We start out with Beau Willimon, showrunner, exec producer, writer and creator of Netflix’s House of Cards which scored nine Emmy nominations in 2013, its debut year (and three wins–David Fincher for Outstanding Director on a Drama Series, Eigil Bryld for Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series, and casting directors Larry Mayfield, CSA, and Julie Schubert, CSA, for Casting For A Drama Series). Last year, House of Cards continued its Emmy success with 10 nominations (with one win for Outstanding Sound Mixing).
As a precursor to our 14-part The Road To Emmy series which gets underway May 29 on SHOOTonline and in The SHOOT>e.dition, we connect with a showrunner/executive producer/writer/series creator and a co-creator/writer/producer/director who have a major hand in shaping notable shows that figure to be strong contenders for Emmy nominations this coming awards season. Plus we catch up with three cinematographers whose contributions to different shows could land them in the Emmy nominees’ circle.
Season three of House of Cards offered its share of new wrinkles, most notably a risky new storyline direction. “We started with the firm belief,” said Willimon, “that the core of this show in season three would be the marriage [of the Underwoods]. Our goal was to explore that marriage and ultimately its breaking up. After seven months-plus of filming and 13 hours in the can, I feel confident we made the right choice. Had we not dug deeper into the marriage and simply relegated our story to political intrigue and machinations, the show would not have grown or expanded. We knew that wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s a risk we took knowing that a lot of people enjoy the chess moves and the political maneuvering and manipulation. We retained some of that but took the show into new territory with Francis [Kevin Spacey] and Claire’s [Robin Wright] relationship.”
Another fundamental change was that Francis Underwood in season 3 was President of the United States.
“As opposed to a story of ascent where they were striving for power, now they had the power they coveted. That was another reason to explore Francis and Claire’s emotional journey, their marriage, the pressures The White House places on both of them,” reasoned Willimon. “This gave us the opportunity of exploring new ways to tell our story–voiceovers, flashbacks, different filmic approaches in terms of the tone and look of the show. Our goal was to maintain the aesthetic core of the show while expanding upon its vocabulary. The challenge every season is to set out to do things we haven’t done before. We did this in a major way in season three.”
Towards that end, House of Cards brought several directors and DPs new to the series for season 3. The directors were Agnieszka Holland (an Oscar nominee for Europa Europa), John Dahl (Rounders, the DGA Award-nominated The Last Seduction) and Tucker Gates (Lost, Homeland, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) who directed a pair of episodes apiece. The cinematographers new to House of Cards were Martin Ahlgren who shot 11 episodes and Peter Konczal who lensed two.
“Martin is an extremely talented cinematographer,” assessed Willimon. “We were impressed by his work previous to House of Cards and thought he would bring some fresh blood and new ideas to season three.
The new ideas were driven by the directors in collaboration with Martin. Agnieszka Holland directed the episode for which we filmed the debate. Our cameras generally tend to be either on dollies or static. We typically don’t do handheld. We’ve been going with a Kubrick-esque approach established in season one.
But for this episode, to give the debate a cinema verite style, we moved away from the static and dolly work so that it felt like a debate as opposed to us filming a debate.”
Willimon also cited the final episode of season three which included “a pretty intense, violent scene between Francis and Claire. James Foley directed that episode [a filmmaker who also directed in seasons one and two]. Martin and James went handheld which we don’t typically do. The idea was to make the most of what handheld has to offer, the camera getting in tight alignment with the violence on screen.
When you break out from what you normally do, you make an impact. We established an aesthetic the first two seasons and when we break out from that, we do it as a choice, not willy-nilly. Martin did a great job to open up the visual vocabulary of the show in moments like these.”
The White House setting also inspired changes in approach by Ahlgren. “In season one and two, windows were washed out or had drapes,” related Willimon. “Martin established greens outside the window, and brought different types of lighting into the Oval Office. There was a greater diversity of tone and feeling in the rooms.”
Ahlgren built upon a groundbreaking DP tradition for House of Cards. Bryld worked with Fincher to establish the look and feel of the show in season one. Bryld wound up winning an Emmy for his cinematography. Succeeding Bryld for season two was Igor Martinovic. Willimon noted that Bryld, Martinovic and Ahlgren “are all incredibly collaborative cinematographers.”
Willimon added that Ahlgren brought in DP Peter Konczal to lens a couple of season three episodes. “First,” explained Willimon, “Martin needed someone to lighten the burden of 13 shows for him to shoot. But he also needed a DP, Peter, to be devoted to the two episodes [chapters 35 and 38 of the series] directed by Robin Wright [who directed her first House of Cards episode in season two]. When Robin’s directing, she’s also acting. When she’s prepping, she’s acting in the series. This made a challenging prep schedule even more challenging. You have to carve out time here and there for her to prep. Martin thought it would be a good idea to have Peter dedicated to her for each episode she directed. This way, when she was available to do prep, Peter could be there for her.”
Portlandia
For each of the past three years based on sketch comedy series Portlandia (IFC), co-series creator Jonathan Krisel has earned two Emmy nominations–one for Outstanding Directing, the other for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Those six nominations from 2012-’14 are just part of the haul for Portlandia which in both 2011 and 2013 won the Emmy for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety/Music Program or a Special. And last year, in addition to Krisel’s two noms, Portlandia landed nominations for co-creator/writer Fred Armisen as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, Steve Buscemi for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, and a nom for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality Competition Program.
“It’s been exciting to be acknowledged, especially for a smaller show,” said Krisel. “We’re the David in this David vs. Goliath scenario, with our work on the same platform as higher profile shows. And for me personally to have three directing and three writing [shared with the likes of Armisen, series co-creator Carrie Brownstein, Graham Wagner and Karey Dornetto] nominations is gratifying. I’ve seen Portlandia cited in articles that have nothing to do with the show. Someone in a movie or TV show will be described as ‘a Portlandia character.’ We’ve become a point of reference.”
Whether Portlandia will be impacted by the TV Academy’s change in the Variety Series category remains to be seen. The category is now for the first year being split into Outstanding Variety Talk (which will be awarded during the Primetime Emmy telecast) and Outstanding Variety Sketch (to be part of the Creative Arts Emmy program).
Emmy voters will, however, be judging a Portlandia series which like in past seasons continues to evolve from one year to the next. “We feel like we’re always challenging ourselves, never resting on our laurels,” said Krisel. “We try to keep the show as fresh and exciting as when we first came onto the scene. Our fifth season is totally different. It’s way more narrative. It still has the same sensibilities, tone, look and feel but there’s a little more story per episode. The comedy is still sketch like but woven together in a more narrative structure. The first two episodes, for example, are one story, providing backstory on how the bookstore lady characters came about. We’re exploring the dynamic of some of our characters. Why are these two ladies friends? Why are they the way they are? Why are they so mean to people? One came from B. Dalton Books, the other from Crown Books. These were the mall gems of book selling before Amazon came into the marketplace. The bookstores merged and the two women were thrown together, hated each other, engaged in backstabbing until they realized there’s this glass ceiling. They had to work together in a male-dominated universe and become the characters we came to know from prior sketches. It’s part of our continuing to elevate Portlandia from a conceptual sketch show to a more character-based sketch show. And we’re celebrating our characters.”
Integral to the show is its ensemble of performers, as well as guest performers. “Fred [Armisen] is the funniest person in the world,” affirmed Krisel. “It doesn’t matter what he’s doing, what the context is. He and Carrie [Brownstein] are laugh-out-loud performers. It’s a blessing to be able to write to our cast’s strengths as performers. And there are recurring guest stars like Jeff Goldblum who have the talent and energy which matches our sensibility perfectly. As a fan of TV, any show I’m watching is because I like to see what the performers are doing. Louie C.K. does different formats within his show. Whatever he wants to show me, I care what it is. If he put something into it, I know it’s going to be great. TV is an open canvas at this point so for Portlandia we like changing the format. The bottom line is you want to make something exciting, fresh and not worry about formula, what people are expecting. People want to laugh.” Portlandia has elicited not only laughter but also accolades beyond the Emmy recognition. The show won a Peabody Award in 2012, was nominated for a Writers Guild Award in the Comedy/Variety category in 2014, and won the WGA Award in 2013, the honored ensemble of writers consisting of Armisen, Brownstein, Krisel, Dornetto and Bill Oakley.
Modern Family
James Bagdonas, ASC, has an Emmy track record which is curiously different from what one might expect for a cinematographer who in recent years is most closely associated with his work on ABC TV’s lauded half-hour sitcom Modern Family.
“It’s the first pure comedy I’ve ever done,” he related. “My sensibilities going in were more on the drama end. You tend to flex your muscles more in lighting in drama. In comedy, you protect the actors, you protect the comedy.”
Bagdonas’ Emmy history is grounded in one-hour drama, having been nominated three times for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series on the strength of Chicago Hope–for the episodes “A Time To Kill” in 1997, “Brain Salad Surgery” in 1998, and “Home Is Where the Heartache Is” in 1999. Also in ‘97, Bagdonas was an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Special on the basis of his lensing of Hidden In America.
It’s not that Bagdonas’ cinematography on Modern Family has gone unnoticed by his peers. In 2012, he garnered a coveted ASC Award nomination for the “Bixby’s Back” episode of Modern Family. This marked his fourth career ASC nomination, the others coming for Chicago Hope in ‘97 and ‘98, and an episode of Hunter in 1990.
And on the feature film front, Bagdonas was nominated in 1994 for a Best Cinematography Independent Spirit Award for the Martin Bell-directed, Jeff Bridges-starring American Heart.
Given his lack of half-hour sitcom experience prior to landing the Modern Family gig in 2009, Bagdonas acknowledged there might have been some hesitation in some circles about bringing him aboard the comedy series. “It helped that I came from Boston Legal, which was both comedy and drama and had a kind of movement to it that stylistically was in the area of what they wanted to establish for Modern Family,” observed Bagdonas. “In Boston Legal there were many scenes which had people bantering and we’d do each in one setup, capture it almost voyeuristically as one shot with a real-life documentary touch.
It was cut from the same cloth as what had been envisioned for Modern Family, which at the time was new ground for a sitcom. So I had experience in doing what they wanted. It just wasn’t experience in pure half-hour comedy.”
For the past several years, Bagdonas has deployed the ARRI ALEXA on Modern Family. “It’s hard working and delivers a great image,” assessed Bagdonas. “I try to keep my equipment as simple and responsive as I can. The ALEXA has become quintessential, being used on the lion’s share of TV and features.”
As for how the cinematography on Modern Family has evolved over the years, Bagdonas observed, “Each season the show grows. It gets bigger, more challenging. The shows were technically simpler in the beginning though we had the challenge of finding the right process to realize the style we wanted. Now we’re on location much more where lighting problems can be more complex. Different locations come into play and the storylines also have become more challenging visually like in this year’s episodes ‘The Day We Almost Died’ about a near-miss accident and ‘Grill, Interrupted,’ with its intersecting stories.”
Those two cited episodes reflect Bagdonas’ versatility in that he directed “The Day We Almost Died” and “Grill, Interrupted,” collaborating with Hugo Cortina as DP. Cortina is Bagdonas’ long-time gaffer who is an experienced cameraman. “I’ve been shooting for 40 years and directing for 20,” said Bagdonas who indeed has a history of settling into the director’s chair for select episodes of series he has contributed to as a DP. He, for example, directed multiple episodes of both Chicago Hope and Boston Legal prior to helming installments of Modern Family, including “Under Pressure” in 2014, “Suddenly, Last Summer,” and “A Slight at the Opera” in 2013, “Open House of Horrors” and “Disneyland” in 2012, and “The One That Got Away” in 2011.
Bagdonas said that working on Modern Family has been most gratifying. “There aren’t many half-hour comedies that brilliant, which means I’d probably foray back into one hour once this series is over because I’d be hard pressed to find a comedy of the same caliber.”
Asked whether the future could hold more directorial endeavors, Bagdonas said he’d like to continue to work as a cinematographer while taking on select gigs as a director. “It just depends what opportunities emerge down the road. I may stick my toe a little bit more in directing and see how that plays out. Bringing in the expertise and knowledge from Modern Family helps me as both a cinematographer and director.”
The Last Man on Earth
Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim proved to be a springboard for cinematographer Christian Sprenger to dive into the Fox primetime comedy pool, landing the debut season of The Last Man on Earth, a series created by and starring Will Forte as Phil Miller, seemingly the only person left on Earth after a deadly plague has swept the planet. Driving his RV in search of other survivors, Phil is on the verge of giving up and ending it all until he meets Carol (Kristen Schall). But be careful what you wish for as Phil marries the nagging, eccentric woman in order to repopulate the Earth only to find that there are other survivors, including another woman, Melissa (January Jones), whom he finds far more attractive than Carol.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, executive producers/directors on The Last Man on Earth, found Sprenger attractive as a DP. “Phil and Chris are huge animation and TV nerds,” said Sprenger. “I shot Eagleheart, this silly little show with Chris Elliott for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block of programming. It was a single-camera dramatically shot show that generated a cult following.”
Among those cult followers were Lord and Miller who called in Sprenger for a meeting. During that session, Sprenger recalled, “I pitched them this crazy idea of how we should shoot it [The Last Man on Earth]. And they were totally on board with it. I told them we cannot have a sitcom lighting feel. The show needs to feel very real, very grounded in reality. There are no city lights. Stuff needs to feel dark in this post-apocalyptic world. Interiors should feel like windows are the only thing lighting them. The story has to be believable–has to look believable–for the audience to tune in every week. We also wanted to emphasize the emptiness of the world, show a lot of stillness. There are many wide shots to let the audience roam around the frame and get an idea of the world. Half hour shows are usually tight shots where you don’t get a grand scope. For this story, a grand scope needs to be seen. In the pilot, we had giant wide long shots with this little man, the last survivor, walking around.”
The inherent challenge in the debut season for Sprenger was “trying to make something that looks and feels like a one-hour drama on the schedule and budget of a half-hour comedy. We had to do a lot of planning to make this work, not just from my perspective but from everyone–art direction, producing, the art department. Every single person had to be on board to take on that challenge. We adopted the mentality that we’re making something that feels handmade and doesn’t feel like it came off an assembly line. You treat things more preciously if you treat them more precisely.”
Sprenger worked as a camera operator and assistant in Chicago before moving to L.A., his big break coming when he began shooting for Funny Or Die at its inception. There he met an ensemble of writers and directors, entering into collaborations which opened up doors for him. For example, Sprenger shot for such Funny Or Die writers/directors as Eric Appel and Jason Woliner–the latter hired the DP for Eagleheart.
Sprenger also diversified into commercials based on several Funny Or Die filmmakers who extended their reach into the ad arena. Woliner, for instance, takes on comedy spots and branded content through production house Caviar.
Additionally Sprenger remains active in music videos and shorts. As for what’s next, he recently wrapped lensing for a pilot starring Zach Galifianakis. The show, Baskets, is from Louis C.K. and Galifianakis.
Gotham
Tom Yatsko is one of two principal cinematographers on Gotham, the Fox crime-drama series which tells us the backstories of characters–primarily those of police commissioner James Gordon and Bruce Wayne–in Gotham City, home of Batman, Robin and a host of villains. The storyline precedes Batman’s arrival, providing a different perspective on how Gotham evolved and what makes the city and its people tick.
Yatsko and Chris Norr are the DPs on the series. The two worked together early on in their careers, breaking into the biz at Panavision’s equipment rental house in New York. Yatsko moved methodically up the industry ladder, becoming a camera operator, shooting 2nd unit, later 1st unit and then arriving as a full fledged cinematographer. His first DP credit was on the TV show Alias. “It was a big break, kind of cutting edge for its time,” recalled Yatsko. “I got to work with J.J. Abrams during the early stage of his career.”
Yatsko’s lensing of Alias landed him CSI: Miami where he worked with executive producer Danny Cannon who also directed a couple of episodes for that series. CSI: Miami in turn got Yatsko many other jobs, including Gotham. Cannon, an exec producer/director on Gotham, brought Yatsko into the series fold.
Cannon directed the Gotham pilot; at the time he was staying in the same hotel as Yatsko who was shooting the pilot for the ABC sci-fi drama Forever. “I ran into Danny at the hotel bar,” recalled Yatsko. “We knew each other professionally but there we got to know each other personally. If I could have every job interview at a bar, I’d excel at getting work–in this case, I got the opportunity on Gotham. It’s an ambitious show. We have nine days to shoot an episode which is a tall order but not unique in television.
We have the advantage of some great production designers and we can shoot New York for New York so we tend to stay on wider lenses and let the scenery play out. The series is a far cry visually from the standard TV formula. Gotham is a bit of a period piece–not a very specific period but somewhat like 1980s New York. We decided to shoot with ARRI’s ALEXA, using old Panavision lenses from the 1970s to give it a little bit of a softer, rougher feel.”
During the season itself, Yatsko said scheduling logistics made it difficult for he and Norr to get together to compare notes. “We have opposite schedules on a hectic show. I’m shooting when he’s prepping and vice versa,” said Yatsko. “We tried many times to hook up but couldn’t. Luckily early on when we first came on board the series, we walked through the sets that were already built and came up with a game plan. Season one of any show is a lot of trial and error but based on our game plan we went off separately and sort of found the show’s style over time. The broad strokes of our original game plan have held true–staying off of long lenses, showing the environment, trying not to make the show too ‘cutty,’ letting the actors fill the frame, do their thing and not over cover everything. Gotham does not have the typical cadence of a network show.”
Yatsko’s other credits include multiple episodes of Fringe, Touch, Almost Human and Bates Motel. For the latter, he shared a nomination with John S. Bartley for an Online Film and Television Association Award in recognition of Best Cinematography in a Series.
(Editor’s note: For backstory on cinematographer Chris Norr and his contributions to Gotham, see this issue’s Cinematographers & Cameras Series feature.)
