All of Us Strangers is a devastating film starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy. The film not only tells this emotional story through the script and beautiful performances, but the visual storytelling guides audiences through the journey as well. Our Awards Editor, Jillian Chilingerian, was lucky enough to speak to Jamie Ramsay, the cinematographer on the film, about his BIFA winning work.

Jillian Chilingerian: I’m really excited for this conversation. So jumping into this, All of Us Strangers has really taken off this year. That’s so exciting with people really relating to this and for me, watching it, I was not ready to be overcome with so much emotion. So I really want to talk about your work a lot with the color palettes. When we think of ghost stories, we think a very almost devoid and coldness, but I feel you brought a lot of warmth subtly into this world that really emphasizes touch. I really want to get your perspective on designing these color palettes.
Jamie Ramsay: Thank you, Jillian. With regards to the color palette, I’d almost open it up more to talk about the look, in a way, because one thing that was important for Andrew [Haigh] and I was never to be overtly specific and narrowed down onto the individual compartments that create the look, it was all sort of hand in hand and homogenous. And you know, the color palette for us needed to be based in reality. Because we never wanted to overextend our poetic license to it by any means. It had to be based in reality. And there had to be a slight practical nature to the color palette, because obviously, being a majority locations based shoot off in the backgrounds, we could not necessarily control. The one thing that was important to us about color palette was sort of the relationship between the current real life of Adam, and then his sort of throwback to when he goes back to his parents and the idea of sort of the nostalgic throwback to the sort of the 80s. So the relationship between the two color palettes was quite important, because each color sort of had a cousin that that was relevant in the 80s. So So for us, we looked at the the sort of relevant color palettes from the 80s. And what was sort of popular from an interior design perspective and a wardrobe perspective. And also what was the sort of functional in the color perspective. And then we looked at the natural evolution and the natural growth of those colors into a contemporary context. Obviously, we wanted to rein in the amount of colors we use just because of his aesthetic responsibility. But it was just very important for us to have that relationship between the two. So we looked at sort of burnt oranges becoming reds, we looked at sort of mint greens becoming sort of primary greens. So it was more about more about the sort of the cerebral journey of what colors became, and just finding a grouping of colors that was representative of the 80s, but also fairly representative of our current day.

Jillian Chilingerian: Yeah, oh, my gosh, I love that you bring up nostalgia, because those are some of my favorite scenes, of him with his parents. And I feel like the colors you touch on really kind of create that ring for us as the audience to kind of transport with him. And also distinguishing that contemporary versus this very retro-esque. So that’s very cool to hear about how those colors change. And then going into that I’m always curious, working with the director, when you first start, what are some of the definitions of how you want the visuals to look and what you really want to tap into, because I feel like with this one, there’s so there’s so many good themes, and it’s feels both universal, but intimate. So I’m wondering what that approach was with both of you working together.
Jamie Ramsay: Jillian, you know, whenever you as a cinematographer, whenever you start this journey of the developing the world of the movie, for me, it always starts in in very deep and personal conversations with the director. And it never starts talking about the film, it starts talking about each other, and getting to know each other, you know, because there’s a personal chemistry and kismet that you develop, that becomes a shorthand. And ultimately, the shorthand is what sort of allows you to channel the psychology of the film later on in production. You know, but in our early conversations, with Andrew, it just became extremely apparent that what was most important was to represent this, this idea of loneliness, of the idea of sort of loss and separation, but also this idea of how memory is a sort of time capsule that creates this unequivocal connection to nostalgia from your past. You know, when you’ve not been able to get past a trauma, you’re sort of locked into that and there’s this sort of wormhole that exists that channels this nostalgia. So it was so important. And also your point about, you know, never wanting to be heavy handed being delicate with it. But just to always, always on the outskirts of our imagery and outskirts of how we told the story was to have this sort of yearning as if you were going into a memory and looking around a memory with a passerby.

Jillian Chilingerian: I feel like I definitely have had a lot those moments where, you know, you kind of reflect back on memories, and kind of can feel that just the way things are lit within your mind. And I think it’s so fascinating to kind of see that how that looks in a film like visually and being able to identify that and when like, ‘oh, wait, I’ve been through that’ or, that’s how I kind of digest my own. And then there are definitely a lot of intimate moments within the film. We get a lot of beautiful clips of like Claire Foy, Jamie Bell, and Andrew Scott, and then moments between Adam and Harry as they’re exploring their relationship. I’m interested in those choices of framing those very intimate moments around these characters.
Jamie Ramsay: You know, Jillian, in terms of like, each and every one of his engagements with the characters around him, there was always a thawing out period where they got to know each other again. And, you know, I wanted to represent that gently. But consciously, in the way that I used eyeline in a way that I used the lensing and perhaps starting with wider lenses closer up so that we push the distance in between them and starting a little bit off eyeline so that the eyeline wasn’t directly close to camera and then just slightly coming in on the eyeline and typing up the lenses and then just gently bringing the characters closer together because of the telephoto effect of the lenses and hyping up the eye lines and then ultimately, you know with Andrew [Scott] and Paul Mescal you know breaking the fourth wall when when it was like, ‘I am you and you are me,’ you know so it’s just not being overt about it just being gentle with it but being conscious, you know, it’s a conscious decisions used gently.

Jillian Chilingerian: Yeah. I love hearing that of the fourth wall moment and everything with the eyeline because I feel like they’re very subtle, where you don’t really notice it. But it’s done where you’re so enthralled in the story. I want to talk about the last sequence of the film because I think that just really stands out to me. And I was very curious about the approach with it. We have these stars and the lights with their positioning. I’m very intrigued to hear about that coming together.
Jamie Ramsay: That sequence for me is very special because it was for me in the sense this kind of childlike moment of almost being in the fetal position and almost, you know, this idea of returning, returning to the Stardust from where we came from. The tragedy that his choice of choosing love was ultimately the thing that killed him. Because, you know, it was the presence of Harry’s ghost that that was degrading his sanity and his health, but he chose to stop Harry from seeing his own body and take him out of the room, because he knew that would break his heart, and they’d go and lie down. And ultimately, it was suicide, in a way, it was the ultimate sacrifice and he did it for love. And the idea of, of leaving them alone, together in sort of fetal position, and drifting away slowly as the as his spirit left him, we left him alone in the atmosphere. And drifting off into the universe, back to the stars from where we came, which I thought was just a beautiful, poetic way of representing the idea, as you know, we were born alone, we die alone, but it’s the single thing that matters is how we affect the people around us on our journey, you know?

Jillian Chilingerian: Yeah, I was just gonna say that was so poetic of how you just describe that. And them being able to have that moment together and go out together. It just really stuck with me like walking into the theater. So that’s very fascinating to to hear the intent and insight behind that. This was so engaging. I really do love cinematographers. Every time I watch a movie, and specifically this one, I’m always thinking, like, ‘how do they do that? And like, what does that mean for this journey?’ Because I feel this film was so emotional, and it’s always about how do you communicate that through the visuals with keeping that original intent that doesn’t feel really artificial. In this film, the audience almost feels like you’re there with them. And kind of it transcends the screen. And I think like your work here perfectly embodies that idea.
Jamie Ramsay: Thank you. I had an interesting moment. The other day, I had a Q&A session after screening in Poland. And one of the audience members who was a cinematographer said, ‘you know, if I was doing a movie about loneliness, I would have used a lot of wides and the person alone in the field or something, why didn’t you go that route?’ And I said, ‘Look, you know, for me, loneliness is experienced from the inside looking out, not the other way around. It’s a subject of journey and deeply personal. And, for me, the only way I thought would be honest about, you know, putting this down on film was was about breaking that boundary between between the objective and the subjective. And the only way I could do it was by sort of channeling a personal journey through the lens and being within the bubble of the actor.’ So, I thought that was quite quite a good question. And, you know, hopefully left her with an answer.

Jillian Chilingerian: I think you did. I think we often will see loneliness as those wide shots, but to hear when we’re facing it with them, it just feels so special. Well, thank you so much. It was so nice to meet you and talk about the film and congratulations, I’m excited for when it comes out and to hear more people talking about it. And I feel like it’s a good one where people can share their own stories too. Because it’s so relatable, reflective.
Jamie Ramsay: Absolutely. Group catharsis, all the way. Thank you for speaking with me!

All of Us Strangers will be in select theaters December 22, 2023.