"Early on we decided our motto would be ‘No boring shots.’ That meant we were always pushing ourselves to create images that were as graphic as possible to tell our story. In many ways, the film looks like a comic book come to life."
They also agreed that the look of Legion would evolve as the story progresses, says the director. "At first it has a very lost-American feel, like a Hopper painting. But as things progress, the color begins to drain and the look becomes more apocalyptic."
To amp up the tension in the film, Stewart and Lindley developed visual strategies that keep the audience slight off kilter. "John is skilled at so many things, but in particular, he’s really great at getting in and focusing on the detail," says Stewart.
"He gets right in the middle of the action. I chose to focus on details first and then widen out. It’s the opposite of the classic approach in the American filmmaking industry, where you start with an establishing shot and then you go in.
"We always had the camera either really low or really high, almost never at eye-level," says the director. "It shifts the perspective and becomes a much more dynamic image. We also used overhead shots to create a sense of scale and give us what we called God’s point of view on the events."
"It’s the best looking film I’ve ever made," says Lancaster. "I give a lot of the credit to John Lindley. He recognized a chance to do something that a little bit different with this film. It had lots of challenges to it that he embraced. And he’s done a brilliant job."
Even the costumes were conceived to reinforce the film’s visual scheme. "I am a big believer in using color to help the story," says Stewart. "
We came up with the idea that all of the ‘normal’ people in the story would be wearing muted ‘non-colors’ gray, olive-drab, beige while the possessed would be clad in bright colors that pop off the screen."
Wendy Partridge, Legion’s costume designer, created an array of subtle gradations on neutral colors for the main characters. "It was a very intricate and delicate process that turned out to be very fulfilling," she says.
"The hardest thing to do in costuming is to create a single outfit each character has to wear throughout the entire movie. You have only one chance to create that image and, once you’ve created it, you have to live with it for the whole film."
In addition, as the story progresses, each actor’s outfit had to begin to show the wear and tear of the extreme situation. "The physical deterioration had to mirror the mental and physical stress of the characters," she notes.
Music was also crucial in establishing the mood of the film and underscoring the dramatic action. "I’m not a fan of movies that look like music videos," he says. "I prefer music to either run as counterpoint to the visuals or to help tell the underlying emotional story.
"The jukebox in the diner is almost another character in the film. It plays older music that adds to the feeling that this place is lost in time."
He was aided in his effort to create a strong musical identity for the story by music supervisor Chris Douridas, who also worked on American Beauty and the Austin Powers movies.
"Early on I decided we would only hear songs from practical sources, such as the jukebox or from car stereos," Stewart says.
"The jukebox is almost a Greek chorus for the film. The songs Chris came up with serve as a very compelling counterpoint to what's happening on screen."
Legion is out now.
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