One cinematographer brought a sleek sci-fi environment to life, artfully blended with the gritty, rough-and-tumble Wild West, for a high-profile HBO series.
Another DP captures the Old West with modern times, the latter of which includes a socio-economic portrait of today’s America, in what many regard as the critically acclaimed feature hit of the summer.
And our third cinematographer juxtaposes rural and urban life as we are introduced to a family forced to move from the former to the latter due to a gross injustice, which led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court civil rights case.
Here are reflections from cinematographer Paul Cameron, ASC, on HBO’s Westworld, Giles Nuttgens on Hell or High Water (CBS Films), and Adam Stone on Loving (Focus Features).
Paul Cameron
Westworld has debuted to critical acclaim, showing promise of becoming “the next big thing” on HBO. And entrusted with helping to set the look and tone of Westworld—a visual blend of sleek sci-fi with the gritty Wild West—was cinematographer Paul Cameron, ASC, who shot the pilot for writer/showrunner Jonathan Nolan who also directed the first episode. Nolan created the series with Lisa Joy Nolan. He is known for his creative chops, having written the short story, “Memento Mori,” on which the film Memento is based. Nolan also co-wrote with his brother, filmmaker Christopher Nolan, The Prestige, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Jonathan Nolan also served as co-writer on Terminator Salvation.
For Cameron, he recalled being “delighted” to get a call from Nolan. “I was familiar with his creativity, the incredible writing with his brother Christopher, his work as showrunner and director on the series Person of Interest. We met and talked. I could tell from the nature of the content and his sensibilities that Westworld would be a good show. Twenty minutes into the meeting, I committed to the project.”
Based on the Michael Crichton film released in 1973, HBO’s Westworld takes us to a future in which artificial intelligence has become so advanced that an alternative world theme park populated by androids has become a reality. Wealthy visitors pay a premium to immerse themselves in an Old West experience that is at times decadent with bar room brawls, shootouts, violent and predatory acts as well as brothel encounters. Anthony Hopkins portrays Dr. Robert Ford, the park’s master designer who has complicated feelings about his creations which are fast approaching perfection. Hopkins heads a cast that includes Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Ed Harris, Thandie Newton and Evan Rachel Wood (as the android Delores Abernathy who wakes up to the realization that her quasi-world is designed purely for the pleasure of others).
Among the greatest creative challenges of Westworld, observed Cameron, was “to give it a big screen cinematic feel. As soon as I found out that Nathan Crowley [Oscar nominated for Interstellar, The Dark Knight, and The Prestige) was the production designer on the pilot, I knew we would have some scale and scope. We had to define what Westworld park would look and feel like. We saw it in some respects as being this western town built in the Red Rocks of Moab, Utah. The question was how do we do that practically? They wanted to shoot as much as possible in Los Angeles so we found the Melody Ranch where HBO had shot Deadwood. How do we make this environment grand, slightly pristine and upscale, a place where wealthy people would spend money to be?”
In sharp contrast is the basement of the Westworld operations facility for which the selected lensing location was the old, abandoned Hawthorne Mall in Hawthorne, Calif. A decrepit, rotting, empty shopping center, hollowed out, replete with massive dormant escalators and old concrete floors, the site made for an ideal landing spot for decommissioned Westworld android hosts.
Cameron noted that the Westworld pilot didn’t directly reference anything from the original Westworld feature. “We designed a new palette for the show, shooting film, setting the western tone not only in terms of cinematography but also colors, costuming, trying to lock in the look across the board to give it a cohesive feel. Jonathan [Nolan] and I come from the same place. We love 35mm film, its elegant quality. There’s something about actually putting light through the lens. As good as digital is, it’s emulating something far superior in a lot of ways. The irony is that a lot of digital HBO shows get archived back onto film.”
ARRICAM LTs were the film cameras of choice, shooting 3 perf on Kodak 35m film with Cooke S4 lenses. “Cookes and 35mm film combination was just the right cocktail for Westworld,” assessed Cameron who remains open to and is experienced in digital cinematography.
Setting the visual foundation for Westworld—executive produced by J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk—Cameron noted that upwards of six additional cinematographers have or will be working on subsequent season episodes. “From what I’ve seen, it’s gone pretty well with those cinematographers keeping the consistency of look and tone yet adding their own interesting elements to the mix.”
Cameron continues to lens varied projects from commercials to music videos, TV and feature films. At press time he was involved in following up his lensing with color correction of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales directed by Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg; that movie is slated for release in 2017.
Cameron’s filmography includes the Michael Mann-directed Collateral for which he and Dion Beebe, ASC, shared a Best Cinematography BAFTA Film Award in 2005, as well as an ASC Award nomination.
Giles Nuttgens
Enjoying a fruitful working relationship with director David Mackenzie spanning six films starting with Young Adam in 2003 and most recently with Hell or High Water (CBS Films), cinematographer Giles Nuttgens has received his share of accolades over that stretch. Among them are several for the Mackenzie-directed Hallam Foe (2007) which earned the Golden Swan Best Cinematographer honor at the Copenhagen International Film Festival, the Kodak Award for Best Cinematography at the Dinard British Film Fest, and an Evening Standard British Film Award nomination for Best Technical Achievement.
Fast forward to today and Nuttgens has also received critical acclaim for his lensing of Hell or High Water, a heist drama set in West Texas and centered on not only a pair of brothers (Toby portrayed by Chris Pine and Tanner by Ben Foster) who are robbing branches of the bank about to foreclose on their family’s land, but also the two Texas Rangers (Jeff Bridges as Marcus and Gil Birmingham as Alberto) pursuing them. Attuned in some respects to today’s outsider politics movement and the alienation resulting from a seemingly rigged financial game stacked against the working class, the character-driven story generates empathy as well as sympathy for the couples on both sides of the law—though in no way making excuses for the brothers’ crimes.
Nuttgens noted that “probably the biggest technical challenge” posed by the film to him as a cinematographer was “dealing with the harsh summer overhead light in New Mexico.” The DP added that “choosing the location for the shootout between the Rangers and Tanner became a big issue as there were many topographic requirements to make it work with the narrative—two hills close together and shallow enough to achieve the stunt of the car rolling backwards and exploding, but accented enough to appear steep on camera. It also had to be controllable for three days of shooting so light direction came way down the list. Fortunately David Mackenzie was very supportive in understanding the importance of working with the light throughout the days to maintain almost all shots backlit.”
Nuttgens explained that he deployed a digital yet film-friendly Arriflex ALEXA Studio “as I have spent many years operating a film camera. The Studio has an optical viewfinder and seeing everything for real instead of through an electronic viewfinder is imperative for me. The ALEXA shooting RAW has very good latitude in the highlights and as many of our interior scenes had elements seen through the windows that were important for the narrative, it seemed an obvious choice. We shot the film anamorphic 2.40 using V-Lites which are fairly versatile due to their small size and are reasonably sharp, even fairly wide open which gives me a flexibility to use less light if required.”
Reflecting on the progression of his relationship with Mackenzie over the years, Nuttgens noted, “We had passed through the process together of working film, on to early digital cameras (Sony F35) and now onto the Alexa.” Nuttgens also said of his connection with Mackenzie, “As well as having a similar artistic sensibility and attraction to certain types of stories, we work well together as he knows my shooting is completely steered to creating a mood that is wholly inspired by the script. It’s not just a case of having a ‘style’; it’s making sure that it matches the feelings created by the actors’ performances. No individual element of filmmaking should be overly evident but complementary to every other element. We always work with the same goal and almost never have differences of opinion over something.
“Before shooting we spend a lot of time going through the script, talking about what the protagonists are feeling in each sequence and deciding on an ambiance that would support that…Once we are shooting, all of those conversations are in the back of our minds as we negotiate the daily pressure of a shoot,” continued Nuttgens. “We are both absolutely in agreement that there is a more efficient way of making films than happens usually and try to cut back on anything that eats up time on the set unnecessarily. By placing these (reasoned) limits on ourselves and the crew, we free ourselves up to work fast and efficiently, giving us a larger daily set-up count or more time to refine a plan sequence, to allow actors to have extra takes if they need it and to preserve the crew’s energy in difficult conditions (it was 40 degrees centigrade in New Mexico each day) throughout the whole shooting period.”
Nuttgens further observed, “I think that many people in film want flexibility to change their minds on the day and carry a huge amount of hardware ‘just in case’….We don’t ascribe to that philosophy. We make our decisions beforehand and stick to it, accepting responsibility for any weak one we may have made….It forces us to be very clear and focused a long time before actually walking onto a set. It always pays off.”
As for what he learned from his experience on Hell or High Water, Nuttgens said he found “confirmation of our original ideas, that visual narrative is the best way to create a world and a socio-economic portrait of American society that does translate to the audience and serves as a huge aid to them to not just understand the story but to feel that they are within it. It makes for a much more satisfying experience.”
Adam Stone
Adam Stone met Jeff Nichols at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem; the two students formed a bond which extended into their professional lives with cinematographer Stone going on to shoot all five of writer/director Nichols’ feature films: Shotgun Stories (2007), Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), Midnight Special (2016) and Loving (2016). All the movies were shot on film.
This year Stone also lensed Procter & Gamble’s Summer Olympics commercial titled “Strong,” marking Nichols’ spot directing debut (via Rattling Stick which represents him in the ad/branded content arena). While Stone is adept and experienced on digital cameras, “Strong” marked the first time Nichols had worked in digital cinematography as the P&G piece was shot on the ARRI ALEXA.
“We have a good working relationship, on and off the set. We are best friends,” said Stone, describing Nichols as “super soulful. He has his head on straight. He’s very pragmatic for a filmmaker, picking the battles he needs to fight. He lives, breathes and dreams the shots, the cast, the locations. He has written all his films. Working together—and apart—we have both grown a lot. Each project we’ve collaborated on has stretched us into new areas.”
Their latest, Loving, tells the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving who are portrayed, respectively, by Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton. Their interracial marriage got them jailed and then exiled from Virginia in 1958. The couple persevered, stayed together, became parents and eventually lived in hiding in Virginia, taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court which in 1967 ruled in their favor, overturning Virginia’s ban on “the crime of a colored marrying a white.”
Loving is at its heart a love story, centered on the Lovings. There are no dramatic courtroom drama scenes or any preachy speeches. Instead the focus is on a couple whose love and the resolve and dignity with which they handled a gross injustice help to show the impact of that injustice and the power of the human spirit.
Telling such a personal story necessitated Stone figuring out a way to get closer to the actors. A Steadicam didn’t fit the bill so Stone ultimately deployed a Fisher 10 dolly, a Fisher 23 jib arm and a Mo-Sys Hot Head to put the film camera—a Panavision XL2 with G Series anamorphic lenses—right over the actors as they moved about. “It took a little adjusting to but over time we got pretty proficient shooting predominantly with that configuration,” recalled Stone. “We had to improvise when we got into smaller areas where we couldn’t easily operate the camera but the overall effect was being just that much closer to the actors [particularly Negga and Edgerton] and their performances.”
Relative to lenses, Stone said he and Nichols were fortunate years ago to “match up with David Dotson [sr. VP marketing] and Dan Sasaki [VP optical engineering] at Panavision. Dave is an anamorphic guru, Dan is a great lens designer. Very early on when Jeff and I were getting ready for Mud, we tested some lenses at Panavision. We fell in love with these guys, their equipment, their lenses, especially the anamorphic lenses. They were very much like curators of amazing optics. No two lenses are the same there. They will tune them as you like. We tested and then decided on G Series anamorphic lenses which weren’t super popular at the time. At this point Dan and Dave are good friends of ours and they’ve told us we made anamorphic and the G Series popular.”
Stone further noted that a major storypoint that Nichols needed to convey to the audience in Loving was Mildred’s affinity for rural life and the desire to have her children raised in the wide open spaces, not the confines of a city. Being exiled from the Virginia countryside cut deep as she and Richard moved to Washington, D.C. Stone’s cinematography thus had to convey Mildred’s profound connection to the land where she was brought up, her sense of place and comfort, the memories she had growing up there. “We tried to use actual locations which the Lovings inhabited—or at least lived close to. We went with locations very much akin to what originally happened—the fields, the woods, the roads. Jeff strives to get the best locations. He’s fearful of not getting the right locations. He wants to get a good Feng Shui going with the crew and the actors so we’re not playing dress up and trying to force an actor on a location or a location on an actor. He wants the story to be as authentic as possible with the crew included in the moment, and the audience ultimately believing in what we’ve done.”
