American Cinematographer - March 2011 - 66

Filmmakers’ Forum
I
Bringing ENG Style to Detroit 1-8-7 By Lisa Wiegand Coming off my first full-time episodic-television gig, on Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse (AC Feb. ’09), I was eager to find another show. When my agent, Charles Lenhoff, secured a meeting with the producers of ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7, which portrays a group of homicide detectives being followed by a documentary crew, the show seemed tailor-made: I’m from Detroit, where the show is set and shot, and I have an extensive documentary background. I didn’t know anyone associated with the show when I went to meet with producers Kevin Hooks, Jason Richman and David Zabel. Jimmy Muro had shot the pilot with a Red One, but the producers were intent on evolving the shooting style. They wanted a show that could be shot quickly and on the fly, a stylistic shift from the pilot, in which characters talked directly to the documentary crew, sometimes involving them peripherally in the narrative. The producers decided to back away from the idea of breaking the fourth wall, opting instead for a more traditional narrative that would still incorporate a documentary aesthetic. I suggested approaching the series like a news show, hiring operators with documentary backgrounds and incorporating EN G news-style lenses in our package. I had extensive experience with Panasonic’s AJ-HPX3700 VariCamthanks to Dollhouse, and I felt that if we added ENG lenses— specifically,Fujinon HA22x7.3 BERM HD ENG/EFP and HA 13x4.5 BERM HD ENG wide-angle lenses—we could carry off the desired aesthetic. We now try to keep our cameras on long lenses, far from the actors, to allow them more freedom for their performances. Many of them tell me they like the fact that they don’t always know where our cameras are, because it allows them to play the scene out without worrying about the restrictions of the frame. We work with the same VariCam body I used on Dollhouse, in conjunction with the EN G lenses. Only rarely do we need the mattebox; we use the filters provided in the camera (except polarization), recording to P2 cards, and use no cranes or Steadicam. Our
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lightweight ENG system offers flexibility for operators Matt Valentine (A camera) and Reza Tabrizi (B camera). This operator-based strategy connects our cameramen to the characters and story both physically and figuratively. Their work makes the camera another character in the scene; they can begin a scene wide but still incorporate lots of little zooms at moments that feel natural. They also must work together,like dance partners, as they execute complex, choreographed moves on our stages or locations. (They stay out of each other’s shots with help from dolly grips Doug Blagg and D.J. Tedesco.) The camera might follow a character and just glimpse him around a doorjamb, never showing him in full. Our production designer, Chuck Parker, designed our two stages so we can shoot through blinds, glass partitions, doorways and so on. When you add in all the reflections that must be avoided, it makes a tough operating gig. This style also complicates life for focus pullers Lewis Fowler and Greg Dellerson. Our operators need to be untethered, so assistants have to pull focus remotely, using a wireless HD-signal broadcast from the cameras. Our utility person, Jonah Sobol, sets up the antennas and makes sure the signal rarely wavers. It’s the kind of system that other shows use for control-room viewing, but we actually have our focus pullers sitting at a focusing station near video village, pulling focus without always knowing exactly where the operators are in relation to the actors. The idea of pulling focus remotely was my decision,and an important one. I wanted our operators to feel they could go anywhere to get a shot without having to maneuver around too many people. When we started out, we were relying on a Wi-Fi wireless system, but toward the end of last year, we switched to the microwave system to achieve more range and reliability in cold, wet conditions. Shooting in Detroit, we run into plenty of harsh weather. In fact, when the cold weather first hit, we had to make important modifications to our camera package, a job supervised by 2nd AC Peter Coronia. Peter recently began testing three different insulating

American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - March 2011

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