It’s a regular weeknight and you’re chatting with some friends over Skype. But then, an unvited party with a murderous agenda pops into the chat and things sinisterly spiral out of control — that right there is the core of the Unfriended films. And if you’ve checked out the trailer, the sequel The Dark Web has an equally scary promise.
But how does the pervading tension and escalating stress get pulled through in a film? And what does it take to achieve that right kind of lighting on-screen? DoP Kevin Stewart explains.
Stewart did a fair amount of research on the Dark Web itself, spending as much time in the nefrious recesses as possible. He adds that the whole aesthetic of the film had to be as real as the entity itself.
“We had some shots we did in that terrible night vision that comes with cheap cameras but instead of re-creating that look in post-production we went out and bought those cheap cameras and shot significant sequences on them,” he says, “The technical specs on them were terrible but it didn’t matter because we wanted what looked real and that was it.”
On Stephen Susco
Fraught with fear: a still from ‘Unfriended 2: The Dark Web’ to demonstrate the shooting style
Stewart worked closely with the director of the film, Stephen Susco, who has some memorable films to his name such as The Grudge and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D .
“Working with Stephen was an incredible experience. He is one of those truly collaborative directors who lets anybody bring any idea to the table,” says Stewart, “He’s constantly looking for ways to better the story he’s telling. During production, we rigged a big house with six different rooms (one room for each character) — each room had a laptop with a GoPro attached to it to mimic the look and position of the webcam. Each GoPro was then wired to a box which split up each camera so that Stephen could see all the actors at once on one big screen... It was essentially a ‘wired Skype’ if you will. We had hundreds of feet of cable going through the house.”
Director of Photography Kevin Stewart
Stewart elaborates that Susco also had a microphone, directing each actor at any given point. “Because of that arrangement, we basically shot the movie like a stage-play,” he likens, “We would run for two-and-a-half hours worth of takes or as long as the actors could go. I was so impressed by them; they had all their lines memorised for basically the entire script and then would just go for it with all they had. During shooting I would just sit next to Stephen and watch every take, we would briefly discuss how that went and if there was anything off with the lighting or camera I would go adjust it.”
Working with Susco presented a unique synergy for which Stewart is grateful when it comes to working with directors. “I can’t speak for other DP’s but I’m looking for someone who knows exactly what they want but is always willing to listen and collaborate with others,” purports Stewart, “I believe there is an incredible wealth of knowledge and good ideas on any given film set so it’s good practice to be open to anyone speaking up. I think that kind of attitude has to come from the top down and when it does, it usually shows up on screen because the whole crew really feels like they can contribute.”
All about exposure
On a more technical level, achieving the right balance of horror and reality relied a lot on equipment and lighting. “If it looked too produced or too lit then the illusion that ‘this is really happening’ would be lost. That was our number one rule. I spent sometime trying to find references of real people in their rooms and how they were lit. I went on Chat Roulette and would screen grab lighting styles I liked and thought would work for a certain character and would share them with Stephen.” Stewart adds that he and his gaffer had a rule that they couldn’t use any film equipment to light something so it was all mostly LED strips (to simulate the glow from the screen) on the laptops and household bulbs in lamps. We shot on GoPros for the main characters and any of the other videos were shot with a combination of cheap handycams.”
Final cuts
Fraught with fear: a still from ‘Unfriended 2: The Dark Web’ to demonstrate the shooting style
Given most of Stewart’s work came after production, he says one of his on-set roles was to ensure the film team got what they required to have everything look totally authentic and feeling immersive.
However, Stewart admits, “I didn’t really know how it would all come together in post-production. Andrew Wesman, the editor on this did an absolutely amazing job putting this movie together. Not only did he have to arrange all the performances together on the same screen but he also did all the animations of every mouse cursor, typing, websites, almost every app — it’s truly mind-blowing the amount of work that went into it. He always says that this is basically an animated film because almost everything you see on screen is animated from scratch. The suspense is all Stephen and Andrew. They made sure the movie stayed as terrifying and suspenseful as possible at every turn.”
So maybe the next time you hop onto a videochat session, keep an eye on those present.
Stewart looks to a future of similar films which tread upon technology-based fears, explaining, “Ultimately I feel like people want to escape reality not go back into it. But at the same time filmmakers are coming up with new and creative ways to innovate this format. Searching with John Cho (and Aneesh Chaganty) that is coming out soon looks very good. It’s working for now and I’m very grateful I was a part of it!”
