The other day, ComingSoon.net published an interview with The Hunger Games director Gary Ross. In it, he explains the unique ways they shot the film that add to the realistic experience.

Quotage:

CS: One of the first things that struck me about the look of “The Hunger Games” is how you break the 180 degree rule in a very stylistic manner. That’s not an easy thing to pull off and it achieves a very distinct look in the final film. Can you talk about why you chose to take that approach?

Gary Ross: Thank you! You know, both my editors, Juliette Welfling and Stephen Mirrione, are tremendously comfortable with that. We also cut from people to the same people. There are like 300 jump cuts in the movie, too. You’re not supposed to cut from a person to themselves. We break a lot of rules, but it’s all very, very conscious and all within a style that we talked about in advance. It keeps the pace of the movie going and keeps the movie a little bit destabilized, as Katniss is. I love jumping the axis. I think that’s an absolute blast. But you have to do it in a way where you still maintain geography. It’s very astute of you to notice. We do that a lot, but it’s all very well thought-out.

CS: I liked the idea that, if the Hunger Games were real, that’s how you’d shoot them out of necessity. Then it’s sort of expanded to the whole film.

Ross: Yes! Also, it doesn’t put you into a boring or predictable movie rhythm. It puts you into a little bit of Katniss’ head thinking, “Where am I? What’s around me?” It’s a very necessary component of the style.

CS: And the notion of “The world will be watching.”

Ross: Oh, absolutely. Very much so.

Read more with Ross, including his thoughts on the sound design within the film, at this link. We’re so excited to enjoy the cinematography!