no was an interesting take on UFO movies, with twists that only Jordan Peele could deduct. The symbolism, themes and cinematography are top notch in the acclaimed director’s latest outing, and Peele recognizes who should have much of the thanks.
Hoyte van Hoytema is the cameraman for no, the man responsible for the dazzling shots throughout the film that the audience is blessed with. Hoytema is a Hollywood veteran working on huge blockbuster films including: Dunkirk, Basic principle, interstellarand Advertisement Astra. Peele recently spoke to attendees at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12 and discussed his work with Hoytema on no. Variety was there to overhear the conversation, and Peele says: “I didn’t mean to ruin the illusion, but I’ll ruin it for you today. The night shots were mostly shot during the day, which is a technological and strategic thing that [Hoytema] brought to the table.”
Hoytema has received one Oscar nomination for his work on Dunkirk, with regular collaborator Christopher Nolan in the director’s chair. In addition, the cinematographer received three BAFTA nominations for: Dunkirk, interstellarand Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Hoytema hopes for similar results here, because he was forced to do something different with nowhich can be carried over to his future films.
Hoyte van Hoytema discusses the technology involved no
A common theme in no is the idea of the impossible shot and taming predators, which just can’t be made domestic. However, Hoyte van Hoytema decided not to tame the conditions in Agua Dulce, where no is based, and instead created the surrounding weather with his photography techniques and technology. According to Variety, Hoytema had conversations about shooting the night scenes, which showed the beauty and vastness of the sky and stars. But, unfortunately, he did not think it would be possible to catch it.
“There’s no way to photograph this, this sense of vastness and grandeur of the sky, which was such a big part of our story. We immediately started thinking, ‘How can we capture exactly that feeling we have when we gone? out there in the field?’ I started researching the technology very much, how can we do this? How can we photograph the way our eyes see it or how we experience it?”
The new technology includes two cameras: one that photographed narrow-bandwidth infrared light and another that captured on 70mm film. The two would then be superimposed, with the infrared capturing how we perceive the night and all its beauty and the 70mm capturing the color and grain they wanted for the shot. Peele said, “It’s really cool. This thing really pushes film forward, and was difficult and it’s something I’d love to work with in the future and keep pushing.”
no released in theaters earlier this summer in July, so we’ll have to wait a while to see the next time this technique is used. However, if the overlapping cameras become even more popular in the movie industry, we may have some of the best nights at the movies ahead of us.