"The Girlfriend" DP Mattias Nyberg, BSC, Intertwines Perspective with the Sony VENICE 2

Filmmaker Interview: Mattias Nyberg Discovers the Look of The Girlfriend

Set across London and Málaga, Spain, The Girlfriend explores the uncomfortable relationship between a mother, her son, and his new girlfriend through a series of unique perspectives and misunderstandings. 

"I got very excited about the project because [Wright] had a really clear vision for what she wanted to do," Nyberg said. "She was obviously going to be playing Laura, and then Olivia Cooke was playing Cherry, so it was a really amazing mix."

Although the series was adapted from a novel, Nyberg approached the project from a fresh perspective. Working with Wright, the cinematographer was given the freedom to explore the show's look and developed a distinct visual style around each character's individual experiences. 

“[The Girlfriend is] a psychological thriller. It has certain elements it needs to hit, and it really needs to look amazing, but within that, we were quite free," Nyberg said. "What was unusual about this show from the start is that the episodes are told from two very distinct perspectives."

"It's all about how this misunderstanding and suspicion start to build between the two [characters]," Nyberg explained. "Laura, in particular, is quite suspicious of Cherry because Cherry can't help herself. She lies to try and fit in a bit more than she should. She doesn't need to lie sometimes but lies anyway."

Each episode played out an individual scene, in full or in part, from different perspectives, creating unreliable narrators that would drive the tension of the story. 

"What was unique for us was that we wanted to make sure that we had a visual language that was quite subjective in terms of [composition]," Nyberg said. "When we're in Laura's perspective, we shouldn't have camera angles that she couldn't conceivably see. So, it was all about how she experienced the scene and what she saw."

"It was quite important, so that we can then go back and show the scene from the other perspective and see how that was misinterpreted and how some of the dialogue changed."

Nyberg played on that difference in dialogue, ensuring that his compositions supported the nuances and differences experienced by the various characters. Each scene had to be constructed with overlap and different visual qualities that both matched the overall tone of the show but also provided a distinct perspective. 

"There's a scene in episode one when they first meet and they're at dinner at Laura's, and there's a whole thing about Laura spilling caramel sauce," Nyberg said. "In one perspective, it's a complete accident, and then in the other, it's very deliberate. We had to pick those angles and pick those moments."

Nyberg and Wright wanted the series to feel like a film and not like a conversational TV drama. While a high-end world of luxury was crafted for Laura, Cherry's world was given a visual language that embodied the "other side of the tracks," as Nyberg called it. To ensure each part of the show was compositionally consistent, the cinematographer developed a set of rules to follow.

"We pretty much banned things like matching reverse shots," Nyberg said. "Because in someone's perspective, if you're always in their perspective, you're not in a neutral perspective."

"So, we were quite clear about singles on the person whose perspective it was. They were always clean. And then when we looked back at what they were looking at, we had a bit of that person in [frame] to feel that we were connecting there."

A title card supported each character's perspective, but the goal was to have the visual language help the audience understand whose world they were in, even if the title card wasn't present. 

Filmmaker Interview: Why Nyberg Chose the VENICE 2 for The Girlfriend

From a technical standpoint, Nyberg had to overcome the challenge of shooting on location in luxurious environments while ensuring his exposure and color were consistent across varied lighting scenarios that he couldn't always control. To tackle these challenges, the cinematographer chose the Sony VENICE 2, which he had already used on several other projects.  

"There are quite a few things that I like about it," Nyberg said. "There are other cameras that you can sort of push, but I really like the fact that I move my dynamic range with me [on the VENICE]. That's really important to me, so that whether I go to 3200 ISO or ISO 500, I've got these stops on each side of the correct stop that I can pull up or pull down."

This control allowed Nyberg to move between interiors and exteriors, and onto a yacht on the ocean, where lighting changed from moment to moment. However, it was the color reproduction that the cinematographer found most helpful, especially when capturing skin tones. 

"The other thing that really stood out to me when I was testing [the VENICE] back in 2018, and the VENICE 2 just improved on that, was that digital cameras in low light, when there were warm colors…all of it just goes red, and it was a real problem for me on skin tones," Nyberg explained. "If I wanted to have a more nuanced feel, the VENICE really separated [the colors]. I was like, 'Wow, that's a yellow orange. That's deeper orange. That's amber. Then it's red.'"

"I feel that it still has an edge over the other cameras, and obviously, the VENICE 2 has improved a lot of things, but also it's more compact. Whether we were in ISO 3200 or 500, it was just always exactly how I expected it to be, and that's a really comforting thing for a cinematographer."

To overcome the hardship of shooting on location, where walls couldn't be moved and small environments created obstacles for framing, Nyberg leaned on the Sony VENICE Extension System. From inside cars and bike rigs to sauna rooms inside expensive homes, the camera could be set up in small spaces and provide framing without compromise. 

"The Rialto attachment was also a game-changer when that came out. We were in tight spaces like the Saunderson House, which is where Laura lives with her husband and her son," Nyberg said. "There's a scene that takes place in a sauna, and what really should have been a build, but we had to shoot it, and it's quite small. 

"Just to get the camera in, in any sort of sensible way, the Rialto was amazing. Because it's just a sensor and the lens, and you can get it right there."

The form factor of the VENICE 2 and the VENICE Extension System gave Nyberg freedom. It not only supported the cinematographer but also his crew, which allowed more time for creativity. 

"My A camera operator, who was also my Steadicam operator, Barney Davis, loves the balance of the VENICE 2," Nyberg said. "Whether you're putting it on a crane or you're putting it on your shoulder or underwater, it just seems to be quite easy for my technicians and my crew."

"Which obviously helps me because time is money. And the more time I can have, the more I can craft it."

The built-in ND filters of the VENICE 2 offered additional support. Without the need to use drop-in filters, the production could keep moving swiftly from composition to composition. But Nyberg also found that his creative choices weren't altered by filters in front of his lens. 

"Every time you put a bit of glass in front of the camera, if you haven't accounted for it, it can cause issues like ghosting," Nyberg explained. "That's another 5 or 10 minutes. The world of high-end TV drama is pacey. You're not rushing like mad, but you are expected to complete that schedule that day, and with every little five minutes or ten minutes, that eats a lot of your creative time."

Filmmaker Interview: A Show of Creative Possibilities and No Surprises

Some cinematographers like surprises and the creative discoveries that come with them. But they can also be a hindrance to the schedule and flow of the production. With the VENICE 2, The Girlfriend was a production of deliberate choices, allowing Nyberg to be bold with his ingredients and craft a show that elevated the story and performances of Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke.

"As a cinematographer, the fewer surprises that you have, at least from a technical point of view, the better," Nyberg said. "Then you can put your ingredients into lenses and filters, and you know that the baseline remains."

"It makes you able to be slightly more bold knowing that the camera is there, the sensor is there, the color is there, the feel of it is there."

Stream The Girlfriend on Amazon Prime to experience Nyberg's stunning compositions and visual language. To learn more about the Sony VENICE 2 and the other cameras in the Sony Cinema Line, visit our Camera Comparison Chart.