All of Us Strangers’ Cinematographer Explains How Lighting Amplified Loneliness and Grief

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The powerful emotions of loneliness, loss and the spirit of memory that run through “All of Us Strangers” spoke volumes to cinematographer Jamie Ramsay.

Written and directed by Andrew Haigh, the movie stars Andrew Scott as Adam, a gay screenwriter who lives alone. A chance encounter with Harry (Paul Mescal) leads to a relationship and triggers memories for Adam, who finds himself in a fantastical world when he visits his childhood home and sees his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) 30 years after they died in a car accident.

Ramsay needed to represent the concept of isolation and loneliness of Adam’s character, while maintaining warmth. Ramsay lit Adam’s day-to-day world in a straightforward manner. “But when he goes back to his parents, that’s when the lighting starts to develop this ethereal sense, and the ghost of the past starts to affect his real life.” In scenes with Adam’s parents, Ramsay deliberately used a strong backlight that would seep through the window and create a glow or a halo around Foy in particular. “It was this idea that they’re on the threshold of passing through, and they’re really on the edge of leaving us,” Ramsay says. “I thought it was so important to have against a strong white light that finds its way into a room or finds its way to a moment.” Adam’s final visit with his parents takes place in a restaurant where they have a heart-wrenching discussion about his sexuality in perhaps the film’s most devastating moment.