American Cinematographer - July 2016 - 26

Cinematographer
Kevin M. Graves
(behind the
camera, topcenter and
bottom) and
crew capture the
Western action.

Digital-imaging technician Bradley
Crane created H.264 dailies using the LUT
Graves had made, adjusting it as necessary
so the compressed footage would more
closely match the on-set viewing LUT. "On
set, the look would be applied to the viewing
monitors, and it would be attached to the
ProRes 4:4:4:4 camera files as non-destructive metadata while the cameras were actually recording in Log C gamma," Graves
explains. "No additional hardware or LUT
boxes were required on set. The editors
could then access this look info with ease for
the offline edit."
Offline editing was done on Avid
Media Composer using the DNxHD 36
codec, under the supervision of co-executive
producer Tim Kelly. Tim's oversight was critical to the finished show; he's an amazing
storyteller, and he worked tirelessly with Final
Frame Post colorists Charlie Rokosny and
26

July 2016

Sandy Patch to ensure continuity with the
looks Kevin and I established in the field.
Having this ability to track looks
throughout 30 years of story time - from
Civil War Missouri to Tombstone, Ariz. -
and have those looks follow all the way
through postproduction was critical, especially given how fast we had to move on set.
To further facilitate post and finishing, we
used the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, capturing
1920x1080-resolution files. Final masters
were delivered to AMC as 1920x1080
ProRes 4:2:2 QuickTime files.
To move quickly between setups, we
relied on Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm
(T2.8) and 17-80mm (T2.2) zooms for our
dolly work, and Optimo 15-40mm (T2.6)
and 28-76mm (T2.6) for handheld and
Steadicam. For his 2nd-unit work, Saint Ours
utilized Cooke S4s. Schneider Hollywood
Black Magic filters in 1⁄8 and 1⁄4 densities
American Cinematographer

were used throughout the production by
both units.
The Amira's form factor and workflow, as well as our use of zooms, further
enabled an improvisational approach
throughout the production. The actors and I
would frequently adjust the script on the fly,
which kept Graves - who operated the A
camera - and B-camera operator Tom
Inskeep on their toes. There were times
during the production when the set felt
more like a live event than a narrative set, as
I called shots to the camera operators over
IFB radios.
The improvisation also made lighting
particularly challenging for Graves, chief
lighting technician Justin Stroh and key grip
Chuck Smallwood. "Early on," says Graves,
"I realized it was best to approach lighting in
terms of spaces and sets, and not target
areas for actors to hit." This resulted in a
naturalistic yet dramatic look that emphasized window sources and practicals, minimizing the time required for relights and
helping the actors stay in character.
Further complicating the lighting, I
have a tendency to position the A and B
cameras at 90-degree angles to one another
instead of stacking them side-by-side. When
you're doing a hybrid show like this, you
can't just think about covering the scene;
you always have to think about how you can
get a variety of shots that can be used in
another scene or even another episode. Yes,
it makes lighting tricky, but it also opens up
some interesting aesthetic opportunities. A
lot of beautiful images with silhouettes came
out of our need to work this way.
"The great thing about these
shows," says Graves, "is that you get to be
so creative so much of the time. There's a lot
of pressure, but also a lot of freedom. I think
it really forced us to think outside the box,
especially for the action sequences."
We had to be particularly creative
about how we approached the show's
centerpiece set: a two-story saloon that
played for multiple locations. Production
designer Ernesto Solo, art director Eric Whitney and construction foreman Damian Sarno
showed incredible ingenuity that enabled us
to change up the look of the set on the fly;
my favorite feature was the bar itself, which
was reversible and on wheels, and could be
repositioned to give us a completely new

American Cinematographer - July 2016

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