American Cinematographer - May 2020 - 42

Stars Align

A fantasy sequence from Netflix's Self Made, shot by Kelly.

Kelly of the production, which was
directed by DeMane Davis and Kasi
Lemmons, who each helmed two
episodes. "I'd been looking for a period
piece because it's such a challenging
thing for a DP to do." It was extra challenging in this case because the factbased series, which debuted in March,
also incorporated fantasy elements into
every episode via interstitials. In one
example, we see a boxing match
between Walker (Octavia Spencer) and
her rival in a smoky arena; in another,
dancers surround Walker in a Busby
Berkeley-style configuration in the
factory she's about to open. "These
were ways to get into Madam Walker's
head as the story turns inward," says
Kelly, who shot all four episodes. "Each
episode has a different look for the
interstitial. We wanted these to be a
place where we could tap into some
fun visual elements." There are also

other imaginings, like Walker's memories of her enslaved parents picking
cotton.
From the start, "the showrunners, Janine Sherman Barrois and Elle
Johnson, were clear that they did not
want a period piece that was sepiacolored," says Kelly. "They wanted to
make this story alive for right now, and
they wanted a very colorful, saturated
world." While the research department
gathered period photos showing the
era's hairdos, dress and cultural milieu,
Kelly assembled her own look-book
with more wide-ranging references.
"My office walls were covered with
images that included Beyoncé's
Lemonade, If Beale Street Could Talk and
Annihilation."
Working with production design
and costume, Kelly says, "We were
able to find a palette that was colorful
and saturated but not jarring. Madam

wears a lot of jewel tones, beautiful emeralds and sapphires - very rich colors that
pop really well."
The cinematographer's soft, directional light complemented that palette. "I
wanted the lighting to have a very natural
feel because I knew we were going to be
pushing so much color into the sets," she
says. "We wanted the colors to play on
their own."
The stylized interstitials broke from
that approach, with bold pink backlight
and runways of purple light in the dance
scenes, or searing white spotlights and
deep shadows in the boxing ring. "We
were trying to make them as dramatically
different from the main story as possible."
Lenses underscored that difference.
For most of the two-camera shoot, which
was captured at 4K, Kelly coupled Sony's
Venice with Panavision T Series anamorphic primes, but she switched to C Series
anamorphics for the interstitials "because
the characteristics of those lenses helped
to visually distinguish that material from
the main storyline."
Anka Malatynska
Monsterland
In the year since her Rising Star
profile in this magazine, Anka
Malatynska shot what she considers to be
her breakout project: Monsterland. "It's
one of the most exciting projects of my
career," she says. "It allowed me to do
things visually I haven't been able to do
anywhere else. You can't do magical light
portals on every series!"
The eight-episode anthology is an
adaptation of Nathan Ballingrud's shortstory collection North American Lake

AC: Is episodic TV where the action is now, especially for women and people of color?
Kira Kelly: They talk about this being 'the golden age of television.' We're at a point where there's a lot of television and
streaming options. That's wonderful because more shows need to fill jobs. All this work is out there, so it's a great time to be
a DP.
You've worked on other series that were female-led, such as Queen Sugar and East Los High.
Queen Sugar was my first studio job. I got that job because Ava DuVernay said, 'This is the DP I want to work with.'
[DuVernay also hired a directing team of 35 women for Queen Sugar's 55 episodes.] I think there are more and more cases of
women hiring other women and bringing each other along.
Madam C.J. Walker was seriously one of the most inclusive crews I've been in. We had women and black women all over
the [set]; it was pretty wonderful. I remember one meeting where we were all talking about hot combs, which play a big part
in the story. There was one white guy who put his hand up and sheepishly asked, 'What's a hot comb?' We all had to laugh -
including him. It was a nice moment. We're like, 'This is good! We're teaching people things.'
42

May 2020

American Cinematographer - 100 Years



American Cinematographer - May 2020

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American Cinematographer - May 2020 - Intro
American Cinematographer - May 2020 - Cover1
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