An interesting camera trick enhances the climax of one of Boni's fantasies: prior to his waking, rows of wavering golden lines fill the frame, fading in and out of intensity. The ceasing of the effect — which was preconceived by Denis — signals the end of Boni's dream. Godard states, "That idea was inspired by these special French shutters called percienne blinds, which are metallic and have small holes on the top. Sometimes when you are in the city, a car's headlights will create that effect [when the beams pass along the blinds] — creating an abstract shape that's moving, and going from light to dark. Claire wanted an almost mental representation of that, so I just placed two lights [a pair of 500-watt sodium-vapor bulbs] behind the shutter, and moved them around to create the effect."
During filming of the house interiors — which were rendered on Eastman Kodak's 5297 stock — the duo made sparing use of HMI and tungsten fixtures; the director "wanted the house to be like a womb, since there is the mystery of what's growing in Nénette's stomach." Scenes in the kitchen, for example, were shot with one Chinese lantern and three Balcar neon tubes (of 1K or less).
Both Denis and Godard had previously used Balcar fixtures for still photography. To achieve a glow for the intimate skin-surfing shots — such as those which explore Boni when he is alone in his bedroom — Godard would position a Balcar near to the body part in shot. She expounds, "When filming the nearly naked Boni in his bedroom, I wanted to give the audience the sensation that by seeing him they would like to touch him. It's intimacy, though, not voyeurism. I wanted a simple source because it's easier to find the right angle for the light. I also needed mobile lighting because I had to spend more time trying to frame the shot in harmony with the actors."
Getting in synch with the actors was essential, since Denis' directing technique tends towards "framing for coverage," a practice she learned as an assistant to both Jarmusch and Wenders. Recalls the director, "Working with them confirmed my feeling that the essence of moviemaking lies in how you move the camera and block out a scene. Personally, I feel that the tendency to do lots of 'coverage' is a response to the feeling of being lost. Sometimes [in such situations], I have to stop and reconcentrate; there's probably one obvious thing about the scene that I can't clearly see. Speaking only for myself, a scene cannot be seen from everywhere unless you want it to be."
One such case occurs when Nénette is lighting a cigarette: the shot pans as she picks up her lighter, and then follows her hands as she flips the cigarette into her mouth and lights it. Recollects Godard, "We didn't talk about that scene, but somehow Claire knows what the camera sees when I'm framing even before we see the dailies. I wanted to create a sense of serenity with the character, so the pan had to be slow; I asked Alice not to move too fast from the ashtray to the lighter so that the camera would arrive [on her face] after she had put the cigarette in her mouth."
Godard says that the music Denis selected for the film became another vital influence upon her cinematography. The original score for Nénette and Boni was created by a Nordic band known as the Tindersticks, and Godard shot many scenes in cadence with the group's lilting, fluid grooves. "Listening to music makes me forget everything; I just let myself go," says Godard. "It must have something to do with sensuality; when I'm framing [a shot] with music — whether it's on the set [via playback] or in my ear — I just follow the rhythm according to the actor." The Tindersticks' wax-and-wane rhythms even had a substantial influence upon the film's languid pacing and abstract narrative: Nénette and Boni was the first film Denis edited according to the flow of its soundtrack.
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