By Robert Goldrich

One DP picked up his first Emmy nomination in-between lensing this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner and then a recently debuted streaming series that has garnered widespread acclaim.

Another cinematographer successfully took on season five of a lauded series which she’s been a fan of from the outset.

Yet another lenser entered the Star Wars universe with a streaming show which last month earned a Peabody Award.

And our fourth artisan made his debut as a cinematographer on a high-profile series after 15 years as a gaffer.

Here are insights from Larkin Seiple on Beef (Netflix); Nicola Daley, ACS on The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu); Damián García on Andor (Disney+); and Corrin Hodgson on 1923 (Paramount+).

Larkin Seiple
It’s been an extended awards season for cinematographer Larkin Seiple, dating back to when a film he lensed made an auspicious debut at the SXSW Fest in March of 2022. Everything Everywhere All at Once went on to assorted high-profile accolades, including Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for writers/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, aka The Daniels. Everything Everywhere won a total of seven Academy Awards. 

Four months after the Everything Everywhere premiere at SXSW, Seiple received his first Emmy nomination–for the “Will” episode of the limited series Gaslit, a modern take on Watergate that focused on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal. Heading the Gaslit cast were Julia Roberts as Martha Mitchell and Sean Penn as her husband, Attorney General John Mitchell. Gaslit marked the first full television series Seiple had ever shot. Previously, his TV exploits were confined to a couple of pilots.

Gaslit additionally garnered Seiple his fifth career Golden Frog nomination from Camerimage; the other four nods coming for music videos, including Seiple winning the honor in 2018 for Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”

Fast forward to current industry awards banter and prevalent in the mix is Beef, a critically acclaimed show created by Lee Sung Jin which follows an epic ever escalating feud–triggered by a single, off-the-charts road rage incident–between two strangers portrayed by Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe) and Steven Yeun (Minari, The Walking Dead). The twists and turns, while darkly entertaining, say a lot about our society, laying bare the rage, angst, ugliness and insecurities that have become so prevalent–but still managing to cast a cathartic ray of hope somehow reflecting the better side of human nature.

Seiple was drawn to the story, getting the opportunity to take it on when Jake Schreier, who directed six of the 10 episodes, reached out to him. Seiple and Schreier are friends, having previously teamed on various commercials. (Schreier is with Park Pictures in the spot/branded content space.)

Seiple described himself as “going out of my way to do what’s best for performance” by the actors. In the case of Beef, he felt compelled to “restrain the camera and let the characters do the work.” He explained that the vendetta-motivated characters were so obsessed, made such crazy, bad decisions that any extra effort from the camera would make the proceedings seem unrealistic. Along these lines, there was a conscious decision on the part of Seiple to let scenes linger, to not cut too much, “to sit in trauma, to sit in the awkwardness.” And in that vein, there was at least one lengthy continuous take, a significant scene sans cuts–aka a “oner”–in every episode.

Shooting had to be very fast paced as Seiple found himself doing five to seven pages of script each day. “We had to find a way to shoot fast and still allow time for performance and to choreograph the oners,” he related.

Providing context for the time-related challenges of the series, Seiple at press time noted that he had an upcoming feature, Wolfs directed by Jon Watts, slated for 70 shoot days. While that schedule was for a two-hour film, he had but 65 days for 10 episodes of Beef.

Seiple embraced all the challenges Beef posed, noting that, for example, the cinematography sought to “find beauty in the mundane.” He credited production designer Grace Yun with creating “beautiful sets” that were “textured, real, not showy.” This helped him to play with sunlight and shade to create an ambiance, at times playing to darkness to counter some of the brighter yet barren sets–such as the house of Ali Wong’s character which was “beautiful but bold” and “empty” in many places.

Seiple observed that as the series comes to a close, the feel is more akin to a Coen brothers’ film, marked by mayhem and chaos with a color palette that leans toward more reds. “The show folds in on itself and compounds themes,” shared Seiple.

For Beef, Seiple opted for the ARRI Alexa LF in tandem with Zeiss Supreme Prime lenses. He cited his affinity for the way Alexa renders skin tones.

In addition to Everything Everywhere All at Once and Gaslit, other lensing credits for Seiple include one of director Watts’ early features, Cop Car. Incidentally it was Watts who played a role in the DP garnering his Emmy-nominated turn on Gaslit. Watts initially connected Seiple with Gaslit creator Robbie Pickering, which then led to the DP meeting that show’s director, Matt Ross. Seiple had a meeting of minds with Ross on the approach to Gaslit, which entailed maintaining a delicate balance when it came to the time period. “We wanted it to feel like you were in the 1970s as opposed to watching a ‘70s film,” explained Seiple. “The nostalgia is there but not being harped upon. The look was built more around our characters–softer, more intimate lenses for Martha Mitchell, sharper lenses, more distorted for the villains.” For Martha Mitchell, there was a theme of mirrors and reflections. “We’re often seeing her through mirrors and how she sees herself–contrasted with how the world sees her,” observed Seiple.

By adopting a character-driven visual dynamic–which is a thread running through Seiple’s work, including Beef–and not getting too preoccupied with that ‘70s movie look, Gaslit became a story with contemporary relevance. “It mirrors politics now, people stepping forward and speaking up about issues–especially when they’re told to stay silent,” said Seiple who found that situation akin to last year’s House of Representatives’ hearings on the January 6th insurrection.

As for how Seiple landed the Everything Everywhere gig, many moons ago he went to school with Kwan and Scheinert but “didn’t quite know them” back then. Fast forward to The Daniels’ first music video upon moving out to L.A., and Seiple was most impressed with what he saw. “It was like a hundred dollar video, playing alongside videos from established directors. And Daniels’ video was the best of the bunch. It led me to seek them out and say, ‘Remember me? We went to school together.’ I wound up shooting short films and music videos for them. It’s been a fun relationship. They like to do absurd, crazy, silly projects. My job is to shoot them as if they were completely normal, serious projects to counter what they’re doing, to help make the audience believe it’s real or could happen.”

On the feature side, Seiple then lensed The Daniels’ Swiss Army Man, which won the Dramatic Directing Award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and earned Kwan and Scheinert a Best First Film nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards. (As a directorial duo, Kwan and Scheinert are represented by PRETTYBIRD for commercials.)

Nicola Daley, ACS
A huge fan of The Handmaid’s Tale from the outset, Nicola Daley, ACS jumped at the opportunity to shoot multiple episodes of the show’s season five, including three installments directed by Elisabeth Moss who also stars as June Osborne and serves as an executive producer on the series. Helping the cinematographer get the coveted gig were a couple of classmates at film school in Australia–DPs Zoe White who shot some of season two, and Bonnie Elliott who had worked with actor/exec producer Moss on the series The Shining Girls. (Moss also directed part of Shining Girls but those episodes were not lensed by Elliott.)

With ties to White and a recommendation from Elliott, Daley got her foot in the door for The Handmaid’s Tale, ultimately getting the job. She’s found the experience–which includes perhaps most notably the first and finale episodes of season five, both directed by Moss–to be most gratifying. Daley described Moss as being “hands down, one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with” and hopes the two can do many more projects together. “It’s a joy to sit in a room and jam on ideas with her,” related Daley. “We think the same, often finishing each other’s sentences on set. That sounds a little dorky but it’s great. She’s a good mix of knowing what she wants as a director but still listening, collaborating and open to other ideas. That’s the secret sauce in The Handmaid’s Tale. They hire great people and give them the space to do their job, whatever that job is.”

Daley recalled brainstorming with Moss about how her character Osborne feels after murdering Commander Fred Waterford in the season four finale. They came up with a shot to open season five to reflect how Osborne is figuratively upside down about what she did, twisting the camera about, achieving a spinning around effect as Osborne contemplates what she had done to Waterford. “The cinematography should always come from the storytelling and the journey,” observed Daley who added that it was most satisfying to see their idea for the first shot in the first episode of season five “kick into place”–and more importantly, to see it work as a storytelling device.

Daley also felt the responsibility of carrying on the cinematography lineage of The Handmaid’s Tale, including work from Stuart Biddlecome, an Emmy-winning turn for Colin Watkinson and a nomination for White. Daley brought to the table well-rounded experience spanning features such as Pin Cushion which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and Benediction, an official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival, series work such as Paradise Lost and Harlots, and early on in her career extensive documentary fare. In fact she earned two Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award nominations for documentary cinematography–first for Go Back to Where You Came From and then for I Am a Girl.

The British born Daley, who resided in Australia for a long stretch, lensed documentaries for some 10 years, noting that she learned much from the experience. “I used to do observational documentaries, carrying the camera and having to shoot scenes. You had to get all the shots for the editor. Nothing could be repeated. If you didn’t get it, it wasn’t in the final film. From that I learned to sort of edit in  my head really well. Now I find in drama that this is a really good skill, especially if time is running out. I wouldn’t swap my documentary background for anything.”

Daley continued the camera (ARRI Alexa Mini) and lenses of choice (TLS-rehoused Canon K35s) for The Handmaid’s Tale onto season five, reasoning, “You don’t come into a season and reinvent the wheel,” especially in light of the high visual bar set and maintained for the show with the resources already being used. The Alexa Mini and K35s, she said, deliver a wide range of looks from “Kubrick-esque sort of wide shots to handheld closeups of June’s face.”

Daley encountered plenty of challenges in season five, including what a gaffer told her was one of the biggest lighting setups in the series thus far–specifically for episode six, “Together,” in which Osborne and Lucas Neff (Ryan Wheeler) are caged in an enormous factory-like space. The setting necessitated 24 18Ks plus a bunch of other lights, rivaling the big ticket lighting required for Boston’s Fenway Park back during season two.  

An unsung, almost “secret skill” behind an elevated level of cinematography, said Daley, is blocking so that the camera works optimally in rhythm with the actors and the lighting. Blocking, she affirmed, is “how the actors and the camera crew come together to make the space work to be visually stunning.” The Handmaid’s Tale, she continued is blessed with a stellar acting ensemble. “The actors are so wonderfully secure,” translating into their being cooperative when it comes to “where we want them to stand. They are happy to sort of make it all work.”

And that make-it-work attitude will continue at some point on the sixth and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale.

In addition to the aforementioned AACTA Award nominations, Daley received an Australian Cinematographers Society NSW & ACT Gold Award for the fictional drama short I Am Emmanuel, an NSW & ACT Silver Award for the fictional drama short Death in the Garden, and a Golden Tadpole nomination back in 2005 from Camerimage for Debut.

Damián García
As a cinematographer on Andor, a prequel series to the feature film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Damián García knew the visual bar would be inherently high given that he was traversing the universe of a hallowed franchise. Andor goes back five years from the events of Rogue One, following Cassian Andor (portrayed by Diego Luna who also played Andor in the movie). Season one consists of 12 episodes which cover one year in time. Season two plans to take viewers over the next four years leading into Rogue One.

Whereas Rogue One brings us the character of Andor fully shaped as the consummate warrior and leader of the Rebellion, the TV series delves into the early years of the Rebellion, exploring Andor’s complex history–and the road he took through his personal life to become the one person whom the Rebellion trusted to carry out a bold revolt. Similarly other fascinating characters–for whom Rogue One could only provide snapshots–are more thoroughly examined in Andor.

The story has a lasting merit that goes beyond the popularity of all things Star Wars as reflected last month when Andor won a Peabody Award, one of just 35 recipients selected for telling the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting, streaming and interactive during 2022. 

A statement from Peabody judges read in part, “Few other long-running franchises loom as large in today’s contemporary pop cultural imagination than Star Wars. Yet amid stories of destiny-driven heroes and doomed super-powered villains, [series creator] Tony Gilroy’s Andor tackles that familiar galaxy with plenty of spectacle, but also a keen-eyed commitment to mirroring our own mundane trials and tribulations as it follows scavenger Cassian Andor, who unwittingly becomes radicalized in the wake of a police state that’s intent on crushing any and all signs of the Rebel Alliance.”

García was one of three cinematographers entrusted with lensing multiple season one episodes to help tell this story–the others being Adriano Goldman, ASC, BSC, ABC and Frank Lamm. While continuity among the episodes from one cinematographer to the next is generally vital, García noted that each DP’s block of episodes was akin to “three separate films in a way.” There was room for each cinematographer to put his own visual stamp on the work. García felt he was afforded a lot of freedom as to where he took his episodic block visually. “We shared some sets of course,” related García, but within that context each cinematographer had “room to play with.”

The cinematographers deployed the Sony VENICE camera combined with the E and G series of Panavision anamorphic lenses. This tandem of modern digital camera and vintage lenses helped to advance the story and its characters, said García,

The DP further noted that Tony Gilroy and co-producer John Gilroy took what amounted to “almost like an adult Star Wars approach” that proved inspiring and interesting. “We were trying to find a way to tell this story that’s based in this world so known by everyone but at the same time looking to create a specific aesthetic. It was challenging but also a joy,” continued Garcia, citing the yeoman work of contributors such as production designer Luke Hull and costume designer Michael Wilkinson.” As a cinematographer, García said he felt “the challenge of trying to keep pace with and do justice to those beautiful sets and costumes.”

For the season one finale, episode 12, maintaining such a pace seemed analogous, commented García, to “keeping some form of musical rhythm for an hour or so,” with the tension constantly growing. Titled “Rix Road,” episode 12 was directed by Benjamin Caron. In fact, all three episodes shot by García were helmed by Caron.

From their first meeting, García felt simpatico with Caron. “He’s an intelligent director,” assessed García. “We share a lot of common taste and references. And in the end you know that is probably the most important thing in a collaboration. We share the same idea of what is nice and what is not, what is important and what isn’t. I respect and admire him as a director. You quickly understand when a collaboration is going well–when one person is adding to the other person’s ideas. He was adding to me and I was adding to him.”

Andor adds to a filmography for García which also includes multiple episodes of the TV series Narcos: Mexico and Mars, as well as the features I’m No Longer Here and Gueros. The latter won the Jury Award at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival for Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature.

Corrin Hodgson
For Corrin Hodgson, 1923–the prequel to Yellowstone–marks his debut as a cinematographer. The transition to full fledged DP builds on a track record Hodgson has established with writer-director Taylor Sheridan. Hodgson has served as a gaffer on such Sheridan vehicles as Yellowstone and the movie Wind River, and as chief lighting technician on the feature Those Who Wish Me Dead. 

1923 also marks a continuation of another even lengthier collaborative relationship–this one 10 years and counting–which teamed gaffer Hodgson with cinematographer Ben Richardson, ASC. “We met on a small independent film shooting in L.A. and found ourselves talking about ideas and theories on the filmmaking process,” recalled Hodgson. “We’ve grown together a lot. Along the way in 2016 we met Taylor [Sheridan] on Wind River, which kicked off this whole relationship–with Wind River kind of the basis from which Yellowstone and 1923, among other things, have been created. I’ve been fortunate enough to be along for the whole ride. I got quite familiar with the aesthetic that Taylor and Ben developed early on. I was there as it evolved into what it is today.”

Both Richardson and Hodgson too have evolved in the Sheridan universe. An Emmy-nominated cinematographer for his work on Mare of Easttown and 1883, and the recipient of ASC Award nods for Yellowstone and Mare of Easttown, Richardson has successfully diversified into episodic directing, notably on such Sheridan shows as Yellowstone, 1883, 1923 and Tulsa King.

Meanwhile Hodgson, after 15 years as a gaffer, spread his creative wings into cinematography on 1923, a transition aided by Sheridan and Richardson. Hodgson and Richardson have served largely as co-directors of photography on select episodes of 1923 directed by Richardson who is also one of the series’ producers.

Hodgson has valued the planning and brainstorming he and Richardson have engaged in for 1923. On one hand, “we get into it,” shared Hodgson as they have detailed discussions of what’s needed, the proper approach to particularly tricky scenes and so on. 

Yet on the other hand, they don’t have to talk all that much since their collaborative relationship is so deep and their understanding of one another so extensive. “It’s all very natural to us. There are days we’ll block a scene and walk away from each other and not say anything,” related Hodgson. Richardson and Hodgson have been together for the beginnings of Sheridan’s career so there’s a natural grasp of his creative vision and what’s entailed in realizing that vision.

The episodes of 1923 have been “incredibly dynamic” and carry “so much scope,” observed Hodgson. “These episodes take place across three continents, in multiple states, span different bodies of water. It’s incredibly challenging…lots of stunts, lots of animal action and a crossover of the two.” 

Hodgson recalled for one episode having to shoot a set of animals on one side of Africa, another set on the other side of Africa, deploying animatronics in different parts of the country, shooting trees on location, having a tree built on a set, having to shoot so as to facilitate a seamless stitching of location and stage work. While complex, the work has been rewarding, all geared towards advancing the story, with a cast led by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.

For 1923, the camera selected was the ARRI Alexa 35, continuing Richardson and Hodgson’s involvement in ARRI digital systems which has been steady for several years. Hodgson said the Alexa 35 provides “a tremendous amount of latitude,” taking on day exterior contrast without having to add much artificial light. “What I love most about it is the extended dynamic range,” assessed Hodgson, adding that “the highlights hold so incredibly well.”

Hodgson recollected that he started out the year 2022 “quite content as a gaffer. It’s such a fun job, one of the best jobs you can have. Then Ben asked me to do this [transition to a cinematographer]. I didn’t know what to think of it. I went along for the ride and it ended up being this amazing experience. I had a lot more creative freedom than in the past–and I was in the Taylor Sheridan arena which meant there were so many resources and so much support for me to explore and try new things and in the process have a lot of fun with it. Every day I woke up having completed some massive challenge you couldn’t have imagined getting through so relatively easily.”

Coming on set or location, Hodgson said that embedded in his mind are “the faces of the crew. On the coldest, wettest days, everyone is powering through with a smile in their face.” This work ethic, sense of purpose and community are what strike him as he reflects on 1923 and beginning a new chapter in his career as a cinematographer.

While he intends to press forward as a DP, Hodgson still retains a strong sentiment for gaffing. “To say that’s over are not the words I want to use,” he shared. Hodgson’s gaffer credits over the years extend beyond his collaborations with Sheridan. Hodgson has served as gaffer on such TV projects as Thai Cave Rescue, Tales of The Walking Dead and Insecure, as well as the features Dear White People, Sand Castle and Rise.

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