One cinematographer described the limited series he lensed as perhaps “the most personal project I’ve ever done.”
Another DP found it gratifying to get the opportunity to work with groundbreaking director Mimi Leder.
Our third cinematographer valued his return engagement with not only writer-creator-exec producer Bennie Safdie but also actor and EP Emma Stone.
And our fourth DP entered the Star Wars universe for the first time, adding to her far-ranging body of work.
Here are insights from lensers Tim Ives, ASC on We Were the Lucky Ones (Hulu), Tami Reiker, ASC on The Morning Show (Apple TV+), Maceo Bishop on The Curse (Showtime) and Quyen Tran, ASC on Ahsoka (Disney+).
Tim Ives, ASC
Based on Georgia Hunter’s New York Times bestselling novel of the same title, the limited series We Were the Lucky Ones (Hulu)–created by Erica Lipez–introduces us to the Kurcs, a Jewish family separated at the start of World War II. We follow members of this Polish clan across continents as they do everything in their power to survive–and to reunite.
Doing justice to this true story about how the human spirit can endure in the face of pure evil was a daunting responsibility. But helping towards that end was an approach rooted in the simplicity of distilling the narrative’s foundation down to the everyday beauty and intimacy of a family, Remembering that this is ultimately a story about love and family proved a prime dynamic in developing the visual language of the series, explained Ives who shot the first three episodes as well as the final installment.
Ives cited the Passover Seder of the Kurc family created for episode 1. Their last pre-war Seder connects us to the characters–and to how they are deeply connected to each other. Ives said that he and director/executive producer Thomas Kail sought to make the dinner as warm, genuine and human as possible, preserving the close-knit fabric of a family that is to be torn apart by outside forces.
The Passover Seder, related Ives, was filmed “within the conversations and not outside of them.” As one of the key establishing opening scenes, the Seder was shot “inside the table,” not “over the shoulder.” The effect, observed Ives, was to make the audience feel like they were “sitting at the table” with the Kurc family. “It helped viewers to feel the love of the family.” The DP noted that they tried to maintain that feel throughout when it came to the family–being inside conversations, not looking at them from afar.
This philosophy sprung out of the close working rapport Ives enjoyed with Kail. Ives shot episodes 1 and 8–both of which Kail directed. The DP also lensed episodes 2 and 3 helmed by Amit Gupta.
While he developed a rapport with Gupta during the course of the series–most notably over meals they shared together on the road during the course of the project, which was their first collaboration–Ives had already built such a bond with Kail dating back to their teaming on the Ryan Murphy miniseries Fosse/Verdon. In fact, it was Kail who reached out to Ives and pitched We Were the Lucky Ones to him. The importance of the story and the opportunity to reunite with Kail drew Ives in immediately.
Ives recalled Kail early on stressing that he did not want We Were the Lucky Ones to feel like a vintage piece that had all the related hallmarks like sepia tone and a period feel. Instead Ives noted that Kail aspired “to feel fairly modern in the approach. The characters were in the present–very much so that we could play with the visual language of film we are used to today.” That being said, they also looked at historical references like The Reader and Steve McCurry’s photographs. Ives described this mesh of modern and historical considerations as being “classic and cinematic but accessible to a new generation.”
This “fairly modern” feel, they reasoned, would help viewers better connect with the present-day relevance of the past, making the characters all the more relatable and underscoring their significance in terms of life today.
That becomes all the more invaluable when you consider that today many remain unaware of the Holocaust. Furthermore Holocaust survivors are dying and not too far down the road there will be none left to convey their personal stories and the trauma and horror they experienced. These circumstances become fertile ground for Holocaust deniers who fuel antisemitism and contend this harrowing chapter in world history never happened.
Telling this story was extremely personal for Ives who became friends with author Hunter and showrunner/writer/EP Lipez. “This is maybe the most personal project I’ve ever done,” assessed Ives given the stakes involved in such a poignant historical narrative and the bond he formed with Hunter and Lipez, even staying at the former’s house for a stretch.
The personal reach also stretched to production locations in Romania and Spain as Ives observed that among his most gratifying takeaways from the experience of making We Were the Lucky Ones was connecting with Romanians and Spaniards, encountering people from different cultures and walks of life he wouldn’t normally get to meet. This yielded for Ives a valuable lesson which he characterized as “everybody’s the same but everybody’s different. It was remarkable to cohabitate with people in their country for that long a time, to share your life’s experiences, for them to share how their country came to where it’s at right now.” And part and parcel of that was to connect with and feel the Jewish experience during World War II–which of course had to be reflected at the deepest level in the limited series.
The cast and crew were deeply committed, working with a profound sense of purpose. The cast included Joey King, Logan Lerman, Haidas Yaron, Henry-Lloyd Hughes, Amit Rahav, Sam Woolf, Michael Aloni, Morgan Rosenblatt, Eve Feiler, Lior Ashkenazi and Robin Weigert.
Ives primarily deployed the ARRI Alexa 35 camera in tandem with ARRI’s Signature Primes. The DP said these choices felt right in terms of best capturing the story and conveying the desired tone and feel. He described the Primes as capturing reality with ”a natural look but also cinematic.”
We Are the Lucky Ones adds to a body of work for Ives which includes his garnering three Emmy nominations–two for his cinematography on Stranger Things, and one for his contributions to David Byrne’s American Utopia. Ives is also an ASC Award nominee for an episode of the limited series Halston. Among other notable credits for Ives are multiple seasons of the Lena Dunham series Girls, as well as the Kelly Fremon Craig-directed feature film, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Tami Reiker, ASC
The cinematographer who made history deployed her artistry to re-create some with her work on The Morning Show (Apple TV+)–specifically on the season three episode which had the fictitious a.m. network program, akin to The Today Show or Good Morning America, covering the infamous January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Director Stacie Passon teamed with DP Reiker on the episode containing the ambitious insurrection sequence which was lensed in Los Angeles City Hall. The L.A. landmark interior passed for the Capital Building thanks to the world-creating prowess of varied artisans, including production designer Nelson Coates. With time at the location limited, a prime challenge was capturing dramatic scenes featuring The Morning Show anchor/reporter Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) in the throes of the action. Her reporting is all the more fraught with emotion as she tries to conceal the discovery that her brother was among those involved in the assault on the Capitol–a fact she deletes from her news footage coverage, protecting him for the time being.
The tight shoot schedule for Reiker meant takes were limited for Witherspoon. This, said Reiker, made for a “really intense” scenario in terms of not only the gravity of Witherspoon’s dramatic performance but also the time and other constraints under which that performance had to be realized. Reiker shot handheld for the insurrection, which lent itself to getting inside the head of Witherspoon’s character as she–and we–make our way through the Capitol Building.
This was one of four episodes for season three of The Morning Show shot by Reiker–two directed by Passon, one by Thomas Carter and another by Jennifer Getzinger. The rest of season three was lensed by John Grillo, including episodes one and two directed by Mimi Leder who is also executive producer on the series. Reiker got to shoot for Leder when Grillo was away–and that experience was among the major highlights for the DP who described Leder as “a legend.”
Leder’s stuff of legend includes a pair of Emmy wins, 10 Emmy nominations, and three DGA Award nods (for ER). She has directed and produced films including On the Basis of Sex, Deep Impact, The Peacemaker, and TV shows such as The Leftovers, Luck, Shameless and The West Wing. Leder was also the first female graduate of AFI and continues to be a groundbreaking trailblazer for women in the industry–which brings us back to the alluded history-making credentials of Reiker who is the first woman to win an American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award. That honor came in 2004 for her lensing of the pilot for HBO’s Carnivale, directed by Rodrigo Garcia.
Reiker was drawn in part to The Morning Show for its unique challenges spanning varied looks. She noted, for example, that the gritty imagery depicting the breaking news of the insurrection dovetails with other disparate elements inherent in the series like the production realities of an a.m. news program format that can be static and formulaic, which are in sharp contrast to the at times filmic world where the characters such as Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) reside.
Reiker used the ARRI Alexa 35 on The Morning Show, which was paired primarily with Zeiss Ultra Primes. She cited the “incredible latitude” and color science of the Alexa 35 as particularly appealing.
Reiker and Grillo got the chance to talk on occasion but not that extensively given how busy they were, going back and forth with rotating directors. The cinematographers still had the benefit of watching each other’s dailies.
The Morning Show joins assorted diverse credits for Reiker which on the feature film front include: Regina King’s critically acclaimed directorial debut, One Night in Miami; The Old Guard and Beyond the Lights for Gina Prince-Bythewood; Pieces of April for helmer Peter Hedges; Mr. Woodcock for director Craig Gillespie; and the Lisa Cholodenko-directed High Art, which earned Reiker a Best Cinematography nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards.
High Art sprung from a collaborative bond that Reiker and Cholodenko formed when the former shot a student film for the latter. Reiker attended film school at NYU.
Among Reiker’s TV exploits are Surface directed by Sam Miller, and various pilots including Getting On for Hulu and director Miguel Arteta.
The cinematographer’s short-form endeavors span music videos for David Bowie, Bjork, Maxwell, Erykah Badu, Ziggy Marley, and The Roots, as well as commercials for brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Subaru, Budweiser, Mastercard, Volkswagen, Pepsi, Mercedes-Benz, Canon and Toyota.
Maceo Bishop
The blessing that led to The Curse (Showtime) for cinematographer Maceo Bishop started when he decided to serve as a camera operator and second unit DP for Benny and Josh Safdie’s Uncut Gems.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to do any more operating,” recalled Bishop but “coaxing” him into it was cinematographer Darius Khondji, ASC who told him the opportunity to collaborate with the Safdie brothers would be worth it.
“We really bonded on Uncut Gems. The work was intense and fulfilling,” said Bishop whose contributions to the film won him the Operators Award from the British Society of cinematographers in 2020. Bishop then came together again with the Safdies on a music video project–and next came The Curse, a series created by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie. Drawn to the aesthetic of Safdie and Fielder, Bishop embraced the show. Plus Bishop got the chance to reunite with Emma Stone whom he worked with years back on Irrational Man, which he described as “a lovely experience.”
Set in the New Mexico desert, The Curse introduces us to newlyweds Asher (Fielder) and Whitney (Stone) Siegel, self-described pioneers in the new frontier of eco-conscious housing which they are trying to bring to the predominantly Latino town of Española. The homes themselves are a reflection of the neighborhood–both literally and figuratively–thanks to a mirrored exterior. The interior is graced by the work of local Native artists.
The Siegels are looking to offset any gentrification-fueled higher cost of living in Española by donating a portion of the revenue generated from sales of the eco-friendly residences. Meanwhile the married couple aspires to a higher celebrity profile with their own potential HGTV series titled Flipanthropy. Assorted twists and turns ensue as the satiric narrative has a sorcerer of sorts putting a curse on the Siegels for a perceived transgression. However, the perceived curse ultimately isn’t what it was made out to be. Neither is the offbeat story which takes on some weighty reality, including our society’s housing crisis while raising questions about those who recklessly gamble with the future of communities at large through financial and real estate speculation. Indeed the Siegels find themselves caught in a web of ethical and moral gray zones–all while trying to keep their relationship intact.
Safdie is also in the cast as Dougie Schecter, a manipulative producer who’ll do most anything to boost Flipanthropy, including take a piece out of the relationship between Asher and Whitney–and even looking to catch some of the couple’s morally compromised behavior on camera. The Curse is marked by humor, intentional awkwardness, a bit of discomfort and a strange brand of relevance to society today.
Bishop shot all 10 episodes of The Curse, seven directed by Fielder and three by David and Nathan Zelder, aka the Zelder Brothers.
Meanwhile the environments created for The Curse serve as characters themselves. Bishop credited production designer Katie Byron with an “incredible” accomplishment in the creation of the mirrored homes. This marked Bishop’s first time working with Byron whom he said designed the residences in such a way that lensing them was possible to achieve artfully even though they reflected the desert sun. The camera–hidden behind and looking through other elements–took on perspectives from afar, Among the visual references that were influences for The Curse were To Catch A Predator and Candid Camera. “Camera people have to be hidden. That’s part of the aesthetic of the show,” said Bishop who embraced the reflections and the texture captured from a distance, looking through car windows, across bushes. That POV of seemingly always being behind something or looking through something was helpful when dealing visually with mirrored homes.
Initially Bishop wanted to shoot on 16mm film which was a bit challenging from a workflow standpoint. So digitally Bishop set out to find the look that came as close to that emotionally as he possibly could. The DP ultimately went with the ARRI Alexa Mini camera in concert with Panavision lenses that were configured so as to soften their look a bit.
In developing the visual language for The Curse, Bishop cited Benny Safdie’s way of working which the DP first experienced on Uncut Gems. This entails “getting out of the comfort zone we all sort of tend to get ourselves in. It’s easy to fall into the groove of what’s comfortable.” Safdie, Fielder and Stone don’t fall into that trap, continued Bishop, noting that they are open and accessible, ready to try something new. Safdie creates space for his collaborators, continued Bishop, which is not always available when working with others in the business. Safdie, Fielder and Stone, noted Bishop, are always “available, open to collaboration and sharing ideas.”
Further testament to how much he values the collaborative relationship with Benny Safdie, Bishop at press time was lensing The Smashing Machine. Safdie is writer-director on the film which delves into the story of mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr. The cast is headed by Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson.
Among Bishop’s achievements outside the Safdie universe is a primetime Emmy win in 2021 for his camerawork on Hamilton.
Quyen Tran, ASC
Drawing cinematographer Quyen Tran to the Star Wars universe via the series Ahsoka (Disney+) was how it related to her own real-life universe. “Having a female-centered protagonist was important to me–not just as a mother but also as a filmmaker and person of color. I was immediately intrigued.”
At first, though, it didn’t look like her shooting schedule would cooperate. But a fortuitous delay in Ahsoka’s timetable bought Tran back into the picture.
That picture entailed an ambitious education as Tran noted that she and Eric Steelberg hadn’t worked on a project before that encompassed a full volume stage. Steelberg wound up shooting episodes one, four and six of Ahsoka with Tran lensing three, five and eight; they teamed on episodes two and seven.
“I had done some car stage work with LED screens, nothing to the extent of full volume,” related Tran. “It was a steep learning curve but luckily we had six months of prep.” Also helping considerably was that for Ahsoka they inherited key crew talent from The Mandalorian, who offered invaluable support–as did Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
A spinoff from The Mandalorian, the Dave Filoni-created Ahsoka follows former Jedi apprentice Ahsoka Tano and her compatriots as they fight the remnants of the Galactic Empire during the time of the then fledgling New Republic. Rosario Dawson stars as the title character, reprising her role from The Mandalorian.
Tran and Steelberg developed the visual language, including the color palette, in concert with Filoni whom Tran described as “a visionary.” She observed that the cinematographers’ task was to execute as well as elevate Filoni’s vision for the show. Discussions with Feloni provided valuable guidance. “He’s a huge Kurosawa fan,” related Tran, citing Filoni’s affinity for tableaux and wide vistas. Often the approach was to let the action play out in wide shots.
The cinematographers deployed the ARRI Alexa LF camera with Caldwell Chameleon lenses. Tran noted that the lenses helped to provide the desired field of view with the context of a large format, “giving a character some identity within a larger landscape” while retaining the “emotionality” of a character. By at times shooting a slightly wider lens on a closeup, you get to see the world behind the characters, again lending another dimension to a scene. Zeiss and Atlas lenses were also called upon.
Tran shared that perhaps her biggest takeaway from the experience was the collaborative spirit and effort that made Ahsoka possible as she dovetailed with “incredible technicians,” inspired production design that was well versed in tech, puppeteers from Legacy, all lending acumen that made it possible to shoot Ahsoka organically as opposed to heavily leaning on CG.
As for what’s next for Tran, she at press time was reuniting with Molly Smith Metzler on an undisclosed project. Tran earlier worked in dual capacities on the Metzler-created Maid series, shooting the pilot and the finale while also directing an episode.
Tran’s diverse credits also include the Max Barbakow directed Palm Springs, a feature which debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win a Critics Choice Award for best comedy, an Independent Spirit Award for best first screenplay (Andy Siara) and Golden Globe nods for Best Film–Musical or Comedy and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy (Andy Samberg).
On the other end of the emotional spectrum, Tran shot multiple episodes of Unbelievable for director and executive producer Lisa Cholodenko. Based on a real-life rape case, the limited series from 2019 starred Kaitlyn Dever as Marie Adler who files a police report after being sexually assaulted by an intruder in her home. But the investigating detectives, as well as people close to her, come to doubt her story. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, two detectives (played by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever) meet while investigating a similar pair of intruder assaults and team in the pursuit of a potential serial rapist.
Much of the story unfolded from the perspective of Adler, the victim turned survivor. We see her endure a brutal assault, and a brutal police interrogation. What’s boldly unique about Unbelievable is that the POV was from that of the woman being abused on different fronts from which spring her courage, determination and resilience. In an earlier SHOOT interview, Tran explained, “We never wanted the perpetrator to have any power in the story. What we wanted was a perspective that was only told through the victim.” Tran and Cholodenko prepared Dever for what was in store. Cholodenko laid down on a couch while Tran pretended to be the camera. Dever saw exactly where the camera would be situated to best capture what the character had to endure. Tran said this very personal prep was designed to get Dever as comfortable as possible, to know that she was in a safe environment even while she had to convey her character being traumatized.
Unbelievable marked a return engagement for Tran with Cholodenko. A year earlier Tran had lensed two Cholodenko-directed episodes of the HBO series Here and Now. There the two developed a rapport, so much so that Cholodenko sought out Tran’s empathetic eye for Unbelievable.
