When Halden asked for a film about arriving, we knew it had to happen at night. Arrival is a night feeling — tired, a little lost, and then suddenly somewhere warm.

Lighting from the inside out

Instead of lighting the facade, we put tungsten practicals in forty rooms and let the windows do the work. The street stayed dark; the building glowed.

The rain was the best crew member we had. Every reflection was free.

One long shot

The final shot runs for forty seconds without a cut. We rehearsed it eleven times and shot it twice.