American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 45

Unit photography by Ron Batzdorff, Paul Drinkwater, Chris Haston and Justin Lubin, SMPSP.
Additional photos provided by Gregg Heschong, ASC. All images courtesy of NBC.

t The sitcom Abby's shoots on an outdoor set at
Universal Studios. p Abby (Natalie Morales)
lends an ear to Fred (Neil Flynn), a regular at her
backyard bar. u Cinematographer Gregg
Heschong, ASC.

beginning - and a key part of the
project's appeal. "When I first met
with [series creator] Josh Malmuth, he
already had this idea to shoot
outdoors, and it really appealed to
me," Heschong explains. "The situation-comedy format has always had a
theatrical aspect to it anyway, and in
the past I'd worked on some outdoor
productions in summer stock and
regional theater. This felt like an
extension of that, and it intrigued me
right off the bat."
Once he was on board, though,
Heschong then had to figure out how
to actually make the plan work. "It
occurred to me, 'How are we going to
realize something like that?'" he
recalls, laughing. "It was just a plot of

land. We had the beginnings of a set
but no structure to support the lighting and rigging of a show. Even the
camera aisle had to be created. I eventually had the Universal grip department erect one vertical truss tower to
the downstage camera-left area, to
allow a cable run for balloon support
and Leko placement."
The production uses various
parts of Colonial Street, but the main
www.ascmag.com

set, where most of the action takes
place, is an outdoor bar that has been
constructed on that "plot of land" at
the far end of the "neighborhood."
The series revolves around an unlicensed drinking establishment that
Abby (Natalie Morales) has created in
her backyard - much to the chagrin
of her new landlord Bill (Nelson
Franklin) - and that serves as a social
hub for an eccentric group of friends
July 2019

45


http://www.ascmag.com

American Cinematographer - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2019

Contents
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 1
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - Contents
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 3
American Cinematographer - July 2019 - 4
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