ICG Magazine - September 2020 - The TV Issue

ICG MAGAZINE

FEATURING:

LITTLE AMERICA

+

AN AMERICAN PICKLE

+

HAMILTON

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600 LIVE! (formerly Camera Angles)

600 LIVE! l i v e . i c g 6 0 0 . c o m

pictured: Wally Pfister, ASC

contents THE TV ISSUE September 2020 / Vol. 91 No. 07

DEPARTMENTS gear guide ................ 16 key light ................ 24 master class ................ 26 exposure ................ 30 production credits ................ 88 stop motion .............. 94

SPECIAL Star Trek: Then And Now ...... 76

34

FEATURE 01 HIDDEN NATION A quartet of Local 600 cinematographers eases Apple TV+’s terrific new anthology series, Little America, across physical, emotional, and economic borders.

FEATURE 02 SWEET & SOUR Local 600 Director of Photography Brandon Trost leaps into the director’s chair for the Seth Rogen immigration comedy, An American Pickle.

Photo by Hopper Stone, SMPSP

FEATURE 03 WHO TELLS YOUR STORY When the most acclaimed musical in Broadway history needed to be captured for the screen, where did it turn? To Local 600, of course.

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50 64

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“The Channel 9 HALIFAX: Retribution mini-series was set and shot in Melbourne.

I wanted to maximise the fact that it was a city-based show and get the most out of the landscape. The premise of the story includes an unknown sniper who could be watching from anywhere, so for a cinematographer it had great visual scope with vast night time cityscapes and selective points of view. With lots of night and low light scenes I chose to shoot full frame to make the most of the Cooke T2 S7/i lenses capturing a true, big cinematic look with bokeh influence.

I love the characteristics that are consistent across all the Cooke lenses. You get great colour rendition and unique, interesting focus characteristics – sharp but not harsh, and with the right focus drop off in full frame the images can be controlled to look painterly and create a fluidity of character with great depth.

I also like the physicality and mechanics of the lenses; you always get the same sort of focus roll, smooth, consistent movement throughout the range – my focus puller loves them! Professionally I find them to be an absolute asset.”

Geoffrey Hall, ACS Cinematographer, HALIFAX: Retribution

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Publisher Teresa Muñoz Executive Editor David Geffner Art Director Wes Driver

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Tyler Bourdeau

STAFF WRITER Pauline Rogers

ACCOUNTING

Glenn Berger Dominique Ibarra

COPY EDITORS

Peter Bonilla Maureen Kingsley

CONTRIBUTORS

Ted Elrick David Geffner Hopper Stone, SMPSP

September 2020 vol. 91 no. 07

Local

600

International Cinematographers Guild

IATSE Local 600 NATIONAL PRESIDENT John Lindley, ASC VICE PRESIDENT Dejan Georgevich, ASC 1ST NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Christy Fiers 2ND NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Baird Steptoe NATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER Stephen Wong NATIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY-TREASURER Jamie Silverstein NATIONAL SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Deborah Lipman NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Rebecca Rhine ASSOCIATE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Chaim Kantor

COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

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ADVERTISING POLICY: Readers should not assume that any products or services advertised in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine are endorsed by the International Cinematographers Guild. Although the Editorial staff adheres to standard industry practices in requiring advertisers to be “truthful and forthright,” there has been no extensive screening process by either International Cinematographers Guild Magazine or the International Cinematographers Guild.

EDITORIAL POLICY: The International Cinematographers Guild neither implicitly nor explicitly endorses opinions or political statements expressed in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine. ICG Magazine considers unsolicited material via email only, provided all submissions are within current Contributor Guideline standards. All published material is subject to editing for length, style and content, with inclusion at the discretion of the Executive Editor and Art Director.

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ICG (ISSN 1527-6007) Ten issues published annually by The International Cinematographers Guild 7755 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, 90046, U.S.A. Periodical postage paid at Los Angeles, California.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ICG 7755 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood, California 90046 Copyright 2020, by Local 600, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. Entered as Periodical matter, September 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Subscriptions: $88.00 of each International Cinematographers Guild member’s annual dues is allocated for an annual subscription to International Cinematographers Guild Magazine.

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president's letter

Stars in Our Eyes I read a tweet this morning that warned of an asteroid heading straight for the earth. And? In a long season of unsettling events, it just seemed like piling on. There may be a fine line between fantasy and optimism, but the choice is ours.

Here are some green shoots: Members are beginning to go back to work in multiple genres, at home and in far-flung locations. There has been confusion about some safety protocols and testing procedures, but for the most part the work has been proceeding safely.

Crews are adapting to new strategies and sharing information about what works and what does not. New methods and workflows are emerging and evolving, as always, but this time the changes are driven by the pandemic.

I occasionally hear that “nothing will ever be the same.” But when was it ever? Change is constant, even when the drivers are different. Will the New Normal be worse than the Old Normal? Does “normal” even exist?

Another constant is the human desire for storytelling – from cave painting to oral traditions, to writing and the theater, movies, and now some of the best television of all time, for which the audience’s appetite is only growing, despite a global pandemic. Your skills and talents as Local 600 members are the foundation on which this storytelling relies. When the production demand fully returns, your expertise will be needed to meet that demand.

Labor Day has passed and hardly anyone was looking for a three-day holiday. What workers are looking for every day of every year never changes – fair wages, safe working conditions, sustainable health care and retirement with dignity. Sound familiar? Those are the same battles that brought out federal troops a hundred years ago to quell riots and strikes by workers against railroads, mining companies, and many other

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exploitative industries across the American Industrial Revolution. The battle remains the same today as working people continue to fight for equality and social justice, which is as important to achieve in our neighborhoods as it is in our workplaces.

One day this pandemic will be in the past and will become part of the story joining so many others in our collective history.

In the meantime, there is an election coming, a vaccine coming, change coming, scripts coming and more. So, let’s set aside the anxiety about the approaching asteroid and concentrate on a much brighter future together.

John Lindley, ASC National President International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600

Photo by Sara Terry

wide angle

I

t’s axiomatic to observe these days that with doors closing everywhere – i.e., cinemas mostly still shuttered due to COVID-19 – other doors open to fill the breach. Such was the case with two of our three features for this annual September TV issue, which, along with our cover story, Apple TV+’s Little America, all center on stories of immigration. An American Pickle, along with Disney +’s recent streaming version of Hamilton, was designed to be a theatrical release – summer 2021 for Hamilton, summer 2020 for Pickle, a Sony Picture production that became the first original title for the new streaming platform, HBO Max. These two examples (among many others) show that while COVID-19 has closed industry doors faster than anyone could have imagined, it’s also forced filmmakers (who once upon a time approached cinema and television as two distinct media) to understand that in 2020 and beyond, everything is television.

This issue hits ICG digital platforms a few days after Labor Day, America’s annual recognition of working families, so it’s with special pride that we can offer such diverse stories of immigration. Hamilton (page 64), shot over a handful of performances in 2016 at Manhattan’s Richard Rodgers Theatre, was lensed by Director of Photography Declan Quinn, ASC, and a full Local 600 camera team, who all worked hard to capture the personal intimacy of this historical figure without detracting from the live audience experience. The magnitude of Hamilton’s story – an orphan born on a small Caribbean island who eventually becomes one of America’s founding fathers – as recreated

by Lin-Manuel Miranda, was not lost on the filmmakers. In our story, the Guild team recalls a brief moment of on-camera shake, the result of Guild veteran Operator Bruce McCallum (who passed away not long after the Hamilton shoot) momentarily overwhelmed with emotion.

As Hamilton Camera Assistant Stanley Fernandez recalls: “We were given the task to man the Technocrane for the show. Bruce behind the wheels of steel ensured solid execution of shots. He got a little emotional in those few seconds of the show, but that was

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just Bruce’s human and professional sides coming together; he was so passionate about the work. He believed this project was special with the talent in front of and behind the camera.”

"Special" also describes the workflow for An American Pickle (page 50), the directing debut of Local 600 Director of Photography Brandon Trost. Shot by John Guleserian in and around Pittsburgh, PA, this sweet fable about Herschel Greenbaum, a Chasidic Jew from Eastern Europe who emigrates to America in 1919, tumbles into a vat of pickle brine and wakes up in modern-day Brooklyn where he meets his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum, required enormous technical precision from the Local 600 camera team.

Seth Rogen, who plays both roles, grew a real beard for Herschel, which he then shaved clean, a few weeks later, for Ben. “Every single frame had to be shot a second time in the same place,” Guleserian reveals. “Every light in the same spot, with the same color temperature and quality.” UV pens and markers (when shooting Herschel) were used to note every camera position, lens, and type of shot, making the interior sets and locations “look like something out of a crime scene, when we came back,” Guleserian jokes. Challenging scenes, like a long walk-and-talk in Allegheny Cemetery or a 10-pager when Ben takes Herschel back to his apartment, were helped by new digital technology that, according to A-Camera Operator Michael Fuchs, SOC, allowed “DIT Chase Abrams to provide a 50/50 overlay of one image from before and the new image – the live one. Every department was tested, but we all knew it was in an effort to try to do something as genuinely as possible,” Fuchs shares.

Being true to your roots is also the key to Little America, an anthology series with Guild Directors of Photography Paula Huidobro and David Franco sharing duties on six episodes, and Eric Moynier and Jonathan Furmanski each shooting one episode. The show serves up the widest breadth of immigration stories as any produced for television – from a Nigerian college student trying to fit into Oklahoma cowboy culture to a young gay man from oppressive Syria, who finds love and acceptance in Boise, Idaho. What makes Little America unique, aside from the humanistic camerawork and warm lighting, is its ethos of total inclusivity behind and in front of the camera. As Executive Producer Lee Eisenberg (Exposure, page 30) described: “So many people involved in this show – from the directors to the actors to the marketing people at Apple – were immigrants or children of immigrants. They saw a version of themselves, and that was very gratifying.”

CONTRIBUTORS

Ted Elrick Sweet and Sour “Remembering back to The Parent Trap and The Patty Duke Show, I was reminded of the difficulties when shooting the same actor for two roles; the attention to every little detail over the course of An American Pickle was impressive.

Once everyone wrapped their head around the challenges, they jumped at the chance to prove they could match the two Seth Rogens as masterfully as possible. Director of Photography John Guleserian and Director Brandon Trost set a high bar that serves as a model for how we can all benefit from setting high bars in our lives.”

Hopper Stone, SMPSP Sweet and Sour, Stop Motion “Working on An American Pickle was a weirdly profound experience. The immigration story depicted there is typical of many American Jews (myself included, but minus the Cossacks).

And (as depicted in the movie), I was brought closer to my Jewish roots through the death of family members. I actually became very choked up when Ben says the Kaddish prayer in the Schlupsk synagogue, as I identified so closely with what the character was experiencing.”

ICG MAGAZINE

David Geffner Executive Editor

Twitter: @DGeffner Email: david@icgmagazine.com

FEATURING:

LITTLE AMERICA

+

AN AMERICAN PICKLE

+

Cover photo by Patrick Harbron

HAMILTON

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PAUL HAZARD Local 728 Chief Lighting Technician

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THE TV I S S UE

17

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CLAUDIO MIRANDA, ASC Local 600 Director of Photography

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RAFAEL SÁNCHEZ Local 728 Chief Lighting Technician

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S EPTEMBER 2020

ICG MAGAZINE

THE TV I S S UE

21

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THE TV I S S UE

23

KEY LIGHT

Jean de Segonzac 10 (PLUS ONE) QUESTIONS

BY PAULINE ROGERS

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEAN DE SEGONZAC

What was it like the first time you touched a camera? I might have been lambasted by other film students, while I was in college, for “prostituting my art,” but the job of shooting news was a valuable experience. The station provided lightweight CP-16 cameras. We shot magnetic-sound-striped 16-millimeter film and edited the material with a tape splicer. The transition to video came soon after. The RCA TK-76 was a bulky camera cabled to a massive ¾-inch deck. With heavy battery belts, this was not a nimble system.

Tell us about shooting documentaries in the 1980s. I arrived in New York with a film called Return to Poland, which became my passport, and I soon began to freelance for PBS, CBS, and independent documentarians. I had no agent, just the telephone

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and word of mouth. My Aaton LTR-7 provided endless adventures around the globe, and there were times when we believed [documentaries] could sway hearts and minds. Like when Roger Weisberg was summoned to the Clinton White House to present his film Borderline Medicine, that I shot for PBS, which was a rally for universal healthcare. Many of the films I worked on dealt with the AIDS epidemic, culminating in the emotionally gut-wrenching Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt.

What stateside projects were formative? Two very different documentary features took me across the United States. Road Scholar [Cine Golden Eagle Award], directed by Roger Weisberg, that I shot and co-directed, was a thoroughly researched film – we first traveled the full itinerary without cameras. The

film starred Andrei Codrescu, a Romanian immigrant who learns how to drive and embarks on a crosscountry trip of discovery in a bright red 1968 Cadillac convertible. The film, which was blown up from 16 to 35 millimeters and distributed in theaters by Goldwyn Classics, explored the meaning of freedom with a cast of eccentric characters. For Where Are We? Our Trip Through America, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, we just got into a car with a Betacam camera and traveled through the South, haphazardly stopping along the way to find out what made people happy, their pain, sorrow, and regrets.

How did you transition to narrative films? When my daughter was born, it was time to stay closer to home. Nick Gomez was mounting a low-budget

09.2020

“I try my best to go with the flow by staying close to the DP and soliciting his or her feedback and ideas. TV movies and pilots are a different game: the director can strive for a personal look.”

film at the Shooting Gallery and looked at my documentary reel. I had fantasized about working with dollies and cranes, but handheld-documentary style was hot. According to my Polish film teacher, the tripod was the “oppressive authoritarian instrument of the Communist state” – handheld was the true expression of the free independent artist.

As a result, I strived to produce the smoothest possible handheld camera work. Each scene in Laws of Gravity consists of one or two master shots with the camera weaving smoothly around the action. It was made for 40 thousand dollars and nominated for many awards [including an Independent Spirit Award, NSFC Award, and NYFCC Award]. It was a real sensation, especially amongst fellow filmmakers.

What was the move from documentary to series television like? Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana’s Homicide: Life on the Street was groundbreaking, mimicking Godard’s Breathless, hence the 16mm handheld camera and the jump cuts. We rarely put marks down for the actors. What’s cool about shooting handheld is discovering opportunities that aren’t obvious at the outset. In the middle of shooting a scene, we would feel free to re-block if we could enhance the camera moves and advance the storytelling. Using a tripod was a momentous occasion that would garner applause and catcalls.

It was a wondrously free-form show, fast and giddy.

Did making the move to directing live up to your expectations? In 1996, I gathered up the nerve to ask for a directing slot. The Homicide episode “Sniper: Part One” marked the start of a 22-year career directing episodic shows and TV movies.

First day; first shot – my heart was racing, as the chance for public humiliation was much higher.

As a DP, when flare-ups occurred on set, I’d take advantage of the situation to have a little snooze.

[Laughs.] There is no such escape for a director.

Things were moving along smoothly enough that first morning. I was on take eight of a dolly shot I couldn’t quite nail. Suddenly, I felt my arm being squeezed.

It was Line Producer Jim Finnerty, former key grip extraordinaire, who was inches from my face and snarling: “Every time you repeat that shot, it costs me five thousand dollars.”

Is there a downside to moving from director of photography to director? Sometimes I don’t get hired because the producers worry that, as an exDP, I will clash with the show’s DP. Rare instances of bad chemistry are inevitable. More difficult to overcome was the assumption that directors coming from the camera department would not be familiar with the language of actors. The problem was real as I often missed acting subtleties. But the jobs kept coming, and I never made the time to study acting until a showrunner, not happy with a guest star’s performance, bumped me from his show’s roster.

That was a wake-up call. I made time to take acting classes and directing workshops, and read dozens of books on the subject. Getting bumped was the best thing that ever happened to me.

How do you like to work with the director of photography? Rules shift show to show. Sometimes I must communicate my wishes to the DP, who then talks to the operators. Other times I can collaborate directly with the operators, which is more the European style. On Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, I collaborate closely with operator John Heron while DP Michael Green does his best to accommodate my meandering shots. I prefer shows that employ two DP’s. Sarah Cawley was recently on an episode of Manifest I directed that involved fire, smoke and chaos. It was essential having her with me through prep. When shooting started, she had massive set-pieces lit, everything up and ready to go, Technocrane in place. On CSI, Michael Slovis said that I could do whatever I wanted as long as he could get a backlight on the actors. On Elementary, I was restricted from getting too close. Blacklist insisted on wide shots married to close-ups. No medium shots.

Law and Order banned wide shots and establishing shots. I try my best to go with the flow by staying close to the DP and soliciting his or her feedback and ideas. TV movies and pilots are a different game: the director can strive for a personal look.

What has the transition from film to digital been like for you? While I was working on a waste-management documentary, I was brought to a warehouse containing thousands of blue barrels full of caustic liquid soaked in fiberglass insulation. We were told:

“These barrels contain the chemical effluent of your film processing industry. Eventually, these barrels will be buried in the Southwest.” Wow – one more reason to embrace and improve digital media. Seriously, from the TK-76 to the ARRI ALEXA is a phenomenal leap.

It took 40 years. No more scratched footage, hairs in the gate, unprocessed film rolls lost at the airport. I love the naturalistic look Kasper Tuxen achieved on Boss with minimal lighting. The range of the ALEXA is astounding; Michael Lohmann, shooting with a RED camera at 4K on Nashville, instead of changing the lens for a closer shot would punch into the chip, completely confusing me. It is the look of our modern age, and I embrace it even though I am not a fan of the digital tent that swallows up the DP, gaffer, and key grip. I miss seeing the light meter in action. We were somehow less encumbered with film.

Has the shooting style of the Law and Order franchise evolved over the years? The transition from film to digital was difficult. The edict was to make digital look like film. It would be several years before the ALEXA made the film look possible.

Criminal Intent, a dark show with moody lighting, had to adapt when the network wanted the episodes to have a bright, even cheerful look. Tastes change with the times. Last year, SVU painted all their sets darker.

Moody is back in vogue.

How has TV production changed – from mostly broadcast, to cable, to now all the various streaming platforms? A network episode in 1996 ran 48 minutes and 30 seconds. The delivery time today is 41 minutes and 30 seconds. In 1996, four acts were standard. Now, most shows air five acts in seven- to ten-minute segments, written to include a cliffhanger before the commercial break.

Short digestible bits like a serial comic strip. Quibi, for example, runs on the same principle. A logical evolution. Small enticing nuggets are the future. The bits put together will still make a whole, but it is a different approach for a different collective attention span. I prefer working scripts for streaming services like Netflix, with no commercial breaks – more time to tell the story. I once worked an episode of HBO’s Oz. My cut came in at one hour and twenty minutes and they aired all of it! (cont'd on page 26)

THEISTV THE TV S U EI S S UE

25

MASTER CLASS

Jonathan Freeman, ASC DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

BY PAULINE ROGERS PHOTOS COURTESY OF JONATHAN FREEMAN

09.2020

“I was about eight when I saw Star Wars for the first time, and I immediately got the filmmaking bug,” remembers three-time Emmy-winning Director of Photography (and five-time ASC-award winner) Jonathan Freeman, ASC. “The opening shot that John Dykstra [ASC] and his team created was so powerful. Tilting down from a starfield, a planet is revealed, enveloped by an ultramarine ozone layer, reminiscent of NASA photos of the time. A spaceship passes overhead and recedes into depth toward the planet. Laser bolts skim past the top of the screen, giving the illusion that something is firing from behind. Then, another ship, mammoth in scale, shrouds the frame and follows in pursuit. As a kid, my brain knew it wasn’t real,” he explains, “but I had to understand why it ‘felt’ real. The key was rendering of light and shadow, and the deceptive sense of scale and movement.”

Lighting and shadow were part of Freeman’s upbringing. His mother was a painter who would often work until darkness forced her to turn on a light. “I initially thought it was just to save the electric bill,” Freeman laughs. “But I later understood she wanted to see the full spectrum of vanishing light, a shifting palette of ambers and blues. She also taught me that the power of light didn’t have to exist in dramatic moments like a beach at sunrise, or fog-wrapped forest – it happened everywhere, at any time. To this day, I still sometimes wait in semidarkness, watching the fading dusk before turning on a light.”

When a beat-up 1932 Cine-Kodak 8mm Model 20 camera came up for auction at a local Dundas, Ontario, Canada churchyard auction, a young Jonathan (who only had a $5 threshold) scanned the room for competition. “The auctioneer pointed to me,” he remembers. “‘I have two dollars. Do I hear two-fifty?’ An eternity passed. I avoided looking around but sensed the entire room was focused on the back of my head. Finally… ‘Going once, going twice? Sold to the young gentleman for two dollars.’”

A year later, close friend Alex Chapple asked Freeman to shoot a “short war film,” Struggle Through Agony, which was quite accomplished for a fourth-grader. Alex explained the process: he would direct, Freeman would do the lighting, and they would collaborate on the shots. “Simple enough,” Freeman laughs. “Until Alex mentioned he wanted to use his Braun Nizo S80 Super 8. He said if I’d learned to thread my regular 8mm camera, loading Super 8 cartridges would be a piece of cake. First lesson: never let technology intimidate!”

There was also an early job as a camera trainee post-film-school, where Freeman says he couldn’t (continued on page 28)

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keep track of the film footage or equipment. “When I was asked to do the clapper, I often panicked, clapping out of frame as I stuttered through the slate numbers. ‘Second Sticks’ could have been my nickname. I was the worst trainee ever.”

Learning the craft of cinematography didn’t go any more smoothly.

“My first day shooting and directing an actor in film school,” he continues, “I got very little sleep, trying to imagine the shots. When daylight had broken it still seemed very dark. So I looked at my bedside clock, which read 10 o’clock! I was late! scrambled to get my equipment and ran outside, stopping in my tracks – it was the darkest day ever.

I pulled out my Sekonic light meter and confirmed the worst: I didn’t have enough light to shoot. I ran back inside to call the actor and noticed my clock was still at 10. I looked at the kitchen clock, which read 6:30 a.m. Dawn had just broken!”

Freeman’s “professional” career began with a series of low-budget sci-fi movies. “Smoke, shadow, and wacky animated light,” he explains. “Heavy shadows were encouraged, to hide the sins of cheap-looking latex monsters. I learned the value of photographic darkness. We knew we weren’t making art, but if you turned off the sound and ignored the story, it might pass as something more than it was.”

By the late ’90s, Freeman wanted to do features, but the best scripts were coming from cable TV. “Television was just starting to break through, and HBO led the way,” he offers. “Their motto was ‘It’s Not Television, It’s HBO,’ and there was some truth to that. Their programming stood out as they were willing to put a lot of money on the screen.”

His first HBO project, Rome, came about through Director of Photography Alik Sakharov, ASC, who had seen Hollywoodland, a feature Freeman shot for Director Allen Coulter. When Sakharov had to go back to New York for the final episodes of The Sopranos, he recommended Freeman as a replacement. “They had a massive network of streets and alleys spilling into a scaled version of the Roman Forum,” Freeman recalls.

“You could point the lens anywhere, and it would be scenically perfect. The set was stunning.”

Freeman describes Rome as an “opportunity” to tell a longer-range story, with many of the tools of a large feature. “We had less time to shoot

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than many films of that scale but more than most television,” he notes. “And we had significantly more prep time, which helped make our shooting days more efficient. That was a key formula for HBO – trusting the people they hired, providing the tools and time to deliver something never seen on TV. HBO was the trailblazer for the streaming world.”

On Rome, he met Director John Maybury, whom Freeman calls “a brilliant filmmaker and visual artist. One of my methods [when still shooting on film] was shooting digital stills of the setups, and color-grading them to demonstrate the true exposure. This was particularly important for John during darker scenes where the video assist wasn’t representing the final image. When shooting darker scenes, whether film or digital, I intentionally overexpose the image and print down in the final grade. This gives latitude in the shadows, without compromising the black level in the density.”

Maybury asked Freeman to work on his next film, The Edge of Love, with Keira Knightly – a period piece centered on the life of Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet, during World War Two. The two primary settings were the blacked-out interiors of London during the Blitz and the bleak countryside of Wales. Freeman says he felt digital would be a great tool since it would provide a more accurate canvas and confidently allow Maybury to make live adjustments, like a painter would. “At that time, the most advanced digital camera was Panavision’s Genesis,” he states. “It was impressive in lower light, but like all digital cameras then, it struggled in capturing detail in the highlights. I felt it was perfect for the London night scenes. But for the Wales portion, film capture made more sense, as it offered better highlight retention and more durable shooting in a notorious rain-swept landscape.

“After testing, I proposed to shoot both mediums and combine them in the DI,” he continues. “This worked out on a production level as well, since we were to begin shooting on location, then move to London. I could start with a film package and switch over to the Genesis for the remainder of the shoot. In the DI, I worked with Brian Krijgsman at Framestore. We were able to apply grain effects to help blend the two mediums.”

Not long after, Freeman became a part of TV history with Boardwalk Empire and Game of

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Thrones. “I remember my first meetings with Director Tim Van Patten, for Boardwalk Empire,” he recounts. “We wanted to find reference points that complemented the pilot, directed by Martin Scorsese and shot by Stuart Dryburgh [ASC].

They had created a hybrid of gritty realism and expressionistic flourishes. I came armed with a collection of books about the Ashcan School – New York-based artists who thrived during Prohibition.

Sure enough, when we sat down together, Tim laughed and plopped down the same books. That harmony has carried through all our work.”

As the season progressed, and lead character Nucky’s world collapsed, Freeman says they wanted to reflect that through lighting. “The shadows became deeper, the highlights hotter, without crushing the contrast,” he explains. “In later episodes, we are introduced to Harrow, a World War One veteran whose face was disfigured. To function in society, he had to wear a facemask to hide his past. Everyone hid behind masks, so I wanted to use light to give the same impression for the other characters. Working with half-light, we created subtle masks of sorts, using shadow to hide part of their faces from view.”

Game of Thrones was an entirely different animal incorporating multiple units and countries and various cinematographers who applied similar lighting styles. “It was a unique opportunity to find a common vision,” Freeman recalls. “By the time we started planning Season 8, Production Designer Deb Riley introduced us to a virtual-reality tool.

[Some sets were fully built; some were partially built, with visual effects extensions.] VR allowed us to explore different concepts before construction plans were finalized.

“With this 3D VR system, developed by The Third Floor, we could virtually ‘scout’ a set, even before it was built,” Freeman adds. “Adam Kiriloff was our VR technical artist. We used a VR headset, with a hand controller, and walked through the virtual set, which was a 3D model of Deb’s plans. Using the controller, we explored angles like a real location. Pressing a side button, the user could pull themselves up to different heights, as if on a crane.”

He says the VR controller also had a viewfinder, which could capture 2D stills and video representing camera moves. “This replaced the need for storyboards since we could create photoboards of our own and provide accurate camera

data, like position and focal length,” Freeman shares. “Using the same 3D software, the team at The Third Floor was able to input this data into their previs. The process saved weeks.”

Freeman’s latest project, the Apple TV + original series Defending Jacob, offered different challenges. “When Director Morten Tyldum and I met, we agreed we should shoot simultaneously running cameras, for performance,” he offers. “It was a challenge to shoot like this, without it feeling like conventional television. When we couldn’t get a strong B-camera angle, we’d pick up a performance detail or prep for the next setup.”

One key motif was B-Camera shooting closeups, where the camera was a few inches higher than a character’s eyes, “as if were sharing his perspective,” says Freeman.

Defending Jacob was the first series Freeman shot almost entirely with LED’s. “I often use minidimmer boards, where I can adjust the key and fill ratio on the fly,” Freeman describes. “Before LED’s, the dynamic range was limited because tungsten warmed up too much when dimmed. Also, I now feel more comfortable shooting a rehearsal. I can adjust to the actors’ positions immediately without disrupting the set.”

ARRI SkyPanels have also factored heavily into Defending Jacob, being bounced through book lights or lighting sections of night exteriors.

“We also used LitePanels through diffusion as key or fill in tight spaces,” he adds. Yet another new lighting element came into Freeman’s toolkit when Chief Lighting Technician Josh Dreyfus introduced Quasar tubes. “We use them in the standard way tubes are used,” Freeman says. “But Josh convinced me to use them as an alternative to 18K HMI’s. This was brilliant since I prefer to diffuse them, potentially making units on Condors bulky.

Key Grip Woody Bell built softboxes with eight-foot Quasars. They weighed less and drew less power.

And they were full RGB and dimmable.”

Freeman describes his career as an “interesting journey,” moving from youthful experiments through “cheesy” low-budget sci-fi thrillers to movies for film and television, and finally onto groundbreaking iconic TV series. “I’m not a particularly technical cinematographer,” he concludes. “From the very start, I learned to embrace technology, but not be intimidated by it. Technology is a tool, like everything else. It should serve your needs, not distract you because it’s shiny and new.”

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Lee Eisenberg EXECUTIVE PRODUCER – LITTLE AMERICA

BY DAVID GEFFNER PHOTO COURTESY OF RAMONA ROSALES / LEE EISENBERG

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Lee Eisenberg wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after executive-producing two seasons of the Showtime comedy SMILF, and writing-directing (with long-time partner Gene Stupnitsky) his first feature, Good Boys – all on the heels of five seasons as a writer/producer on one of the most influential TV comedies of the last two decades, The Office.

But he did know it would involve immigrants in America.

“There was a Master of None episode called ‘Parents,’ about their experiences as immigrants and the impact on their children,” the Boston-born filmmaker describes. “My father is Israeli, and I thought about the stories he told me about when he came to America. I wondered what each of those might look like over an entire TV series.”

Eisenberg called Epic Magazine founder Josh Bearman, who wrote the magazine article on which Argo was based, and Bearman suggested a series of first-person photo essays in Epic highlighting different immigrant stories.

“The researchers were all over the country for this project,” Eisenberg continues, “bringing back these incredible reallife stories that you’d never see on TV – a girl from Mexico who becomes a squash champion, an Iranian man who bought a property with a giant rock on it. I got in touch with Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, who had done The Big Sick, and Alan Yang, who had produced that Master of None episode. We started pitching Little America. Apple, from the very beginning, was the place most connected to the material.”

Eisenberg, whose TV roots are strictly in broadcast and cable, says working with Apple TV+ executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, former heads of Sony Pictures Television; Matt Cherniss, former head of WGN America; and Michelle Lee, former VP of Television for Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci; made the transition to streaming media more comfortable. “So many people involved in this show – from the directors to the marketing people at Apple – were immigrants or children of immigrants,” he tells ICG Magazine Executive Editor David Geffner. “They saw a version of themselves in this show, and that was very gratifying.”

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Anthology series can look and feel disjointed. But I was struck by how much creative freedom your Directors of Photography – Paula Huidobro, David Franco, Eric Moynier and Jonathan Furmanski – had within each episode, while still making it look whole. Lee Eisenberg: The first two DP’s we hired were David and Paula, whose work showed they could do anything – large shows with scope as well as very intimate stories. The camera [in their past work] always felt intentional and human, like they didn’t need to show off for the sake of a cool shot. Jonathan had shot my feature Good Boys, and I knew he was of that same mindset.

Eric, who comes from documentaries, which was perfect for [“The Grand Prize Winners” episode, shot aboard a real cruise ship], was brought on by David, so we knew he would be terrific as well. Of course, Paula is from Mexico, and David is French [by way of Africa and Canada]. But all of the DP’s felt invested in these stories. They understood this wasn’t a show with big moves, and that the camera had to connect on a human level. They laid a wonderful foundation, which we layered with great production design, wardrobe, editing and music.

Little America is a different kind of comedy for you. How does it compare to your past network shows? Those leaned more into the writing and situational acting – you’re trying to get in as many jokes as possible, and are, perhaps, less reliant on the visual storytelling.

We wanted Little America to be filmic, and with regard to the writers and directors, it was always: “Do they have a connection to the story?” Either directly with the home country, or maybe with their own immigration experience. Bharat Nalluri, who is from India by way of the U.K., directed the story about the Nigerian cowboy, and to my mind, that’s a perfect 30-minute episode of television.

[Director] Deepa Mehta brought so many personal touches to the story about the young man whose parents return to India, leaving him alone to run their motel. For me, Little America was a chance to branch out from the writers and directors I mostly work with.

How did that feel? Scary! I saw the first cut of the first episode, and I was like, “Oh, wow. Have I just tanked my career in network comedy?” [Laughs.]

Anthology series can be challenging because, unlike most episodics or multi-cam comedies, there are no standing sets.

That’s correct. Apple was very generous, budget-wise, but, for example, with The Office, we were on stage for four days and location for one. With Little America, which was six- to seven-day episodes, we were on a soundstage one day and the rest was location. For “The Rock” episode, we were concerned about safety walking up the stairs of the house we used, they were so old. You’re totally at the mercy of the location on a project like this.

Little America premiered last year, before recent events related to social justice began taking place. But it feels more “right now” than ever. Was that intentional? When we first started discovering these stories, there was not enough diversity on television, behind or in front of the camera. Certainly, you see that with our directors on this show, but also the actors, many of whom are often cast as convenience store owners with a few lines, or, like with the two episodes we did with Middle Eastern actors, their last roles were as terrorists! That’s the bulk of their IMDB pages. With Little America, they can speak in their natural accents – or even their own languages in some cases. We see them carrying groceries, buying

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“All of the DP’s felt invested in these stories. They understood this wasn’t a show with big moves, and that the camera had to connect on a human level.”

homes, going to nightclubs. That felt important to all of us involved, because when people see themselves on screen they feel more a part of the national conversation.

Without new content providers like an Apple TV +, which is hungry to establish itself, does Little America get made? That’s hard to say. Good stories are good stories, but having done this for a long time, I can say that having John Krasinski attached to a Tom Clancy novel is a different TV pitch than real-life tales of immigration with no stars. Apple was a place that understood the goal of this series, and, perhaps, more willing to take a chance to, as you say, become a place that filmmakers want to come to.

And yet, when it came to Emmy nominations, another Apple TV + show, The Morning Show – shot with a great Local 600 crew, I would add – got a lot of attention, and Little America was left out. [Laughs.] Yeah, that’s a tough one, not so much for my ego as the showrunner, but for our great production crew, our directors, writers and actors, who all deserve to be recognized. Plus, we had the best music, hands down, of any show – so what’s up with that?! [Laughs]. But, seriously, it’s challenging for an anthology series when it comes to the Emmys. Actors get nominated as guest stars, and you don’t fit into any category – we’re not a limited series, we’re not strictly a comedy, but we’re only a half-hour, so we can’t be an episodic drama.

Maybe next year. [Laughs.]

We covered The Office, as well as shows that The Office inspired, like Modern Family and Parks and Recreation, both of which shared Local 600 crews. The approach to the cinematography, imitating a documentary style, was new for comedy at the time. Does comedy today need more surprises and risk-taking? There’s so much TV now, and you do need to separate yourself from the pack, as everything can feel familiar. I don’t have a secret playbook, so it’s a case-by-case basis. I think Succession is one of the funniest shows on TV, even though it’s a straight-ahead drama. They use handheld, as we did on The Office, to feel like you’re discovering things along with the characters.

But I don’t know what the next evolution is. The mockumentary form has worked well, but it still

comes down to the story on the page and a director and production team who understand the tone you want. I’m working on a new one-hour drama, based on a true story, and there’s plenty of comedy to be wrung, even from that.

As an EP and showrunnner, you have the ultimate responsibility for the safety of your production team. When you’re back to work, how do you think that should look? That’s a great question.

Part of it is to see what’s working – or not working – on these shows that have started early. There has to be a lot of testing, and nothing can be taken for granted. When you look at the numbers around the country, it appears that what we’ve all been told – wear masks, wash your hands, maintain social distancing – works fairly well. But, clearly, there are some people who feel impervious to this virus – like it can’t happen to them – and that type of attitude is dangerous. As much as I love Little America, when your name is at the top of the call sheet, your job is to keep people safe (and keep them employed), so you are constantly looking at the protocols and understanding that you can’t rush into anything.

The title sequence for Little America is quite creative. How did that come about? We wanted it to feel like pieces of Americana, and like it could describe the breadth of experiences found in these stories. We had this idea of having a different song for each episode, which gave the audience a hint of what was to come, cued by music from that character’s home country. Also, there were small things, like the marquees, or the sides of the buildings where you see the titles had to change from episode to episode – the star of “The Nigerian Cowboy” is Conphidance; he has no last name. The attention to all these details added up to something we hoped would guide you into the different worlds.

The final episode dealt with immigration in a different way than the others – it was life and death for the main character. Why choose to end on that story? We debated which episode should go where, and that was tricky to figure out. What I liked about the final scene, in the final episode, is that here is a person who’s been running his entire life. And he finally enters a world – a gay club, with a drag queen performing on stage – where he feels safe. It was a beautiful ending, for that

episode but also for the whole series. It’s hopeful, but far from storybook as he’s left behind so much in his native country. In fact, for me, one of the most affecting scenes of the entire series is when that character, Rafiq, has run away to Jordan, he’s on Facebook and he sees images of his brother, whom we met at the beginning announcing his wedding engagement, now with a new baby. The father looks so happy and loving, and Rafiq will never be a part of that again. That episode is also a love story as he met his real-life future husband in that club, on that night. If you look at the evolution of the title cards that come after each episode, showing the fate of each real person the stories are based on, that felt like the right way to end Season 1.

That episode was also unique as it’s the only one shot outside of the U.S. – in Canada with an IATSE 667 camera team, thank you very much – for reasons, well, about immigration. Well, it was hard to find an old Syrian city in New Jersey [laughs]. But, yes, the primary reason was that many of the Middle Eastern actors would not have been able to gain entry into the U.S. And I was amazed we were able to move an entire production for one episode and not suffer for it. Of course, if we had been able to shoot in New Jersey, we would have made it work with VFX and whatever else was needed. But the Old Montreal look gave a different dimension to that episode, and [DP] Jonathan [Furmanski] did an amazing job.

What can we expect in Season 2? The stories will expand to include entire immigrant communities in the U.S. I wrote an episode about a Somali chef, based in an established Somali community in Minneapolis, who’s trying to bring Somali food to the American mainstream. While Season 1 was more about how the U.S. can change an immigrant’s life, Season 2 will be more about how the immigrant’s passions and culture change this country. Hopefully, we’ll continue to raise the bar visually, with the help of your Local 600 members.

The Somali episode, while not shot yet, takes place over 24 hours, and will have a frenetic, handheld style, à la Uncut Gems [shot by Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC, with a New York-based Guild team], where you’re not sure what’s coming next, and the urgency of the story takes center stage.

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HIDDEN NATION A QUARTET OF LOCAL 600 CINEMATOGRAPHERS EASES APPLE TV+’S TERRIFIC NEW ANTHOLOGY SERIES, LITTLE AMERICA, ACROSS PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, AND ECONOMIC BORDERS.

BY DAVID GEFFNER PHOTOS BY PATRICK HARBRON , DAVID GIESBRECHT, AND ROD MILLINGTON FRAMEGRABS COURTESY OF APPLE TV+

There’s no other show on TV right now – narrative or reality – that captures the immigrant experience like Apple TV+’s aptly titled Little America, an eight-episode anthology series poised to start production on its second season once COVID-19 safety protocols are fully realized. Among the elements that make Little America a singular small-screen experience are the four different Local 600 Directors of Photography – David Franco; Paula Huidobro, AMC; Eric Moynier; and Jonathan Furmanski – who worked for eight different directors, most of them immigrants themselves.

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PHOTO BY PHILIPPE BOSSE / IATSE LOCAL 667

The various stories, with titles like “The Grand Prize Winners,” “The Rock” and “The Baker,” are set in wildly different physical, social and emotional landscapes (of the real characters upon which they are based), yet comprise a visual unity that’s rare for the anthology format. Little America Executive Producer Lee Eisenberg (whose Israeli father was an inspiration for the series) says that unity is due to a clear understanding of how to make the camera feel intentional and storydriven. “The DP’s all had such a sensitivity to this material,” Eisenberg describes. “Paula, David, and Eric are immigrants, and Jonathan, who shot [the 2019 Eisenberg-directed Good Boys], has that same ability to visualize material from the inside out. They provided this warm canvas that was layered by every other department.”

A shared capture system and aspect ratio – Sony VENICE with Panavision Primo 70 Series primes (used in all but Furmanski’s episode “The Son,” which was shot in Canada due to U.S. immigration restrictions on its Middle Eastern actors) – helped with a consistency of tone. Many of Little America’s stories are suffused with a warm color palette that portrays places like Oklahoma, San Diego, and New Jersey (in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s) with the hope and promise that drive each immigrant’s tale.

But it’s much more than the gear.

“One of the reasons [Showrunner/ Director] Sian Heder hired me, I believe,” offers Mexican-born Paula Huidobro, who shot three of the eight episodes, “is because I could bring my feelings to the project as an immigrant.

Things that might seem ordinary to a nativeborn American can appear extraordinary to someone else; so we wanted to preserve that magic and enthusiasm in the storytelling.”

Huidobro’s episode “ The Cowboy,” directed by Indian-born Bharat Nalluri, “is a clear realization of those intentions. College student Iwegbuna Ikeji (Conphidance), who has left his close-knit family in war-torn Nigeria, is striving mightily (and cheerfully) to fit into life in Oklahoma. Scenes of Ikeji visiting a Western store to buy a cowboy hat and boots or a cattle corral filled with lanterns (where he imagines a visit by his Nigerian goat-farming family) contain subtle magic realism that Nalluri says comes from

Huidobro’s emotionally driven approach to cinematography.

“My job is to find the heart and truth of each scene, and I think Paula shares a similar sensibility,” explains Nalluri, who says the episode felt so familiar, it could have been exchanged for his own Indian family’s story.

“Every shot she does is about emotion, every shot is about trying to capture what the character is experiencing at that moment – not about bringing attention to the camera or lighting. It’s perfectly suited to how I like to direct television, especially with a half-hour story shot on multiple locations.”

Finding the right locations, Nalluri adds, is key for an anthology series that will never have the luxury of a repeating stage set. And the (real) cattle ranch Ikeji visits – first during the day where he is invited to help rope-down a wild calf, and then again, by himself, under full moonlight, was not without challenges.

“The entire scene had to be captured in 30- to 40-second beats because it was pouring rain all day and night,” Nalluri recounts. “Yet despite all the mud, and the stopping and starting, both scenes turned out lovely. That’s a testament to how switched-on Paula and her camera team were – indeed, every single department was – on this show.”

“We rated the VENICE at 2500 and used a softbox from above [for the night scene], which I actually thought was too directional,” Huidobro laughs. “The day scene at the ranch was hard as calf roping is very physical and dangerous – the stunt performer could only do it a few times. We had clear safety measures in place for our operators [Jeffrey Dutemple and Todd Armitage]. What I loved about this project was that each episode felt like making a short film, and the directors were so connected to the material.”

Indian-born and Canada-based director Deepa Mehta, whose episode “The Manager” was shot by Huidobro and kicks off the series, says the script, by Obie-winning playwright Rajiv Joseph, expressed “a deep understanding of what immigration has given to American society. Lee Eisenberg encouraged me to dive into the material in preproduction,” Mehta shares, “and I was able to talk with the young man upon whom the story is based, as well as his mother and father. It’s a heartbreaking journey, and Paula immediately understood

OPPOSITE PAGE: MEXICAN-BORN PAULA HUIDOBRO (CENTER OF BOTTOM RIGHT IMAGE) SAYS ONE OF THE REASONS [SHOWRUNNER/ DIRECTOR] SIAN HEDER HIRED HER “IS BECAUSE I COULD BRING MY FEELINGS TO THE PROJECT AS AN IMMIGRANT. THINGS THAT MIGHT SEEM ORDINARY TO A NATIVE-BORN AMERICAN CAN APPEAR EXTRAORDINARY TO SOMEONE ELSE; SO WE WANTED TO PRESERVE THAT MAGIC AND ENTHUSIASM IN THE STORYTELLING.” BOTTOM PHOTO BY PATRICK HARBRON

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how to get the emotional nuance – Kabir is so alive when we first meet him, and his parents are running the motel. Then they leave – for so many years – and the audience, like Kabir, becomes an observer to the diminution of his dreams.”

Mehta says Huidobro and her camera team, along with Production Designer Amy Williams, “wove a visual tapestry that was almost theatrical – like that motel was a stage where the details of what surrounds Kabir reveal so much about his life,” Mehta adds.

“The entire story is shot handheld, except for when Kabir goes to Washington D.C. for the spelling bee. Laying down tracks to make that section look stable was because the spelling bee was a vehicle for Kabir to get his parents back. He thought it through very carefully; and Paula, and her team, visualized that so well.”

Visualizing “The Jaguar,” a Rocky-like sports story that is Little America’s most rousing episode, was a challenge for Guild Director of Photography David Franco (ICG Magazine June/July 2020, Law & Disorder), who says that when he accepted the job, he didn’t realize each story was a period piece. “Producers sometimes forget that anything before 2000 is period and everything has to be replaced,” he smiles. “And shooting New Jersey for San Diego was interesting. I wanted to shoot as close to the actors as possible for these personal stories, and since Apple requires 4K, the larger format [Sony VENICE] was great. We could use longer lenses – a 100-millimeter will feel like a 50-millimeter and will not distort faces. And we had more control over depth of field. Like having to hide things in the background when the budget would not allow for everything to be period-correct.” “ The Jaguar,” directed by Aurora Guerrero, whose parents are Mexican immigrants, centers on Marisol (Jearnest Corchado), a teenager living in an illegal garage sublet with her mother, a domestic worker at a wealthy beachside home, and Marisol’s older brother. Devoid of hope or ambition, Marisol’s life changes when drawn into the world of competitive squash.

Inspired by her coach (John Ortiz), who gives her the nickname “Jaguar,” the story follows Marisol’s rise through the sport – from

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games at the local health club to Olympicstyle championship play.

“We almost shot in a real garage,” Franco laughs, “but ultimately we had to create something of the same size on stage. For the squash scenes, we were fortunate [Corchado] was already a gifted athlete and learned very quickly, so we didn’t have to use a double much at all. The plays were professionally designed, and the actors knew every play and where to look. If they missed the ball, we just kept shooting and added the ball in later with CG.” Marisol’s inspiring final match, attended by her mother, brother, and cheering friends, was shot in a brick- and steel-laden train station, where previous professional squash tournaments had been televised. “There was a large skylight that we had to control, but the lighting was already there for the broadcast,” Franco adds. “We balanced everything for daylight, staying away from cool blues and greens for a more organic look that was also quite uplifting for that story.”

Franco’s other two episodes, “The Rock” and “The Silence,” were challenging – for different reasons. “The Silence [written and

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directed by Little America Executive Producer Sian Heder] was the only episdoe without any dialogue [until the very last scene when the retreat attendees are allowed to talk].

Sylviane [Mélanie Laurent] is supposed to be meditating, but she’s having all these different fantasies, which required a lot of camera coverage – different extras, costumes, and set-design changes, and that’s always tricky to visualize without pulling you too far out of the story.” The large, sun-filled meditation room was location-based and demanded the largest lighting setup for the series. “With the VENICE rated at 2500 we may not have needed all the light,” Franco adds. “But I feel it was important to have light bounce and fill that big room, which had a lot of wood and texture in the production design.” “ The Rock,” directed by Iranian commercial helmer Nima Nourizadeh, was more dependent on location than any other episode. Faraz (Shaun Toub) is a Persian dreamer, living with his wife and son in a New Jersey apartment. His dream to build a home (mainly so his son will not move into New York City with his musician friends) culminates in a piece of property made only affordable by the

massive rock that occupies the entire lot. “It was so hard to find that rock, out in nature, but next to a road,” offers Franco, who was born in France and raised in Africa. Although Faraz’s story is humorous, “we didn’t want the camera to be busy or overtly comedic,” he continues.

“Where you put the camera, the type of lens, whether you move or remain still, which we are a lot in this series, is ultimately how the viewer will relate to the writing, acting and directing, and that is less dependent on the lighting, in my opinion. For example, for the oner, in which Faraz imagines a house [where the rock is, and filled with friends and family], the lighting feels warm and comfortable. But it’s that super-wide-angle 12-millimeter frame and slow motion that sells you on this fantasy he yearns for.”

Yearning to connect with her two teenage children is what drives hard-working single mom Ai in “The Grand Prize Winners.” Shot

by Eric Moynier, a colleague of David Franco’s from Montreal, Quebec, whose parents were born in France, the episode stars Singaporeanborn, California-raised actress Angela Lin

DAVID FRANCO (BELOW WITH EP. 5 DIRECTOR SIAN HEDER) SAYS USING THE LARGE-FORMAT SONY VENICE WAS KEY TO EPISODES LIKE “THE JAGUAR” (ABOVE AND OPPOSITE PAGE) “I COULD USE LONGER LENSES – A 100MM WILL FEEL LIKE A 50MM AND WILL NOT DISTORT FACES. THE ADDED DEPTH OF FIELD ALSO GAVE MORE CONTROL OVER BACKGROUNDS WHEN THE BUDGET DIDN’T ALLOW US TO BE PERIOD-CORRECT.” BOTTOM PHOTO THIS PAGE BY PATRICK HARBRON

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ERIC MOYNIER (BELOW, RIGHT, WITH DIRECTOR TZE CHUN) SAYS SHOOTING ON-BOARD A REAL CRUISE SHIP FOR “THE GRAND PRIZE WINNERS” WAS A MACGYVER-LIKE EXPERIENCE WITH SCENES LIKE THOSE WITH ACTRESS ANGELA LI (ABOVE AND RIGHT) QUICK AND FLEETING. “I TOLD MY OPERATOR, JEFF DUTEMPLE, THIS MOMENT IS SO PRECIOUS,” MOYNIER RECALLS OF LI SINGING KAROKE, “SHE MAY ONLY GIVE IT TO YOU ONCE, SO PLEASE DON’T MISS IT! BOTTOM PHOTO THIS PAGE BY ROD MILLINGTON

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and was shot in Florida on a real cruise ship.

It was written and directed by Tze Chun, on whose life the story is based. Chun, who has a comic-book publishing company, was in talks with Epic Magazine (in which Little America originated as a photo essay) when he casually mentioned his childhood in Boston, and his single mom bringing him and his younger sister to the annual Vacation Expo to try and win a trip. “One winter it was snowing out, and we were the only people there entering all of the raffles, so we won an Alaskan cruise,” Chun explains. “The guys at Epic were like: ‘That sounds like an episode of Little America.

Do you mind if we pitch your story to Apple?’ A few months later we were shooting!”

Chun says he and Moynier knew there would be limitations on the ship and would have to rely on available lighting and multiple cameras. “The first day for the stateroom interiors we had 45 setups!” marvels Chun.

“Eric, whose background is in documentaries, was like, ‘Don’t worry. I got this.’ It wasn’t about lighting for an hour and shooting for 10 minutes; the actors needed total freedom, and that appealed to Eric.”

Moynier says restrictions on crew size meant each story point had to be mapped in advance. “It was an older Carnival cruise ship from the later ’80s/early ’90s. It left from West Palm Beach in the late afternoon for the Bahamas and came back the next day,” he

explains. “Working with Key Grip Dave Stern and Gaffer Richard Neumann, I said, ‘Guys, this is total MacGyver.’ We’re not using a dolly and it has to be the smallest lighting package we’ve used. We shot some Steadicam, and skateboard wheels on a platform with angle iron for dolly track; it wasn’t so much a crazy handheld approach as a slightly ‘unstable frame’ that felt alive.”

Moynier says DIT Malika Franklin tweaked the LUT created for the series, especially for the cruise-ship scenes. Ai, dismayed to see her children head off each day with their new American friends, watches movies in the ship’s theater, alone, plays slot machines and drinks red wine, alone, and, finally, in the penultimate scene, sings a tearful karaoke ballad, alone, on stage. The moment is made all the more powerful as it’s intercut with her memories of being taken from Singapore to Hong Kong by ship as a child and given to another family.

“We did three passes on the song,” Moynier remembers, “and I told my operator, Jeff Dutemple, ‘This moment is so precious; she may only give it to you once, so please don’t miss it! We shot all of the close-ups first, and then went behind her and wrapped around.

The spotlight in her eyes was all Ritchie’s doing – we knew we couldn’t bring one onto the boat, so he rigged an LED flashlight with a snoot, and clipped it up high to shine down.

We had some Astera tubes on the ground, and the art department changed the background.

So simple and yet such a beautiful result.”

Chun says the karaoke scene was always slated to be the centerpiece. “I knew it would be the hardest scene to shoot,” he shares. “We shot on the last day of production, from 10 p.m. to about 1 a.m. As filmmakers, we have to feel so much on set for the audience to feel even a little bit on screen. Watching the monitor in Video Village, I just felt so thankful we were in the hands of Eric and his great team.”

For the flashback scenes to Ai’s childhood, Franklin created a desaturated LUT that had a monochromatic feel, with the camera capturing at a higher frame rate. Steadicam capture offered an elegant opposition to Ai’s reality on the cruise ship.

The port was recreated in Staten Island with local ships, with Production Designer Diane Lederman working to allow Moynier to shoot 360 degrees. Chun says the opening shot of “Millennium Mambo,” directed by Chinese filmmaker Hsiao-Hsien Hou, was a template.

“You’re tracking behind the main character, and it’s so beautiful,” he relates. “I sent Diane [Lederman] a bunch of photos of my childhood home and photos from my mom.

I have to say it was strange walking into the kitchen for the Boston scenes [before they win the cruise] and seeing the same kitchen you grew up in as a kid. Even down to the

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noodles and rice on the shelf.”

The last shot of the episode is Ai, alone on deck, watching a sunrise that leaves her cautiously hopeful that her children will be okay. “I remember talking to my mother about that moment, and she described the glacier sounds at sunrise as ‘ice-breaking in a glass of Coke,’” Chun recounts. “Seeing that same moment on the monitor in Video Village, even though it was a sunset shot in 100-degree weather in Florida, I knew Eric had captured what my mother experienced. It was so cool.”

The final episode of Season 1 of Little America, entitled “The Son,” crosses different borders than the preceding stories. Shot by Jonathan Furmanski, in Montreal, Quebec with an IATSE Local 667 camera team, the bulk of the episode is set in the Middle East – Damascus, Syria and Aman, Jordan – with the main character, Rafiq (Lebanese-born Haaz Sleiman), only coming to the U.S. for the final scenes. And because Rafiq is a gay man in Syria, who in the opening scene leaves his brother’s wedding engagement party for a hook-up with another man in a secret location, the stakes are much higher – as Furmanski notes: “This is the only episode where leaving literally means life or death.”

Furmanski, who traveled extensively in the Middle East earlier in life, knew the secret location in Damascus (actually a fully dressed former military base in Montreal) where Rafiq’s gay identity is revealed would be a blend of older lighting elements – mercury and sodium vapor streetlights and cool white fluorescents. “We very much wanted the opening scene [at the dinner table] to be this cocoon of warm, soft lighting to show how much Rafiq is giving up when he runs away,” Furmanski explains. “When he meets the young man, the alleyway outside and the room where they kiss had to feel secretive and dangerous. It still has warm red and orange tones, but it’s not inviting. It’s a place where they can steal a moment, hidden from the eyes of the world.”

One year later finds Rafiq washing dishes in a restaurant in Aman, where he meets Zain

(Libyan-born Adam Ali), a young man who flaunts his gay identity in public. Zain brings Rafiq to his apartment for dinner to meet his lover; they go out for wine and conversation in a bar; they walk through a busy souk at night, with Zain singing his favorite Kelly Clarkson song – all scenes where the viewer is unsure how comfortable Rafiq is with embracing an openly gay lifestyle.

“We had a cultural adviser who made my job easier, as well as our wonderful Production Designer Zoë Sakellaropoulo, who did the same,” Furmanski continues.

“The advisor would confirm details such as the kind of practical lights found in this part of the world, leaving me free to concentrate on color and where the light was coming from. Having said that, the scene where Zain and Rafiq are walking in the souk was tricky, as we only had control over that alleyway.

Anything on either side, like a storefront with modern window dressing, or a FedEx truck driving through the background, would have had to be VFX’d out.”

Furmanski had to meet similar challenges for a key scene in Rafiq’s Aman apartment, where he makes love with a British tourist he’s met in an internet café; Rafiq spends each day on the computer checking the status of his U.S. immigration request. “ The location had arched windows on all sides, and was on the fifth floor of a building in Montreal’s Old City, where there are restrictions on heavy equipment,” Furmanski continues. “We didn’t want to see modern-day Montreal out of the windows, and sheers or blinds were not appropriate for the story. Zoe was able to build lattice-type window frames that created patterns spilling onto them when they’re lying in bed. That’s the moment Rafiq reveals why he left his family. We didn’t need to put any of the lights inside the room – it was all 6K and 9K pars through the windows – making it much more intimate and real for the actors.”

Rafiq’s reality changes forever when he’s allowed to leave the Middle East. Having kept in touch with Zain (who vowed to become a star in Hollywood), Rafiq is surprised his first taste of freedom is Zain’s house, in cool and

gray Boise, Idaho. Riding bikes through the leafy town with Zain later at night becomes a seminal moment.

“We wanted that to feel like he had crossed a threshold,” Furmanski describes.

“The streetlights are the main source for the scene, and they’re meant to be kind of magical to show the huge bridge he’s crossed.

But the existing LED streetlights were not period-correct, and the city would not let us change them out.”

The solution, and what also sets “The Son” apart, was Furmanski’s use of Canon K35 vintage lenses to create flaring and ghosting. “The Primos were just a bit too modern-looking,” he observes. “We also used a Lensbaby in the Boise club scene, because, for Rafiq, that scene is both bewildering and reassuring of the journey he’s taken.”

Furmanski says he and Director Stephen Dunn talked about the club scene more than any other in the story. “Being surrounded by gay men, totally liberated in that environment, was like nothing Rafiq had ever experienced,” he continues. “So it needed to feel like an almost overwhelming carnivaltype atmosphere. But the club where we shot had little existing lighting. So working with our gaffer, Benoit Sévigny, we created pools of light. We also used filters from Lindsey Optics that result in very unpredictable streaking and aberrations, kind of this swirly effect, to drive where the lights would be to hit the camera. The last shot [of Rafiq watching a drag queen onstage, singing Zain’s song] is meant to be ambivalent, as it’s intercut with Rafiq’s father in Damascus reading his letter.”

The final shot of the series, beautifully visualizing what is both gained and lost in the immigrant’s experience, is an idea Creator Lee Eisenberg says was central to Little America. “It was important, throughout this series, to let viewers know these are complex stories,” he concludes. “The idea that coming to America will solve all your problems, even if you come from an oppressive society, is simplistic and cliché. Season 2 will see more terrific stories that lean more heavily into communities of immigrants, with even more ambitious filmmaking.”

JONATHAN FURMANSKI (BOTTOM IMAGE, LEFT, WITH ACTOR IGAL NYOR) SAYS HE KNEW THE SYRIAN-SET FINAL EPISODE WOULD BE A MIX OF OLDER LIGHTING ELEMENTS – MERCURY AND SODIUM VAPOR STREETLIGHTS AND COOL WHITE FLUORESCENTS, BASED ON HIS EARLIER TRAVELS TO THE MIDDLE EAST. “WHEN RAFIQ MEETS THE YOUNG MAN (ABOVE, LEFT), THEIR KISS HAD TO FEEL SECRETIVE AND DANGEROUS,” FURMANSKI DESCRIBES. “IT STILL HAS WARM RED AND ORANGE TONES. BUT IT’S NOT INVITING...

IT’S A PLACE...HIDDEN FROM THE EYES OF THE WORLD.” PHOTOS BY PHILIPPE BOSSE

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LOCAL 600 CREW Directors of Photography David Franco (odd) Paula Huidobro (even) A-Camera/Steadicam Operator Jeff Dutemple A-Camera 1st AC Greg Finkel A-Camera 2nd AC Emma Rees-Scanlon B-Camera Operators John MacDonald (episodes 1 – 4) Todd Armitage (episodes 5 & 6) B-Camera 1st AC Bradley Grant B-Camera 2nd AC Suren Karapetyan Loader Derek DiBona DIT Malika Franklin Still Photographers David Giesbrecht Seacia Pavao Walter Thomson Cara Howe Patrick Harbron Michael Parmelee Rod Millington Unit Publicist Erin Felentzer

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PHOTO BY DAVID GIESBRECHT

F-02 50

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&

SO LOCAL 600 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY BRANDON TROST LEAPS INTO THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR FOR THE SETH ROGEN IMMIGRATION COMEDY, AN AMERICAN PICKLE.

UR

BY TED ELRICK / PHOTOS BY HOPPER STONE, SMPSP

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When we first meet Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen) circa 1919 in his cloistered Eastern European shtetl, his goal in life is to marry his cod-loving sweetheart, Sarah (Sarah Snook, Black Mirror and Steve Jobs), and make enough money for dual plots in the local cemetery. But when Russian Cossacks ransack Herschel’s dream wedding, he ships out with his bride for America’s prosperous shores, specifically Brooklyn, NY, where his ambitions can take full flight.

Then, when Sarah becomes pregnant, Herschel’s plans include an unborn son, whom he hopes will carry on the family name in legendary proportions. However, destiny intervenes once again, when Herschel, whose job is killing rats at a local pickle factory, accidentally falls into a large vat of pickle brine, and the top is sealed. (The factory has been abruptly condemned.) Locked inside, Herschel becomes not just a victim of fate’s cruel ways, but also an unwitting time traveler.

This extended opening sequence of An American Pickle, shot in the 1.33:1 Academy format, ends with a shift to present-day Brooklyn (and a wider aspect ratio), where Herschel is discovered – by two kids with a drone – perfectly preserved and the same age as his great-grandson Ben (also played by Seth Rogen). Ben, who is Herschel’s only living relative, is a lonely mobile-app designer whose parents (Herschel’s grandson and wife) were killed in a car crash five years earlier. Along with Rogen, the cast includes new comedic talents, including Sean Whalen, Joanna Adler, Jorma Taccone and Marsha Stephanie Blake.

The screenplay is from Simon Rich (Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons) and is based on Rich’s original short story Sell Out.

Brandon Trost, a Local 600 Director of Photography whose credits include The Disaster Artist, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, makes his directing debut with An American Pickle, originally intended to be a Sony Pictures theatrical release until COVID-19 provoked a sale to HBO, which debuted the film as its first original feature on its new streaming platform. To capture Pickle, Trost chose a fellow Sundance alumnus, Director of Photography John Guleserian (About Time, Breathe In, Zoe).

As Trost explains: “I had worked with John’s wife, Theresa Guleserian, who was Production Designer on Neighbors 2 [also a Rogen movie].

So I had met John through her socially. But I had always admired John’s work on his films with Drake Doremus. I was also a huge fan of the Richard Curtis movie About Time, a lovely romantic comedy, so when American Pickle came up, he was top of mind. I knew it would be nerve-wracking for any cinematographer I chose, who’s thinking the director knows their job as well as they do. But we put that aside as soon as possible. We were immediately on the same page; I just wanted to make the best movie we could and allow John to bring his sensibilities to this job.”

Trost had already worked with Rogen on films like This Is The End, Neighbors, and The Interview. And while Rogen’s dual performances are the film’s comedic engines, the work from the Pittsburgh-based production team to solve numerous technical issues, without drawing attention away from the sweetness of the story, was equally impressive. Rogen’s decision to have a real beard as Herschel, then shave and play Ben interacting with his bearded self (captured a month and a half before), essentially meant shooting the movie twice.

“He did the whole movie as one character,” Guleserian explains. “Then we went back and did the movie again with Seth as the second character. For every shot where Herschel and Ben inhabit the same frame, we had to set up those shots again.”

Guleserian cites a ten-page scene in Ben’s hipster-style Williamsburg apartment that was especially challenging because the Rogens are the only characters in the scene.

“We had to shoot all the Herschel stuff, and then come back and shoot all the Ben stuff,” Guleserian recounts, “so re-aligning those shots was difficult. Everything had to be perfect – again. Every single frame had to be in the same place. Every single light had to be

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in the same place. The same color temperature, the same quantity of light coming out of it.

“The lighting department had one person dedicated to taking notes,” he continues, “which some days ran over a hundred pages! A lot of that is photographs, light readings, color temp readings, and then diagrams of where everything was. Every single practical had to be set back to the same level. A lot of times we’d get there and feel like it wasn’t exactly right, and we were chasing down all the departments.

Is the table a bit off ? Is the light in a different place? We would just painstakingly create those split screens.”

Chief Lighting Technician Robert Sciretta credits Set Electrician Allan Barch for the notes. Barch’s sole job was to be the bridge between lighting, camera (more on camera’s notes later), grip, and visual effects. Barch used Pages for keeping track of and updating the notes.

“Allan would do everything on an iPad, and it would be uploaded to Dropbox,” Sciretta says. “Everybody went to Allan to update it, so nothing was lost in translation. Better to have one person input all the info. He also created a beautiful template in Pages for making lighting diagrams, because we diagrammed

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every lighting setup with talent positions, all the grip equipment, what the bounces were.”

Trost and Guleserian shot on ALEXA LF, because as Trost observes, “there was something about the ALEXA that just felt right for this movie. It’s that old-school sense of scale that you get out of a larger sensor. I like the shallow depth of field that you get from it so easily, and the LF was brand new when we started this movie.”

The prologue, set in the fictional Eastern European country of Schlupsk, was shot in the Academy aspect ratio with a Petzval 58-mm (portrait-like) lens to approximate an aged tintype photograph. Guleserian says the first time he ever used a Petzval lens was on the Sundance indie feature The Overnight. “It was the Lomography Petzval lens my wife had bought me for my birthday,” he recalls. “But it was so hard to focus, it would have been impossible for this movie. I did some research, and I found a company called TLS in the UK. They rehouse the Petzval lenses in cinema housings, and they had the 85 and 58mm. So we shot that whole opening sequence with the 58mm.”

Guleserian says the rehoused lens has all the elements of a Petzval lens, but the cinema casing makes it more feasible to pull focus.

“The Lomography lens is made for stills,” he continues. “Unless you’re looking for some strange effect, which is what I did on The Overnight, it’s not worth it. This TLS Petzval was more practical, and it gave that opening sequence a storybook feel, similar to the lens they would have used on a tintype camera.”

A-Camera 1st John Ruiz says the main issue with the Petzval is that it only stays in focus in the center of the frame. “It’s like an anamorphic on steroids,” he laughs. “There’s a perfect sweet spot, and then it falls off immediately, left and right. I told Brandon to tell Seth that he needs to stay in the center of the frame to be in focus, because the distortion will be huge on the big screen. We also used custom ARRI DNA lenses, created for the ALEXA 65 and LF. John, our DP, wanted these new ARRI DNA lenses to be internally de-tuned to achieve greater fall-off and highlights.”

In addition to the TLS Petzval lens and ARRI DNA de-tuned Lenses in 28, 35, 45, 55, 60, 70, 80, 110, 150 and 200mm, the filmmakers included Canon K35 18, 24, 35, 55, and 85mm; Angénieux Optimo 24-290mm; Zeiss Super Speed 35, 50,

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and 85mm; and the ARRI Shift and Tilt System.

The AC’s also used the Preston Light Ranger to pull focus.

“We got the other lenses from CSC in New York and had some de-tuned to make them funkier, if that makes sense,” Trost adds. “We had them push it as far as they were allowed to. They had a handful that were redesigned for the LF, which brought a lot of the weirdness on the outside of the edge of the frame into the taller LF. It was a great look.”

Guleserian describes preproduction meetings as “all departments on deck.”

“We concentrated on how we were going to tackle this,” he reports. “What is the process going to be? And we came up with some unique solutions.”

For instance, to keep track of camera positions in interiors, the team used UV pens and markers to note every camera position, lens used, type of shot, etc. “By the end of shooting, if you walked around the set with UV light, there were notes written all over the floors and walls – everywhere,” Guleserian laughs, adding that

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it resembled a crime scene.

“The second AC’s were so important on this film,” relates B-Camera 1st AC Deb Peterson.

“They had to keep all the information, the camera height, the distance to each character, so that we could lock them into place and Seth could act with himself the second time, when he was shaven. I’ve never done a movie like this before. It was so cool.”

A-Camera 2nd AC Jason Cianella says the team used the app ZoeLog (available in the Apple Store) that he heard about from AC Benedict Baldauff on another project.

“Every job I’ve been on since, I’ve made everyone download ZoeLog because it’s so useful,” Cianella insists. “You have full access when you have to recreate something, like a B-camera shot. You can look it all up – color temp, distance, height, inclination. You can also search by scene number, by lens, by what setups we used the 75mm on, et cetera. It’s a free download, but to use all the features I think it’s about $5 a month or $50 a year. Anything specialized in the film industry is often way overpriced, but this app is ridiculously cheap.”

VFX Supervisor Adam Rowland says

ZoeLog uploaded seamlessly into the VFX database at the end of every day. “They marked all the camera positions on the set using UV pens, while exterior locations were tagged with stakes, nails, and other more weatherable markers,” Rowland explains. “Robert Sciretta’s team took extensive notes in Helios on the lighting. Measurements and diagrams of each location and setup were also created by the VFX crew to serve as a backup and aid in post. In many cases, photogrammetry was also captured.”

Peterson says the way to get back to where “we had been a month ago, or sometimes more, was to make it exact for VFX. We didn’t want variables for them to have to compensate for in post. Sometimes we’d be remembering the setup of the shot, as opposed to the recording of the shot. That’s when the 2nd AC’s would step in and say, ‘No, we were three feet to the left.’ They had the information to prove it and almost always a picture as well. The 2nd AC’s were outstanding.”

Matching the images for the camera operators – like the walk-and-talk in Allegheny Cemetery, as well as the ten pages within which

the two Greenbaums become acquainted in Ben’s apartment – was challenging. As A-Camera/Steadicam Operator Michael Fuchs, SOC, describes: “It was a low-tech way to do it between the marks you made on the ground and the very helpful 50/50 overlay of one image from before and the new image – the live one. [DIT] Chase [Abrams] had this software, QTAKE, that was key for our being able to line up the images of Seth as Herschel and Ben. It was the best way we could attempt to match a point in space from so many weeks prior; and as far as I know, we must have done okay, because John still checked my availability for other projects after this one was complete,” Fuchs laughs. “Every department was tested, but we all knew it was in an effort to try to do something as genuinely as possible.”

B-Camera Operator Brian Outland agrees, adding that they used new digital technology to their benefit. “We did a bit of everything – handheld, some basic panning shots, locked off. So reshooting the sequences was all about getting it as close as we could to the original.

I don’t think we were ever 100 percent. But we were always pretty close.”

Other challenges were environmental, like weather changes for exteriors; or small details, like branches in the woods in a different place, a tree leaning more, or an early snowfall.

B-Camera 2nd AC Brian Bresnehan describes the exterior camera positions as “some of the most challenging to find after time had elapsed. Like being in Pittsburgh trying to find a nail the grips had put into the sidewalk for the exact camera position. You’d look at the ZoeLog and triangulate your camera position from the first time and say, ‘OK, the camera was somewhere between these three landmarks,’” Bresnehan adds, “and then the grips and electrics had their notes as well. The interiors were much easier because of the UV markings.”

DIT Chase Abrams says the only time “we had noticeable snow was when the two Seths were up near the Canadian border. It kind of made sense and added to the story.”

Abrams also became adept at notetaking. “I would keep track of all metadata,” he explains.

“It was redundant, because they were doing it with ZoeLog, but my notes pulled in metadata from the HD SDI cable directly from the camera, so I was getting time code in, time code out,

SHOOTING LONG SCENES WITH BOTH SETHS, LIKE OPPOSITE PAGE IN BEN’S APARTMENT, OR A WALK-AND-TALK IN ALLEGHENY CEMETERY, CHALLENGED THE LOCAL 600 CAMERA TEAM. “ “WE HAD TO SHOOT ALL THE HERSCHEL STUFF, AND THEN COME BACK AND SHOOT ALL THE BEN STUFF,” GULESERIAN RECOUNTS, “EVERYTHING HAD TO BE PERFECT – AGAIN. EVERY SINGLE FRAME HAD TO BE IN THE SAME PLACE. EVERY SINGLE LIGHT HAD TO BE IN THE SAME PLACE. THE SAME COLOR TEMPERATURE, THE SAME QUANTITY OF LIGHT COMING OUT OF IT.”

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T-stops, and color temperature information. We would supply both reports – ZoeLog, and mine in Livegrade – to Adam Rowland, who used both for his VFX team.

“We got into a very smooth workflow,” Abrams continues. “My utility, Yev Schrayber, would run a monitor to the operators, and VTR was already working on kind of a previz for VFX. So we had VTR for clientele and we had an editor on set cutting pieces together a day later. Our utility would run out a monitor, and I would provide overlays and split screens from stills that I captured weeks before so that these operators could line up the shots. After a while, it became hard to see where the splits were looking at the images practically, no VFX, compositing, or rotoscoping done. It was pretty damn good!”

As Rowland explains, “One particular splitscreen would have been impossible to capture on location and was therefore designed to be captured entirely in the studio.”

The shot required a Steadicam move with

both characters walking and talking toward camera. VFX Supervisor Jason Evans, with NVIZ, explains: “The background plate was captured on location, along with rehearsals with Seth and his double, Ian Poake, which provided accurate timing and lighting references. The two sides of the split-screen were then shot later, on two separate dates, with Seth walking on a treadmill in front of a green screen.”

According to Sciretta, the project was 100-percent LED except for some day exteriors, where HMI’s were employed to overpower the sun. “All the interiors were 100-percent LED and 100-percent RGB,” the gaffer recalls. “We had color control over every unit, and all controlled through DMX by our dimmer operator, Tiff Woods, who could record the scene and color values, and when we came back, hit that scene and it would all come back up.”

Sciretta, who calls his lighting department “awesome,” credits Best Boy Matt Feiler with equipment coordination, “because sometimes

the LED color space would drift a little bit,” he concludes. “Matt would need to analyze the gear so it was up to specs, so the color would be completely reproducible.”

As Ruiz observes: “On any project, there’s never a day where I go to work and feel completely comfortable; and that’s what keeps me going – walking on set and not knowing what’s coming next. I love those challenges, and [Pickle] had a lot of them,” he smiles.

As for Guleserian, working for the first time for a fellow DP, he couldn’t be more effusive about Trost’s direction. “It’s not a common transition – DP to director – but Brandon is the real deal. He was great.”

Guleserian also has plenty of praise for the IATSE crafts team on An American Pickle. “It all looks so seamless,” he concludes. “And, of course, a lot of credit also goes to the visualeffects department because they would look at our work and say, ‘We can work with that.’

Lining up those shots and the lighting and all … we tried to be perfectionists.”

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LOCAL 600 CREW Director of Photography John Guleserian A-Camera Operator Michael Fuchs, SOC A-Camera 1st AC John Ruiz A-Camera 2nd AC Jason Cianella B-Camera Operator Brian Outland B-Camera 1st AC Deb Peterson B-Camera 2nd AC Brian Bresnehan DIT Chase Abrams Loader Gabe Marchetti Utility Yev Shrayber Still Photographer Hopper Stone, SMPSP Unit Publicist Sheryl Main PICTURED: DIRECTOR BRANDON TROST WITH SETH ROGEN ON PITTSBURGH SET OF AN AMERICAN PICKLE

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WHO TELLS YOUR

STO WHEN THE MOST ACCLAIMED MUSICAL IN BROADWAY HISTORY NEEDED TO BE CAPTURED FOR THE SCREEN, WHERE DID IT TURN? TO LOCAL 600, OF COURSE.

BY PAULINE ROGERS PHOTOS / FRAMEGRABS COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY PICTURES

ORY?

It is the climactic end of the first act of Hamilton.

Emotions run high on stage.

Tension is palpable in the truck outside Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre. Everything is going as planned. So far.

Suddenly, the shot begins to shake. Director of Photography Declan Quinn, ASC, ISC, is worried. He’s on the coms immediately. No answer.

As quickly as the shake appeared – it disappears.

Cut to the empty theater, where the crew, still on an adrenaline high from covering the world’s most talked-about new musical, has gathered.

Operator Bruce MacCallum approaches Quinn, who remembers that “Bruce quietly apologized to me. He got so wrapped up in the emotions of the moment, he began to cry – and the camera began to shake. He promised it wouldn’t happen when we captured the live performance a second time.”

Camera operators tearing up on the job might be unusual in any other filmed genre or live-event capture, but not so if the project is Hamilton, which in the five-plus years since its debut off-Broadway at New York City’s Public Theater has gone on to become more a force of nature than a musical play. LinManuel Miranda’s epic staging, inspired by Ron Chernow’s 2004 acclaimed biography, won eight Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical, before it ever even came to Broadway, where it went on to garner a record 16 Tony nominations (11 wins including Best Musical) and even a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. So one can easily see why Local 600 Operator Bruce MacCallum, who brought passion to every job he did (and, sadly, passed away not long after the 2016 Hamilton shoot), was momentarily overwhelmed by the play’s dramatic sweep.

And it’s to MacCallum (and the many other IATSE members who helped bring Hamilton to the small screen) that we humbly dedicate this feature account.

When director Thomas Kail and the production team from RadicalMedia came together to, as Supervising Producer Chris Rouchard describes, “go into a living piece of art and put it on a film plane,” the prime challenge was how best to capture Hamilton, which would be covered in two live performances in 2016 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Manhattan (with the original Broadway cast), while not detracting from the live-audience experience.

The question as to who would head up the camera team was answered quickly.

“No doubt, it would be Declan Quinn,” Rouchard adds adamantly. “Declan’s one of those hybrid cinematographers who understand the organic nature of theater material and theatrical lighting, and respects original pieces of art.”

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The next decision was the team surrounding Quinn, which Rouchard made clear had to comprise film-production veterans. As he continues: “The only way to get something done like this is to hire a cinematically trained Local 600 world-class group of operators and focus pullers.”

As for how to prepare for shooting the live performances (and one staged day, without an audience, for camera), Line Producer Nan Sandle says they “used overhead plans and comprehensive scouts. In addition to the needs of our production, we had to be mindful of the audience, many of whom had been looking forward to the show for months. It was also important that we be respectful of IATSE Local One [Stagehands] and those at the theater who had worked so closely together on the production before we arrived. It was a primary concern that all parties were respected while getting the results we wanted.”

“This project excited me,” adds Quinn, who has been responsible for the capture of Broadway’s Rent and Shrek. “Thomas Kail is a fantastic director, and I wanted to be able to support him as he made the transition from stage to movie.” (Hamilton was originally slated to be released theatrically in 2021 by Walt Disney Pictures. With the advent of COVID19, however, the company’s new streaming platform, Disney +, elected to release the movie digitally on July 3, 2020.)

The two-month prep process began with Quinn joining the audience to watch several performances. “I’d never seen the play, but there I was, fourth row, west of house,” he smiles.

“The opening number alone [which provides Hamilton’s entire origin story in less than five minutes] was amazing. And by the end, when the actors freeze, it was overwhelming. We had to find a way to capture the visceral feeling of the play – and get close to the physical choreography and lyrics.”

One of Quinn’s first decisions was to bring in his camera crew to experience the play in person. “We made certain to have a crew that thinks cinematically,” he continues. “It’s not just about camera placement and capture – it’s getting into the emotions and story.”

Operator Bill Winters says he will never forget sitting next to DIT Abby Levine during the show and being “completely blown away” by the production. “I was trying to watch through the eyes of someone who was about to capture it on camera,” Winters recounts, “but I was so into the show that it proved to be difficult.”

Steadicam Operator Maceo Bishop, SOC, had a similar reaction. “Our ‘homework’ for the live shoot just floored me,” he says. “I went home and started playing the music nonstop. I played it in the car with my kids. I played it on my run. I played it all the time leading up to shooting the live performance.”

At one point Quinn and Kail brought their

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crew onto the Rodgers stage to join the cast, hoping the Hamilton magic would inspire their lensing.

“We stood beside the dancers and actors during rehearsal as they put one of the hit production numbers on its feet,” remembers Operator Dave Knox, SOC. “Capone, Donnelly, myself and the other operators were as still as possible, as the stage rotated on a gigantic turntable, and the cast whizzed around us. I couldn’t believe the intricate choreography, which only heightened the electric atmosphere of the staged numbers. At one point, Broadway superstar Leslie Odom Jr. was singing full voice three feet away from me!”

Quinn then took the next phase of prep by using a single-camera capture for reference and began breaking-down the performance into camera assignments.

“Our first meetings in the office were just me, Declan and Thomas Kail,” recalls Assistant

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Director Robin Abrams. “We discussed how many cameras we would need, what cameras to use, and how we would need to alter any lighting from the stage to screen. We had to place cameras in areas that would not block anyone’s experience. Then we had to decide where we could do the ‘specialty shots’ – specific parts of the more intense moments where we could use the Steadicam or put cameras on stage. In those examples, we had to find a little more space in between actors for the camera.”

As the team broke Hamilton down into shots, camera testing got underway. Key AC Rick Gioia took four different camera bodies – ARRI ALEXA, RED DRAGON, Sony HDC-4300 (⅔-in. sensor), and Sony F55. “We hid them in the aisles – far house right and far house left – and shot small chunks of the show – the dark numbers as well as the numbers that built to a

bright crescendo,” explains Quinn. The footage was then taken to Joe Gawler at Harbor Picture Company for director Thomas Kail and the producers to view. Even though we shot the original cast in 2016, the idea was to complete the film but shelve it for five years – until the Hamilton stage phenomenon had run its course around the world, and then release it,” he adds.

“So, there was a real interest in future-proofing the capture.”

Quinn says that in viewing the tests, the value of using a larger sensor, with its shallower depth of field that felt more like cinema, was obvious. “That meant we eliminated the Sony HDC-4300 with its two-thirds-inch sensor,” he continues, “even though it had great resolution and color, and would have made the logistics of our capture much easier since All Mobile Video had an existing truck already set up for those cameras.”

The ARRI ALEXA ended up being the

camera of choice. It supplied a pleasing glow when highlights were blown-out and handled the shadows well with a small amount of digital noise that felt organic. Quinn says the 3.2K resolution of the ALEXA sensor did not overemphasize wig mics, the sweat on actors’ faces, or prop and costume details that were not meant to be scrutinized in cinematic close-ups.

The team opted to use the ARRI AMIRA for the six operated cameras in the audience area. The AMIRA’s small footprint, so favored in documentary capture, helped the Guild operators be less intrusive out in the audience.

While the AMIRA did not shoot ARRI RAW, it had the same sensor as ALEXA and could be coupled with the ProRes4444 XQ codec. Its dual card slot allowed for swapping out while continuing to capture on the second.

“We were interested in keeping it as simple as possible,” explains DIT Abby Levine. “People get married to the idea of blindly going to the

highest technical parameters and chasing the numbers, but they don’t always consider matters of record time, posting, media, transfer volume, and the like. You need to make practical decisions. Treated and exposed properly, LogC ProRes is barely, if at all, a compromise to ARRI RAW. The 3.2K ProRes is more than sufficient resolution, even for an intended theatrical distribution.”

The next crucial decision was the placement of each team of operators – they had to catch the full stage performance but also the more intimate moments. The breakdown for the two live performances went as follows: Camera 1: Pat Capone/Rick Gioia – house left (rows G and H) with Optimo 28-340 tracking on a Fisher 10 dolly; Camera 2: Maceo Bishop/Denny Kortze – house left (row L), Fujinon Premier 75-400 on sticks; Camera 3: Jack Donnelly/Bobby Mancuso – center house (rows L and M), Canon 17-120 on tracking Cobra Dolly; Camera 4: Dave Knox/Peter

Morello – house right (row L), Fujinon Premier 75-400 on sticks; Camera 5: Bruce MacCallum/ Stanley Fernandez – house right (rows G and H), Canon 30-300 on a tracking Fisher 10 dolly; Camera 6: Bill Winters/Chris Silano – center house (row L), Canon 50-1000 on a Libra head/ bazooka.

There were also several remote cameras – an ALEXA 65 rigged on a box truss in front of the balcony for one show, and then moved down to floor level for the second. There were two fixed ARRI ALEXA M’s tethered via fiber-optics to backstage recorders that were hidden in the upstage set wall, and a third M was mounted nodally over the center of the stage turntable with a Zeiss rectilinear 9.5-18 zoom.

Creative rigging solutions were needed for these specialty shots. Key Grip Kevin Smyth adapted a car rig, speedrail, and cheese plate in one to hang the ALEXA 65 off the first balcony.

“We also had a fixed overhead on stage,” Smyth

UPPER RIGHT/ABOVE: AC’S PREP SHEET FOR THE DIFFERENT COLOR-CODED CAMERA POSITIONS; STEADICAM OPERATOR MACEO BISHOP, SOC DESCRIBES THE ON-STAGE COVERAGE FOR THE CAMERA-ONLY PERFORMANCE DAY AS “THRILLING.” BOTTOM LEFT: KEY GRIP KEVIN SMYTH CREDITS LOCAL ONE STAGEHANDS WITH HELPING TO FACILITATE THE SEAT PULLS “WE NEEDED TO ALLOW ACCESS FOR DOLLY AND TRACK POSITIONS, AND THE MOVIEBIRD CAMERA CRANE.”

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explains. “It was directly over the rotating center portion, and at least one smaller one on stage, shooting through a hidden hole in the set that the amazing Local One team facilitated. By the way, it was Local One that helped facilitate the seat pulls we needed to allow access for dolly and track positions (and the MovieBird Camera Crane).”

As for lighting, Quinn and Kail were intent on preserving all of Howell Binkley’s stage lighting design. Binkley’s lighting instruments for Hamilton included Martin’s Mac Viper Performances with framing shutters and 1.5 zoom, with auto-linked focus and a gobo animation system. For washes, GLP’s Impression X4 XL (which employs 19 RGBW LED’s rated at 15 W with a 7–50-degree zoom range), along with 35 Vipers, Philips Vari-Lite VL3500Q’s and Color Kinetics’ ColorBlast, ColorBlaze 48 TR4s, Elation ELAR 108 LED Pars, PixelRange PixelPar 90s and Source Fours, and Lycian 1290 follow spots.

Everything was programmed through an ETC Eos console.

“The stage lighting tended to start low for certain numbers, which was easy on the sensors,” Quinn describes. “But on the big numbers, the light would build up to three stops brighter. So we worked with Howell and his team, and our gaffer, Dave Samuel, to step through the show’s 1200 lighting cues. We could work at a base stop of T4. The DIT’s still had some stop-pulling to do, but it was manageable.”

Samuel notes that we “also added lighting from the wings to fill the performers who were facing each other in profile to the audience. And we added some softer lighting in the form of KinoFlo Celeb 401Q’s for when the performers were nearer extreme stage left and right. These lights were rigged off the nearest boxes to the stage. For the fill, we used Chroma Q Ones, which are small RGB LED pars with a fixed focus. We spread 20 of them across the front of the balcony.”

Levine says such simple additions allowed the Guild team to preserve the dynamic range of the existing stage lighting. “We were able to preserve a taste of the unlit parts of the set that could have disappeared into a black hole, while maintaining the bright theatrical highlights of the show,” he explains.

The actual installation of the additional lighting was done by Local One stagehands, with the assistance of Samuel’s four-person Local 52 electric crew. “Working with Local One couldn’t have gone better,” Samuel declares.

“Even though, in many ways, our crafts were the same, there was a respectful attitude in every possible way.”

Although four years have elapsed since capturing Hamilton, the landmark project remains vivid in many Guild members’ minds.

For Key 2nd AC Jordan Levie, it was all about logistics. “Once we made it through testing

and prep,” he shares, “our attention turned to the mounting/rigging/operating of the three fixed-position stage cameras that Declan placed. Two cameras were upstage facing the audience – one at stage level, one on the set’s second level, and a third was directly overhead looking down from the lighting grid. With the ALEXA M camera bodies, we could have the three recorders connected, via runs of well over a hundred feet of fiber-optic cable, to where Nate [AC Nate McGarigal] could record, change cards and monitor power.

“I had a station near the DIT with a monitor and video-switcher as well as three Prestons,” Levie continues, “which allowed me to control focus on all of these mounted cameras, as well as the zoom for the Busby Berkeley-type overhead shot. Rick [Gioia] had the idea to equip that camera with the ARRI 9.5–18 zoom, allowing the camera to nest into the rest of the lighting grid.”

Gioia recalls that the “unseen AC’s doing remote focus on these shots were right on point.

Jordan finessed some subtle zooms, which made the cut in the final film,” he says. “Jeff Taylor had the enviable role of monitoring the ALEXA 65 position in the front orchestra for a low wide shot of the full proscenium – the best seat in the house, though his expected comfort zone hit a roadblock when a large man took a seat almost directly in front of his position, which caused some pandemonium in the control room. A bit of discreet pleading during the show got him to adjust. We thought Nate McGarigal drew the short straw when he had to wedge himself into a tiny cubby position, off-stage right, to manage mag reloads on the three remote ALEXA M positions above and hidden behind the set. But it turns out Nate was giving high-fives with Lin and the cast when they stepped off the stage!”

Operator Bill Winters says he will never forget [AC] Chris Silano’s work with him on the long-lens close-ups from the fixed house-center position. “The cast was doing their normal performance in real-time,” Winter recounts, “so Chris had to work without any marks and focus on the fly at these extreme focal lengths.

Every time I framed up a shot it was razor-sharp, despite the performers moving so quickly on stage. It was quite an experience to whip the camera over to my mark and have everything razor-sharp.”

Silano reveals a “little trick” he uses when pulling focus on long lenses.

“Most precision optical instruments, like telescopes and microscopes, have a fine-tuning knob that enables greater control within a limited range. And you can do this with your Preston, as well,” he shares. “My camera was 25 feet away from the front of the stage, with the back of the stage 30 feet beyond that – all of the action took place between 25 and 55 feet.

By selecting those limits on the Preston, the usable scale of the lens expanded exponentially, allowing much greater sensitivity. Couple the expanded throw with a few eye-focuses to the

front, center, and back of the circular rotating pathway, and one could easily feel all of the stage positions within the full throw of the focus knob.”

Steadicam Operator Maceo Bishop, SOC, says getting onto the stage without an audience was thrilling. “One of the most challenging Steadicam sequences was for ‘The Schuyler Sisters,’” Bishop remembers. “The stage had a rotating turntable in the center on which Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler) gracefully walks as she makes her way through downtown New York before meeting Aaron Burr. Declan created a camera move that had me track Angelica on and off the moving centerpiece. It was dizzying, literally, but I’m proud to say we pulled it off. Operating Steadicam on stage with the original cast of Hamilton was a dream.”

AC Stanley Fernandez, who has since moved up to the Camera Operator position, also has a very special memory – not just of Hamilton – but of his partnership on the project. “Master Operator Bruce MacCallum will be missed now and forever in our hearts,” Fernandez states. “He was smooth and calm but always sniper-ready. We were given the task to man the Technocrane for the show.

Bruce behind the wheels of steel ensured solid execution of shots. He did get a little emotional in those few seconds of the show, but that was just Bruce’s human and professional side coming together; he was so passionate about the work. He believed this project was special with the talent in front of and behind the camera.”

Line producer Sandle says the Guild team brought together to capture Hamilton was a pure joy to watch in action. “They relished the opportunity to work together and collaborate on such a unique project,” She concludes.

“Declan’s leadership combined with their innate understanding of how all the parts needed to fit together meant that it felt like a long-time collaboration rather than a relatively short week of filming.”

For his part, Quinn says he’s worked on movies (multiple times) with nearly everyone on the Hamilton camera crew, and their work is “always pleasing, with inventive compositions and the story innate in the framing. The AC’s focus choices were impeccable and made a complicated job seem effortless and fun.

“It was an honor to be asked to capture this very special and historic piece of theater,” Quinn concludes. “This capture was the only chance most people were going to get to see Hamilton. It was important to bring the theatrical experience of it across and not get in the way. It was thrilling to finally see it released this past July 4th weekend and to hear people’s exuberant reactions. A nice way to lift morale in a very tough year.”

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LOCAL 600 CREW Director of Photography Declan Quinn, ASC Operators Pat Capone Jack Donnelly Dave Knox, SOC Bruce MacCallum Bill Winter Steadicam Operator Maceo Bishop, SOC Key AC Rick Gioia Key 2nd AC Jordan Levie ACs Bobby Mancuso Stanley Fernandez Peter Morello Chris Silano Steadicam AC Denny Kortze 2nd ACs Olga Abramson Nathan McGarigal Jeff Taylor

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STAR TREK THEN AND NOW

A HALF-CENTURY HAS PASSED SINCE THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE LAUNCHED A TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION IN SERIES TV THAT’S CONTINUED WITH EACH NEW ADDITION TO THE FRANCHISE.

BY PAULINE ROGERS / PHOTOS COURTESY OF CBS STAR TREK ARCHIVE / CBS INTERACTIVE

On September 8, 1969, Gene Roddenberry began to take television audiences “where no man has gone before” with the first episode of Star Trek. Who knew his mission to use future environments to explore current problems would spawn eight television “reboots” and 13 feature films? Who knew a TV series would be cited as an inspiration by Apple computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, jet-propulsion scientists, and even those working to pioneer non-invasive imaging technology?

Star Trek’s visual origin story begins with its first Director of Photography, Gerry Finnerman, ASC, and industry VFX legends like Howard Anderson, ASC (miniatures, traveling and materialization effects); Linwood Dunn, ASC (optical printers, traveling mattes); and Joseph Westheimer, ASC (special photographic effects); who all helped ready the Enterprise for its first mission. It culminates (at least for now) via the use of two million-plus LED lights, used on CBS All Access’ digitally platformed Star Trek: Discovery. One can only imagine the challenges of realistically portraying the USS Enterprise’s maiden voyage with older film cameras and lenses – Arriflex, Bausch & Lomb, and Mitchell systems shooting 35mm Eastman 50T 5291 and 100T 5254. That is some very big and bulky gear employed on (no doubt) very hot sets.

By the time Star Trek: The Next Generation began airing in September 1987 (one of the highest budgeted single-camera shows of its time at $2 million per episode), technology had dynamically evolved. The series was still shot on 35mm Eastman 400T 5294, 5295, and EXR

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500T 5296, but with Panavision cameras and lenses.

“I remember walking into the pilot [as a Local 600 trainee] to work with [Director of Photography] Ed Brown [ASC] and his team, and literally having my life changed,” recalls AC Maricella Ramirez. Brown shot the pilot and first two seasons for Next Generation, and when Ramirez returned later on, Next Generation’s Director of Photography, Marvin Rush, ASC, moved her up to 1st AC. “The shots designed

by Marvin, and executed by Operator Joe Chess [SOC], were very complex,” Ramirez adds. “We were doing masters with very complicated dolly moves, many dance floors, long lenses, sometimes zooming at the same time on the old Panavision 5:1. When we did zooms, they couldn’t look like we were zooming. I was never able to ride the dolly because Joe had to ‘pretzel’ himself into uncomfortable positions.

The Steadicam, which was considered highly specialized at the time, was used only for a specific exterior or an occasional interior.”

Instead of handheld on the walk-and-talks, Ramirez adds, “we used a vibration isolator that the Panahead would sit on top of. It isolated the vibrations of the camera, but the stops were hard to handle. We had to have a fourth person, walking with the three of us, and very gingerly lock-off the isolator so the end of the shot didn’t look like Jell-O, bouncing back and forth.”

There was no remote focus, and the grips were challenged pulling the heavy Hustler dolly on the carpet. “It looked simple, but it was

not,” Ramirez shares.

Next Generation was a pioneer for TV VFX, “and they were quite a challenge,” recalls Director of Photography Lowell Peterson, ASC, who operated on the series. “Many of the tricks we came up with, including the use of anamorphic lenses to create optical dolly shots, I still use today to do VFX shots that don’t require expensive roto-ing. Rob Legato [ASC] was on set a lot to help figure out how to achieve VFX without rotoscoping. Many times, it was designing a moving shot so that I could lock-off the Panahead at the moment the visual effect took place. If you look out for this, you can see it during the show.”

When directors wanted complex long takes, lock-offs had to accommodate multiple VFX moments in a single shot. For example, when two characters were coming out of a turbo lift on the main bridge, where the camera trackedback in front of them until they stopped on the ramp, the camera was locked-off and they were transported out and an alien character transported in. The camera was unlocked, and it panned the alien 180 degrees across the bridge to the other ramp. Finally, the camera was locked-off again, as Worf fired his phaser at the alien and he disappeared.

“We had two working models to support this locked-off economy,” Legato explains.

“First we would shoot the A-side with the blank set, then walk-on the appearing actors.

This was all one take, as we would cue when the other actors in the scene, to ignore them walking and then would react to them

TOP IMAGES (THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE): STAR TREK’S VISUAL ORIGIN STORY BEGAN WITH GERRY FINNERMAN, ASC, AND VFX LEGENDS LIKE HOWARD ANDERSON, ASC, LINWOOD DUNN, ASC AND JOSEPH WESTHEIMER, ASC, WHO ALL HELPED READY THE ENTERPRISE FOR ITS FIRST MISSION.

THIS PAGE (BOTTOM THREE IMAGES): STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (1987) WAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST BUDGETED SINGLE-CAMERA SHOWS OF ITS TIME AT $2 MILLION PER EPISODE.

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THE NEXT GENERATION PIONEERED TV VFX (LIKE THE TRANSPORTER ABOVE). LOWELL PETERSON, ASC, WHO OPERATED ON THE SERIES, SAYS “MANY OF THE TRICKS WE CAME UP WITH, INCLUDING THE USE OF ANAMORPHIC LENSES TO CREATE OPTICAL DOLLY SHOTS, I STILL USE TODAY TO DO VFX SHOTS THAT DON’T REQUIRE EXPENSIVE ROTO-ING.”

appearing. The action would continue, and we would break the camera and pan, lock-off for the next section, and then do the same ritual in reverse. The stationary actors would react to their disappearance, keep rolling, and walk the disappearing actors off and get the clean plate. The camera effect would transport in and pan over, then they would transport out with the camera panning from one end of the set to the other.

“The other method was to shoot lockedoff with an anamorphic lens – twice the width to allow us to pan over in post – and stage something similar but with the ability to pan and scan the frame, and have the camera move be able to pan in mid-effect, instead of waiting

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for the effect to be over before breaking the frame and panning. A poor man’s version of motion control,” Legato adds.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine continued to up the stakes. The pilot ran around $18 million.

The main set was two levels and expansive. The show was still shot on film – 35mm EXR 500T 5298 with Panavision cameras and lenses. But now the narrative moved away from the space station and was the first in the TV franchise to use CGI imagery for exterior space shots. The USS Defiant, for example, was the first starship to have a CGI model, although real “models” were still used for several episodes.

The pilot’s opening scene was a single shot, all handheld.

“It starts as the ship is in mid-destruction,” Chess describes, “and the captain is trying to free his dead wife from fallen debris, while his shell-shocked young son looks on. The camera is frantic as are the doomed crew. We run through the carnage as the ship is being torn apart and finally arrive at the last escape pod.

Following the captain and his son inside, we see the terror in their faces and are slammed again. As they drop in their seats, the camera is vibrating and searching. Then the order is given to eject. The camera jerks with force and then falls dead calm as the pod breaks free from the dying hulk. As the pod shoots away

TOP RIGHT: FOCUS PULLER MARICELLA RAMIREZ (RIGHT, WITH DIRECTOR WINRICH KOLBE LOOKING THROUGH EYEPIECE) SAYS THE SHOTS ON NEXT GENERATION INCLUDED “MASTERS WITH COMPLEX DOLLY MOVES, MANY DANCE FLOORS, LONG LENSES, SOMETIMES ZOOMING AT THE SAME TIME ON THE OLD PANAVISION 5:1...AND WE COULD NEVER LOOK LIKE WE WERE ZOOMING.” BOTTOM: A-CAMERA OPERATOR JOE CHESS SITTING ON CRANE BEHIND CAMERA, NEXT TO RAMIREZ STANDING: VFX COORDINATOR ROBERT LEGATO, ASC (LEFT WITH STRIPED SHIRT) NEXT TO KOLBE IN HAT.

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into the quiet of space, the ship explodes in a fireball.”

The story moves to the bridge, where the series introduces the new (at the time) Enlouva crane and a Power Pod mounted on dolly and track. “We move from the pit circling around and up, to meet an alien crew member and the chief engineer,” Chess continues. “We follow them upstairs, through an arch, past a busy crew and again up and through some doors into the captain’s office, where we meet Captain Sisko. Again, one shot, and a small miracle given the tools of the day. The dolly track was built through a small hole in a wall of the elevated set, extending the arm’s travel 30 feet.

The arm and bucket pivoted around the set wall time and again with precision.”

The franchise’s fourth installment, Star Trek: Voyager, which debuted in 1995, carried on the Panavision/EXR 500T 5298 tradition.

Ramirez says the Local 600 team tested a couple of video cameras, “including a Sony, before starting the pilot, probably to aid in the VFX. But, in the end, we continued using Panavision film cameras and Mitchell filters to soften the make-up, as well as white Pro Mists on some episodes to differentiate between locations and the ship.”

Chess recalls a negotiation scene in which a fight breaks out.

“One alien is in a wall-sized fish bowl [green screen, CGI], one is a shapeshifter, [a man in a green suit], one only existed in CGI where we

had to leave him open space [a tennis ball on a stick], and another in elaborate SFX make-up and suit completely with animatronics operated by two puppeteers – and then the weapons came out,” he explains. “Phaser blasts and CGI projectiles. There was also a green screen view-screen showing others involved in the negotiations. And it was all done handheld on a seven-day schedule!”

Six years later, in September 2001, Star Trek: Enterprise debuted. The show began shooting on Kodak Vision 500T 5279, with Panaflex Gold II and Panaflex Millennium XL cameras and Primo and Super Speed 2 lenses, as well as several Cooke lenses. However, by the fourth season, Rush tested Sony’s digital system, and production moved to the CineAlta and Zeiss DigiPrimes. Enterprise continued to “go where others haven’t gone.”

As Enterprise AC Mark Reilly notes: “We were one of the first TV shows to switch over from film to HD, and I may have been one of the first [AC’s] to pull focus using a monitor at Marvin’s cart. Up to that point, I normally worked at the camera with a Preston for flexibility, as we would regularly change camera configurations – going from handheld to crane.

But the new Sony F900, and the improved video monitoring capabilities – Marvin used a 24inch Apple monitor – compared to a video tap on film cameras, was a huge improvement. I would sit with my Preston on an apple box at Marvin’s monitor cart as he would say, ‘Follow

the ball.’ He also liked the ability to tweak exposure or sneak in a zoom with a whisper.

Of course, it took some getting used to, but I enjoyed pulling focus on a large screen and immediately knowing if we got the shot. The biggest challenge was learning the new camera menu and systems, and then adapting that for our many shooting modes.”

Enterprise Camera Operator Gary Tachell adds that other new gear was introduced on the show. “When the ship gets attacked and is ‘hit,’ the A-Camera operator/2nd Unit DP, Doug Knapp (SOC, who passed away in May 2020), shook the camera to simulate the hit,” Tachell shares. “A lot of the scenes on the bridge, where we were on a crane and a remote head, employed Marvin’s set of hot gears. With these tools, we were able to program a customizable shake and trigger it at the exact point of impact.

We could even do a variety of motion-control capabilities with the gears.”

Tachell notes that Rush even “brought in a Sony FX1 prosumer to test as an Eyemo-type crash camera. “We had a scene where we were blowing up a shuttle pod, and we placed it in a crash-cam position, wide and close to the explosion,” he adds. “We were all pretty amazed at how well such an inexpensive camera could perform.”

“Star Trek for me was always something special, something to be cherished and protected,” says Rush. “Most science fiction is dystopian in nature. Not Star Trek. Gene

THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE: ALTHOUGH STILL SHOT ON 35MM (EXR 500T), DEEP SPACE NINE WAS THE FIRST IN THE TV FRANCHISE TO USE CGI IMAGERY FOR EXTERIOR SPACE SHOTS, AND THE USS DEFIANT THE FIRST STARSHIP TO HAVE A CGI MODEL.

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Roddenberry’s vision was more hopeful, more aspirational. It had integrity. My job as cinematographer was to keep this in mind when lighting and shooting. I wanted the light to come from honest sources and to maintain that source integrity as much as possible.

Flashy and showy decisions were not chosen.

Instead the story circumstances would always drive the look for both lighting and camera.

“I also felt it was my responsibility to promote people on a regular basis,” Rush adds. “My criterion was when I noticed that someone had reached a zenith in their current position then I needed to find a way to give them a bit of a shove forward. Sometimes they were reluctant at first. I explained it this way: ‘You can’t get any better in your current role because you are almost perfect. If I don’t promote you, then after a while you will get bored ... then complacent ... then finally bitter.

Then we both will be unhappy.’ To counter their apprehension, I made a promise. ‘While you are learning the new job, I won’t ask you to do something you are not ready for. I will cover you until you are there!’ This was the best part of working for so many years on Star Trek. To watch my friends get to have their dreams as I have had mine.”

By 2017, and with the move to CBS All Access, the Star Trek TV franchise was fully digital. “We were challenged to shoot this new show, Discovery, as if it were a feature,” explains Director of Photography Glen Keenan, CSC. “Due to the advancement in technology and set construction, we had several new tools at our disposal. As an example, it took only 20 weeks to build the incredible Enterprise bridge.

Since we have the sensitivity of the digital medium, we were able to use programmable LED lighting and dimmer-board technology to bring the bridge to life. Discovery used three dimmer-board operators, and I know it sounds unbelievable, but we had over two million LED lights throughout the set.”

Keenan adds that with the rise of small digital HD cameras, like the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema system, his team was able to mount the cameras on actors and within the sets for various scenes, which in turn connects the audience to the characters.

“And to aid our focus pullers, they can use tools like the Preston Light Ranger focus system to help them remotely pull focus on complicated sequences,” Keenan adds.

“Today, the shows can be even more engaging,” says Director of Photography Philip Lanyon, who has worked on Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, which debuted in early 2020.

“Technological restrictions have traditionally been a huge help to story and often where we find the most creativity. Conversely, new tech can drive story and vice versa. I just find that it shouldn’t take the front seat. Sci-fi is more engaging when technology is used to support

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DISCOVERY BRIDGE PHOTO BY RUSS MARTIN / IATSE LOCAL 667

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the story instead of letting spectacle for the sake of itself take the lead.

“For Picard, we use the ALEXA MINI paired with Cooke 2× Anamorphic Special Flare glass and a variety of LED and traditional sources,” Lanyon continues. “My favorites are the Kino 850 with a Chimera as a soft key and LiteGear’s LiteMat 4 as fill. For the ship, we use Area 48s, SkyPanels, and rainbow tubes. This gives us a ton of control over color and levels. On the Borg sets, we use 20K Mole projectors as Sun rays and a lot of LED strips within the cube itself.”

Lanyon says he’s amazed just how much Star Trek has grown through the years, all while adapting to the different technologies.

“One of the things that have made the biggest difference for us is the use of VFX and CGI,” he describes. “The VFX magicians are so good at dealing with any problem, it allows directors and DP’s to focus on the story.”

Lanyon cites one creation on Picard that is of special interest. “It’s called the ‘wrap core’ on the La Sirena spaceship,” he explains. “It’s an interactive part of the story and allows us to incorporate some beautiful lighting effects. Its creation can be attributed to a great collaboration between the art department and lighting. We use simple LED space lights for the design, and they work well in such a confined

wall in front of a fire lane. We used the fire lane as extra depth as you can see through the fins of the space lights to the other side. We lit the back wall of the fire lane with Color Force strips and bounced it off silver pebble. It worked beautifully and became the centerpiece of the ship.”

Lanyon says the warp core outputs the equivalent of 35,000 watts, and with modern digital sensors, “we have such tremendous dynamic range and soft highlight roll-off, we could just keep going brighter and it kept looking better – more flare, beautifully wrapped backlight,” he concludes.

Befitting Rodenberry’s essential message of exploration in the service of humanity, installment eight in the TV franchise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, is next up for CBS All Access. Set in the years before Captain Kirk’s leadership of the USS Enterprise, with Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in command, aided by Science Officer Spock (Ethan Peck) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn), the show promises to carry on Trek’s technological evolution. And given new tools like virtual sets, large-format cameras, and new lens design, Finnerman, Anderson, Dunn, Westheimer, and company, who invested years helping TV “go where no man has gone before,” would be proud.

GLEN KEENAN, CSC, SAYS DISCOVERY USES “THREE DIMMER-BOARD OPERATORS AND MORE THAN TWO MILLION LED LIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE SET.” PHOTO BY JOHN MEDLAND

ENTERPRISE CAMERA OPERATOR GARY TACHELL SAYS SCENES ON THE BRIDGE, USED CUSTOMIZABLE SHAKES “THAT WERE TRIGGERED AT THE EXACT POINT OF IMPACT. WE COULD EVEN DO A VARIETY OF MOTION-CONTROL CAPABILITIES WITH MARVIN’S HOT GEARS.”

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“Star Trek was always something to be cherished and protected. Most science fiction is dystopian in nature...Gene Roddenberry’s vision was more hopeful, more aspirational.”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY MARVIN RUSH, ASC

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PRODUCTION CREDITS COMPILED BY TERESA MUĂ‘OZ The input of Local 600 members is of the utmost importance, and we rely on our membership as the prime (and often the only) source of information in compiling this section. In order for us to continue to provide this service, we ask that Guild members submitting information take note of the following requests: Please provide up-to-date and complete crew information (including that the deadline for the Production Credits is on the first of the preceding cover month (excluding weekends & holidays).

Submit your jobs online by visiting: www.icg600.com/MY600/Report-Your-Job Any questions regarding the Production Credits should be addressed to Teresa MuĂąoz at teresa@icgmagazine.com 88

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First Man / Photo by Daniel McFadden

Still Photographers, Publicists, Additional Units, etc.). Please note

20TH CENTURY FOX

“LAST MAN STANDING” SEASON 8 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DONALD A. MORGAN, ASC OPERATORS: GARY ALLEN, RANDY BAER, DAMIAN DELLA SANTINA, JOHN BOYD ASSISTANTS: MISSY TOY-OZEAS, SEAN ASKINS, AL MYERS CAMERA UTILITIES: JOHN WEISS, STEVE MASIAS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: VON THOMAS

A24/QUEENS LLC

“I’M SORRY” SEASON 3 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN TANZER OPERATORS: DAVID HIRSCHMANN, GRETCHEN WARTHEN ASSISTANTS: YEN NGUYEN, RACHEL DUSA, KELSEY CASTELLITTO, MINMIN TSAI LOADER: FRANCESCO SAUTA

ABC STUDIOS

“GREY’S ANATOMY” SEASON 17 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: HERB DAVIS, ALICIA ROBBINS OPERATORS: FRED IANNONE, STEVE ULLMAN, LESLIE MORRIS ASSISTANTS: NICK MCLEAN, FORREST THURMAN, KIRK BLOOM, LISA BONACCORSO STEADICAM OPERATOR: STEVE ULLMAN STEADICAM ASSISTANT: FORREST THURMAN CAMERA UTILITY: MARTE POST STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: LISA ROSE

“JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” SEASON 18 LIGHTING DIRECTOR: CHRISTIAN HIBBARD OPERATORS: GREG GROUWINKEL, PARKER BARTLETT, GARRETT HURT, MARK GONZALES STEADICAM OPERATOR: KRIS WILSON JIB OPERATORS: MARC HUNTER, RANDY GOMEZ, JR., NICK GOMEZ CAMERA UTILITIES: CHARLES FERNANDEZ, SCOTT SPIEGEL, TRAVIS WILSON, DAVID FERNANDEZ, ADAM BARKER VIDEO CONTROLLER: GUY JONES STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: KAREN NEAL, MICHAEL DESMOND 2ND UNIT DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BERND REINBARDT, STEVE GARRETT

“STATION 19” SEASON 4 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DARYN OKADA, ASC OPERATORS: RON SCHLAEGER, MARIANA ANTUNANO, BRIAN GARBELLINI ASSISTANTS: TONY SCHULTZ, HANNAH LEVIN, GAYLE HILARY, TIM MCCARTHY, WILLIAM MARTI, GREG WILLIAMS STEADICAM OPERATOR: RON SCHLAEGER STEADICAM ASSISTANT: TONY SCHULTZ DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ANDREW LEMON UTILITY: GEORGE MONTEJANO, III

AFN PRODUCTIONS-TELEPICTURES “THE REAL” SEASON 6

LIGHTING DIRECTOR: EARL WOODY, LD OPERATORS: KEVIN MICHEL, NATE PAYTON, STEVE RUSSELL, CHRIS WILLIAMS STEADICAM OPERATOR: WILL DEMERITT CAMERA UTILITIES: HENRY VEREEN, SALVATORE BELLISSIMO, ANDRES VELASQUEZ, JR. JIB ARM OPERATOR: JIM CIRRITO VIDEO CONTROLLER: JEFF MESSENGER

A VERY GOOD PRODUCTION, INC. & WAD PRODUCTIONS

“THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW” SEASON 18

LIGHTING DIRECTOR: TOM BECK PED OPERATORS: DAVID WEEKS, PAUL WILEMAN, TIM O’NEILL HANDHELD OPERATOR: CHIP FRASER JIB OPERATOR: DAVID RHEA STEADICAM OPERATOR: DONOVAN GILBUENA VIDEO CONTROLLER: JAMES MORAN HEAD UTILITY: CRAIG “ZZO” MARAZZO UTILITIES: ARLO GILBUENA, WALLY LANCASTER, DIEGO AVALOS

BEACHWOOD SERVICES

“DAYS OF OUR LIVES” SEASON 55 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: VINCE STEIB OPERATORS: MARK WARSHAW, VICKIE WALKER, MICHAEL J. DENTON, STEVE CLARK CAMERA UTILITIES: STEVE BAGDADI, GARY CYPHER VIDEO CONTROLLER: ALEXIS DELLAR HANSON

“THE GOLDBERGS” SEASON 8 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JASON BLOUNT OPERATORS: SCOTT BROWNER, NATE HAVENS ASSISTANTS: TRACY DAVEY, GARY WEBSTER, JENNIFER BELL PRICE, MICHELLE BAKER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KEVIN MILLS LOADER: DILSHAN HERATH

“THE TALK” SEASON 10 LIGHTING DIRECTOR: MARISA DAVIS PED OPERATORS: ART TAYLOR, MARK GONZALES, ED STAEBLER HANDHELD OPERATORS: RON BARNES, KEVIN MICHEL, JEFF JOHNSON JIB OPERATOR: RANDY GOMEZ HEAD UTILITY: CHARLES FERNANDEZ UTILITIES: MIKE BUSHNER, DOUG BAIN, DEAN FRIZZEL, BILL GREINER, JON ZUCCARO VIDEO CONTROLLER: RICHARD STROCK STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: RON JAFFE

CRANETOWN/NETFLIX

“UNTITLED CHRIS SMITH DOCUMENTARY” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRITTON FOSTER OPERATORS: ALEX KORNREICH ASSISTANTS: BRYCE PLATZ, JOSH QUIROS STEADICAM OPERATOR: ALEX KORNREICH DIGITAL UTILITY: TOSHADEVA PALANI

DISNEY/FOX 21

“QUEEN OF THE SOUTH” SEASON 5

“LAST CHANCE U-BASKETBALL” SEASON 1

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ABE MARTINEZ OPERATORS: DOMINIC BARTOLONE, MATT VALENTINE ASSISTANTS: JASON GARCIA, DAN MCKEE, RIGNEY SACKLEY, ZANDER WHITE STEADICAM OPERATOR: DOMINIC BARTOLONE STEADICAM ASSISTANT: JASON GARCIA DIGITAL LOADER: ADAM LIPSCOMB

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TERRY ZUMALT OPERATORS: DEVON HOFF-WEEKES, DAVID NEWTON ASSISTANTS: DEVIN KEEBLER, ETHAN SERLING DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOSH GREYTAK

EYE PRODUCTIONS, INC.

BOARDWALK PICTURES

CBS

“ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT” SEASON 39

LIGHTING DESIGNER: DARREN LANGER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KURT BRAUN OPERATORS: JAMES B. PATRICK, ALLEN VOSS, ED SARTORI, HENRY ZINMAN, BOB CAMPI, RODNEY MCMAHON, ANTHONY SALERNO JIB OPERATOR: JAIMIE CANTRELL CAMERA UTILITY: TERRY AHERN VIDEO CONTROLLERS: MIKE DOYLE, PETER STENDAL

“NCIS” SEASON 17 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: WILLIAM WEBB, ASC OPERATORS: GREGORY PAUL COLLIER, CHAD ERICKSON, DOUG FROEBE (VIDEO) ASSISTANTS: JAMES TROOST, HELEN TADESSE, NATHAN LOPEZ, YUSEF EDMONDS LOADER: ANNA FERRARIE STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: MIKE KUBEISY

“NCIS: LOS ANGELES” SEASON 12 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: VICTOR HAMMER OPERATORS: TERENCE NIGHTINGALL, TIM BEAVERS ASSISTANTS: KEITH BANKS, RICHIE HUGHES, PETER CARONIA, JACQUELINE NIVENS STEADICAM OPERATORS: TERENCE NIGHTINGALL, TIM BEAVERS STEADICAM ASSISTANTS: KEITH BANKS, RICHIE HUGHES DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN MILLS DIGITAL UTILITY: CAROLINE MILLS STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: RON JAFFE PUBLICIST: KATHLEEN TANJI

“THE STAND AKA RADIO NOWHERE” DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: THOMAS YATSKO, TONY CUTRONO OPERERATOR: JOEL SCHWARTZ ASSISTANTS: KEITH JONES, KOJI KOJIMA DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: RYAN DEGRAZZIO LOADER: MIKE RUSH ARRAY TECH: JAMES THIBO

“DYNASTY” SEASON 3

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STAR BARRY, ROGER CHINGIRIAN OPERATORS: BRETT MAYFIELD, BROWN COOPER ASSISTANTS: COLIN DURAN, RYAN ABRAMS, ALEXA ROMERO STEADICAM OPERATOR: BRETT MAYFIELD STEADICAM ASSISTANT: COLIN DURAN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ERIC HENSON DIGITAL UTILITY: JIMARI JONES

“SWAGGER” SEASON 1 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: RODNEY TAYLOR, ASC CLIFFORD CHARLES OPERATORS: KERWIN DEVONISH, GARY HATFIELD ASSISTANTS: CHRISTOPHER GLEATON, NICHOLAS HAHN, ZAKIYA LUCAS-MURRAY, DERRICK DAWKINS LOADERS: BRITTANY WILSON, XAVIER VENOSTA STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: PATRICK HARBRON, FRANK MCPARTLAND, ANTONY PLATT

GLITTER PRODUCTIONS, LLC “G.L.O.W.” SEASON 4

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF WALDRON OPERATORS: ROSS COSCIA, SARAH LEVY ASSISTANTS: MELISSA FISHER, SARA INGRAM, JOHN RONEY, LAURA DIFIGLIO DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PETER BRUNET DIGITAL UTILITY: BROOKE ZBYTNIEWSKI STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ALI GOLDSTEIN

GRACE AND FRANKIE PRODUCTIONS, LLC “GRACE AND FRANKIE” SEASON 7

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GALE TATTERSALL OPERATORS: CRAIG COCKERILL, TONY GUTIERREZ ASSISTANTS: DAN SCHROER, NAOMI VILLANUEVA, DAN URBAIN, RENEE TREYBALL STEADICAM OPERATOR: CRAIG COCKERILL STEADICAM ASSISTANT: DAN SCHROER LOADER: NICOLA CARUSO STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: SAEED ADYANI

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GWAVE PRODUCTIONS, LLC

“SULPHUR SPRINGS” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEFAN VON BJORN OPERATORS: GREG MORRIS, ROBERT FOSTER ASSISTANTS: BROUKE FRANKLIN, RY KAWANAKA, ERIC VAN DER VYNCKT, MATT GUIDRY DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PAUL RAHFIELD

STEADICAM OPERATOR: TIM SPENCER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MIKE DEGRAZZIO DIGITAL UTILITY: ROBERT RUELAS STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JONNY COURNOYER

NARROW ISLE PRODUCTIONS “OUTER BANKS” SEASON 2

HORIZON SCRIPTED TELEVISION, INC. “ANIMAL KINGDOM” SEASON 5

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LOREN YACONELLI OPERATORS: SCOTT DROPKIN, BROOKS ROBINSON ASSISTANTS: DAVE EGERSTROM, PATRICK BENSIMMON, ERIC GUTHRIE, CRISTY ARBOLEDA STEADICAM OPERATOR: SCOTT DROPKIN STEADICAM ASSISTANT: DAVE EGERSTROM DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JEFFERSON FUGITT DIGITAL UTILITY: GOBE HIRATA STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: EDDY CHEN

“THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRIAN BURGOYNE OPERATORS: ARI ISSLER, ROD CALARCO ASSISTANTS: JEROME WILLIAMS, ALEXANDER WORSTER, CAMERON SIZEMORE, ALEX DUBOIS LOADERS: AMANDA URIBE, JAKOB FRIEMAN

KANAN PRODUCTIONS, INC. “RAISING KANAN”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID FRANCO OPERATORS: FRANCIS SPIELDENNER, KATE LAROSE ASSISTANTS: TONY COAN, MARK FERGUSON, BRENDAN RUSSELL, GREGORY PACE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BJORN JACKSON LOADERS: KEITH ANDERSON, JESSICA CELE-NAZARIO STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: NICOLE RIVELLI

KENWOOD TV PRODUCTIONS, INC. “JUST ROLL WITH IT” SEASON 3

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSEPH W. CALLOWAY OPERATORS: KEN HERFT, BRIAN GUNTER, GARY ALLEN, JACK CHISHOLM DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ARMEN ALLEN CAMERA UTILITY: LISA ANDERSON, TERRY GUNTER, RYAN ECKELBERRY, ROGER COHEN JIB ARM OPERATOR: JOSH GOFORTH JIB ARM TECH: JEFF KIMUCK VIDEO CONTROLLER: KEITH ANDERSON BEHIND THE SCENES: DAVID LIZ, STEVEN PAUL

MAGIC WAND PRODUCTIONS, INC. “GODMOTHERED AKA FRILLS”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTOPHER NORR OPERATORS: ALAN PIERCE, GERARD SAVA ASSISTANTS: ETHAN BORSUK, JAMES SCHLITTENHART, JASON BRIGNOLA, M.D. EGAN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: NICK PASQUARIELLO LOADER: AUDRY STEVENS DIGITAL UTILITY: ANNE ABBRUZZESE STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: KC BAILEY

MESQUITE PRODUCTIONS

“FOR ALL MANKIND” SEASON 2 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEPHEN MCNUTT, ROSS BERRYMAN OPERATORS: TIM SPENCER, MIKE MCEVEETY ASSISTANTS: STEPHEN PAZANTI, JORGE PALLARES, DARIN KRASK, ARTHUR ZAJAC

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DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: J.B. SMITH OPERATORS: BO WEBB, MATT LYONS ASSISTANTS: LARRY GIANNESCHI, IV, WILLIAM HANND, MATTHEW KELLY JACKSON, DOMINIC ATTANASIO LOADER: NICK CANNON CAMERA UTILITY: DANIEL BUBB

NBC

“BROOKLYN NINE-NINE” SEASON 7 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: RICK PAGE OPERATORS: PHIL MASTRELLA, LAUREN GADD, JOEL TALLBUT ASSISTANTS: JAY LEVY, BILL GERARDO, DUSTIN MILLER, WILLIAM SCHMIDT, CHRIS CARLSON LOADER: NICK GILBERT DIGITAL UTILITY: KURT LEVY STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JOHN P. FLEENOR

“CHICAGO MED” SEASON 5 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LEX DUPONT, ASC OPERATORS: FAIRES ANDERSON SEKIYA, JOE TOLITANO, BENJAMIN SPEK ASSISTANTS: GEORGE OLSON, KEITH HUEFFMEIER, SAM KNAPP, PATRICK DOOLEY, JOEY RICHARDSON, MATT BROWN STEADICAM OPERATOR: FAIRES ANDERSON SEKIYA LOADER: CHRIS SUMMERS UTILITY: ELIJAH WILBORN STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ELIZABETH SISSON

“CHICAGO PD” SEASON 7 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMES ZUCAL OPERATORS: VICTOR MACIAS, DARRYL MILLER, SETH THOMAS ASSISTANTS: JOHN YOUNG, JAMISON ACKER, DON CARLSON, KYLE BELOUSEK, DAVID WIGHTMAN, NICK WILSON STEADICAM OPERATOR: VICTOR MACIAS LOADER: MARION TUCKER DIGITAL UTILITIES: CHRIS POLMANSKI, STEVE CLAY

“F.B.I.” SEASON 2 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TARI SEGAL OPERATORS: AFTON GRANT, CHARLES ANDERSON ASSISTANTS: LEE VICKERY, NIKNAZ TAVAKOLIAN, GEORGE LOOKSHIRE, YURI INOUE STEADICAM OPERATOR: AFTON GRANT LOADERS: CONNOR LYNCH, NKEM UMENYI STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: MICHAEL PARMELEE, ELIZABETH FISHER, MARK SCHAFER

“RUTHERFORD FALLS” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ROSS RIEGE OPERATOR: HARRY GARVIN ASSISTANTS: BIANCA BAHENA, VANESSA WARD, ALDO PORRAS LOADER: BRIAN WINIKOFF CAMERA UTILITY: CHRIS DE LA RIVA

“SUPERSTORE” SEASON 6 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JAY HUNTER OPERATORS: ADAM TASH, DANNY NICHOLS, MIGUEL PASK ASSISTANTS: JASON ZAKRZEWSKI, BRANDON MARGULIES, ERIC JENKINSON, RYAN SULLIVAN, ESTA GARCIA, RIKKI ALARIAN JONES LOADER: GRACE THOMAS

“UNTITLED TRACY OLIVER PROJECT” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MATT EDWARDS OPERATORS: MATT FLEISCHMANN, CAITLIN MACHAK ASSISTANTS: BLAKE ALCANTARA, VANESSA MORRISON, JORGE DEL TORO, DERRICK DAWKINS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: GUILLERMO TUNON LOADERS: CHRISTINASE CARMODY, DAVID DIAZ STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: SARAH SHATZ

NETFLIX PRODUCTIONS, LLC

“COUNTRY COMFORT” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE MOORADIAN, ASC OPERATORS: RON HIRSHMAN, RANDY BAER, DAVE DECHANT, ELI FRANKS, MICHELLE CRENSHAW, HELENA JACKSON JIB OPERATOR: MICHAEL JAROCKI ASSISTANT: CONNOR HECK DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ELENA GOMEZ CAMERA UTILITY: KATE STEINHEBEL DIGITAL UTILITY: ERINN BELL TECHNOJIB OPERATOR: ELI FRANKS VIDEO CONTROLLER: RICK DUNGAN

“THE BABYSITTER 2” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SCOTT HENRICKSEN OPERATOR: CHRIS MOSELEY ASSISTANTS: DENNIS LYNCH, JAY HARDIE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: LANCE HASHIDA LOADER: CHRIS HOSEY 2ND UNIT DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN PINGRY ASSISTANTS: SCOTT KASSENOFF, MIKE GRATZMILLER UNDERWATER UNIT DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID WILLIAM MCDONALD ASSISTANT: COREY BRINGAS

“COUNTRY COMFORT” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MIHAI MALAIMARE OPERATOR: DAVE CHAMEIDES ASSISTANTS: SHAUN MAYOR, LIZA BAMBENEK, MARCUS DEL NEGRO, KATY JONES STEADICAM OPERATOR: DAVE CHAMEIDES DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ELI BERG LOADER: JASMINE HARVEY DIGITAL UTILITY: OSCAR CIFUENTES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: DAVID LEE PUBLICIST: CLAIRE RASKIND

NKZ PRODUCTIONS, INC.

“THE BACHELOR” SEASON 24 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DENNIS WEILER, CHAD GRIEPENTROG, ANDRE MARTINEZ OPERATORS: DOUG HENNING, MARK JUNGJOHANN, IVAN DURAN, MARTIN MOURINO, TIM STAHL, ANDREW RAKOW, EZRA EPWELL, NICK TULLY, ERICA SHUSHA, JEREMY GUY, SUZIE WEIS ASSISTANTS: YOGI NEELY, TYLER DETARSIO, DAVE OSTERBERG, THOR FRIDLEIFSSON, NICK MILLER, JAY STRAMM, JEN CHMIELEWSKI, TAYLOR GILMARTIN CAMERA UTILITIES: APPLE SCHLOSSER, MICHAEL WILLIAMSON JIB OPERATOR: RANDY GOMEZ, JR. VIDEO CONTROLLERS: RICHARD STROCK, MARC SURETTE

OUR HOUSE PRODUCTIONS “BIG BROTHER” SEASON 22

OPERATORS: JONATHAN HALE, CHARLES NUNGESSER, KARIN PELLONI, CALVIN BECK, LAURENCE AVENET-BRADLEY, EMMA PANTALL, JANETTE STAUB, ADAM MARSCHALL, AYMAE SULICK, ADAM SENATE, GEOFF HALE, CHRISTOPHER LOCKETT, DWAYNE SMITH, CASE NORTON, JEREMY BROWN, DALE PILUS, REBECCA ROBERTS, STEVE DARMIS, MELISSA HOLT, KATE STEINHEBEL, BRANDON FRYMAN, JOHN IKENOUYE

OUTLAW JB, LLC

PACIFIC 2.1 ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC.

DIGITAL UTILITY: LITONG ZHEN STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: PARRISH LEWIS

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KEITH L. SMITH OPERATORS: CHRIS WALLING, SAM LAW ASSISTANTS: STEPHEN BRANAGAN, ISAAC DOWELL, JONATHAN MEDINA STEADICAM OPERATOR: SAM LAW

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREI BOWDEN SCHWARTZ OPERATORS: AIKEN WEISS, AILEEN TAYLOR ASSISTANTS: DAMON LEMAY, BAYLEY SWEITZER, KRISTINA LALLY, RACHEL FEDORKOVA LOADERS: RAUL MARTINEZ, STARLENE SOLER

POPCOM, LLC/MTV STUDIOS

OLIVE AVENUE PRODUCTIONS, LLC

PARAMOUNT

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SCOTT WINING, SCOTT PECK OPERATORS: TIM FABRIZIO, RYAN WEISEN ASSISTANTS: JOSH HANCHER, CRISTIAN TROVA, KYLER DENNIS, MIKE FISHER STEADICAM OPERATOR: TIM FABRIZIO STEADICAM ASSISTANT: JOSH HANCHER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOE ELROM LOADER: NICK YOUNG DIGITAL UTILITY: ALESSANDRA MACI

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID MORRISON OPERATORS: BRANDON THOMPSON, SIDARTH KANTAMNENI ASSISTANTS: AUSTIN LEWIS, ALEX HOOPER, OREN MALIK STEADICAM OPERATOR: BRANDON THOMPSON STEADICAM ASSISTANT: AUSTIN LEWIS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JAZZ PIERCE DIGITAL UTILITY: TRENT WALKER STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CURTIS BAKER

ON THE COUNT OF THREE, INC.

“MADE FOR LOVE” SEASON 1

“THE OUTLAW JOHNNY BLACK”

“DOOM PATROL” SEASON 2

“ON THE COUNT OF THREE” ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFFREY KIM OPERATORS: FRANK LARSON, KOREY ROBINSON ASSISTANTS: TSYEN SHEN, BENYOMIN SPANER, YURI INOUE, DAVID MASLYN EDGE CAMERA OPERATOR: PATRICK REDMOND

“POSE” SEASON 3

“BOOMERANG” SEASON 2

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: NATE GOODMAN OPERATORS: PETER MERCURIO, RON BALDWIN ASSISTANTS: MATTHEW KING, JOJO SUTERA, HEATHER LEA-LEROY, NINA PORTILLO DIGITAL IMGAGING TECH: MICHAEL BORENSTEIN STILL PHOTOGRAPER: JOHN JOHNSON

“STATION ELEVEN” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTIAN SPRENGER OPERATORS: BRIAN FREESH, BLAINE BAKER ASSISTANTS: LIAM SINNOTT, RON RUANPHAE, JASON BONNER, ELAISA VARGAS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CHRIS HOYLE

“THREE MONTHS”

OPERATOR: BRUCE CHEUNG ASSISTANTS: JESSICA HERSHATTER, IAN CAMPBELL, KEVIN WILSON, ZAK NORTON DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JONNY REVOLT STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: RICHARD BAKER PUBLICIST: DEBORAH SIMMRIN

PROJECT NEXT

“TACOMA FD” SEASON 2 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GRANT SMITH OPERATORS: RYAN HOGUE, AUSTIN TAYLOR ASSISTANTS: RYAN GUZDZIAL, KEVIN ANDERSON, JESS FAIRLESS, ANDREA GILL DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BEN CRUMP DIGITAL UTILITY: JESSICA PINNS

REDHAWK PRODUCTIONS, IV, LLC “FARGO” SEASON 4

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DANA GONZALES, ASC OPERATORS: MITCH DUBIN, SOC, JOHN CONNOR ASSISTANTS: CHRIS WITTENBORN, HUNTER WHALEN, ERIC ARNDT, SHANNON DEWOLFE, ERIC HINGST DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: RYAN MCGREGOR LOADER: CHRIS SUMMERS DIGITAL UTILITY: EVA JUNE STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ELIZABETH MORRIS

SEPTEMBER 2020 PRODUCTION CREDITS

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ROCART, INC.

“ALL THAT” SEASON 11 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL FRANKS OPERATORS: VANCE BRANDON, JIM ORR, ROBERT MCCALL TECHNOJIB OPERATOR: ELI FRANKS ASSISTANT: MONICA SCHAD DIGIAL IMAGING TECH: DEREK LANTZ UTILITIES: JOSE GOMEZ, TAYLOR FICKLE TECHNOJIB TECH: COREY GIBBONS VIDEO CONTROLLERS: KEITH ANDERSON, BARRY LONG

“SIDE HUSTLE” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL FRANKS OPERATORS: KRIS CONDE, JOHN DECHENE, GEORGE LA FOUNTAINE, CHRIS WILCOX TECHNOJIB OPERATOR: ELI FRANKS TECHNOJIB TECH: COREY GIBBONS ASSISTANT: MEGGINS MOORE UTILITIES: JOSE GOMEZ, ERINN BELL DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DEREK LANTZ VIDEO CONTROLLER: BARRY LONG

SAN VICENTE PRODUCTIONS, INC. “THE BLACKLIST” SEASON 7

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL CARACCIOLO, SAADE MUSTAFA OPERATORS: DEREK WALKER, DEVIN LADD, PETER RAMOS ASSISTANTS: DANIEL CASEY, GARETH MANWARING, MIKE GUASPARI, JAMES GOURLEY, EDWIN HERRERA, EDGAR VELEZ LOADERS: JAMES PARSONS, CHARLES GRUNDER JR., ALYSSA LONGCHAMP STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: JOJO WHILDEN, WILL HART, DAVID GIESBRECHT

SHOWTIME PICTURES “BILLIONS” SEASON 5

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GIORGIO SCALI, ASC, J.B. SMITH OPERATORS: JONATHAN BECK, ERIN HENNING ASSISTANTS: CAI HALL, LEONARDO GOMEZ, II, PATRICK BRACEY, SEAN MCNAMARA LOADERS: DONALD GAMBLE, ARIEL WATSON STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JEFF NEUMAN

“CITY ON A HILL” SEASON 2 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSEPH COLLINS, MAURICIO RUBINSTEIN OPERATORS: EDGAR COLON, LAURA HUDOCK ASSISTANTS: ERIC ROBINSON, JOHN REEVES, MARC CHARBONNEAU, SARAH SCRIVENER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JEFFREY HAGERMAN LOADERS: BRITTANY JELINSKI, MAX COLLINS STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: FRANCISCO ROMAN SANCHEZ

SONY

“JEOPARDY!” SEASON 36 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF ENGEL OPERATORS: DIANE L. FARRELL, SOC, MIKE TRIBBLE, JEFF SCHUSTER, L. DAVID IRETE JIB ARM OPERATOR: MARC HUNTER HEAD UTILITY: TINO MARQUEZ CAMERA UTILITY: RAY THOMPSON VIDEO CONTROLLER: GARY TAILLON STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CAROL KAELSON

“ONE DAY AT A TIME” SEASON 4 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: WAYNE KENNAN OPERATORS: RON HIRSHMAN, DAVID DOUGHERTY, ED FINE, DAVID DECHANT

ASSISTANTS: JEFF JOHNSON, VERONICA DAVIDSON CAMERA UTILITIES: DOUG MINGES, BRAD TRAVER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CHRIS RUBIN VIDEO CONTROLLER: KEITH ANDERSON

“WHEEL OF FORTUNE” SEASON 37 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF ENGEL OPERATORS: DIANE L. FARRELL, SOC, JEFF SCHUSTER, RAY GONZALES, STEVE SIMMONS, L. DAVID IRETE, MIKE CORWIN CAMERA UTILITY: RAY THOMPSON HEAD UTILITY: TINO MARQUEZ VIDEO CONTROLLER: GARY TAILLON JIB ARM OPERATOR: RANDY GOMEZ, SR. STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CAROL KAELSON

STALWART FILMS

“FEAR THE WALKING DEAD” SEASON 6 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ADAM SUSCHITZKY, BSC, JALALUDIN TRAUTMANN, BVK OPERATORS: JUAN RAMOS, KRIS HARDY ASSISTANTS: MARK BOYLE, THEDA CUNNINGHAM, SAM PEARCY, DON HOWE STEADICAM OPERATOR: JUAN RAMOS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JAMIE METZGER LOADER: BRENDA SZWEJBKA DIGITAL UTILITIES: LOUIS WATT, JASON HEAD STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: RYAN GREEN PUBLICIST: SHARA STORCH

THIMBLE PEA PICTURES, LLC

“UNTITLED ANNA DELVEY ART PROJECT” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARYSE ALBERTI OPERATORS: GEORGE BIANCHINI, JOHN PIROZZI ASSISTANTS: JAMIESON FITZPATRICK, KEITT, CORNELIA KLAPPER, EVE STRICKMAN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DOUGLAS HORTON LOADER: JONATHAN PERALTA STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: NICOLE RIVELLI, LIZ FISHER, CHRIS SAUNDERS

TOT PRODUCTIONS, LLC

“THE OTHER TWO” SEASON 2 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ZACK SCHAMBERG OPERATORS: SEBASTIAN SLAYTER, PATRICK MORGAN ASSISTANTS: STEPHEN KOZLOWSKI, CASEY JOHNSON, SOMER MOJICA, SARA BOARDMAN, TONI SHEPPARD STEADICAM OPERATOR: PATRICK MORGAN LOADER: MADDIE KING

UNCLE GEORGE PRODUCTIONS, LLC

“SERVANT” SEASON 2

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ISAAC BAUMAN, MARSHALL ADAMS OPERATOR: NATHAN LEVINE-HEANEY ASSISTANTS: NICHOLAS HUYNH, ANTON MIASNIKOV, JAMES MCCANN, LEON SANGINITI, JR. LOADER: SEAN GALCZYK DIGITAL UTILITY: WALKER MARKEY STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JESSICA KOURKOUNIS

UNIVERSAL

“LAW & ORDER: SVU” SEASON 21 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL GREEN OPERATORS: JONATHAN HERRON, MICHAEL LATINO ASSISTANTS: CHRISTOPHER DEL SORDO, MATTHEW BALZARINI, JUSTIN ZVERIN, EMILY DUMBRILL LOADERS: JASON RASWANT, JASON GAINES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: MICHAEL PARMELEE

WARNER BROS

“BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PATTI LEE, ASC OPERATORS: MARK DAVISON, CHRIS HINOJOSA, JON PURDY, MICHELLE CRENSHAW ASSISTANTS: JEFF JOHNSON, VITO DE PALMA, MARIANNE FRANCO, ADAN TORRES, LISA ANDERSON, ALICIA BRAUNS, LANCE MITCHELL, JORDAN HRISTOV VIDEO CONTROLLER: JOHN O’BRIEN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: T. BRETT FEENEY STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: MICHAEL YARISH PUBLICISTS: KATHLEEN TANJI, MARC KLEIN

“MOM” SEASON 7 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN V. SILVER, ASC OPERATORS: CARY MCCRYSTAL, JAMIE HITCHCOCK, SOC, DAMIAN DELLA SANTINA, CANDY EDWARDS ASSISTANTS: MEGGINS MOORE, NIGEL STEWART, SEAN ASKINS, MARK JOHNSON, WHITNEY JONES CAMERA UTILITIES: ALICIA BRAUNS, COLIN BROWN, JEANNETTE HJORTH VIDEO CONTROLLER: KEVIN FAUST DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BENJAMIN STEEPLES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ROBERT VOETS PUBLICIST: MARC KLEIN

“YOUNG SHELDON” SEASON 3 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BUZZ FEITSHANS, IV OPERATORS: NEIL TOUSSAINT, SOC, AARON SCHUH ASSISTANTS: MATTHEW DEL RUTH, GRANT YELLEN, BRAD GILSON, JR., JAMES COBB STEADICAM OPERATOR: AARON SCHUH STEADICAM ASSISTANT: GRANT YELLEN DIGITAL LOADER: BAILEY SOFTNESS DIGITAL UTILITY: IAN DOOLEY STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: ROBERT VOETS, MICHAEL DESMOND, DARREN MICHAELS, NICOLE WILDER

WAR PARTY/SCULPTOR.

“COP SHOP”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JUAN MIGUEL AZPIROZ OPERATOR: ALEX ELKINS ASSISTANTS: ANDREW BRINKMAN, JOSHUA GILBERT DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CHRIS RATLEDGE

WOODBRIDGE PRODUCTIONS “S.W.A.T.” SEASON 3

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANCIS KENNY, ASC, CRAIG FIKSE OPERATORS: TIM DOLAN, BRIAN PITTS, MICHAEL OTIS ROPERT ASSISTANTS: RYAN PARKS, LOGAN TURNER, THANE CHARACKY, RILEY PADELFORD, JUSTNI QUACH, MIKE FAUNTLEROY CAMERA UTILITY: CARL LAMMI LOADER: TREVOR BEELER

COMMERCIALS BISCUIT “AT&T”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC SCHMIDT ASSISTANTS: LILA BYALL, ANDREW CRANKSHAW DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN SPELLMAN

“COORS LIGHT” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC SCHMIDT ASSISTANTS: ETHAN MCDONALD, MARCUS DEL NEGRO DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN SPELLMAN

“PIZZA HUT”

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SEPTEMBER 2020 PRODUCTION CREDITS

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC SCHMIDT ASSISTANTS: LILA BYALL, CARRIE LAZAR DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN SPELLMAN

CAP GUN COLLECTIVE

TECHNOCRANE OPERATOR: COREY CHECKETTS TECHNOCRANE TECH: OYTUN SAHAN

SOS COMMERCIAL PRODUCTIONS

M SS NG P ECES

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK MORAN ASSISTANTS: PAT KELLY, MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ TORRENT

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DREW DANIELS ASSISTANTS: ALEX GUCKERT, AIDAN GRAY STEADICAM OPERATOR: ANDY SCHWARTZ DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DAMON MELEDONES

STATION FILMS

“CROWN ROYAL, IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY”

“GOLD RUSH”

OPERATOR: CHRIS LYMBERIS ASSISTANTS: CHRISTIAN SHONTS, MONICA BARRIOS-SMTIH DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JASON JOHNSON

“VERIZON”

CAVIAR LA LLC “CHASE”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TOM SIGEL OPERATOR: SCOTT SAKAMOTO, SOC ASSISTANTS: MICAH BISAGNI, KYMM SWANK, TULIO DUENAS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JASON BAUER UTILITY: CRISS DAVIS CRANE OPERATOR: CLAY PLATNER HEAD TECH: PATRICK MOYNAHAN

ENGINE PICTURES

“DOMINION ENERGY”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SAM LEVY ASSISTANTS: ROBERT RAGOZZINE, NINA CHIEN, DAN KECK DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: TIFFANY ARMOUR-TEJADA

MJZ

“CHURCH’S CHICKEN” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: IRV BLITZ ASSISTANTS: CLIFF THENARD, NATALIE FONG DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KEVIN ZANIT

OLD HARBOR PRODUCTIONS

OPERATOR: MAX FISCHER ASSISTANTS: SCOTT INGE, ALEX COYLE

“HASBRO STAR WARS COLLECTION: THE CHILD” BEHIND THE SCENES: ANNE MARIE FOX

FREE MARKET FILMS “THE HOME DEPOT”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: FEDERICO CANTINI ASSISTANTS: MICAH BISAGNI, KYMM SWANK DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PAUL MALETICH

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KIP BOGDAHN OPERATOR: JON HOKANSON ASSISTANTS: JOHN CLEMENS, NINA CHIEN, SCOTT MILLER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: GEORGE ROBERT MORSE

SUPERPRIME “FOOD LION”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DUSTIN LANE ASSISTANTS: CHRISTIAN SHONTS, MONICA BARRIOS-SMITH DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JASON JOHNSON

WORLD WIDE MIND “VERTEX”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MATTHEW LLOYD ASSISTANTS: DAVID EDSALL, JASON ALEGRE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KYLE HOEKSTRA

“AVEENO”

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER DONAHUE ASSISTANT: ROBERT RAGOZZINE

REVERIE

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: RALPH LINHARDT ASSISTANT: DARRYL BYRNE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DAVE KUDROWITZ

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GILES DUNNING ASSISTANTS: NITO SERNA, NOAH GLAZER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: SCOTT BECKLEY

LOS YORK

SMUGGLER

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KAI SAUL ASSISTANTS: PAYAM YAZDANDOOST, MICHAELA ANGELIQUE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CJ MILLER

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRADFORD YOUNG, ASC ASSISTANT: ERIC SWANEK LOADER: TYLER SWANEK STEADICAM OPERATOR: MIKE FUCHS, SOC

“FOXBET”

“SPECTRUM HOUSEMATES”

RADICAL MEDIA, LLC

GREENFIELD PRODUCTION SERVICES “VERTEX”

“SENATOR ED MARKEY, STREETS AND STICKING”

“AT&T”

MUSIC VIDEOS LONDON ALLEY

“MARSHMELLO FEATURING DEMI LOVATO” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CARLOS VERON ASSISTANTS: ERICK AGUILAR, AJIRI AKPOLO DIGITAL IMAGING TECHS: FRANCESCO SAUTA

“ATLAS MOTH”

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SEPTEMBER 2020 PRODUCTION CREDITS

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STOP MOTION

Hopper Stone, SMPSP UNIT STILL PHOTOGRAPHER AN AMERICAN PICKLE

Let’s be honest – if you spend enough time bouncing from set to set, a lot of it can become a bit of a blur. But if you’re lucky, a few projects, like An American Pickle, will stand out. Brandon Trost did an incredible job in the director’s chair, and Director of Photography John Guleserian gave me beautiful light to work with (with operators Michael Fuchs, SOC, and Brian Outland also being very generous to help me find space). For this image, there are two kinds of photo bait that I will always bite at: reflections and small things in a large space. There is something very “movie magic” about a tiny set on a massive stage surrounded by gear. I never tire of seeing it.

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