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Here are the moves he used to pull it off.
Let Beths perspective and headspace inform compositions.Everything inThe Queens Gambithonors Beths point of view.
The story lent itself to this [visual quality] since this character is on the outside.
We [often] see what she sees, then come back to her close-up, Meizler explains.
They each have something between them.
You see a yearning to get closer.
And the staircase [is Beths].
That [symmetry] was intentional.
Theyre both in a prison of stubbornness.
Its a nice reflection of her journey.
Its an empty frame of Vietnam, a woman walks into it, we follow her.
We mimicked that a bit.
That was tricky technically because we used a 50-foot Technocrane.
We had to break it apart to bring it into the bottom floor.
The bucket of the crane was just inches away from hitting, but it seems like an effortless shot.
It became such a grounded walk.
The handheld elevated [her] connection with the camera.
But winter in Berlin didnt provide ample opportunities to capture natural light, something Meizler aimed for when possible.
Illuminating grand halls with high ceilings and large windows presented an especially complicated challenge.
We push inside to her profile.
Or the Grand Central scene inThe Fisher King, he adds.
The one ray of light going a different way is the actual sun.
And luckily they let me have smoke in there.
That specific light is so different on how it reacts on a male versus a female face.
The graceful way she [embraces it] is a testament to Anya.
That task was also shouldered by an initially intimidated Meizler.
It was the most difficult challenge heading in, the one I was most afraid of.
So they decided to emphasize deliberation, triumph, and defeat via the characters faces.
Thats where you’re able to really create tension.
That in itself was interesting.
Above all, Meizler credits Taylor-Joys thrilling performance and deeply expressive face as vessels of Beths POV.
She has a very intense stare, its kind of daunting.
With any angle, its something captivating she [conveys] without saying anything.
Embrace happy accidents.When something doesnt work out exactly as planned, there might be a silver lining.
And Meizler simply lives for those serendipitous surprises.
Its more about leaning in and accepting them.
In any project, you want to go in prepared.
You have to do that on the go.
Thats the exciting part of it.
Turns out, that spiritually loaded image was a happy accident.
Im always looking for the best place to put the camera to tell the story.
And that was the right place.
Another fortuitous choice resulted in one of Meizlers favorite shots in the entire series.
I was in the front seat operating the camera.
It tilted down to their hands and [we had] that flare at the end.
I got emotional seeing it happen.
I knew where the sun was going to be.
I knew there was a chance.
Still, that doesnt always happen.
But it magically did.
Be unified with all other visual crafts.Frank was all about cohesiveness across the departments.
Its really hard to find 1950s and 60s American props in Germany, Meizler says.
It is just a bit different because shes a bit off.
I was doing complicated shots and it was very hard to keep all the dolly tracks straight.
Theres not a straight angle in that film, which is a fascinating [parallel].
