Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Scream 6!
With the latest installment having introduced the most vicious iteration of the character yet, cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz explained how Scream 6‘s Ghostface actor influenced its extra brutal kills. Voiced by Roger L. Jackson and physically portrayed by Max Laferriere, the iconic slasher ventured to New York City to continue terrorizing Melissa Barrera’s Sam, Jenna Ortega’s Tara, Mason Gooding’s Chad and Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Mindy. In addition to the reveal of three Ghostface culprits, Scream 6 brought about other changes to the franchise.
In honor of the film’s home media release, Screen Rant exclusively interviewed cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz for Scream 6. While reflecting on creating a unique look for the sequel, Jutkiewicz explained how Ghostface’s actor Laferriere had a major influence on the film’s extra brutal kills and bringing a handheld style to the more terrifying sequences of the movie. See what Jutkiewicz explained below:
Ghostface in Scream VI is a little bit different than the ones that have come before just in terms of his intensity and the brazenness of his attacks [are] very much in public, very much out in the open. So we wanted to add to the intensity of that. We use the handheld camera work quite a lot for the Ghostface attacks [because we] really wanted to ground these sequences in these spaces and in the experiences that the characters are having in those moments. There’s something about that extra intensity with the handheld camerawork and being able to respond to the physicality of Ghostface. We had such a great performer as Ghostface and just being able to let him lead a bit and let the camera follow what he wants to do in those sequences was another thing we did.
Scream 6 Raised Ghostface’s Stakes
While its direct predecessor offered a few unique expansions of the franchise, 2022’s Scream was largely a welcome return to form by playing off many of the themes and formula of the Wes Craven original along with a passing-of-the-torch. Taking the story outside of Woodsboro for the second time after 2000’s Scream 3, this year’s Scream 6 did frequently subvert audience expectations throughout its runtime, namely with its opening, initially revealing Ghostface’s identity, only for it to be a red herring when they’re killed by one of the true Ghostfaces.
In their efforts to keep audiences guessing, Radio Silence and writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick effectively raised the stakes with Scream 6, primarily in the brutality of its Ghostface attacks. Audiences were quickly taken by the sequel’s bodega scene, in which Ghostface took possession of a shotgun from the store’s owner and killed him and took aim at Sam, Tara and any others who got in their way.
With the actor behind the killer as involved in their brutality as those behind the camera, Scream 6‘s extra vicious Ghostface kills have set a higher bar for the next installment in the franchise, especially if Laferriere doesn’t return to the fold. No sequel has been confirmed as of yet, but with Radio Silence keen to return for a Scream 7 and bring back Neve Campbell’s Sidney after her absence in this year’s installment due to a pay dispute, one can hope the next film continues the subversive and brutal expansions of the series.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
