Robert Eggers: <\/strong>It\u2019s a combination of several things. What happens in each scene seems to get a little worse. That helps keep things moving. Every scene ends badly, with a new problem. The other thing is, visually, [cinematographer Jarin Blaschke] and I use these long, unbroken takes that are also generally center framed; so you have this camera that acts like a tractor beam to some degree, pulling you through the film and through the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RE:<\/strong> Some of it is aggressive, standard horror movie music, but other times, there are more subliminal things: [Composer] Robin Carolan invented this melty sound that swirls and kind of makes you sick to your stomach. Sometimes we mix it very low. You might not even know that it\u2019s there, but it\u2019s contributing to the feeling of tension and unease. Oftentimes if there\u2019s a scene without score, [sound designer Damian Volpe and I] looked at it and thought: OK, this story beat should be accompanied by a subliminal thunder roar, or a little gust of wind, or something to help the story move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RE:<\/strong> We wanted it to feel like [Thomas\u2019] nightmare. So, thinking about how you would experience a nightmare, we often do weird things like cutting to have him enter shots the wrong way\u2014as far as what traditional editing patterns say you should do. We\u2019re also hiding cuts within pans to change the geometry and the geography of the castle, so we can repeat locations\u2014but you don\u2019t even know that they\u2019re being repeated because we\u2019re shooting them backwards or omitting a large section, but it still feels like one shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RE: <\/strong>Unlike other cinema versions, or even the novel \u201cDracula\u201d where he\u2019s at least human-appearing, [our version of Orlok] is a corpse. He doesn\u2019t want his houseguest to know that he\u2019s a corpse, so he\u2019s trying to keep his distance and stay in the shadows. We did shoot all the Transylvania stuff with flame. There\u2019s the candles onscreen that are helping with exposure, but then, out of camera, there are usually a lot of tea candles adding a little extra boost, or a gas flame adding some fill light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But even more than that, Jarin used a lot of mirrors to reflect the candlelight, to give it more exposure. We also designed the makeup to help this\u2014where the brows, cheekbones, nose, and the tip of the chin are the least degraded and rotting parts of him, so that when you get the light just on [Skarsg\u00e5rd\u2019s] highlights, he can look more human. But then as he recedes, he gets more disgusting and nasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RE: <\/strong>With the way Jarin and I work, the actors have to fold into the rhythm of the camera, which is kind of backward. But when we\u2019re designing shots, the idea is to tell the story and to support the emotion of the character. Lily-Rose is a phenomenally brave and incredibly hardworking performer, and I think so much is appropriately being applauded about the physical stuff she\u2019s doing. She worked tirelessly with Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, the [movement] choreographer, on doing all the body work, which is both physically and emotionally exhausting\u2014because she\u2019s not just moving around; she\u2019s being possessed or being tormented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But she also gives these two very long monologues. One of them is describing a dream, and one of them is describing a memory. Those kinds of monologues are really hard to do, and to keep engaging. And the level of subtle detail that she\u2019s able to give in order to bring us in is really exciting. It\u2019s just so easy for the camera to enjoy her face during that performance, because she lets herself open up to the camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow did the music and sound design contribute to this feeling of luring us into each scene?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Orlok\u2019s castle is a disorienting space, but we\u2019re always tethered to Thomas\u2019 perspective. How did you balance the character being lost while still giving us a sense of where he\u2019s headed?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In the reveal of Orlok himself, you use a lot of shadow and flame\u2014or what appears to be flame. What was your process for gradually bringing the character\u2019s appearance to light?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Lily-Rose Depp is firing on all cylinders, with work that\u2019s raw and unhinged, but at the same time, she\u2019s constantly vulnerable. What was the process of capturing a performance that oscillates between these rhythms?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n