What freeness do you get as filmmakers when working with stars like Mackie and Dornan? Is there any connection in the casting to how this film has longer takes than usual for you guys?
JB: You know, I’m going to say that it changes the process quite a bit. Because when you work with people who are as accomplished as Jamie and Anthony, they are extraordinarily busy people. And so you don’t get six weeks just to go workshop with them; when it’s the two of us, we’re seeing each other every day and running scenes. But that said, there’s also this thing, in that those two guys are so extraordinary talented, they are such kind people, they’re very attractive, charming people, so when you’re telling a story with flawed characters, it’s a trickier thing. When it’s us, it’s like, “Oh, those guys are flawed.” [laughs] I’m not supposed to go on a journey with those characters in “The Endless” and be like, “They’re our heroes!” Whereas with “Synchronic” when you first see Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan, they’re the heroes, and then you need to convince your audience that they’re flawed people.
AM: You’ll notice they’re not wearing a bunch of tight shirts. They’re not in particularly flattering lighting, we deliberately would top light them and stuff like that. So they just look like people standing in regular situations, as opposed to what you would consider a glamorized look at what they’re doing. And that was very purposeful. It was definitely the movie in which they look the most like themselves, as opposed to anything resembling a photo shoot. As much as we try, obviously other filmmakers have succeeded in the same way.
JB: To Aaron’s credit, it’s very hard for a director of photography to make Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie not look extraordinarily sexy.
AM: Oh, they’re extraordinary sexy. But that’s just them.
It’s funny you say that you didn’t have a lot of time with Dornan and Mackie, because I imagine they could nonetheless handle the pressure of the film’s longer scenes. Like the extended walk-and-talk sequence in the middle, for example.
AM: That was it—that walk-and-talk that you’re talking about actually takes place in front of Anne Rice’s house. And that was very purposeful, that was really important to us. And we actually had two scenes to shoot that day, that scene which was across town and across a bridge. It was a huge logistical problem. People were freaking out, like, “You’ll never make this.” And so we had to have a conversation like, “Guys, we have to run this scene over and over before the day, because on the day we’re only gonna get a few takes, and then we gotta go. And it might be raining too, so be ready for that.” And luckily we dodged some rain drops, and they were just very ready. We did a few angles of it, all as a long walk-and-talk, and we never really needed to cut but we cut some pieces out from it. At dramatic moments, anyway. But they really nailed it, and it’s really nice to say one take one, “That’s a good take.”
