American Cinematographer - February 2021 - 58

CITY OF LIGHT

Camera and Lenses

" It was important that the camera would
have a full range of color and that the image
was flattering. I wanted to use Arri Alexas,
and because Netflix required 4K, we used
Alexa LFs.
" This is a show where people look their

best, and even for the clothing it helps to
have the lens fairly sharp. The Arri Signature Prime is that sweet spot - it's pretty
sharp and clean, and can handle flare with
no problem, but it's not harsh. The image
has a kind of roundness to it. It's almost a
perfectly neutral lens. We added a quarter

Glimmerglass for a touch of glamour. This
is in contrast to lenses like the Panavision
Variels that I'm using on In Treatment, which
have a lot of character built in. With a digital
sensor, a huge part of creating the look is
lens selection. How lucky are we to have so
many great choices! " - Steven Fierberg

Top: Steven Fierberg, ASC (left) and director Andrew Fleming.
Bottom: Fierberg " painted with light " to create a nightclub
from a sparse set.

Parisian Gear
" The lights and cameras they
use in France are basically
the same as we use here, but
there were a few pieces of grip
gear that are just a little more
elegant than our solutions.
" One example is that for most wall spreaders in the U.S., the
more weight you put on the piece of wood that spans the length of
the ceiling, the more stress it puts on the connections to the wall.
What we used in Paris was an aluminum spreader that curves up in
the center of the room, then curves back down when it meets the
wall - so the more weight you put on that, the more it holds to the
wall instead of less. It's using the principle of the arch, which is a
very strong structure.
" They also use 1-meter-by-2-meter [3.3-foot-by-6.6-foot]
diffusion frames - rather than our square 4-foot-by-4-foot frames
- which is more functional and something we should do here. Twoto-1 is a good ratio for beautiful light. We've tended to use squares
because they cover the round light, but in terms of the area that the
light is supposed to illuminate, the ability to use that rectangular
frame - horizontal or vertical - makes it more useful than a square,
when it fits within the set or location. " - S.F.

58 / FEBRUARY 2021

The internet was abuzz when Emily in Paris dropped last October, with
widespread praise for the show's look. Fierberg - whose work includes
HBO's hit series Entourage and the provocative feature Secretary - had
worked with Star in the early 2000s on the pilot for the comedy Miss
Match, and knew that the showrunner would want a " contemporary and
clean " look for their latest collaboration. " A lens that introduced a lot of
flaws would not have the contemporary energy that Darren knew was
right for the show. It needed to feel 'right now' - I knew that was the
look he wanted and I was thrilled to give it to him. "
Fierberg sees the show less as a commentary on French society and
more as a look at some elements of American culture " that Emily represents, which may seem crude or superficial to the French and disconnected from nature and sensuality - [concepts that are key to the]
French vision of humanity. What happens constantly on the show is that
Emily is confronted with something she thinks she shouldn't do, or people shouldn't do - so she's a character with fixed ideas and you're trying
to open up her world by exposing her to things she's never experienced.
" To that effect, " he continues, " a candlelit dinner at a château in the
Loire Valley, where Emily finds herself in Episode 8, is certainly a world
that is as different from urban Chicago as we could make it. [See sidebar,
page 64.] It was director and executive producer Andy Fleming's idea to
have the dinner by candlelight, just as it would have happened hundreds
of years ago. Andy is a director with a great visual sense. "
When the cinematographer first arrived at Le Château de Sonnay in
the vineyards southwest of Paris, he was intrigued by the Neoclassical
paintings on the walls that " looked like Jacques-Louis David portraits
you would see in a museum, " he says.
When Fierberg inquired about the paintings, a young woman who
lived there " pointed to a couple of them and said, 'Those are my greatgreat-great grandparents.' It really brought home for me that this family has been living in that house for centuries. All this real-life history
lent itself amazingly well to the idea of Emily's journey into a romantic
past, where you feel connected to nature, and where things haven't really
changed in generations. "

Photos by Carole Bethuel, Stéphanie Branchu and the filmmakers.
All photos courtesy of Netflix.

bring the light physically lower. " He adds with a laugh, " And there was
something I would say on-set that drove the electric crew insane -
when I said 'less light,' they would think I said 'plus light' and they would
give me 'more.' You have to learn what words and phrases they prefer,
and that comes from practice and experience.
" It's also time for me to finally accept that four years of Detroit highschool French is not enough, " he adds. " I've enrolled in contemporary
French classes. It will be my third time shooting in France when I return
for Season 2, and I owe it to the crew to be fluent in the language of the
country where I'll be living and working. "

American Cinematographer - February 2021

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