The final season of “Andor” required visual storytellers to craft a stylized tapestry that reflected each episode’s underlying themes while unifying the whole. “We treated every three episodes almost like a movie and gave them their own identity,” says cinematographer Christophe Nuyens, who photographed the first six episodes. In “Harvest,” the challenge was balancing lighting sources and camera movement to link two sharply contrasting storylines: the elaborate wedding of Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma’s daughter and Stormtroopers in search of undocumented workers on Mina-Rau, which climaxes in a surprise death. “It was important visually that everything could fall nicely together, so for the first three episodes, we decided to play in a sunnier environment,” he says. “The Stormtrooper scene was like a jigsaw puzzle. We had to mix a practical location with a staged set and then all the TIE fighter stuff was also shot on a stage.” Adding to the scale was the cinematographer’s use of a large-format camera and Ultra Vista lenses. “It was important to use a big sensor as it gives you the feel and scope almost like in ‘Rogue One,’” says Nuyens. “It was the biggest change we made this season and I think those lenses make it look really nice.”
One Shot: ‘Andor’ Season 2, Episode 3, ‘Harvest’
