Emerald Fennell‘s sexy psychological thriller “Saltburn” stands out for, among other things, its 1.33 aspect ratio, so we just had to ask cinematographer Linus Sandgren about the decision to photograph the movie in that square format. “She wanted it to feel a bit like you’re peeking into this dollhouse,” Sandgren explains about the director / writer / producer. “A huge part of this film is taking place in this English gothic manor, and she wanted the film to feel voyeuristic.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
The artisan reveals that in their early discussions, Fennell expressed her vision of “Saltburn” as “kind of a vampire film,” especially when it came to including visual references like “paintings from the Baroque era” and “the old ’20s German expressionistic silent movies.” That helped them realize that the 1.33 aspect ratio was the correct one for this project, because it “fit the theme in general to do it that way.”
Speaking more about the look of the movie, Sandgren articulates how “the details of close-ups” were important to Fennell. “She was very much into seeing a lot of sweat, a lot of hair … so we sort of created this language of formerly composed, simple shots of the scenes,” he notes. Ultimately, the square format choice was “a combination of things, between her original vision and how I felt like we should illustrate it from her point of view.”
The first time Sandgren saw the real-life mansion in person, he thought it was “stunning.” As he readily admits, “So much of what you see in the film is the actual house. We did some set builds just for practical reasons, to connect the bathroom with the two bedrooms. But in general I thought it was incredible. I mean, it’s a museum. You can go into that room and take anything to the ‘Antiques Roadshow,’ you know?” He even recalls seeing “obscure” art at the estate including “300-year-old paintings of dead children” and “a statue of a man hammering down on another man.”
Also in our exclusive video interview, Sandgren talks about how the house was “meant to feel like it’s keeping a mystery,” how he approached Barry Keoghan‘s “vulnerable” nude dancing scene, and how his ultimate goal as a cinematographer is “to observe, and let the audience judge.” The cast of the Amazon MGM Studios picture includes Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe and Carey Mulligan.
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