THE LIE

Directed by Robert Eggers

D.O.P – Jarin Blaschke
Genre- Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

Shot on Kodak Black and White film stock with custom orthochromatic filter.
ABOUT THE FILM
From what I could decode from the film, the film is about the two lighthouse keepers in the mid
19th century who are stranded on an island by a storm which eats away their supplies and their
sanity, and at the end, Dafoe’s character is dead, and Pattinson’s character has succumbed to
madness. Over the course of the film it touches on themes of identity, madness, alcoholism, guilt
and masculinity. In another view we can also see that Dafoe’s character forces Pattinson’s into
performing domestic tasks that are traditionally considered feminine, Meanwhile, Dafoe insists
that he’ll tend the light alone, and Pattinson’s character is forced to believe that the validation he
seeks is in the lantern. So , in a crass interpretation, the film is about a man wishing to usurp
another for the identity. The final act where Pattinson kills Dafoe and looks at the lantern, he
doesn’t find what he wanted, the movie also shows that through dominance and violence,
neither of the two men gets what they want and end up going insane and dying.
THE VISUAL STYLE AND DESIGN.

The look of the film:

The film is shot on Kodak black and white film stock with orthochromatic filter where every detail of the
set is meticulously placed which makes the tone and texture to pop out more. The texture pops out which
contains of dust and dirt coated spaces, mud tented water and rain drenched island. The lack of color makes
the world feel even more bleak and hopeless. The look of the film takes the audience back to the past to
that particular time period. The film also leans towards the expressionist which compliments the tension of
the film. The films takes on the elevated visual approach creating the dark and mysterious look of the film.
Aspect Ratio :
The entire aspect ratio of the film is 1.19:1 creating the Claustrophobic feeling. The films uses this
to emphasize the height of the lighthouse and as well to generate the feeling of small interior room
where even in wider shots, the ceiling starts coming down because of the shape of it. The aspect ratio
also helps to push the characters closer together in that isolated island.
Composition :

The movie has a fluent compositional style which emphasizes metaphorically on the many shifts
throughout the movie. The character are majorly centered framed. And with that aspect ratio the
composition helps to focus on the character and their psychology. Frames within a frames are used quite
repeatedly which shows how the characters are trapped in the island and also inside their own dreadful
minds. The power dynamics of the two characters keeps shifting through the film which is also
emphasized by the use of high and low angles accordingly. The superiority or the inferiority of the
characters can be felt through the use of these camera angels. There are many use of straight and rigid
lines on the film which I think emphasizes on the rigidness of the masculinity of the characters. The lines
also comes between the characters which shows the separation between them even they are on the same
space and time. In addition, in the dialogue scenes which contains editing, effort is made to keep the two
characters separated in the frame, emphasizing their isolation from each other and growing rivalry. The
only times when we see them together are when they are drinking together. This also shows the vulnerable
part of the characters. The composition also shows some God like images showing the power dynamics
and the influence of the other person in their psyche.
Camera Movement:

Another characteristic of the film’s visual style is that of long takes, with many scenes covered with
a moving cameras that tracks an entire action or monologue. It builds a sense of momentum and the
kind of energy it feels. The camera stays on the character for still in many part of the movies just
letting the psychology to pop out and whenever the camera movies it feels haunting. In the opening
scene as well first the camera holds on to the ship that dropped Pattinson off the sail away in the
distance and then the camera follows him into the cottage and up to the stairs into the sleeping
quarters, really gives the audience a powerful sense of geography of The lighthouse.
Lighting:

The lighting perfectly helps to build the atmosphere and the mood of the film. Through the low key
lighting and the contrast created, it helps the audiences to dive deep into their psyche even more. It
also adds on to the dreadfulness of the space. The lighting feels to have contrast but also do have that
slight glow on the highlight creating soft images. The split lighting on the character itself helps to
shows the darker side they are turning into. The space is mostly unlit with minimal view which
enforces the expressionist style more and lead our focus on to the character. The light is also used
metaphorically throughout. The light of the lantern itself is blown as it is seem to be superior of all
and enchanting.
Visual Metaphors:

The movie uses a lot of visual metaphors and the visual cues which supports the whole narrative of
the film. Many shots, compositions and elements of production design emphasizes phallic imagery.
Most notably a montage which use cut between Pattison’s character masturbating to a revolving shot
of the lighthouse itself. This imagery establishes the theme of masculinity, phallic symbolism
represents male power. Throughout the film we only see the characters climbing up of the staircase
to the lantern but at the end when Pattinson’s character doesn’t find anything he fells off the stairs.
That’s symbolizes the final downfall of him into the madness. This is some examples of how visual
metaphors are used in The lighthouse.
Miscellaneous:

There are many uses of close up shots showing only the headshot of the character with telephoto
lens. And with those compression we can feel the characters being squeezed by the surroundings.

And about some more notes.