PRODUCTION NOSFERATU
magnifies window patterns inside, so you have to be very careful.” In one visually striking sequence, Count Orlok beams over Wisborg before a silhouette of his hand sweeps across the skyline. “That’s how it was described in the script,” says Blaschke. “It’s a full CG shot. You’d like to do it on a miniature, but it’s 2024. The CGI followed the super- hard light that we were trying to do for moonlight. That’s the most evocative. It was fun because this is the most involved I’ve been with virtual shots. I could direct them like I would a gaffer, honing light quality and exposure ratios.” The overall shoot lasted for 65 days, and Blaschke is particularly proud of the crossroads sequence. “Whenever you have night exteriors with big lifts high in the air and the potential for wind, a lot can go wrong,” he says. “You have to expend a lot of energy to get minimal progress, so it’s tedious. I’m pretty happy with that scene even though it’s very basic camera language. We scouted many locations for months. Either the trees overhead were too closed,
blocking our ‘moonlight’ from the road, too open and therefore not ominous or claustrophobic, the road wasn’t straight enough or the crossroad wasn’t well defined. It was a matter of finding the right place that rode that balance.” “Rob had so much support from the actors, from the first day of rehearsals. We have a movie with a strong visual language and they knew and accepted that it was part of the process. It’s a dialogue between whoever designs the shots and the actor because you want to do what’s natural for them, but what often looks best is if the camera has a simple, pure, linear movement and the actors move to bring interest within that simple structure, as opposed to hopping the camera all over the place in order to capture theatre. “The holy grail would be having this dialogue from the beginning of prep rather than designing the camerawork alone,” concludes Blaschke. “I’d rather collaborate than dictate. Fortunately, everyone was generous and gave amazing performances. I was in awe.”
THE holy grail WOULD BE HAVING THIS dialogue with actors FROM THE BEGINNING OF PREP”
SHOT VARIETY The first series of stills released reveal a range of camera angles, including creepy close-ups like this
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