage of time? Because each block of three episodes cut to one year later.
We treated every three episodes as a movie. It was important that every “movie” had its own separate mood. For example, Ghorman was, in our heads, an Italian town in the mountains. The sun is already behind the mountains, the sky is blue, and all the practicals are on. For us, it was important to have that feel. If there was sun, it was a gold sun. Everything had to feel cold and winterish in the mountains. For episodes one to three, Bix was on a new planet, so everything had to feel a little bit more sunny. The first three episodes were way more sunny, and you see it in almost every scene.
I really like in the third episode, the final action set piece with the stormtroopers chasing Wilmon and Brasso. I love how the camera moves inside the fields of grain. Can you talk about how that particular sequence was shot?
The production actually planted crane fields in the UK, and a lot of them. It was quite big. All the sets were built over there. For the chase, it’s a mixture between the use of drones and the Russian arm. But every shot was planned, because it was a tight schedule to shoot everything in those fields. When we started shooting, there was a window of three weeks, where the wheat was perfect, height and color-wise. However, the day before we went there, the SAG strike started, and that meant we had to shoot everything with non-SAG actors in the fields, and then we had to come back six months later. Six months later, it’s winter, so the green department was cutting all the grain and putting it on foam boards. The difficult part of it was to recreate the natural light that we had over there, because when we were filming before the strike, the light was incredible. We couldn’t have wished for better, so it was not easy to recreate.
You talked about the parallel montages at the end of each episode earlier. The one in episode three is probably my favorite because the music that is used for the wedding dance also juxtaposes how Bix and Cassian are looking at each other in the TIE Avenger before it takes off. I guess. Can you discuss the process of shooting that particularly strong moment of visual storytelling? Looking back on the entire show, it’s what stuck with me the most.
Oh, that’s nice to hear. We had to shoot based on the music Tony wanted. We used it for the dance, and we knew it had to be used inside the TIE Avenger as well. It was also so well written that we knew this beat would cut with her dancing over there. For example, there are moments at the end where she’s dancing, there’s a flare, and then we come back with a flare in a spaceship, and we really try to tie together all those little bits with in-camera moves and lighting cues. It was very important for us. It’s only possible if it’s well written because very often, you shoot scenes like that way more, and in the edit, they are the ones who piece the different pieces of footage together.
Is there a particular scene or shot that you worked on this season that you would say you’re the proudest of?
I think it’s what you just mentioned, the end of episode three. But if I were to give you another scene, it would be the constituents meeting in Ghorman. I loved the set and the mood we created for that one. However, the scene that I loved shooting the most was the one with Denise and Kyle, with Dedra and Syril in the apartment with the mother. I still remember shooting that scene. Light-wise and camera-wise, it’s not so special, but the scene was so good. We were all sitting over there, which was so familiar for everybody. We can all see a bit of our world in Andor, and that scene was a good example. At the end of the day, everybody was so happy because we shot such a great scene.
Is there something that you would say, as a cinematographer working on this series, that you would say was the most rewarding aspect of being a part of Andor?
For me, it was being surrounded by such a talented and devoted crew. From production design to VFX to my technical crew. Everybody was so involved and willing to make something extra special, which is so rare to get on a television show. We had so many details, from the costumes to the LED lights that allowed us to be in a sort of playground with all kinds of tools to play with. I love Star Wars, and I was so happy they called me to be a part of the prequel to Rogue One, which is one of my favorite movies. I was very lucky to be on this show.
All episodes of Andor are now available to stream on Disney+.
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