American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 38

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about 2 feet on each side, but beyond that, they were pretty much practical locations. We didn’t have the luxury to fly walls or put in backlights or sidelights where we wanted, which was a good thing.” Cuesta adds, “It’s hard to get cameras in there, but when you make it too easy to shoot, it starts looking like a TV show. So I prefer to be crammed in the corner and not be able to get the angle.” Both Manley and Cragg based their lighting on practicals that were augmented by China balls and small instruments, bounced light and lots of negative fill. “With the Alexa, I was basically using smaller and lesser lights,” says Manley, who was working with the U.S. Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) endures eight years of captivity in the Middle East in Homeland. camera for the first time. “You think you need a 4-foot double [Kino Flo], but on naturalism. “The story is based on revealed, our style got more visceral, with then you find you only need a 4-foot what’s going on around us now, so I more handheld [camerawork].” single — and then you end up putting wanted it to feel as real as possible,” says Showtime mandated that protape all over the front to knock it down Cuesta. “I didn’t want it to come off as an duction be based in North Carolina to more. It’s kind of amazing that way.” action thriller, but as a psychological take advantage of local tax breaks, and Cragg’s go-to units were “Tommy piece. You have to hang onto the shot, the network also mandated digital boxes,” small softboxes created by gaffer stay with these characters, get into their acquisition. The team chose Charlotte, Tommy Ray Sullivan. Built in five sizes, heads. The look is not stylized. I’m and local rental house Illumination they accommodate different-sized always turning lights off on set, saying, Dynamics provided Arri Alexas, globes, all wired to dimmers. “They’re ‘Let it be real.’” Arri/Zeiss Ultra Primes and a range of incredibly versatile and low-profile, and While prepping the pilot, the Angenieux Optimo zooms. we used them all over the place, hiding creative team revisited the 1970s thrillers The pilot was shot on practical them or clipping them to things,” says Three Days of the Condor and The locations in North Carolina, Israel and Cragg. Conversation, “which feel like documen- Washington, D.C. The episodes were The creative team worked with a taries in that they capture the action in a shot on soundstages built in some vacant digital-imaging technician on the pilot, simple way,” Cuesta says. But their most tobacco-processing factories and warebut Cragg opted to do without one, using important touchstone, according to houses in Charlotte. a data loader instead. “I don’t think you Manley, was Michael Clayton, shot by The main sets are Brody’s and need a DIT with the Alexa,” notes Robert Elswit, ASC.“That became my Mathison’s residences. Brody’s rambling Cragg. “I just used Iridas SpeedGrade to go-to point of reference,” says Manley. ranch house “is designed to be the create our look-up tables. The Alexa can “The photography is so naturalistic and warmest, most comforting place,” says save frame grabs, and I’d just load them unobtrusive, yet every scene feels correct. Cragg, “because we need to ground him, onto the program, color-time them and [Elswit] never tried to do anything flashy to care about his family, because this then have them sent off to FotoKem.” or tip his hand and let his presence be family is what ties him to reality and Cragg and FotoKem colorist Keith known, and that’s really hard to do. It’s keeps him alive.” By contrast, Mathison’s Shaw calibrated their iPads so Cragg easier to make things look beautiful than townhouse has a cool palette, few could give notes on the QuickTime files natural and correct.” windows and spare lighting. “The space or DVD he received. “It’s not a perfect As the storyline develops, feels contained and closed, just like her system, but we achieve a lot of the look of Homeland ’s look evolves correspondcharacter,” says Cragg. this show in-camera,” says the cineingly. “It started as a show about people The sets were copied closely from matographer. “We gel the lights if we observing people, and we created that the pilot’s practical locations. “Michael want a specific look, and because we’re feeling of surveillance by emphasizing requested 8-foot or 9-foot hard ceilings going for a raw, naturalistic feel, we let longer lenses through episode four,” says on every set,” says Cragg. “They were fluorescent lights go green and let warm Cragg. “Then, as more of the story was expanded from the real locations by colors play with cool ones. So there

March 2012

American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - March 2012

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