Everything is picture-perfect, the epitome of a European babymoon, when things begin to spiral out of control. Lost on the way to dinner, their car gets stuck in a ditch, leaving them stranded in rural nowhere during a torrential downpour. These two Americans, who are used to being catered to, are now in a foreign land with no cell service, zero comprehension of the Italian language, and, as fear takes over, escalating turmoil that could explode at any moment.
Shooting a film like I Don’t Understand You in a foreign country can sound daunting, but it might not be as different as one would think.
Weighing in on the subject is I Don’t Understand You DP Lowell A. Meyer, who says, “Filmmaking is obviously a universal language at this point, but there are small differences between the US and Italian systems. There’s this adorable little apple box called a Paganini that is basically a Pancake, but with two feet, so you can have a pancake with two different heights. It’s genius. There’s also an affinity from the Grip Crew for using Bazookas to support the camera (instead of Tripods). The most obvious difference is the European shooting hours. In Rome, days are ten hours long at a maximum (including an hour lunch!).”
In the below conversation, Lowell goes into more detail about shooting in Italy and the helpful advice M. Night Shyamalan gave him.
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No Film School: How did you first get into cinematography? What was the first film you saw that you remembered the cinematography?
Lowell A. Meyer:Children of Men was a seminal theatrical experience for me. I was sixteen and had already begun probing the edges of what a career in filmmaking could be. My childhood friend, Eric K. Yue (still a good friend and a fellow cinematographer!) and I, after years of making short films, music videos, and skate videos together, went to Kew Gardens cinemas in Queens, NY to see it. I had just enough insight to glean what a revolution in cinematography it was. That movie sealed that deal for me that films are undeniable in their artistry, reach, immersion, and curiosity, particularly when elevated by the look, lensing, and camerawork of a film.
NFS: Can you tell us how you got involved with I Don’t Understand You and what attracted you to the script?
Meyer: I think it’s safe to say that my friendship with David and Brian was above and beyond the guiding light in this collaboration. They are dear friends and have been for years. I loved their personal tie to the story (as it’s based on a series of autobiographical, but thankfully not-so-lethal mishaps, that they experienced while holidaying in Italy). But more importantly, I love them. They’re so much fun to be around. Someone once told me that “a filmmaker is their films.” Knowing them, I knew that we’d have a good time on this one together. It also didn’t hurt that my wife is their producer! It was very much a family affair from beginning to end.
'I Don’t Understand You'Credit: Vertical
NFS: What were your artistic goals on I Don’t Understand, and how did you realize them?
Meyer: Stylistically, we were always trying to straddle the line of comedy and horror, visually speaking. Brian Crano said to me early on, “Is a joke still funny if it’s filmed in the dark?” We wanted to really toe that line of keeping the audience guessing tonally about where this was all headed. We’re so smart as audiences nowadays: if a movie is just one thing (one genre, one conceit, one style or mode), then it’s really easy to see how and when the filmmaker will land the plane. With this film, as with another film I shot called Greener Grass, I think there was this hybrid approach of allowing all of your scenes to share visual language with one another, and hoping that between all of the other elements on screen (performance, lighting, set design, score) that the audience will be able to bob and weave with you, and hopefully have a more engaging and novel experience for it.
NFS: Can you discuss any particularly memorable moments or challenges during the pre- and post-production processes?
Meyer: I think the biggest challenge on the shoot was not too dissimilar from most films: having the time that we needed to complete it! We were very lucky that we didn’t have a lot of locations to bounce our crew around to. But the downside of that was that so much of the film took place at one location, and it was very hard to get ahead of things, or splinter shots off, or even use more cameras, because we were all in the same 12x25’ dining room! And the same goes for the cast.
Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells were in nearly every single scene together, so you couldn’t really break one of them off with a single camera to shoot something on the side. We had to really plow through everything in narrative order until we could get to the next scene. A particularly memorable evening (that was the other challenge - we shot so much at night!) was one in which we actually could get a splinter crew in to shoot additional stunt scenes for us while we concentrated on dialogue, performance, and comedy scenes. It was very late in the shoot, as pick-up shots/scenes were starting to pile up. We brought in a really lovely Italian cinematographer to shoot the stunts. I tried to find him at the top of the evening to discuss the night’s work, and when I did, it’s behind a car window: he told me that his COVID test came back positive, and that he couldn’t work!
I immediately burst into laughter, confounded by the absurdity of the situation, as we had three cameras and two units, and I had to make it all work. I ended up assuring everyone that we’d find a path forward. The rhythm of the night was this: I’d start at one set, frame and light the shot until we’d normally invite the cast to set. Then I would dash off down a hill to the stunts set where I’d then do the same. Then I’d run back to the first set and watch playback, normally nodding and saying that we could move on, at which point I’d rinse and repeat the process. Set up, run down, watch playback on stunts, move on, run back up, etc.
It was truly one of the wildest nights I’ve ever had on a film set, and I sort of loved every second of it (but was also very happy when it was over! haha).
'I Don’t Understand You'Credit: Vertical
NFS: Can you talk about working with directors David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano?
Meyer: David and Brian are lovely. They wear their hearts on their sleeves, which makes it really easy to just improv with them in the prep when shot listing, as well as in the thick of any given day on set. We were really prepared on set, as we would spend most weekends shotlisting and strategizing together for the upcoming weeks of work. But then, when the chaos of the set takes over, we could all put our heads together and make a new plan on a moment’s notice if need be. They’re a duo (and married, to boot!), which made it really easy to divide and conquer at times, as their communication skills with one another were very strong already.
NFS: What camera did you shoot on? Why did you choose the camera that you did? What lenses did you use?
Meyer: We shot on two ARRI Mini LFs with dual sets of ARRI DNA LF Prime Lenses (as well as a single Angenieux Optimo 12x Ultra 36-435mm FF Zoom and the Angenieux EZ Zooms for zoom work in smaller spaces).
I needed lenses that not only matched one another, and could be shared between two complete camera packages (to cross cover so much of the improvised comedy throughout the film), but that also wouldn’t entrench me completely in one look and one look only. The ARRI Rental Prime DNAs are lightweight, fast, cover a lot of ground in their focal lengths, and above all else, are exquisite in their beauty. They don’t call attention to themselves, and they match well with our Angenieux zooms. We used the 12:1 zoom for a comedic snap zoom and long lens walk and talks, the EZ-1 zoom for low light slow zooms to build suspense, and then relied on the primes for squeezing into cars and tight corners on location.
As for the ARRI Mini LF, it’s a tried and true machine. I’ve used it almost exclusively for the last few years and love the way it renders skin tones, as well as retains highlight and lowlight detail. We used two throughout the shoot, and occasionally a third body for bigger set-piece days with action and car work. It’s small for a large-format camera, and can be modified to fit and survive nearly any situation you throw at it (we put it in the mud, the rain, and even a pizza oven).
NFS: A lot of the film takes place in Italy. Can you talk about shooting there? What are some of the differences of shooting in Italy, then in Pennsylvania, for Servant?
Meyer: The most obvious difference is the European shooting hours. In Rome, days are ten hours long at a maximum (including an hour lunch!). Everyone works very hard to ensure that a lot is accomplished in the day, but it’s instantly two-three hours less than you get in the States, so you have to use your time really efficiently, and/or plan on having more days in the schedule than you would if filming Stateside.
And on top of that, there’s a huge work-life balance that I really admire. For example, there’s not a lot that you can offer the crew to convince them to go into overtime hours. It’s actually a process we had to humor maybe only three times in 35 days of filming. On one occasion, we were flat-out told “no.” In the other scenarios, we were given a half hour of OT on those days because the crew understood we weren’t wasting time and had our hands tied (they were on heavy blood rig and stunts days). But even then, it wasn’t an option to go much longer; it was really just to get a final take or shot in the can.
There was also a clear rule around eating meals around the actual time of day that you’d normally eat them, which really pushed us into nights when it would have otherwise been splits in the States. Again, it all stems from a desire to keep one’s daily life in harmony and in line with the rest of the culture/city, which I really appreciated and respected.
NFS: Do you have any tips or advice for other DPs shooting in Italy?
Meyer: I adored working in Italy, and specifically Rome. The Roman crew, in particular, made it such an enjoyable experience. There were, of course, some language barrier moments, but for the most part, it’s incredible how much English is spoken by the crews, and how much Italian started to become a second language to me. Filmmaking is obviously a universal language at this point, but there are small differences between the US and Italian systems. There’s also this adorable little apple box called a Paganini that is basically a Pancake, but with two feet, so you can have a pancake with two different heights. It’s genius. There’s also an affinity from the Grip Crew for using Bazookas to support the camera (instead of Tripods) - as well as Manfrotto Magic Arms to support basically anything you can think of on set - that I grew to really love.
Main piece of advice: learn any and all Italian that you can, and never get caught ordering a cappuccino after noon (my gaffer told me “only babies drink milk after noon!”).
NFS: Was there a shot in the film that doesn’t look very complicated, that was to shoot?
Meyer: Why? There are a few that come to mind, most of them involve stunt work, as that’s always complicated to pull off safely and believably.
SPOILER ALERT!
Probably the most technical was a night driving scene that involves someone being run over in the BG of an interior driving shot. Not only did we have to light a good bit of road for both shots with condors and big HMIs, but we had to separate out the interior performance shot of our lead actors in the car from the stunt portion of the shot. That meant putting a bump in the road where the body should be, so that the car and the interior camera mount get a jolt at the right time in the scene.
Once that was captured, we then made a stunt car rig out of one of our heavy-duty and underutilized picture vehicles. We mounted box truss off of the side of it, and then underslung a Ronin R2 and two Astera AX3s to either side of it, so that we were replicating the interior car mount’s height on the road from the original shot, and providing two sources of light to either side that mimicked car headlights.
Then we drove the car to the side of the road, so that the camera and lights were in the middle of the road, where they should be to match the original shot. We drove it toward a stunt performer in the road, and then, at a safe distance, he faked getting hit and laid under the camera as it passed over him.
It’s a simple enough idea, but it takes everyone understanding the assignment, and doing so safely, at night, on a locked-down road, so that you can get both halves of the shot and put them together seamlessly.
Car and camera setup. Credit: Lowell A. Meyer
NFS: You have worked with M. Night Shyamalan on a few projects now (Knock at the Cabin, Caddo Lake & Servant). What is the best piece of advice he has given you?
Meyer: Night is a tack-sharp guy, and has a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to filmmaking. I think his focus on time on set has stuck the most with me. He once said that “time is the most expensive item on a film set.” He is very keen to get the first shot off as soon as possible, and wants everything as prepped and rehearsed in advance as possible. He will spare no expense to give himself enough time for a bonus shot at the end of the day or another take with an actor.
'I Don’t Understand You'Credit: Vertical 
'I Don’t Understand You'Credit: Vertical 
Car and camera setup. Credit: Lowell A. Meyer
