Description
Calling all Lynne Ramsay superfans: this is the definitive behind-the-scenes guide to the making of her fourth feature, You Were Never Really Here. This eBook collects every article from our Special Issue on the film in one handy place, to be enjoyed whenever you want to relive the film’s mastery.
Through interviews with the key creative team — Ramsay, cinematographer Tom Townend, editor Joe Bini, sound designer Paul Davies, and producer Jim Wilson — you’ll get a feel for how Ramsay collaborates with her team to realise her vision. Plus, her team tells wild behind-the-scenes stories that reveal Ramsay’s sense of humour, knack for experimentation, and genius.
Through our longform essays, we’ll help you contextualise the way You Were Never Really Here depicts sensations and trauma within Ramsay’s oeuvre. We’ll also articulate how Ramsay uses every cinematic tool at her disposal to put us inside hitman Joe’s traumatized headspace.
By purchasing this eBook, you are helping us pursue our dedication to longform film writing of quality.
Get the book now and learn all about how this film was made and why watching it is such a visceral experience.
Contents
This is the most comprehensive survey of in-depth interviews with the filmmaking team behind You Were Never Really Here, giving unique insights into how the film was made, coupled with insightful essays analyzing how and why the film works so well.
- Interview: Director Lynne Ramsay talks subverting hitman archetypes with gentleness, humour, and beauty
- An essay by Orla Smith on how the film traps us inside hitman Joe’s mind — but he’s an unreliable narrator who is far more helpless than he realises.
- Interview: Producer Jim Wilson details the wild journey from pre-production to Cannes involved in making You Were Never Really Here.
- Interview: Sound designer Paul Davies discusses crafting a subjective mix that sounds like the inside of a PTSD-stricken head.
- Interview: Editor Joe Bini discusses how he helped craft a visually striking, subjective film by experimenting in the edit.
- Interview: Director of Photography (DP) Tom Townend discusses working closely with Lynne Ramsay and adapting to on-set changes.
- An essay by Elena Lazic on how Lynne Ramsay’s features centre on characters who deal with their trauma by losing themselves in sensations and escaping from language.
About the authors
This book was written by Seventh Row Associated Editors Orla Smith and Elena Lazic. Elena wrote a dissertation on haptic filmmaking, making her uniquely qualified to analyze Lynne Ramsay’s approach to haptics. Elena also works as a freelance writer for SciFi Now, Little White Lies, and The Guardian, as well as hosting the Seventh Row podcast. Orla is a filmmaker and film critic, with a wealth of experience interviewing multiple department heads for films (e.g. Lean on Pete and On Chesil Beach) to piece together how these collaborations work and how the pieces all fit together. Orla has written several pieces about how films subvert their genres.
