I Think We’re Alone Now: Reed Morano shoots & directs

“People do so much over-lighting, you know? I think it’s interesting to look at the other end of the spectrum,” says Reed Morano, ASC, who had ample opportunity to do just that when directing and shooting I Think We’re Alone Now, an intimate, postapocalyptic film with the sparest of lighting schemes. 

It makes sense for the story, which takes place in a small town on the Hudson River shortly after everyone has dropped dead from an unspecified cause, save a few lone survivors. Morano set a rule for herself: Because there was no electricity in this postapocalyptic world, she would forgo film lights in all night scenes and use only the tools the survivors had at hand or could plunder from hardware or camping stores: battery-operated flashlights, solar-powered LED lanterns, headlamps, computer screens, car headlights, car interior lights. The rule was broken only once or twice.

“Personally, it’s my favorite work because I felt like I didn’t fuss so much,” says Morano by phone from Dublin, where she’s directing The Rhythm Section, a revenge thriller with more than 10 times the budget. “I set up very simplistic and minimalist parameters for myself and didn’t overdo anything. I just didn’t want anything to feel lit.”

Peter Dinklage, who produced and costarred, asked Morano to direct the $3.4-million movie. Morano then hired herself as director of photography. “In many ways, it’s less of a pain in the neck for me, because I’m in control of how fast we go,” she says of doing double duty. “I know what’s going to be involved in getting a scene. I know how many shots I’m going to do. I know editorially how I can cut it together. If I have to finish it fast, I know my Get Out of Jail card. So I have everything in my head and don’t have to wonder, as a DP, is this director going to do 55 takes?” In sum, “It’s very empowering, because I know the risks I can take—so I take morerisks.” 

Published in the October 2018 issue of American Cinematographer.