6 Cinematography Tips from Mark Patten's Work on 'Andor'

Break Down Action Sequences Methodically

A centerpiece of the season, Episode 8 ("Who Are You?") sees several storytelling threads culminating in an epic protest-turned-massacre on the planet Ghorman, where the Empire stages a false flag operation to strip-mine the world to devastation.

It was a huge undertaking. Patten emphasized the crucial role his collaboration with lead DP Christophe Nuyens and Damián García played.

"Because of the scale of the show, it was very intuitive and useful to have Christophe and then Damián later on, when we went to Valencia for the big Coruscant scenes, all on site so that we could create a narrative backbone for the story," Patten said.

How did he plan for such a huge set piece?

"I think that the biggest thing was the geography. You have all of these characters that are introduced at the back of 7, and then they come in at 8," he said. "I think it was key between me and Janus [Metz] that we could never lose those stories within this coming of humanity. How do you visually tag each character? So that [editor] Yan Miles, when he cuts back, we wanted to make sure that the viewer didn't lose them or lose their sense of story."

He and the team used a surprisingly lo-fi way to plot the sequence.

"I got a giant whiteboard and some fridge magnets and stuck the characters' faces on these fridge magnets. Because Mr. [Dan] Gilroy's script is so lean, there's no fat on it, you could literally trace each character around that plaza. We would go down there, pre-vis it with our ADs, walk them through the plot points geographically where they were going to be, and then go and literally draw it, analog, on this giant whiteboard."

Blocking was obviously crucial here, and the approach proved extremely effective.

"It almost became an overview, or a bird's-eye view of the plaza. And then we could track each character on a timeline, and then from that work out where we would deploy the cameras so as to not let the viewer get confused as to where they were in that space."

They ran four or five cameras throughout the 40-day shoot to get their coverage.

Use Multiple Focal Lengths to Serve Story Beats

Another element that makes the sequence so powerful is its emotional impact. Because every character's journey is traced through the sequence, the audience knows exactly what they want, and what happens as they experience the horror of the situation.

"We shot on Ultra Vistas, which Christophe chose, and I think my dogma was to be with each character," he said. "So whenever there was a transfer within that space, I would be with that character with a prime. And then as the Ghor flood into that space, I could then sit back a bit with my other cameras and almost be a bit more objective about how the crowd swells. Create these big, big, almost long wides. Sit back on a telephoto. But because the sets were so huge, it looks wide. That sold the scale of events. Each character was getting lost into the sea of humanity."

The emotion and drama of the sequence guided Patten's shot and lens choices.

"As the events unfold, and as it becomes more excruciating, and as the chant becomes louder for the people ... to get that feeling of what it means to be part of a voice against fascism. How do you be honest towards what that song was about? So you go back with your prime lenses, be with the characters, and then come out again to see how the crowd has embraced that."

This interplay between the whole and the individual continually ratchets up the tension until the inevitable explosion.

Be Aware of VFX Needs

There are a couple of other iconic shots in the sequence I love—at one point, a TIE Fighter zooms over Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), reminding us that this is the Star Wars universe. In another scene, Syril is directed to a saferoom where Imperial cronies have been tucked away with a squad of KX droids. The long beat as he looks at the killer machines is terrifying and weighty.

Part of Patten's work is being able to integrate those VFX shots.

"Everything above that first level [of the set] is VFX," he said, speaking of the plaza. "So that first level above the plaza, that was all greenscreen. A big shout-out to Mohen [Leo] and TJ Falls and all of the artists who work on that."

He made planning for the VFX part of his process.

"And then, okay, you've got KX units being deployed. How do you do that? You've got KX units picking up humans, throwing them 40, 50 feet across a plaza. So then that's a combination of working out, 'What are your plate shots, how do you break that down, how do you make it look real? How's it all going to pre-vis?' Again, each section of that 45 minutes literally took so long in terms of the breakdown. You got the emotion of Syril being shot at high speed. You've got KX units coming in and dumping people in the background. And then you've got the fight sequence itself at the bar."

It certainly helped that all those plates were shot on a real, live set, rather than created digitally.

Use Camera Movement to Enhance Storytelling

The next episode, "Welcome to the Rebellion," is just as key in the story of the fight against the Empire. Here, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) speaks out against Palpatine in the Senate and must immediately flee to avoid being taken into custody. Cassian (Diego Luna) is tasked with getting her to safety.

How did that affect Patten's approach?

"I think the use of real locations has helped tell the story of what needed to be seen on the scale of it," he said. "And obviously, the camera on that episode needed to keep moving to get Mon [Mothma] out of that meeting."

Moving the camera that much is a challenge on several levels. You have to consider lighting from various angles, what will be in the shot, how you'll capture sound, how to position the actors...

"It was simply using our two great camera operators. They're great technicians in terms of what was needed to move that camera. And it's simple, but basic stuff. So it's crane work, Technocrane work, a combination of handheld and then Joe Russell, a camera operator's incredible use of Steadicam," he said. "I think the idea was to create movement to create that tension and to harness that capacity to get Mon out. At whatever cost, she had to get out."

Use Imagery That Reflects a Larger Theme

Since I had shared some of my favorite moments with Patten, I asked him about his. His first was from "Who Are You?"

"Wow. It's either the movement around Syril, emotionally, that moment when he feels his world's fallen apart," he said. "We toyed with the idea of overcranking and going high speed. But it really felt at that moment that the whole event had really landed within him. I wanted to capture that, the circular nuances of the plaza, that there was this big gyre all circulating, all the characters were moving constantly.

"You center him and then move the camera around him almost as if he's being elevated out of the plaza within himself—and then suddenly he sees the nemesis that he's been hunting for, and it all comes crashing down. So I felt that really worked."

It is beautiful, emotional, visual storytelling. His second favorite moment was from Episode 9.

"Then I keep coming back to a singular image when Mon has the meeting with Luthen at night under that amazing steel blue fish structure. When he lays it out to Mon and says, 'You have to leave.' And it pulls back, and you just see these two tiny silhouetted figures in this giant auditorium. I think that was a special moment for me."

I told him, "I think it speaks to the show's ability to not only focus on the human beings in these situations, but also just show us the scale of how big their fight is."

Both of these moments help tell the story of what's happening to these characters, without anything being said. It's stunning work.

Never Stop Asking Questions

I asked Patten if he had any advice for aspiring cinematographers.

"Yeah, keep asking questions constantly," he said. "Keep asking questions when you're coming up through the ranks, just ask your seniors what it is that motivates you, what it is that drives you. And then get the technical details out. Don't ever feel that you can't ask questions."