Stephen Mick
Totally Usable
This installment of "UserTalks…" finds us chatting (virtually, of course) with Charles Papert, DP of Comedy Central's "Key & Peele" show, and the new and hilarious comedy-horror film "Hell Baby." Enjoy!
Links
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0660435/
https://vimeo.com/papert
Bio
Charles Papert is a Los Angeles-based Director of Photography, currently shooting the third season of the Comedy Central series "Key & Peele". Other recent credits include the recently-released feature "Hell Baby"; "Burning Love", the Emmy-nominated parody of The Bachelor; the Jack Black-produced web series "Ghost Ghirls" and a series of spots for Pepsi Max. Prior to that, as an operator and Steadicam operator he worked on such well known films as Office Space and American History X, and the TV series Scrubs and The West Wing.
Q&A
1. How did you get your start in the film world? Who has helped your career move forward the most? And who do you look to for inspiration in the cinema world? I was a wee lad of 12 when I figured out that I was likely going to spend my life behind the camera. I started off at NYU, but after talking my way onto some big sets like "Ghostbusters" I subsequently decided that real-world experience was going to serve me better (and as an added bonus, I could earn wages rather than miring myself in years of student loan debt). Four years later I snared a staff position as cameraman/editor for a small production company, where I directed, shot and edited hundreds of local commercials and corporate videos on 3/4 video. Little to none of it was art, but I learned a ton.
My early fascination was with Steadicam, which at the time was still a rather rare and elusive beast. My heroes were Garrett Brown, Larry McConkey and the late Ted Churchill, all of whom I was privileged to meet and learn from early on. Meanwhile I was pouring through American Cinematographer magazine and soaking up everything about shooting and lighting I possibly could. So many DP's have influenced me over the years...Gordon Willis, Conrad Hall, Harris Savides, Roger Deakins (I operated for Roger several times and it was a fantastic experience, as one could imagine).
These days, inspiration comes from every direction. Some of the most amazing work is being done with little to no money by aspiring filmmakers in the most unlikely places. The democratization of filmmaking may be playing havoc with the economics of the industry, but it is opening the door for a lot of talented people to get their work seen.
2. As the DP on "Key & Peele," you're constantly having to create new "looks" for different segments, from bits about the Civil War, to the modern White House, and everywhere in between. Talk about the challenges that presents a cinematographer, and what do you do to bring so many different "looks" to life? Starting from the pilot episode, director Peter Atencio and I were on the same page as far as what we wanted to do with the show from a visual standpoint. Comedy videos went through a funky period a few years back with the advent of Funny or Die, where sloppy, rough and unlit became de rigeur. Peter and I felt instead that creating a fully-realized look to the show would add a layer of nuance to the comedy. If a sketch takes place during a zombie invasion, let's create the look of a studio zombie movie. If it's period, let's have it feel like a clip taken from a film of that era. Fortunately, we have a really strong team on Key & Peele; art, wardrobe, makeup and hair--everyone knocks themselves out to deliver.
A lot of people think that we must have a substantial budget to be able to pull off our sometimes elaborate looks, which is a testimony to the creativity and resourcefulness of this team, since our budget is anything but substantial. A perfect example is this sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVX8wm_CONM, where we create the illusion of a post-apocalyptic world. That's pristine New York Street on the Universal backlot, dressed with two junk cars and a couple of intact ones covered in dust and debris, a few boarded windows, a banner hanging from a building and a lot of smoke. If you were there on the day, it looked like nothing at all. By judiciously picking our angles, it transformed into a destroyed city.
Creating the look for each sketch starts with Peter and I sitting down to discuss the upcoming work. It takes us about four hours to break down the 20 or so sketches we shoot in each two week block (our schedule is generally two weeks on then one week off for scouts and prep). At this point we have a pretty advanced shorthand; we show each other Youtube clips from various movies, music videos, commercials etc. to illustrate our thoughts. With more than 200 sketches already behind us, we tend to reference our past work quite a bit as well. I'll then work out if we need to order additional gear for camera, grip or electric, discuss with my keys, and then more often than not have to dream up the cheapest possible version to fit within the budget (anamorphic lenses become blue streak filters; condors become parallels, etc).
My camera package this season consisted of two Alexas, Alura zooms (45-250 studio, 15.5-45 and 30-80 lightweight) and Master Primes (25, 35, 50, 75). We generally live on the zooms for speed, but will occasionally go to the primes for the shallow focus look if the sketch calls for it. Fortunately my focus pullers Emily Mackley and Doug Oh are absolute aces at their craft and extremely calm to boot, so pushing into a closeup on a 50mm at T1.8 doesn't phase them (they will however respond with "oh great!" or "that's awesome" or something similarly sarcastic/adorable). Generally we live in the T3.5 range but I will give more stop if we are at the long end of the zoom, for instance. I regulate mostly with ND's but we'll tweak the EI of the camera for speed purposes, since every time we change ND's it requires adjustment to the camera's white balance and green/magenta shift. We shoot ProRes422HQ, moving to 4444 for green screen work as required. We do probably 70% of the show off dollies, 20% handheld and 10% Steadicam. This year we added two "springy heads" from Modern Studio Equipment that recreate the look of handheld with the camera on the dolly, which greatly helps with operator fatigue and allows us to use the zooms for working speed.
I've found that the look of the Alexa with the Arri lenses is essentially a neutral palette that I can push in so many directions, as required by the nature of this show. We've done a few sketches that required me to simulate classic film looks from different eras, and I'm continually impressed at how easy that is to do with this package. I work with DIT Ryan Polack on set to build specific LUT's for each sketch as we shoot, which are then applied through editorial. Peter and I supervise the color correction at MTI Film using the LUT's as a starting point and refining from there. Any given episode will contain a massive variety of looks, from 50's Technicolor musical to late-model music video, and it's fun to realize that they are for the most part shot with exactly the same camera package.
Occasionally we will shoot with a completely different platform. Last year we had a bit about Obama hanging out in a dorm during his college years (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlxkcewBEe0). I pitched Peter on us using a mid-80's home video camera that I had lying around from a previous project, and he loved the look. I rigged up the camera to a Firestore-type hard drive recorder and the VHS artifacts were applied in post. This season we stretched out further on a few sketches set in the 70's or 80's, and being the masochist that I am, I thought it would be great to shoot those on 3-tube cameras. Interestingly, while the look of period film is easy enough to replicate with the Alexa, the look of period television is a whole different animal. The characteristics of tube video cameras are unmistakable and quite evocative.
After a long search for suitable cameras, I discovered that even in LA they are incredibly hard to find as rental items, so I ended up buying four JVC KY-1900's on eBay and cobbling together two fully working units. They were amazingly slow light-wise (I rated them at EI 40!!) and had their quirks, but the resulting images were worth it--I'd describe them as hilariously, unabashedly analog. Several of the clips called for a deliberately low-production value feel and it was a absolute joy to light these as badly as I could muster, with hotspots and harsh light, poor framing and sticky zooms etc. At one point I channeled the horrendous technique (or lack thereof) of the very first thing I ever lit back in high school, with an open face light on either side of camera blasting away at the subject. Great fun, and once again, the visual added to the comedy as well as the realism of the piece; it starts to feel like found footage.
In general, we shoot 2+ sketches a day and it's both a blessing and a curse. Certainly there's no room for complacency or boredom. Unlike an episodic show, where there tends to be standing sets that are used on a regular basis and over time one can refine the lighting as you learn the ins and outs, here it's all shooting from the hip, getting it right the first time and moving on to the next. . We shoot entirely on location, occasionally using stages that have pre-existing sets. Every sketch requires a different approach to the lighting and camerawork which keeps things fresh and fun and allows for a lot of experimentation. The flip side is that we have barely enough time to prep and thus we are often in a last-minute improv mode.
Tech scouting for 20 to 25 sketches in a single day is pretty intense. I'll eyeball the location for the first time, have a 3 minute discussion with Peter on where we will place the action and then have at best 10 minutes to formulate the essential lighting plan and discuss with my gaffer Skip McCraw and key grip Bodie Hyman before we move on to the next location. While some sketches require subsequent discussion because of elaborate rigging needs or additional equipment choices, in many cases those preliminary notes are not revisited until we actually shoot. This season, our scale increased quite a bit and some of the locations required a substantial amount of planning. We did a parody of the film version of "Les Miserables" which required a generous-sized courtyard to be lit with a soft moonlight glow. On a slightly larger show the easy solution would have been an HMI balloon, but due to cost we settled on a condor-mounted overhead rig with 5 gelled blondes pushing through 20x20 half grid. This approach required a substantial discussion of logistics and man hours to rig, but ultimately the line item on the budget was significantly lower, the scene looks great and thus it was a win.
3. You spent many years as a Steadicam Op on a wide range of films and TV shows. (Including the incredibly-underrated "Session 9," one of my favorites.) How does your work as an operator inform the way you approach your role as a cinematographer? I very rarely choose to operate myself these days, because I feel that having a good operator is a much more efficient workflow in an HD environment. With film, the best seat in the house was behind the eyepiece, and the operator was the only one who could judge critical focus. With HD all of that has reversed. I have a far better view of the image on my 24" Flanders Scientific monitor than I would in the eyepiece or an onboard monitor, and I'm not having to be concerned with the nuts and bolts of operating which frees me up to concentrate more on the lighting and thinking ahead to the next few setups. Plus there is a great benefit in having a solid set of extra eyes like my A-camera operator Denis Moran; he'll often pick up on things that neither I nor the director have noticed. I do miss the connection of being on set, working directly with the actors and so forth. It can be a little isolating inside the Tent of Doom.
Certainly my operating background is useful when we are breaking down a scene or designing coverage. I used to work closely with directors in that process as an operator so it was an easy transition to continue to do so as a DP. Although I spent many years flying a Steadicam, I find that I'm pretty judicious about calling for its use now. It's a great tool but it is also so operator-dependent that I have to tailor my approach to breaking down coverage based on who is operating for me on a given job (fortunately on Key & Peele I have Nick Franco, who kills it every time). These days Steadicam is used in something of a lazy fashion as it gives the perception of speed, which results in the poor soul standing around shooting lockoffs for take after take, which is punishing especially given the long roll times available in HD. I will fight to avoid this whenever possible.
Although I came up in the camera department, I've also been lighting the whole time and it is really my favorite aspect of the job. I feel that mastering that craft will be a lifelong pursuit. It always keeps me on my toes.
4. Your latest film, "Hell Baby," was written and directed by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, two of the funniest human beings on the planet. What was the creative process like working with them, and how was it similar or different from your normal director-cinematographer relationship? In general, Tom and Ben like to keep things simple and efficient visually. "Hell Baby" has a certain amount of horror genre tropes and we needed to honor those, so I was given rein to create a spooky look when appropriate. They are also so used to working in a free-form, loosely designed environment like "Reno 911", so when I suggested that we walk through the sets during prep and discuss coverage, they got really excited and energized by the process. Tom and Ben are of course hilarious, but also great guys and totally committed to the comedy on a creative level, and they understand filmmaking quite thoroughly.
5. The explosion of "digital cinema" has given the modern camera department a host of new tools to work with. Which of these tools do you "lean on," how do they make your job easier, and how can they help tell stories more effectively? While I came up in the film world, I have to say that I am really enjoying working in the HD domain. The Alexa is really the first HD camera that captures all of the physical advantages of film cameras (reliable, user-friendly, self-contained) and delivers images that don't represent much of a compromise from 35mm. I have a bit of nostalgia for shooting film but at this point, I don't necessarily expect to do it again and I'm OK with that. I love being able to see a big sharp image on set, then go home at the end of the day knowing that it's in the can (if one can still use that expression).
These days, speed is of the essence. I almost never work on a job that has the luxury of time; we are always looking to move as efficiently as possible, sometimes to the breaking point. Being able to cut some corners and fix in post is not ideal but it's simply part of the equation now. The low-light capability of current sensors has opened up some great new opportunities. We can work with smaller lighting units, use more practical and ambient light if desired. We did a night exterior process trailer scene on season one of Key & Peele (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMQ2qGmJOVM), and with just a little frontal fill I set the camera (then, the Sony F3) at 1600 EI and let the streetlights and storefronts push light onto the actors. It's far more organic and natural looking than the elaborate schemes we used to rig up with lights dimming on and off, and a lot quicker to set up, which means more time for additional takes or coverage, which is always desirable.
DSLR's--I ran the gauntlet with those a few years ago along with everyone else, had a pretty good time with them. It was fun to own a complete shooting package, and there was a certain pioneering spirit that pervaded that era. I shot three TV pilots with them, including Key & Peele (one of our most popular sketches, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LGEiIL1__s, dates back to the pilot which we shot on Canon 1DMKIV's) but at a certain point, I grew a bit tired of the moire issues, hobbled codec and tinker-toy rigs, so I don't shoot with them any more if I can help it.
Every project has its own needs. I shot a Pepsi commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5mHPo2yDG8) earlier this year that required more than a dozen varied cameras, from spy cams to industrial POV cameras to GoPro's to broadcast cameras; I had literally 24 hours to do the research and order the whole package. So, the good and the bad of the digital explosion is that it's always evolving, but you have to keep up. Thankfully we have that little internet thing that makes research a snap!
I've always been involved in post as well as shooting, beginning with cutting 1/2 and 3/4 tape. I started working with Final Cut Pro when it was v1.0. I feel that every DP and operator should have a good knowledge of editing, it helps immensely in how one goes about the craft. I try to maintain an understanding of just what is possible and more efficient to achieve in color correction and VFX, so that if we have to let something go on set, it can be managed down the road. A struggle we are dealing with now is how much involvement DP's have with this process. It seems ludicrous to me that a production wouldn't welcome the involvement of the individual that was responsible for the look of the footage all the way through, but here we are.
6. What do you think are the one or two most important qualities a cinematographer needs to have? Sensitivity to the material is very important; the photography must serve the story, of course. The director needs time to get the performances that satisfy him and I don't want to take that away from him by being precious about my lighting. That requires a continuous series of calculations; how much can I compromise what is in my head, do I need that extra light, can I live without that flag? How can I create a stylized look but still give the actors room to move around? How can we finish this scene before the bars close?! Collaborating with the other departments, empowering your crew to do their best work, keeping things running smoothly–the job is equally managerial and creative.
I also feel that flexibility is quite important. Everyone has favorite genres to work in (I happen to prefer comedy) but it's good to be able to tackle all visual styles and not get too locked into patterns. Key & Peele is of course the ultimate playground in this regard. It's kind of the best job in television.
Finally, I think that it is best not to be overly focused on the gear, to take too technical an approach. These days there are many folks out there who will endlessly debate the specs of a camera (in much greater detail than I understand it), but I feel that at a certain point you just need to let the machine do what it does, and concentrate your efforts onto putting good looking stuff in front of it.
Links
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0660435/
https://vimeo.com/papert
Bio
Charles Papert is a Los Angeles-based Director of Photography, currently shooting the third season of the Comedy Central series "Key & Peele". Other recent credits include the recently-released feature "Hell Baby"; "Burning Love", the Emmy-nominated parody of The Bachelor; the Jack Black-produced web series "Ghost Ghirls" and a series of spots for Pepsi Max. Prior to that, as an operator and Steadicam operator he worked on such well known films as Office Space and American History X, and the TV series Scrubs and The West Wing.
Q&A
1. How did you get your start in the film world? Who has helped your career move forward the most? And who do you look to for inspiration in the cinema world? I was a wee lad of 12 when I figured out that I was likely going to spend my life behind the camera. I started off at NYU, but after talking my way onto some big sets like "Ghostbusters" I subsequently decided that real-world experience was going to serve me better (and as an added bonus, I could earn wages rather than miring myself in years of student loan debt). Four years later I snared a staff position as cameraman/editor for a small production company, where I directed, shot and edited hundreds of local commercials and corporate videos on 3/4 video. Little to none of it was art, but I learned a ton.
My early fascination was with Steadicam, which at the time was still a rather rare and elusive beast. My heroes were Garrett Brown, Larry McConkey and the late Ted Churchill, all of whom I was privileged to meet and learn from early on. Meanwhile I was pouring through American Cinematographer magazine and soaking up everything about shooting and lighting I possibly could. So many DP's have influenced me over the years...Gordon Willis, Conrad Hall, Harris Savides, Roger Deakins (I operated for Roger several times and it was a fantastic experience, as one could imagine).
These days, inspiration comes from every direction. Some of the most amazing work is being done with little to no money by aspiring filmmakers in the most unlikely places. The democratization of filmmaking may be playing havoc with the economics of the industry, but it is opening the door for a lot of talented people to get their work seen.
2. As the DP on "Key & Peele," you're constantly having to create new "looks" for different segments, from bits about the Civil War, to the modern White House, and everywhere in between. Talk about the challenges that presents a cinematographer, and what do you do to bring so many different "looks" to life? Starting from the pilot episode, director Peter Atencio and I were on the same page as far as what we wanted to do with the show from a visual standpoint. Comedy videos went through a funky period a few years back with the advent of Funny or Die, where sloppy, rough and unlit became de rigeur. Peter and I felt instead that creating a fully-realized look to the show would add a layer of nuance to the comedy. If a sketch takes place during a zombie invasion, let's create the look of a studio zombie movie. If it's period, let's have it feel like a clip taken from a film of that era. Fortunately, we have a really strong team on Key & Peele; art, wardrobe, makeup and hair--everyone knocks themselves out to deliver.
A lot of people think that we must have a substantial budget to be able to pull off our sometimes elaborate looks, which is a testimony to the creativity and resourcefulness of this team, since our budget is anything but substantial. A perfect example is this sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVX8wm_CONM, where we create the illusion of a post-apocalyptic world. That's pristine New York Street on the Universal backlot, dressed with two junk cars and a couple of intact ones covered in dust and debris, a few boarded windows, a banner hanging from a building and a lot of smoke. If you were there on the day, it looked like nothing at all. By judiciously picking our angles, it transformed into a destroyed city.
Creating the look for each sketch starts with Peter and I sitting down to discuss the upcoming work. It takes us about four hours to break down the 20 or so sketches we shoot in each two week block (our schedule is generally two weeks on then one week off for scouts and prep). At this point we have a pretty advanced shorthand; we show each other Youtube clips from various movies, music videos, commercials etc. to illustrate our thoughts. With more than 200 sketches already behind us, we tend to reference our past work quite a bit as well. I'll then work out if we need to order additional gear for camera, grip or electric, discuss with my keys, and then more often than not have to dream up the cheapest possible version to fit within the budget (anamorphic lenses become blue streak filters; condors become parallels, etc).
My camera package this season consisted of two Alexas, Alura zooms (45-250 studio, 15.5-45 and 30-80 lightweight) and Master Primes (25, 35, 50, 75). We generally live on the zooms for speed, but will occasionally go to the primes for the shallow focus look if the sketch calls for it. Fortunately my focus pullers Emily Mackley and Doug Oh are absolute aces at their craft and extremely calm to boot, so pushing into a closeup on a 50mm at T1.8 doesn't phase them (they will however respond with "oh great!" or "that's awesome" or something similarly sarcastic/adorable). Generally we live in the T3.5 range but I will give more stop if we are at the long end of the zoom, for instance. I regulate mostly with ND's but we'll tweak the EI of the camera for speed purposes, since every time we change ND's it requires adjustment to the camera's white balance and green/magenta shift. We shoot ProRes422HQ, moving to 4444 for green screen work as required. We do probably 70% of the show off dollies, 20% handheld and 10% Steadicam. This year we added two "springy heads" from Modern Studio Equipment that recreate the look of handheld with the camera on the dolly, which greatly helps with operator fatigue and allows us to use the zooms for working speed.
I've found that the look of the Alexa with the Arri lenses is essentially a neutral palette that I can push in so many directions, as required by the nature of this show. We've done a few sketches that required me to simulate classic film looks from different eras, and I'm continually impressed at how easy that is to do with this package. I work with DIT Ryan Polack on set to build specific LUT's for each sketch as we shoot, which are then applied through editorial. Peter and I supervise the color correction at MTI Film using the LUT's as a starting point and refining from there. Any given episode will contain a massive variety of looks, from 50's Technicolor musical to late-model music video, and it's fun to realize that they are for the most part shot with exactly the same camera package.
Occasionally we will shoot with a completely different platform. Last year we had a bit about Obama hanging out in a dorm during his college years (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlxkcewBEe0). I pitched Peter on us using a mid-80's home video camera that I had lying around from a previous project, and he loved the look. I rigged up the camera to a Firestore-type hard drive recorder and the VHS artifacts were applied in post. This season we stretched out further on a few sketches set in the 70's or 80's, and being the masochist that I am, I thought it would be great to shoot those on 3-tube cameras. Interestingly, while the look of period film is easy enough to replicate with the Alexa, the look of period television is a whole different animal. The characteristics of tube video cameras are unmistakable and quite evocative.
After a long search for suitable cameras, I discovered that even in LA they are incredibly hard to find as rental items, so I ended up buying four JVC KY-1900's on eBay and cobbling together two fully working units. They were amazingly slow light-wise (I rated them at EI 40!!) and had their quirks, but the resulting images were worth it--I'd describe them as hilariously, unabashedly analog. Several of the clips called for a deliberately low-production value feel and it was a absolute joy to light these as badly as I could muster, with hotspots and harsh light, poor framing and sticky zooms etc. At one point I channeled the horrendous technique (or lack thereof) of the very first thing I ever lit back in high school, with an open face light on either side of camera blasting away at the subject. Great fun, and once again, the visual added to the comedy as well as the realism of the piece; it starts to feel like found footage.
In general, we shoot 2+ sketches a day and it's both a blessing and a curse. Certainly there's no room for complacency or boredom. Unlike an episodic show, where there tends to be standing sets that are used on a regular basis and over time one can refine the lighting as you learn the ins and outs, here it's all shooting from the hip, getting it right the first time and moving on to the next. . We shoot entirely on location, occasionally using stages that have pre-existing sets. Every sketch requires a different approach to the lighting and camerawork which keeps things fresh and fun and allows for a lot of experimentation. The flip side is that we have barely enough time to prep and thus we are often in a last-minute improv mode.
Tech scouting for 20 to 25 sketches in a single day is pretty intense. I'll eyeball the location for the first time, have a 3 minute discussion with Peter on where we will place the action and then have at best 10 minutes to formulate the essential lighting plan and discuss with my gaffer Skip McCraw and key grip Bodie Hyman before we move on to the next location. While some sketches require subsequent discussion because of elaborate rigging needs or additional equipment choices, in many cases those preliminary notes are not revisited until we actually shoot. This season, our scale increased quite a bit and some of the locations required a substantial amount of planning. We did a parody of the film version of "Les Miserables" which required a generous-sized courtyard to be lit with a soft moonlight glow. On a slightly larger show the easy solution would have been an HMI balloon, but due to cost we settled on a condor-mounted overhead rig with 5 gelled blondes pushing through 20x20 half grid. This approach required a substantial discussion of logistics and man hours to rig, but ultimately the line item on the budget was significantly lower, the scene looks great and thus it was a win.
3. You spent many years as a Steadicam Op on a wide range of films and TV shows. (Including the incredibly-underrated "Session 9," one of my favorites.) How does your work as an operator inform the way you approach your role as a cinematographer? I very rarely choose to operate myself these days, because I feel that having a good operator is a much more efficient workflow in an HD environment. With film, the best seat in the house was behind the eyepiece, and the operator was the only one who could judge critical focus. With HD all of that has reversed. I have a far better view of the image on my 24" Flanders Scientific monitor than I would in the eyepiece or an onboard monitor, and I'm not having to be concerned with the nuts and bolts of operating which frees me up to concentrate more on the lighting and thinking ahead to the next few setups. Plus there is a great benefit in having a solid set of extra eyes like my A-camera operator Denis Moran; he'll often pick up on things that neither I nor the director have noticed. I do miss the connection of being on set, working directly with the actors and so forth. It can be a little isolating inside the Tent of Doom.
Certainly my operating background is useful when we are breaking down a scene or designing coverage. I used to work closely with directors in that process as an operator so it was an easy transition to continue to do so as a DP. Although I spent many years flying a Steadicam, I find that I'm pretty judicious about calling for its use now. It's a great tool but it is also so operator-dependent that I have to tailor my approach to breaking down coverage based on who is operating for me on a given job (fortunately on Key & Peele I have Nick Franco, who kills it every time). These days Steadicam is used in something of a lazy fashion as it gives the perception of speed, which results in the poor soul standing around shooting lockoffs for take after take, which is punishing especially given the long roll times available in HD. I will fight to avoid this whenever possible.
Although I came up in the camera department, I've also been lighting the whole time and it is really my favorite aspect of the job. I feel that mastering that craft will be a lifelong pursuit. It always keeps me on my toes.
4. Your latest film, "Hell Baby," was written and directed by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, two of the funniest human beings on the planet. What was the creative process like working with them, and how was it similar or different from your normal director-cinematographer relationship? In general, Tom and Ben like to keep things simple and efficient visually. "Hell Baby" has a certain amount of horror genre tropes and we needed to honor those, so I was given rein to create a spooky look when appropriate. They are also so used to working in a free-form, loosely designed environment like "Reno 911", so when I suggested that we walk through the sets during prep and discuss coverage, they got really excited and energized by the process. Tom and Ben are of course hilarious, but also great guys and totally committed to the comedy on a creative level, and they understand filmmaking quite thoroughly.
5. The explosion of "digital cinema" has given the modern camera department a host of new tools to work with. Which of these tools do you "lean on," how do they make your job easier, and how can they help tell stories more effectively? While I came up in the film world, I have to say that I am really enjoying working in the HD domain. The Alexa is really the first HD camera that captures all of the physical advantages of film cameras (reliable, user-friendly, self-contained) and delivers images that don't represent much of a compromise from 35mm. I have a bit of nostalgia for shooting film but at this point, I don't necessarily expect to do it again and I'm OK with that. I love being able to see a big sharp image on set, then go home at the end of the day knowing that it's in the can (if one can still use that expression).
These days, speed is of the essence. I almost never work on a job that has the luxury of time; we are always looking to move as efficiently as possible, sometimes to the breaking point. Being able to cut some corners and fix in post is not ideal but it's simply part of the equation now. The low-light capability of current sensors has opened up some great new opportunities. We can work with smaller lighting units, use more practical and ambient light if desired. We did a night exterior process trailer scene on season one of Key & Peele (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMQ2qGmJOVM), and with just a little frontal fill I set the camera (then, the Sony F3) at 1600 EI and let the streetlights and storefronts push light onto the actors. It's far more organic and natural looking than the elaborate schemes we used to rig up with lights dimming on and off, and a lot quicker to set up, which means more time for additional takes or coverage, which is always desirable.
DSLR's--I ran the gauntlet with those a few years ago along with everyone else, had a pretty good time with them. It was fun to own a complete shooting package, and there was a certain pioneering spirit that pervaded that era. I shot three TV pilots with them, including Key & Peele (one of our most popular sketches, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LGEiIL1__s, dates back to the pilot which we shot on Canon 1DMKIV's) but at a certain point, I grew a bit tired of the moire issues, hobbled codec and tinker-toy rigs, so I don't shoot with them any more if I can help it.
Every project has its own needs. I shot a Pepsi commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5mHPo2yDG8) earlier this year that required more than a dozen varied cameras, from spy cams to industrial POV cameras to GoPro's to broadcast cameras; I had literally 24 hours to do the research and order the whole package. So, the good and the bad of the digital explosion is that it's always evolving, but you have to keep up. Thankfully we have that little internet thing that makes research a snap!
I've always been involved in post as well as shooting, beginning with cutting 1/2 and 3/4 tape. I started working with Final Cut Pro when it was v1.0. I feel that every DP and operator should have a good knowledge of editing, it helps immensely in how one goes about the craft. I try to maintain an understanding of just what is possible and more efficient to achieve in color correction and VFX, so that if we have to let something go on set, it can be managed down the road. A struggle we are dealing with now is how much involvement DP's have with this process. It seems ludicrous to me that a production wouldn't welcome the involvement of the individual that was responsible for the look of the footage all the way through, but here we are.
6. What do you think are the one or two most important qualities a cinematographer needs to have? Sensitivity to the material is very important; the photography must serve the story, of course. The director needs time to get the performances that satisfy him and I don't want to take that away from him by being precious about my lighting. That requires a continuous series of calculations; how much can I compromise what is in my head, do I need that extra light, can I live without that flag? How can I create a stylized look but still give the actors room to move around? How can we finish this scene before the bars close?! Collaborating with the other departments, empowering your crew to do their best work, keeping things running smoothly–the job is equally managerial and creative.
I also feel that flexibility is quite important. Everyone has favorite genres to work in (I happen to prefer comedy) but it's good to be able to tackle all visual styles and not get too locked into patterns. Key & Peele is of course the ultimate playground in this regard. It's kind of the best job in television.
Finally, I think that it is best not to be overly focused on the gear, to take too technical an approach. These days there are many folks out there who will endlessly debate the specs of a camera (in much greater detail than I understand it), but I feel that at a certain point you just need to let the machine do what it does, and concentrate your efforts onto putting good looking stuff in front of it.
