American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 44

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Classic Hollywood

Top: The real-life production crew shoots the story's filmmakers at work on a soundstage.
Bottom: Cast and crew capture a scene in which Stahr romances Kathleen Moore (Dominique
McElligott).

a great costume designer, Janie Bryant
- and my crew was incredible. It just
all felt right."
Moder was initially resistant to
continuing on the series, out of fear that
the tighter nine-day schedule would
require too many compromises to the
visual style, but his fondness for the
initial scripts and the environment that
Ray had devised changed his mind.
"You can't help but be amazed by the
costumes and production design,"
Moder enthuses. "The places we get to
go, the cars we get to see, and Billy's
writing all just give you an amazing
opportunity - as does his generosity to
44

August 2017

every single person on the crew."
Ray
reciprocates
Moder's
compliment by adding that the cinematographer is as adept at the "nonglamorous" aspects of photography as
he is at the aesthetically rewarding ones.
"I've been on sets where the director of
photography and the first AD are
always arguing about schedule versus
style, or the cinematographer and the
production designer are always arguing
about whether or not the sets are
camera-friendly," Ray says. "With
Danny, there's a strong point of view
and a strong aesthetic, but a complete
absence of ego. The best idea wins and
American Cinematographer

he doesn't care where it came from. That
said, 90 percent of the time it came from
him.
"He also has instant credibility
with actors, because they know he's
going to take care of them," Ray adds.
"He speaks their language, so there's
never a hassle about camera versus
performance - ever."
Moder notes the importance of
communicating his plan to the
performers so they can integrate what
they're doing with the cinematography.
"The lighting on this show is kind of
specific," he says. "It's not just, 'We'll hit
it anywhere.' Every scene is an opportunity, and it's something that somebody
has written down, and there have been
hundreds of meetings about it - about
wardrobe and everything else. You try to
feel out the sensitivity of the scene, and
work out how it will be most powerful
with everybody."
For Moder, preparation is also
key in terms of accomplishing a featurefilm look on a television schedule. In
fact, he notes that "there's a line in the
pilot where Monroe says something
like, 'I'm not good enough to be unprepared' - and Billy used to say that a lot
when we were making Secret in Their
Eyes. We have in-depth shot-list meetings - not to lock ourselves into
anything, as it could all go out the
window, but so that we don't have to
worry about standing on a set with 50
people staring at you and wondering
what they're supposed to do."
Ray adds, "The bigger virtue of
shot-listing is that it forces you to ask
yourself what the scene is really about. Is
it about a shifting power dynamic? Is it
about two people falling in love? Is it
about tension in a given circumstance?
Once you know what the scene is about,
you know where the camera should go
and how long it should stay there. Then
if you get to the set and all of a sudden
the cinematographer or an actor or a
grip has an idea, you can react to it
because it doesn't change what the scene
is about. The rigor that you have
imposed upon yourselves now starts to
pay off, because it doesn't matter if



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2017

Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - Intro
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 1
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 2
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 4
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 5
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 6
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 7
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 8
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 9
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 10
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 11
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 12
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 13
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 14
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 15
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 16
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 17
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 18
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 19
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 20
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 21
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 22
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 23
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 24
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 25
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 26
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 27
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 28
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 29
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 30
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 31
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 32
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 32a
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 32b
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 32c
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 32d
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 33
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 34
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 35
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 36
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 37
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 38
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 39
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 40
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 41
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 42
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 43
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 44
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 45
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 46
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 47
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 48
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 49
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 50
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 51
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 52
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 53
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 54
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 55
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 56
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 57
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 58
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 59
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 60
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 61
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 62
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 63
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 64
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 65
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 66
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 67
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 68
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 69
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 70
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 71
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 72
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 73
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 74
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 75
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 76
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 77
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 78
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 79
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - 80
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - August 2017 - Cover4
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