In December 2019, we hosted a member screening of The Lighthouse, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Robert Eggers.
Robert spoke to Robbie Collin about nailing the film’s aesthetic, crafting very particular dialogue, and working with trained seagulls. Listen to their conversation on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Catch up on live-tweets from the event below.
We’ve been allowed out on a Saturday! It’s for a special occasion though: @LighthouseMovie and a Q&A with director Robert Eggers. Look out for our live-tweets in about 2 hours #DUKlighthouse pic.twitter.com/383G1bxm4l
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Wow, that was the incredibly intense @LighthouseMovie. We won’t be off to the seaside any time soon #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Now it’s our Q&A with director Robert Eggers, moderated by @robbiereviews #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert explains that the project began when his brother said he wanted to write a ghost story about a lighthouse #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
As soon as he said that, Robert could see it in black and white, and instantly knew the visual style he’d want to tell it in #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
He then did some research into lighthouses and came across the 19th century Smalls Lighthouse incident #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
So he went back to his brother and said, ‘you know that lighthouse idea of yours that I stole? Why don’t we write it together?’ #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert explains that he was incredibly proud of his previous movie, The Witch, but hadn’t expected it to be successful #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
The fact that it was a success meant that he had a lot of offers, mainly for franchise movies. The idea of directing something like that horrified him! #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
But he knew he had to use the chance he’d been given to make something he really wanted to make #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
He started work on several projects, including some large ones, but he knew he had to have a smaller one in his back pocket - something to fall back on if he wasn’t able to work within the strictures of those bigger projects that were ultimately owned by others #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
And that smaller project was The Lighthouse #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert says he was still learning how to make a movie when doing The Witch, so The Lighthouse was his chance to make a film exactly the way he wanted it #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert says he was still learning how to make a movie when doing The Witch, so The Lighthouse was his chance to make a film exactly the way he wanted it #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Once people were on board with the fact that it was in black and white, and the “stupid aspect ratio”, then they were away #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Talking about their approach to sound design, Robert explains that they wanted the building to sound as creaky and beaten up as possible, without making it a cartoon. It had to be real #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe give fantastic performances in this movie, but it’s the seagulls that really steal the show. Robert explains that they cast classically trained British seagulls #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
The best seagull actors come from the UK #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert talks about how “method” Robert Pattinson got when performing, particularly the drinking scenes. He did a lot of weird things on set but, despite reports to the contrary, any drinking was strictly after wrap #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
The aspect ratio was better for filming the vertical height of the lighthouse, and it was great for closeups and giving the film its feeling of claustrophobia #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
About half of the film was shot on location in Nova Scotia. The other half was shot on soundstages #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert explains that he does lots and lots of prep, and blocks shots very specifically. He feels that there’s something creative in that discipline #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
There’s still some room for spontaneity within those rules they’ve created though #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
There are lots of different types of cinema. For some films you just need a great story and nothing else matters - you need profressional sound, but cinematography, creative sound design, that stuff doesn’t matter #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
That isn’t this film. This film is all about mood. It’s essentially one scene played over and over again with slight variations, and the story, such as it is, is pushed forward that way #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Robert explains how much work went into creating the period dialogue for the film. They did a lot of research, from novels and dissertations on language #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
There are no hard and fast rules about how working people from that era spoke though, so it is essentially a created dialogue, but one that feels genuine #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
The film is quite designed rather than something that could be edited together as you want afterwards. Their ethos was never to cut unless it felt essential #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Part of that was only using shots that made sense for the story and character - images of the landscape were used sparingly and only to indicate when the characters themselves were looking out #DUKlighthouse
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
And that’s a wrap! A big thank you to Robert Eggers and @robbiereviews for joining us for that Q&A. Go see @LighthouseMovie, and please drink responsibly #DUKlighthouse pic.twitter.com/VIagG3P1Hb
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 7, 2019
Thanks to everyone who came to our screening of @LighthouseMovie at the weekend. Follow #DUKlighthouse to see all the live-tweets from our Q&A with director Robert Eggers.
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
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