Garnering critical acclaim and helping to establish Netflix as a force in original programming, House of Cards is among the most closely watched series when it comes to handicapping this year's Emmy Awards. Set in Washington D.C., House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey as a South Carolina Democrat who gets passed over for U.S. Secretary of State despite being promised the plum cabinet post in exchange for helping to ensure the election of President Garrett Walker. Spacey's character, Frank Underwood, decides to exact his revenge on those who betrayed him. Spacey heads a cast that includes Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelley, Sakina Jaffrey, Kristen Connolly and Constance Zimmer.
David Fincher is an executive producer of the series, directed the first two installments and continues to have a major say in the selection of directors for all the episodes, which now extend into season two. In its Producer Perspective and Chat Room features–both in the 5/17 print issue and concurrent electronic edition–SHOOT interviewed, respectively, Beau Willimon, showrunner/executive producer/writer-creator of House of Cards, and Allen Coulter, director of season one's last two episodes.
Now we delve further into the series from cinematography and editing perspectives–touching base with cinematographer Eigil Bryld, who shot the first 11 episodes, and editor Kirk Baxter, who cut episodes one and two, which were helmed by Fincher.
Providing some perspective on Bryld was Willimon who described House of Cards as deploying "a very classicist approach. No pans. No unmotivated moves of the camera. No long lenses. No Steadicams. A very specific color palette. Puts the acting first and foremost–doesn't try to 'create' energy with the camera. Let's the action dictate the motion. Also atmospheric–black, white and neutrals are the language of drama."
Willimon related that Bryld "mostly worked with the directors using a visual language he created with Fincher that was consistent throughout the series. Our interaction was about discussing the feeling of given scenes, and sometimes practical problem-solving if we were short on time or had to switch a location unexpectedly. Or talking about ways to shoot a recurring location or set differently to keep it fresh."
In terms of Bryld's impact on him as a writer, Willimon said, "At a certain point you start to see the way Eigil would light it and shoot it as you write. You get a sense of his frame, his mood. It informs the writing because you start to think cinematically…Eigil has a deep, expert sense of craft but more importantly, he brings a creative vision to it that elevates the drama. He is nimble and adaptable when necessary. He never thought of this as a 'TV show.' He thought about it in terms of cinema."
Eigil Bryld
That cinematic approach dovetailed perfectly with that of Fincher. "David Fincher and Beau Willimon are great collaborators," assessed Bryld. "David has very strong ideas. I like working with directors who are straight forward and not convoluted. He's very hands on. He was used to shooting less than a page a day. All of a sudden we had to shoot four, five pages a day. We did that while staying true to crafting it all like a movie. I had 10 weeks of prep with Fincher in Baltimore which helped us to craft the lighting in an ambient manner while adding what was required for specific scenes. The prep helped us to be efficient with our setups, how to best use two cameras–we always used two cameras–and capture well-choreographed and composed images.
"With Beau, it was all about getting the drama across," continued Bryld. "We never did anything fancy with the camera other than telling the story. We didn't use long lenses. We wanted to have a sense of space. Inherently the whole show is about people in offices, in homes and they're talking. We wanted to help create a sense of drama using the space, showing people in relation to each other and their space. Shadows were a major player. Everything in House of Cards has an undercurrent to it, something hiding in the shadows, always another motive. Space can heighten that feeling, add volume and enhance the dramatic feeling. Beau was very good with the entire cast, very good at collaborating with the way we blocked the scenes, using iconic framings in each scene that sort of expressed power and drama."
House of Cards deployed two customized RED Epics. "Fincher has worked with RED for quite some time and has a strong relationship with RED," said Bryld. "We didn't want to work through a certain technology. We wanted the technology to work for us. We kept things simple and close-knit. We never had more than 25 crew members on the floor. We landed in a sweet spot where we could operate and pull off most things, being able to adjust to every curveball."
As for how he landed the plum House of Cards assignment, Bryld related, "I got a call from my agent, asking me if I wanted to meet Fincher—'he's doing this show that's going to shoot in Baltimore.' I don't know how I ended up on Fincher's radar. My guess is that John Melfi [an executive producer on House of Cards] does a lot of work for HBO as do I and perhaps my name came up. I hadn't seen myself doing episodic television. But when I heard Fincher was involved, it made me interested and curious. I knew it would be visual. I've always been interested in politics. I got to read the first four episodes before I met Fincher. I loved the universe it resided in and all the undercurrents."
Bryld is no stranger to the Emmy nominees' circle. He was nominated for Best Cinematography in a Miniseries or Movie in 2010 on the strength of the HBO telefilm You Don't Know Jack directed by Barry Levinson and starring Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
(For more on Bryld, including his involvement in commercials and how he broke into the business, look for his profile in the Cinematographers & Cameras feature story in SHOOT's Aug. 16th print issue and concurrent electronic edition.)
Kirk Baxter
House of Cards marks the episodic series debut for editor Kirk Baxter but he's no stranger to David Fincher. Baxter, who cut the pilot and the second episode of House of Cards, has teamed with Angus Wall to edit feature films for Fincher, garnering three Best Editing Academy Award nominations along the way, two of which won Oscars (The Social Network in 2011 and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2012). Wall and Baxter–who are partners in editorial house Rock Paper Scissors–earned their first Oscar nom in 2009 for Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Baxter initially met Fincher as an additional editor on Zodiac, which Wall cut. Later Baxter edited several Fincher-directed commercials, most notably for the Apple iPhone and Stand Up To Cancer's "Stand Up For Something." Then came the high-profile collaborations on Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
For Baxter, working with Fincher on House of Cards was similar to the experience on all the feature films. "David approached House of Cards just the same as he does his movies. He covered a lot more ground in a shoot day than he does on film due to budgetary reasons–quite a lot of footage came in at a rapid pace. But I really enjoyed it. It's no different than a feature in terms of trying to realize what David wants to capture."
One of the pleasures of working on House of Cards, said Baxter, was smoothly blending in when Spacey's character, Underwood, would occasionally talk directly to the camera. For many fans of the show, these moments represent a highlight. "Fincher shot with A and B cameras and it was like a dessert, a little treat, to sneak in those little look-ins. Sometimes it's just a glance from Spacey, sometimes it's a full-on direct line from Spacey to the camera. It's a little ballet without everyone else in the scene catching him."
Editor's note: Since the filing of this story, both Bryld and Baxter received Emmy nominations for their work on House of Cards.
This is the first installment in a 12-part series that will explore the field of Emmy nominees and winners spanning such disciplines as directing, cinematography, editing, animation and VFX. The series will run right through the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony and the following week's primetime Emmy Awards live telecast. In addition to appearing on SHOOTonline and in our weekly email newsletter, The SHOOT >e.dition, The Road To Emmy will also have its Part 6 installment in SHOOT's August 16 print issue.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 2.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 3.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 4.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 5.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 6.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 7.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 8.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 9.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 10.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 11.
Click here to see The Road To Emmy, Part 12.
