Nightcrawler (2014)

Directed by Dan Gilroy

Cinematography by Robert Elswit

Cinematic Parallels

Big Fat Liar (2002) & Nightcrawler (2014)

“My motto is if you want to win the lottery you’ve got to make money to get a ticket.” - Nightcrawler (2014)

Nightcrawler (2014)

Cinematography: Robert Elswit

Director: Dan Gilroy

Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler (2014; Dan Gilroy)

You know what your trouble is? You don’t fucking understand people.

There is a scene where Jake Gyllenhaal’s character, Lou, goes to a pawn shop to sell a stolen bike. When we arrived to shoot, the blocking didn’t jell. It was cinematically static. The issue was inherent to the scene – it’s just two guys bartering separated by a counter. We tried Lou holding the bike up to show how light it was. Putting the bike on the counter to point out details. Nothing worked. As the clock ticked down and we were about to lose the location, Jake began riding around the shop as he spoke. It was so incongruous, and he did it so well, going around and around, that we stopped talking. Inspiration had struck, and we played the entire scene with Lou riding as he bartered with the owner. –Dan Gilroy