Posted in: Exclusive, Horror, Interview, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: exclusive, interview, lionsgate, Nick Matthews, saw x, Shawnee Smith, tobin bell

Saw X Cinematographer on Bell & Smith's Camera Tricks & Favorite Traps

Saw X cinematographer Nick Matthews on how he made stars Tobin Bell & Shawnee Smith look as they did in Saw III & his favorite traps.

Saw X represents a return to its roots that sees the reunion between Tobin Bell's John Kramer and Shawnee Smith's Amanda Young. The problem became apparent that the 2023 film would have to resolve the age difference from when Bell & Smith made their last franchise project together in Saw III, which was 17 years ago that saw both their characters die. While Bell remained involved throughout most of the sequels, the story concerning the latest entry from Lionsgate focuses on the events between 2005's Saw II and 2006's Saw III. Cinematographer Nick Matthews spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with Bell & Smith, how personable Bell is in real life, protecting the legacy of John Kramer, the lighting tricks, and his favorite traps from Saw X and previous films.

Saw X: The Tricks to Mask Tobin Bell & Shawnee Smith's Aging Since Saw III

Bleeding Cool: Did Tobin and Shawnee offer any perspective to help recreate the previous' Saw' films, or did it all come from Kevin?
Matthew: That's a great question. Shawnee and Tobin were both fantastic performers and incredible people. When we wrapped the movie, I was on the same flight back as Tobin; he waited for me at the gate, gave me his number, and said, "Nick, I want to ask you, how did you feel about what we made there in Mexico, which is daunting, to be honest in a sense?" I told him, "When I first met Kevin [Greutert] and read the script, I told him we had a chance to make the best movie in this franchise. That's what we did because of you." [Tobin] knows how to emote and cares so much about this character. A lot of it is spending time in the room with him. It's reacting to what he's doing, creating a space you can live in. Tobin likes and understands the mechanics of the film and the space. Kevin took Tobin, and we were working six-day weeks, and that's standard in Mexico. Even on our Sunday off before we were shooting, Kevin was taking Tobin to the set, walking around, and talking for hours about his approach to the character and where things were. He is John Kramer, the mastermind of this operation. Tobin wants to understand what we're doing so that he can embody that as a character.

A lot of it was spent time around [Tobin]. It was spending time in his presence and gaining his trust. One of the beautiful things about operating the camera on a film is I am the first audience, and I operated for six weeks on this movie as A camera. We always ran two cameras, and then I had to step off because I had COVID, and my energy levels were shot. We bumped our B camera to A, and I was on monitors overseeing the photography from there. Kevin and I discussed that because he said, "I don't know these guys yet. I don't trust them yet, and I don't know them." I'm like, "I promise you, I'm watching, and if I could operate, I would because I love being three feet from the actors. I love being in their presence."

Collaboration is about trust, and one of the things with Tobin and Shawnee is we also did a series of makeup and wardrobe tests, some of which were to prove to ourselves and the studio. It was our first chance to get to know each other and play. That process is more important than me, like visually understanding what I'm going to do with their skin and faces. The process is about gaining trust and about having a common understanding. Ultimately, I had a lot of anxiety about the fact that they're 20 years older than the film is set, which is between 'One' and 'Two.'

We took the approach of "We're not the 'Irishman' (2019). We won't do some sort of deep fake or de-aging look." We are going to accept this, and the audience wants to buy into it, and I'll do what I can to use lighting and the tools I have in my hands to station them into a younger space. At the same time, you can't change facial structures as they naturally do change in 20 years. It was about trust and innocence, too. 'Saw' is not a glamorous film, and it's not about cosmetic lighting; these actors have to trust that I'm making the best decision for the story, even if it doesn't necessarily present them in the most cosmetic or favorable light.

There were times we were going, and I would clean the light up to get a softer appearance on the skin. Sometimes, when I did that, it felt wrong. It felt too glamorous or didn't feel like 'Saw,' rough and aggressive. It didn't make you feel like you needed a tetanus shot. The film moves from a more beautiful place into a more brutal place as it unfolds, and the lighting does that. It was a case-by-case scenario, and we were also shooting at breakneck speed. The movie lasts an hour and 15 minutes, with 35 minutes of deleted scenes. We're shooting all this material. Ultimately, we had 33 days of shooting, but most of the shots were done in a day and a half. It's fast-paced, and you must capture a lot of specific pieces to tell that story.

Every movie lives and dies by two things, and that's a great story and great performances. The hope with this film was that we create this rich and decrepit world that these actors could step into and embody these characters. We could use every tool at our disposal to capture those great performances. I hope audiences connect with Tobin's performance. It's one of the best he's ever given. I didn't get a lot of opportunities. The casket flew in shortly before production. It's challenging, and it is a little bit about giving Kevin and I need to earn their trust, and they need to connect. It's about finding the right timing for that, and it was mostly the wardrobe and set design. I stay in Kevin's ear quite a bit to hear where he's at and his experience with the actors. He has a pretty good ear on the ground for much of it.

Favorite Saw Franchise Traps

Was there a particular favorite trap or sequence in the film or even the franchise that stood out the most to you?
People come to these films for the traps, and it's our job to subjectively place the audience into the traps and give them a chance to ask, "What would I do if I were in this situation?" It's in the trailer, but the brain surgery trap is a favorite of mine. There's a simplicity to it, but it's also jarring. It's one of the traps that I didn't get disturbed by violence or its macabre nature when I first saw the film. When you're on set and making it, there's so much minutia that it doesn't translate as real as for me. When I see it on a screen, it registers. I remember watching when I was on monitors for that being like, "Oh my God!" When I saw it cut together, it got to me from this movie. That's my favorite, but I know Kevin has another favorite, and our production designer, Anthony [Stabley], has another favorite. From early in the franchise, I liked the rack. It's in 'Saw III' and it looks beautiful. It's horrifying to think of someone having their body twisted into bits and pieces. We had a lot of fun, and we laughed a lot. It's fun to go to work and see someone lying on the ground and blood everywhere.

Saw X, which also stars Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, and Michael Beach, is in theaters, available on on-demand on October 20th, and released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD on November 21st.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!