Last month, Michael Slovis, ASC earned his sixth primetime Emmy nomination in an Outstanding Cinematography category, the last four (2009, '10, '12 and '13) coming for his work on Breaking Bad (AMC) after a pair (2006 and '07) for his lensing of episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He has won one Emmy, coming in '06 for his first nomination, the "Gum Drops" episode of CSI.
Slovis garnered his latest nom on the strength of the "Gliding All Over" episode of Breaking Bad, directed by Michelle MacLaren. Slovis and MacLaren are versatile, with the latter serving as an executive producer on the acclaimed series while directing multiple episodes over the years. Slovis too has directed select episodes of Breaking Bad and lensed the lion's share of all the others.
"Michelle is such a great partner, supportive of me as a director and a DP as I am of her as a producer and director," affirmed Slovis. "We call each other creative partners. As a DP, my responsibilities don't end with making a pretty picture. We talk along thematic and creative lines and not just lighting, picture and tone. She is a true collaborator and partner. That being said, what she came up with was just wonderful for this episode ['Gliding All Over'], enabling me to work with what I love to do best. Every time you do a cut in a film or a TV show, it can be jarring to the audience. I really love to weave shots one into the other and think about transitions ahead of time. Michelle did that from the beginning of the montages—the building-of-the-business montage and the cooking [meth] montage. They are so well thought out and scripted, so well planned by Michele and tons of fun to shoot. The montages are no dialogue and all visual storytelling, which is a dream for a cinematographer."
Slovis added that Breaking Bad has "the added pleasure of a broader visual vocabulary than most TV shows use. It's a feature film approach and a joy for a storyteller to do. Michelle keeps an open palette for taking things and making them better and more intense."
Another dynamic helping Slovis as a cinematographer has been his experience as a director (which includes multiple episodes of Breaking Bad, CSI and Law & Order SVU). "I know that my directing has made me a better cinematographer. There's a big difference between a director of photography and a lighting cameraman. As a director of photography, you make sure story beats aren't missed. You are in partnership with your director and approaching it from a story perspective, looking to figure out how we can combine the shots, hit both the emotional and story beats."
Those beats have resonated with TV Academy voters as Breaking Bad garnered 13 nominations this year, the other 12 being for Outstanding Drama Series, Directing (MacLaren for "Gliding All Over"), Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Bryan Cranston), Supporting Actor (for both Bobby Cannavale and Aaron Paul), Supporting Actress (Anna Gunn), Writing For Drama Series (separate nominations for George Mastras on the basis of the "Dead Freight" episode and Thomas Schnauz for the "Say My Name" episode), Editing (Skip MacDonald for "Dead Freight" and Kelley Dixon for "Gliding All Over"), Sound Editing (Nick Forshager, Kathryn Madsen, Jane Boegel, Mark Cookson, Cormac Funge, Jason Tregoe Newman and Jeff Cranford for "Dead Freight") and Sound Mixing (Darryl L. Frank, Jeffrey Perkins and Eric Justen for "Dead Freight").
As for how it feels to have wrapped Breaking Bad, that there will be no more episodes to collaborate on, Slovis related, "We've all been mourning the loss of each other. But at the same time, we've seen all of the last eight episodes. The closing of Breaking Bad will be like finishing a great novel. You close it, you savor it, say 'wasn't that great,' not 'I am so sad it's over.' The writers did the most wonderful, brilliant job of buttoning it all up, making sure the novelistic approach is never compromised. Every single loose end is nicely tied up, bundled and handed over to you as a viewer. It will be satisfying for viewers. I cried when I watched it but I also savored this last season. It's like a great book you might pick up every two or three years to enjoy again. And almost all the clues as to what happens were all dispersed over the first five years of the show. I see the whole last season as the finale, not just the last episode."
The wrapping of the finale season also opens a new chapter in Slovis' career as he diversifies more meaningfully into directing. After shooting a Peter Berg-directed HBO series pilot, The Leftovers, Slovis has embarked on a year in which he will dedicate himself to directing, a schedule that will include a pair of Law & Order SVU episodes (NBC), a Chicago Fire (NBC) episode (he directed one earlier this year), the series premiere of Chicago PD on NBC, a new ABC show called Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, and then CBS' Elementary.
"I'm fortunate to have new doors opening up to me but I am certainly not going to stop shooting. My interest is in storytelling—as a director collaborating with other cinematographers, and as a DP working with directors."
Ethel
In Part 6 of our The Road To Emmy series, DP Buddy Squires discussed his work on the HBO documentary Ethel, an intimate portrait of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy. Ethel was directed by her daughter, documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy (whose work includes the Emmy-winning Ghosts of Abu Ghraib). Moxie Firecracker Films–founded by Rory Kennedy and Liz Garbus–produced Ethel in association with HBO Documentary Films.
Ethel earned Squires his 10th career primetime Emmy nomination. For the same project, by contrast, editor Azin Samari earned her first Emmy nomination. Ethel garnered five Emmy nominations in all, the other three being for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Directing (Rory Kennedy) and Writing (Rory's husband, Mark Bailey).
Samari shared that she is "so excited and very honored" by her Emmy nomination, adding, "Truthfully, editing documentaries is incredibly hard work. You basically start with a blank screen and a shapeless mass of footage, and go through this difficult process where you have to fail several times before you (hopefully) find the way. And once you do find your way, you're never sure anyone will see or like the end result. I'm very proud of Ethel, and it's incredibly gratifying to have it be seen and so well received."
Regarding challenges Ethel posed to her as an editor, Samari related, "The first challenge was learning the history, so that I could help recount it. I had a basic timeline of Mrs. Kennedy's life, but there was so much that hadn't been explored in all of the volumes of books that have been written about the Kennedy family. She always seemed to be hiding in the margins, quietly doing remarkable things. I spent a lot of time doing homework—reading biographies and filling in the blanks.
"The biggest challenge in cutting Ethel," continued Samari, "was striking the balance between personal and historical–finding a way to use historical footage to tell a personal family story. And working with footage that is so well known and having it somehow feel different."
Samari first met Rory Kennedy through director R.J. Cutler. Samari has worked with Cutler on varied projects, including character-driven series such as Freshman Diaries and 30 Days. Cutler's The September Issue was the first theatrical feature documentary that Samari edited.
Samari said of Rory Kennedy, "I was a fan of her work—I especially liked American Hollow and Ghost of Abu Ghraid, so I was very excited to meet with her. When we met, I candidly admitted that I didn't know the Kennedy family history very well. I left thinking that I had made a terrible impression on her. I was so thrilled when she called me and said that she'd like me to edit the film. What attracted me most to this project initially was the chance to work with Rory. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her as a director, and I was eager to collaborate with her. The further I got into the project, the more I realized what a privilege it was to tell this story about an iconic woman who had never had her story told before and to do it from such an intimate angle."
Early in her career, Samari worked mostly in episodic TV, on everything from docu-series to docu-soaps and reality shows. Then came her character-driven series work with Cutler. And the past five years have seen Samari mostly editing documentary features and shorts, including an ITVS-funded documentary called Arusi and a short film for photographer Todd Selby. The aforementioned The September Issue broke Samari into the theatrical feature documentary arena. And just last year she worked with director Liz Garbus, Rory Kennedy's producing partner, on a Marilyn Monroe documentary called Love, Marilyn which debuted at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and aired on HBO this summer.
This is the eighth installment in a 12-part series that will explore the field of Emmy nominees and winners spanning such disciplines as directing, cinematography, editing, production design, animation, VFX and design. The series will run right through the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony on Sept. 15 and the following week's primetime Emmy Awards live telecast on Sept. 22.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 1.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 2.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 3.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 4.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 5.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 6.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 7.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 9.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 10.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 11.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 12.
