By Robert Goldrich, The Road To Emmy Series, Part 8

Back in October 2020, cinematographer Pepe Avila del Pino was working on Mosquito Coast, one of the select few productions continuing during the pandemic. He recalled getting a text with an image of a dragon and fire.

The dragon-themed communique was from Greg Yaitanes, a director/executive producer with whom Avila del Pino had collaborated in 2015 on Quarry. Yaitanes directed all eight episodes of that Cinemax series, with Avila del Pino serving as DP. “We crossboarded the whole show,” recalled Avila del Pino who noted that he and Yaitanes approached it like a big feature film–and in the process they struck up a creative rapport. Set in the 1970s and shot in New Orleans, Quarry marked Avila del Pino’s first U.S. television production.

Avila del Pino went on to firmly establish himself in the American market as evidenced by his work on Ozark, including its very first two episodes, and an ASC Award nomination in 2018 for the pilot of The Deuce.

When he received the dragon text from Yaitanes–referencing the much anticipated House of the Dragon (HBO)–Avila del Pino was immediately drawn to the prospect of not only again teaming with the director/EP but also to do so on a project with a high creative bar as the prequel to the iconic Game of Thrones.

Yaitanes had reached out to Avila del Pino before on prospective projects but scheduling conflicts got in the way. Happily, that wasn’t the case with House of the Dragon.

Avila del Pino cited Yaitanes’ logistical, creative and collaborative acumen as particularly appealing. The cinematographer described Yaitanes as being “very very smart on how he uses resources and how he can move resources from one place to another to get what he wants. At the same time, he’s very trustful of his creative team, very hands off.” Avila del Pino observed that Yaitanes knows exactly what he wants and what is needed–yet he’s also open to other people’s ideas and discussing their merits in order to further advance story and characters. 

Avila del Pino wound up taking on episodes two, three and the season finale (episode 10) of House of the Dragon–all directed by Yaitanes. Other cinematographers on season one were Fabian Wagner who shot multiple episodes, including the pilot,  Alejandro Martinez who also lensed several episodes, and Catherine Goldschmidt who wrapped an episode, Season one directors in addition to Yaitanes included Clare Kilner, Miguel Sapochnik and Geeta Vasant Patel.

Avila del Pino put together a series of thorough lookbooks for his episodes. “I do them for every show. It’s a bible for me, shared with production designers, camera operators, the gaffer and key grip, the DIT. Putting together all the ideas for the episode in question helps the decision-making process.”

The lookbooks he created for episodes two, three and 10 in turn were shared with all the DPs and directors on season one. Avila del Pino felt the lookbooks helped draw a rough path from what the visual style would be from one episode to another and how it would change, culminating with the season finale. Conversations were happening with all the cinematographers and directors, who collectively created and executed a transition in visual language that evolved from the first episode to the 10th, starting with what Avila del Pino described as “something similar and very familiar to Game of Thrones” but then slowly bringing in “a new language, a new look, a new atmosphere” all their own to House of the Dragon. The cinematographer spent some 13 months in London working on the series, helping to fashion that new look and language.

While he was conscious of Game of Thrones, Avila del Pino very much wanted to establish “a new world and a new show.” He described the visual progression in part as becoming “a little more subjective,” reflecting a more personal POV in helping to convey characters’ emotional journeys. Being true to those journeys while keeping them visually interesting necessitated bringing new ideas to the table, experimenting with looks and approaches. Avila del Pino, for instance, suggested that the crew create a large smokebox outside the window of Daemon’s Dragonstone room to help realize a seemingly endless misty haze while shooting on stage. This lent a realistic atmospheric dimension to the action that was visually engaging while helping to support the emotions in given scenes. The DP tested out the approach with a smaller smoke box. “That kind of worked,” he recalled, noting that this led him to think the concept would work with a larger box. It did. “You felt you were in a castle that is immersed in fog,” assessed Avila del Pino.

A combination of ARRI Alexa 65 and Alexa Mini LF cameras were deployed on House of the Dragon. Avila del Pino explained that the large sensors helped to capture the “huge, amazing” set work from production designer Jim Clay whose efforts on the series, specifically the initial episode titled “The Heirs of the Dragon,” already gained recognition this awards season with an Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Award nomination. Avila del Pino noted that Clay’s sets were replete with huge walls, super high ceilings and very much promoted the feeling that you were “in a real space.” A large camera sensor honored and helped to portray the size and scope of those spaces, utilized in tandem with ARRI DNA lenses.

Avila del Pino found the experience on House of the Dragon to be most gratifying. Cast and crew, he said, were dedicated to making the best show possible. “Every part of the engine is important,” he affirmed, and the people in front of and behind the camera came together–engaged, motivated and committed to the show, willing to share and consider different ideas. He described the series environment–starting up top from showrunners Ryan Condal and director Sapochnik as one “where everybody sought the best solution–which is a great place to be when making films.” Condal teamed with Game of Thrones guru George R.R. Martin to create House of the Dragon.

This is the eighth installment of SHOOT’s weekly 16-part The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories. Nominations will be announced and covered on July 12. Creative Arts Emmy winners will be reported on during the weekend of September 9 and 10, and primetime Emmy ceremony winners will be covered on September 18.

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