Andor Season 2 took Star Wars to new places — both metaphorically and physically. One of the most defining aspects of the final season of the critically acclaimed series was the fact that it introduced audiences to Chandrilla and Ghorman for the very first time. While these two planets had been mentioned in previous films, animated series, and books, they had never been shown on screen, and certainly never with the depth that Andor explored them. While the series’ creator, Tony Gilroy, and Production Designer, Luke Hull, are the architects behind the series’ overall look, Andor’s directors of photography played a vital role in framing the drama unfolding on each of the magnificent sets. Shortly after Andor concluded, I had the opportunity to chat with one of Season 2’s three cinematographers, Christope Nuyens. He was responsible for the first six episodes of the season — which spanned from Chandrilla to Coruscant and Ghorman — and some of the most memorable scenes between Cassian (Diego Luna) and Bix (Adria Arjona), and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and her daughter, Leida (Bronte Carmichael). Read on for the full transcript of our illuminating conversation. COLLIDER: I’m very curious to know what production looks like on Andor. In interviews, Diego [Luna] mentioned that the last day on set for him was that escape from Sienar in the first episode, and you talked about the dance being her last day on set. What does the production schedule look like for Andor? CHRISTOPHE NUYENS: To start off with, we had a huge, huge prep, which was good. Thanks to that, we could all do our homework very, very thoroughly, which is good and was necessary, especially with all the episodes, especially the last episode of each arc, which was crosscut and was written really detailed. It’s all those little pieces that had to be filmed at different moments, different locations, but had to be in line with the storytelling. So, it was a big prep with a lot of previs and a lot of rehearsals. Also, for example, you mentioned Diego in the TIE fighter — we had a lot of rehearsals with Diego explaining how the ship flies, and we tested our camera rigs at the same time. For example, the escape from the Sienar base was filmed on three different sets. It’s a lot of time in between those shooting days, so it’s a lot of good planning. That’s so interesting. I love learning how things were pieced together. I used to work in film and television, so I know that you could work on a scene that takes five seconds in an episode, and that could have been 15 days’ worth of getting the right shots and everything pulled together. Something I really love about Andor is the shapes that are used in so many of the scenes, and the visuals and the framing of things. Can you talk about getting those moments right and developing some of those shots that work so beautifully with framing characters? There’s a lot of that with Mon’s episodes, with the polygons in her home, the circles in the wedding episode. Something I personally really loved in the wedding episode was how the framing worked in the shot where she’s talking to her daughter. The space is so huge and they’re so small, and it works so well to capture that emotion they’re both feeling in that moment. NUYENS: For us, it was really important that every shot told what we had to tell. For example, the scene where she’s talking with her daughter, it was important for us that it felt lonely, and on a huge day, so in a huge space, in a huge day in her life. So, we used a lot of wide-angle lenses, which helps tell that kind of story. Also, with the wedding in the circular sets, it was the same. On the wedding itself, on the dance sequence, we decided to have the camera turning around them, and it goes on and on just to make it overwhelming for the characters. I think that worked really well, actually. It started really small, and at the end of the wedding, it was really when Mon was dancing. We went over the top, which was necessary to tell her anxiety and to show how she felt. The main thing was that every shot we used was telling the right thing.
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Image via Disney+

Are these the things that you’re talking about ahead of filming or are some of these things found in the rehearsals when you’re actually in the space, in between previs and actually shooting, finding those moments, finding that framing? The stuff that Luke Hull has done with the show is incredible. NUYENS: It’s incredible. The biggest part of it is in prep, because Luke’s designs are so detailed. The good thing is the offices where we prepped were in Pinewood, so when we were blocking, we could say, “Let’s have a look at the set and see how it works.” We could go back forwards to find the right shots. And of course, we had a good prep and a good shot list. You can adapt on the day more easily and find even better stuff. So, it’s a mix between both. Everything was really well prepped. Of course, there are some nice accidents that we found on the day, and sometimes they play something differently than you expected. Andor is a little bit different in having three different DPs that have worked on it in the first half and the second half. Were there conversations between the three of you, because there are so many throughlines and a lot of the visuals and the way things are told in the storytelling of cinematography? NUYENS: I had quite a bit of conversation with Mark Patten, who did block two, so that’s Episodes 7, 8, and 9, because we were sharing the same world, actually. I was setting up the Ghorman world and the Plaza, and then almost the whole of his episodes were taking place on the Plaza. So, we were talking about the designs of the sets and the pre-lights on the sets, but that’s where it ended. The nice thing about this season is that you have those blocks of three episodes, which feel like films. Even in my two blocks, we tried to approach things differently. So, Episodes 1, 2, and 3 start quite sunny and cheerful, but then it all goes down and out. But for us, it was important to have a sunny feeling. That’s also why we shot those episodes last. That was the last block. I love Ghorman. I was just in London, and I went to the Guildhall to see where that one shot of the Guildhall was used for establishing some of Ghorman. What is it like using both sets that are being built as well as doing some on-site, on-location filming to piece things together and capturing all of the angles, and then what’s being changed after the fact in visual effects and bridging those? What does all of that conversation and making that happen look like for you? NUYENS: We had a lot of meetings with Luke. I remember, for me, it was always a pleasure to get in his office and see all his ideas on the wall, and then we start talking. It helps if you shoot, of course, built sets. What you see is almost what you get because the sets on Andor are huge. There are some extensions, but not so many. Most of the sets are quite complete. But then, when you go shoot on location, you have to imagine stuff. But the good Luke and Mohen Leo from ILM were really thorough in explaining to us how the worlds looked. The designs were always bigger than the set we needed, so we could always look around in, for example, the Ghorman city. How does the city look before we started shooting in the streets, for example? That helped us a lot to establish everything. For example, the mountains surrounding the Plaza and the Ghorman walls really help dictate the lights and how it should look.
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That’s very true. Something that the casual viewer can forget is how much of a conversation it is between the director and the director of photography in creating a lot of the framing in the shots, and those dynamics and the tension. There are so many great moments where the actors are layered just right that the way they’re talking to each other adds so much more to the scene, as well. Can you talk about those conversations and developing the tension and the subtle dynamics that speak so much deeper than even the dialogue that’s being exchanged? NUYENS: A good example of such a scene is one of my favorite scenes. It’s between Dedra and Syril when the mother is over there. It’s a scene that we shotlisted, but on paper, it’s quite simple. I think that scene came together when we saw the rehearsals, because both of them are so good that it’s a gift filming a scene like that, because you can adapt the shots you have to make it even more awkward, and find all those little details. I remember shooting that scene. Visually, it’s not the most exciting scene, but it tells the story very well. All of us went home really happy because we shot a really good scene. It is a really good scene. They’re just so good on screen together. They’re so awkward! That was one of the moments that I was thinking of because there is so much in not just their performance, but also the way the camera is looking at them and the way that it’s shifting. The tension is so perfect in that moment with all three of them. Thinking about that scene, which is so white and so clean, that set is so interesting, but we see so many different colors used, and especially in the relationships between the locations and the worlds we’re seeing. Chandrila is so bright and beautiful during the wedding, and there’s so much color. Can you talk about establishing those tones and the shapes in these new worlds through the lens? NUYENS: While we were prepping, for each world, we had a mood board. I was working on my side of the mood board, and he was working on his, and then we had meetings. We put everything together. We showed it, also, to Luke so he could integrate light ideas for us for practicals and that kind of stuff. For us and for me, it was really important that every time you had a shot that’s going from one world to another world, you immediately know where you are. For example, Yavin is a colorful mix between cool moonlight and warm practicals or misty blue and warm practicals. Chandrila is really, really classical, which was nice also. Then, everything surrounding the ISB, for us, was important that it felt clean and white, and that’s actually quite difficult as a DP. Although the sets are really white, it’s difficult to shape your light in there. It’s something you have to let go of. It’s actually more difficult for us to light such a white and clean set. Yavin is easy for me because it’s very natural. It’s more of a classical way of lighting. In those white sets, it’s difficult but nice.
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Interesting. Going back to the mood boards, what were some of the references that you use that people would be surprised to see? It sounds like there are some nature shots, some natural stuff, but were there any references from other Star Wars projects or anything that you pulled in to find those visuals? NUYENS: Not a lot from other Star Wars films. For example, for the wedding, one of the biggest references was Memoirs of a Geisha, the Japanese look, and the Japanese feel. Also, for the wedding party night scenes, the Roger Deakins’ James Bond, Skyfall — the Macao scenes in Skyfall, light-wise. Oh, interesting! I love that. It makes sense once you say it, but it wasn’t one that I would have initially expected. That’s so neat. I love mood boards. NUYENS: It’s really nice to work on them. The nice thing is, in your office, you put all those pictures on the wall and you see directly, “Does it work? Maybe it doesn’t work. Maybe it needs a little bit more of this.” So, it’s really nice to have the time to work like this. One of the things I love about mood boards, especially if they reference other films, is because film is such a visual medium, I love the communication between different films and the way certain imagery is carried on as a love letter to previous works. So, it’s always fun to hear about those inspirations. You worked on two of my favorite scenes in this series, which are Kleya trying to get the listening device in that scene, as well as Bix and Cassian reuniting when he comes back from Ghorman that first time. Both of those scenes really focus on hands, which is something I just love. I love how Star Wars has been really good about using hands and touch. Those two scenes are so perfect, and I want to know what went into building those scenes and how to focus on hands, when to focus on the facial expressions to convey the messaging, the story, the moments in those scenes. NUYENS: The scene with Cassian and Bix, that was already a part of it in the writing. Again, we did some rehearsals with them, and just watching what happens, that’s where we start looking. Those are the things that are really difficult to prep, so those are the more organic scenes where we were watching what was happening, and then we started looking for shots that felt organic. Actually, those scenes came together quite organically.
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I love to hear that. They’re very beautiful moments that linger. I love those kinds of moments. I love the human intimacy of touch and how it’s conveyed on screen. What were some of the most complex shots that you worked on? NUYENS: I think the most complex thing for me was all the Mina-Rau scenes, because of the SAG strike, because of those fields. There was a window of four weeks when they were perfect, and just a day before we had to go there, the SAG strike happened. We decided to keep on going with the non-SAG actors we had, but then we had a lot of meetings about, “How are we going to shoot? We have everything else, because that will probably be in winter or in fall.” So, we decided, “Okay, let’s shoot it in a stage because then we have everything under control,” which is important in the UK because in winter, it’s not good. But the most difficult thing was to recreate something that looked really natural on a stage. So, if they decided on the real set to use bulrush, those flying particles, and a little bit of wind, then we recreated all those things in stage. Also, light-wise, I was measuring on the real set, every scene, the color temperature of the sky, the color temperature of the sun to exactly recreate those settings. Oh, wow! For those scenes on set, were the backdrops then visual effects, or were they painted backdrops? NUYENS: Those were green screens, which is not nice. [Laughs] I know. That poses a whole different challenge for lighting. NUYENS: But where we used painted backdrops is in the wedding. For the dance scene in the wedding, it was important to have in-camera sets so we could use flares and haze. For those kinds of scenes, it’s really important to have almost everything in camera and no limitations. With VFX, we also have limitations as a DP. On the flip side, what was the most fun shot to set up, whether it was a fun challenge or maybe daunting to go into, and then once you were there, it was like, “This is a great time?” NUYENS: I think it’s the heist. It’s a technical shot. For Tony [Gilroy], it was really important that that scene felt almost real-time, that we had the feeling that it was possible, and that everything that was happening was like a real heist. To tell that story, we came up with a oner that follows a box. It starts with a wide shot, you see the situation, it travels in, follows a box, they open the box, and the box goes in a tunnel. The camera follows the box through the tunnel and then arrives at a heist in another tunnel at the escape truck, and then it goes on the truck. That shot exists on two sets, and also on two separate days, so there was a lot of prevising just to see if it was possible on the equipment we had. It was a nice puzzle. I love that, and it paid off. It’s a great moment in that episode. You have worked on a lot of projects, but I am curious to know what working on a Star Wars project of this scale has taught you that you’re taking with you into whatever your next projects may be. NUYENS: I learned a lot, that’s for sure. I learned really well working with VFX and art departments. Well, the art department I’m used to working with a lot, but it’s a lot of VFX team, which was really good. Also, the thing I learned a lot is I had a lot of time to pre-light the sets, and really to take my time to pre-light the sets. If during the pre-light, the light wasn’t really like I wanted, just to keep on looking and going until I was happy. So, that’s something I hope I can do again, that I will have the time to work in those details. Andor is streaming now on Disney+.

Andor

Release Date

2022 – 2025-00-00

Network

Disney+

Showrunner

Tony Gilroy

Directors

Susanna White

Writers

Dan Gilroy