American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 34

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on the lens so the camera was farther away from the actors. It makes them feel more trapped, and it allows me and the directors to play with different depths of field.” The show’s roster of directors includes Ernest Dickerson, ASC, whose directorial credits include episodes of Dexter, The Wire and Treme. As might be expected from a former cinematographer, Dickerson maintains a close relationship with the camera department. “I rely on the camera as our primary storytelling tool, so I am pretty clear with the operators about how I want a shot framed,” he says, noting that he was often looking over Boyd’s shoulder as the setups came together. “I do my work near the cameras, and I encourage all of our directors to get out from behind the monitor and participate,” says Boyd. “Good things happen when there’s a director close to the camera.” In lieu of a video village, the directors use three 5" standard-definition monitors attached to a “mobile board” equipped with video receivers. Boyd also used his proximity to the camera to gauge filtration and T-stops, freeing the first assistants to concentrate on pulling focus. For day exteriors, ND filters were stacked to achieve a more selective depth-of-field. At dawn or in the late afternoon, Boyd corrected the 7219 500T with a Tiffen 81EF filter. “It’s what I use with tungsten film to bias it toward the cool side,” he says. “It gets you to that early dawn/magic hour look quite nicely.” For each season so far, the production has spent six months shooting on location in Georgia, usually in sweltering heat. The grip team is often using its equipment to shield the actors from the sun as well as control the natural sunlight. “Almost all of our day exteriors have been done in available light,” says Boyd. “I’d get by with a 12-by Griffolyn or UltraBounce — something soft that put a bit of light in the actors’ eyes. If we were working underneath a tree, I’d consider putting a light up, but if I did, it would be a 4K HMI. We used 18Ks for wide fills. “The show works best when it

Top: Cinematographer David Boyd, ASC lights the undead. Bottom: Episode director Ernest Dickerson, ASC points toward a setup.

pretty brilliant thinking on the parts of [comic-book creators] Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard.” This method was greatly influenced by Boyd’s experiences as a documentary filmmaker in the 1980s. “I’m so glad I had that early experience,” he remarks. “Every chromosome is trained to size up a scene fast and start shooting.” On The Walking Dead, he scrupulously avoided complex lighting setups, indoors and out, in favor of natural light and practical motivation. The primary camera crew — operators Mike Satrazemis, Chris Jones and Glen Brown (the latter two on Steadicam); 1st ACs David Galbraith and Bruce Robinson; and 2nd ACs Matt
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McGinn and Angela Holford — average 70 to 80 shots a day. At the end of the first season, film loader Tracy Minnis tallied about 2,000 rolls between A and B cameras, including short ends and reloads. The story’s decaying urban environments and rural, wooded areas are well suited for handheld and tripod work, and a single grip was assigned to each camera team, providing the operators and camera assistants with support wherever they went. “Crane moves are rare, but our great dolly grips, Frank Boone and Mike Besaw, were very busy, often putting dolly runs in the woods where it seemed impossible,” says Boyd. “Handheld or not, we were stretched out
American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - March 2012

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