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00:00I think, in general, I've heard stories of cinematographers that don't get along.
00:06And I think, you know, you have to have that through line through the whole show.
00:09It's our job more than anyone else, because, you know, we have different directors come
00:13in and they want to do whatever they want to do.
00:16So we kind of have to guide that.
00:17But I think we also, at least with this show, we're able to, you know, give our voice within
00:23each episode.
00:24I think everybody needs to be able to put their mark on it and everybody should be able
00:27to make their own decisions.
00:28I think once, you know, sort of once the pilot is done and those decisions are made, the
00:33framework is there.
00:34I think it's lovely to be able to work with another DP to say, like, take the ball and
00:40run with it.
00:46Cooking is chemistry and chemistry is life.
00:49Your ability to change everything, including yourself, starts here.
00:54Let's begin, shall we?
01:03What worked for you with the show?
01:05I'm an insomniac and it put me right to sleep.
01:11Potatoes are rich in vitamin C, potassium and complex carbohydrates.
01:15I stand proudly with the overlooked workhorse of the kitchen, women and baked potatoes.
01:22I actually thought that she was...
01:23I mean, would it have killed her to smile?
01:25Totally.
01:26And it looks like she's got a good figure, but she's hiding it behind that weird coat.
01:29I am putting cinnamon in my chili.
01:31I've never done that before.
01:32Don't be afraid to experiment in the kitchen.
01:36Fearlessness in the kitchen equates to fearlessness in life.
01:39Describe how you felt watching the show in one word.
01:43Bored.
01:44Punished.
01:45Drained.
01:46Saddened.
01:47Depressed.
01:48Lost.
01:49Yes, your word.
01:50Capable.
01:51Capable.
01:52Capable.
01:53What the hell does that even mean?
02:00And that is all we have time for today.
02:02I hope you'll join me tomorrow as we explore the fascinating world of temperature and how
02:06it affects taste receptor cells.
02:11Children set the table.
02:12Your mother needs a moment to herself.
02:18One of our producers was actually a mutual friend of both of ours.
02:24I think we both worked with her in different ways.
02:27And she brought us into the interview process and, you know, I guess it went well.
02:36And yeah.
02:37And then from there, you know, it was, we were connected and Zach and I had not known
02:41each other at the time.
02:43But I felt like I've known him a long time now.
02:46This was my first show doing a show with another cinematographer, and I'm very lucky
02:52that Zach was a part of it.
02:54But another interesting thing about this limited series is that it, you know, it chronicles
02:58this woman's life.
02:59So even the episodes that Zach did in five and six, and I did in seven and eight, three
03:05and four, they're different places in her life and substantial things happen.
03:11And I think it gave us both freedom to give our own voice with keeping true to the show.
03:18At a certain point, it's the, it's the world that's, you know, sort of created by the production
03:23designer and the writing.
03:24And you know, once the sets are up and there, it's great to be able to vary and play within
03:29that sort of environment.
03:42I don't think I've ever curtsied before.
03:45Well, there's a first time for everything.
03:47And a last.
04:00I'll see you tomorrow.
04:01Children, set the table.
04:03Your mother needs a moment to herself.
04:06Ian Vertovec, the colorist for the show, and I developed like the LUT, the main show LUT
04:13that we used for the main timeline.
04:17And we tried to find something that felt like it was a bit of the time.
04:21We had so many cool references and so many things to look back at that were done successfully,
04:27like Julia Child, cooking shows from that time.
04:30Also, our colorist had just recently done the Lucy and Desi show.
04:35So we, I was really lucky that we had a sounding board where we could just talk about ideas
04:40about things that worked, you know, successfully for that show.
04:43And so again, I think a lot of it comes back to our, our production design and the idea
04:47of what the set was.
04:49And they built us basically, you know, a full soundstage with risers for audience and a
04:54control room and the whole, it was all together.
04:57So we were able to plan a lot of really flowing stuff through the place, but creating the
05:03show, the Supper at Six show was also cool because we just got to mix a lot of different
05:09formats as well.
05:10We had, you know, our Alexa mini, and then we had these pedestal cameras that were built
05:18for another show by Prop House that we actually, they were period accurate, but we put lipstick
05:23cameras in them to be able to have images on the monitors on the back of those cameras
05:29so that we could shoot those with our, with our main unit camera.
05:32But then we also had Ikegami tube cameras that made like an amazing image that we used
05:39basically to put into any screens where you would see the show, you know, as it was in
05:45the fifties.
05:46You know, it was a period and a lot of what was in front of our camera was period and
05:51the subtleties of the LUT enhanced that.
05:54But I don't think we did anything drastic.
05:56You know, I think our lens choice was, was strong in terms of the choice of period.
06:02Our cinematography was, was about the subtleness throughout the whole show.
06:06Wouldn't you say?
06:07Yeah, I think motivated lighting, natural, sort of capturing what was there and not pushing
06:14it around too much.
06:15What was important for the show, just because the actors were so good, was to just like
06:20have the cinematography get out of the way and be there, you know, be there to help things.
06:25But at the same time, you know, hopefully the viewer wasn't noticing it.
06:29You have nothing in your cupboards.
06:31I sometimes forget to eat.
06:37You have one fork.
06:38I don't entertain.
06:41Well, miracle of miracles, I found a kettle.
06:43Hey, I just, I want to apologize once more for the other day.
06:46I can't accept your apology.
06:47I would like to, but you don't know what you're apologizing for.
06:50And so the entire exercise is meaningless.
06:53Yes, I did borrow some of your ribose, some of a very plentiful supply, if I might add,
06:58but you have all of the resources and the rapt attention of the entire scientific community
07:03and you take it for granted.
07:05You must be intelligent based upon your marriage.
07:07You take it for granted.
07:08You must be intelligent based upon your myriad of accomplishments.
07:11But you walk around like a, like a, like a paranoid, ungrateful, fragile man.
07:18So to respond to your comment earlier, I don't hate you.
07:23I just, I don't like you.
07:31Thank you.
07:33I have something for you.
07:41It's the only reason I came to the party tonight.
07:46To bring me ribose.
07:48You have your master's in chemistry.
07:51I do.
07:53You didn't want to pursue a PhD.
07:56It was a complicated situation.
08:00Well, a good portion of my episodes involved a lot of babies and children and dogs, lots
08:07of dogs, not just our main dog.
08:09But I think, you know, one of the bigger challenges of one of my episodes was, was all the rowing
08:15work and how to do it all in one day.
08:19You know, we had had to shoot over multiple episodes for that work.
08:24And it also had to do with, in that episode, these two men are conversing with each other
08:29and there was not a lot of screen direction in the script in terms of what they're actually
08:34doing. It was just kind of voiceover.
08:36So the director and I had to come up with if we were doing these rowing images and how
08:41would we use it and be more specific instead of just shooting a bunch of montage pieces.
08:47And we shot that in December when the sun set at four o'clock.
08:51So it was a challenge, but it was awesome.
08:54I mean, I remember when I interviewed reading one of the scripts and it talked about how
08:59Calvin was rowing in the open water.
09:01And, you know, I was like, I could see that in my head.
09:05And to actually do that is very satisfying.
09:08The challenge that I anticipated but didn't come to total fruition was in the original
09:14plan for the script.
09:16So much more was about science and about the science of food.
09:20A lot of prep was spent figuring out how we tell this character's understanding of
09:27the science of food and how things are working.
09:29She's talking about things like the Maillard reaction.
09:31But, you know, how do you tell food at an elemental level on camera?
09:35And I think for us, we didn't want this to be a VFX heavy show and I was trying to
09:40capture as much in camera.
09:41And so we had huge plans to do these crazy cameras going through sheets of lasagna
09:47cooking and things on fire and boiling and things like that.
09:51And luckily, the performances were so good that after seeing some edits, we realized
09:57that we didn't need to do that.
10:00By the way, what's her name?
10:01I hadn't thought about it.
10:02I always tell new mothers not to overthink it.
10:04A name is a name.
10:05Or if you're really stuck, just go with what you feel right now.
10:08Mad.
10:09Oh, lovely.
10:10I have a niece named Maddie.
10:13No.
10:14Just mad.
10:17No.
10:28Hello.
10:33Aww.
10:34Isn't she perfect?
10:36Indeed.
10:37Word to the wise, the doctors will tell you to stay off your feet for a week.
10:42But they've never given birth.
10:44I try to stay as long as possible.
10:47My husband is currently camping.
10:50How long have you been here?
10:51Going on two weeks.
10:53Oh, no.
10:54No, I can't afford that and I need to get back to my work.
10:59Your work.
11:00She's your job now.
11:03My favorite thing about cinematography is getting to just create a comprehensive world
11:08for characters to live in.
11:11As cinematographers, we get to create the sort of rules, the visual rules at least,
11:16for the world that the viewer is going to commit their time to.
11:21I think it's just the funnest thing in the world.
11:23As the cinematographer, you're piecing a puzzle together.
11:26And I love the challenge of that.
11:28Every time I have a new job, how are we going to shoot it?
11:31And then is it doing justice to the story, to the script?
11:35And so it's just a very gratifying craft for me.
11:39I love it.
11:40I love collaborating with all the people that I work with.