“Hello, I’m Sean Baker. I am the writer, director and editor of “Anora”. This is the scene where our protagonist Ani, played by Mikey Madison, arrives at the home that supposedly belongs to Ivan Zakharov, played by Mark Eydelshteyn. So this was obviously meant to bring not only Ani into Ivan's world, but in addition the audience into Ivan's world. So I wanted the camera to essentially follow Ani, but in addition see the world through Ani's eyes. So I attempted my best to not make it too cheesy, especially when she arrives on the front door and comes into the home. This is a one-shot. “Welcome to my humble family on board. Hugs! Because I really wanted the audience to walk through that room with Ani and see the room for the first time with Ani. So if she turns and looks right, the camera turns and looks right. When she looks to the left, the camera turns and looks to the left. And what it does is it really establishes the geography, because the geography is going to be extremely important later in the film, particularly in the home invasion scene. So Drew Daniels, my amazing cinematographer who I've worked with twice now, he's a master at handheld cameras, so he's the one who actually holds the camera and shoots the entire sequence. “Not too shabby!” “What's 'shabby'?” “Oh, I'm just acting.” Drew's handheld cinematography is as solid as a handheld camera can get, especially a heavy camera like this. And then he ends up in this beautiful two-shot. For me as an editor, this meant a really solid editing option for our static wide-angle shot. “Oh, I'm sorry, I'll wait for you.” These were my wonderful actors who added a little improvisation where Mark runs up the stairs. And then the next shot of them entering the bedroom. This shot is repeated at the end of the film. So in many ways it is an enrichment to their experience in this mansion. “Nice view.” “My vision is better.”
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