American Cinematographer - September 2014 - 22

Production Slate

24 Returns
By Michael Goldman

When Fox resurrected the 24 television franchise with the 12episode special event 24: Live Another Day, the writers moved the
show's setting to London and gave battle-scarred Jack Bauer (Kiefer
Sutherland) one of his most impossible challenges to date. A hunted
fugitive without his usual resources, Bauer had to dodge the CIA,
save London from bombardment by terrorists who had seized control
of American drones, protect the president, ferret out a traitor, and
confront old Russian and Chinese enemies who very much wanted
him dead.
Despite a four-year hiatus between season eight and Live
Another Day, Bauer pulled off his return with both aplomb and solid
ratings. His efforts were equaled offscreen by the crew, who, cinematographer Jeffrey Mygatt says, was tasked with producing "the
exact same show that ran for eight years, but with an entirely new
crew and [acquisition] format, while working overseas with almost
no setup or rehearsal time."
Nearly all of 24's original run was photographed by Rodney
Charters, ASC, CSC, who worked with original series operators Guy
Skinner and Jay Herron to establish the show's signature style, in
which the A camera was always handheld and the B camera was
always on a long lens. Jon Cassar, a producer and frequent director
of 24's first eight seasons who returned to executive produce Live
22

September 2014

Another Day and direct six of the 12 episodes, knew it was crucial
to emulate that way of working. Accordingly, despite Fox's mandate
that the new production employ a British crew, he insisted on bringing a cinematographer "who knew the show and could teach our
visual style" to the British operators. Charters was unavailable, but
Mygatt had worked on the original series as a camera operator for
both the 1st and 2nd units, and had stepped in as cinematographer
for 10 episodes. Mygatt had also worked with Cassar on other
projects, including the Fox series Terra Nova.
"After eight years in L.A. with virtually the same crew, this
was going to be a whole new kettle of fish for us," Cassar says. "I
had to have a cinematographer with me who could pull off our
unique visual style, and Jeffrey was that guy, for sure."
Cassar recalls being concerned with how 24 would look in
HD, especially considering that the show relies so heavily on closeups, and that during 24's eight-season run, film had been considered central to the show's dark, noir style. Mygatt, though, knew
just how he wanted to handle the matter. "When they hired me, I
said, 'If we're doing it in HD, I won't shoot this show with anything
but the [Arri] Alexa,'" the cinematographer recalls. "The Alexa is
really close to film for this kind of work. The camera handles light
really well. For night exteriors, you can shoot at 800 ASA or even
1,600 ASA and not have a big problem with noise. Also, it's lightweight and versatile, which we needed for our workflow."
That workflow was strategically designed for the series' run-

American Cinematographer

24: Live Another Day photos by Daniel Smith and Christopher Raphael, courtesy of Fox Broadcasting Co.

Jack Bauer
(Kiefer
Sutherland),
now a hunted
fugitive, returns
to action to foil
a terrorist attack
on London in
the 12-episode
series 24: Live
Another Day.

American Cinematographer - September 2014

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