American Cinematographer - April 2016 - 22

Top: Epping and
Bill Turcotte
(George MacKay)
team up to
investigate Lee
Harvey Oswald.
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Adam Suschitzky,
BSC (right)
readies a scene
with Franco.

dark, rich world," he notes. "There were
low-light night interiors and exteriors. The
V-Lites, with their characteristic blue flare,
performed well wide open, and their lighter
weight made them well-suited for
Steadicam and some handheld." The cinematographer adds that lens flares were
"not something I wanted to do too often,
as I didn't want the lighting style to be too
self-conscious." As the series progressed, it
became more of a daylight show, and for
those scenes he switched to the C-Series,
"which are more nostalgic, slightly softer,
warmer, and not as sharp."
First AC Barrett Axford worked with
Preston Cinema Systems to provide custom
gears for remote-focus motors in order to
cover the additional travel spread on the CSeries lenses (from 3⁄4" standard to 11⁄2").
22

April 2016

On occasion, diopters were used to increase
the lenses' close-focusing capability.
Arri/Zeiss Master Primes were incorporated
in the series finale for dynamic focus pulling
and to create a "dystopian look," as
Suschitzky says. Axford adds that "Master
Primes were used only for very specific
[shots] in which we needed the speed of the
lens as well as the minimum focus." Workhorses for Suschitzky were the Standard
Speed 28mm and C-Series 40mm.
For contemporary scenes, Macdonald drew from his documentary experience
on such projects as One Day in September
and Touching the Void (AC March '04), and
employed handheld mode to keep the
action fluid, loose and fresh. Katznelson
posits that the choice of minimal, naturalistic lighting "causes the present-day scenes
American Cinematographer

to sit in a less-stylized way in comparison to
the rest of the show." For period work, the
cinematographer referenced photographs
by Robert Frank and Fred Herzog.
The portal in Al's Diner serves as
ground zero for Epping's adventure. It sits
across the street from the derelict Worumbo
Mill, which morphs into a thriving hub of
blue-collar activity when Epping stumbles
into 1960. The need to marry these two sets
prompted production designer Carol Spier
to design a fully functional diner from the
ground up. Great care was taken to balance
interior and exterior light levels. Three Arrimax 18Ks were shone through three
20'x20' frames of Rosco Light Grid Cloth
outside the diner's bank of windows. Inside,
a Kino Flo Celeb 400Q was used for fill light.
1960s scenes leaned on a classic
look, and handheld was traded for dolly,
crane and Steadicam. Accordingly, Katznelson's lighting strategy also shifted to illuminate Epping enjoying his new life while hinting at the dark events to come.
Suschitzky credits Carpenter for
providing him with a richly detailed show
bible months in advance. "Visually," he says,
"this series goes on a journey with a character who comes from modern times and
ends up falling in love in the past, [and] gets
changed by it hugely. Therefore, the visuals
also had to evolve."
He referenced the photographic
work of "Saul Leiter, for his use of color;
Gueorgui Pinkhassov, for his bold lighting;
and William Eggleston, for his portrayal of
personality through inanimate objects."
Motion-picture references were found in
Chinatown (shot by John Alonzo, ASC)
- specifically "the mise-en-scène, the lighting, and the use of the camera to proactively
tell the story and not just document it," he
says. In Cold Blood and Road to Perdition
(both shot by Conrad L. Hall, ASC) were
additional touchstones.
Suschitzky preferred tungsten lamps
for the Texas interiors. "I wanted the feeling
of a hot, hard sun that left deep shadows in
the spaces," he explains. Colored gels were
kept to a minimum. Night called for Lee
Cyan 30 for a slightly muddy look, which
was mixed with warmer street light
produced with the aid of Lee 147 Apricot.
"Production design used a subtle palette,"
Suschitzky adds, "so the cinematography

American Cinematographer - April 2016

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