{"id":13658,"date":"2025-05-27T14:02:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T21:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icgmagazine.com\/web\/?p=13658"},"modified":"2025-05-28T14:44:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:44:33","slug":"hollywood-babble-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icgmagazine.com\/web\/hollywood-babble-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood Babble-On"},"content":{"rendered":"

Director of Photography Adam Newport-Berra and his L.A.-based camera team help fast-track Apple TV+’s hit comedy The Studio<\/em> through filmland\u2019s treacherous (and hilarious) executive suites.<\/p>\n

by Kevin Martin \/ BTS Photos by Erin Simkin and Jessica Brooks \/ Framegrabs courtesy of Apple TV+<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Peter Principle\u201d is a management concept credited to the late educator<\/strong> Laurence J. Peter. His key takeaway is that \u201cin a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.\u201d Given some of the bewildering creative calls made down through the years in Hollywood \u2013 many of which have fueled the town\u2019s mythology \u2013 the business of moviemaking reflects Peter\u2019s principle. Apple TV+’s new series The Studio<\/em>, created by longtime creative partners Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen [who also shared directing duties], along with Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez, begins with the ascendancy of Rogen\u2019s Matt Remick to running Continental Studios, a floundering dream factory where he has toiled for two decades. While hilarity does ensue, it is both fueled and tempered by Remick\u2019s emotional instabilities, which manifest as he realizes his love for movies is at odds with his new responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHollywood is a place where people fail upwards,\u201d Rogen declares. \u201cIt\u2019s an industry that flies by the seat of its pants and one that is not based on logic as much as it is \u2018feelings\u2019 and \u2018vibes.\u2019 There are people in real Hollywood who are far<\/em> less qualified and capable than Matt Remick who have ascended to greater heights. If anything, we\u2019re trying to show that incredibly underqualified people are often given opportunities that are greatly beyond their abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

This would not, however, be the case for the talented crew assembled by Goldberg and Rogen. \u201cChoosing the right collaborators was crucial,\u201d Rogen adds. \u201cDirector of Photography Adam Newport-Berra was someone whose work we were big fans of and who had a lot of experience doing prolonged takes.\u201d This dovetailed nicely with the Goldberg\/Rogen notion of shooting the show as a series of \u201coners\u201d \u2013 in essence, the opening of Robert Altman\u2019s classic Hollywood satire, The Player<\/em>, on steroids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came up with that idea early in the creative process and wrote the scripts in a way that was conducive to that style,\u201d Rogen continues. \u201cAdam seemed unintimidated by the prospect, and it wasn\u2019t a burden for him to shoot this way. He presented us with a huge lookbook that perfectly encapsulated what we were going for with the show. And Adam came up with the idea of using a single lens for the entire series, which we loved \u2013 painting ourselves into a corner was, creatively, an exciting way to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Co-creator\/Star Seth Rogen (lower center) says Director of Photography Adam Newport-Berra (far left) was “someone whose work we were big fans of and who had a lot of experience doing prolonged takes.\u201d This dovetailed nicely with Rogen and co-creator Evan Goldberg wanting to shoot the show as a series of \u201coners\u201d \u2013 in essence, the opening of Robert Altman\u2019s classic Hollywood satire, The Player, on steroids. \/ Photo by Erin Simkin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Newport-Berra, whose work includes the lauded Sundance feature<\/strong> The Last Black Man in San Francisco<\/em> [ICG Magazine April 2019]<\/a>, as well as the initial episodes of The Bear<\/em> and Outer Range<\/em>, acknowledges The Player<\/em> as a clear visual reference but felt a stronger influence from a much different film. \u201cSoviet director Mikhail Kalatozov\u2019s The Cranes Are Flying<\/em> is such a wonderful and inventive movie and a genuine inspiration for me,\u201d Newport-Berra states. \u201cLike his I Am Cuba<\/em>, it features an incredible handheld camera. The Studio<\/em> wasn\u2019t just<\/em> about doing a oner and not cutting \u2013 though Seth felt shooting it all in one would work to create more tension and paranoia. It was at least as much about the best way to tell the scene in this strange and complex Hollywood world.\u201d<\/p>\n

With all parties agreed on the single-lens approach, Newport-Berra tested a range of glass before settling on the 21-mm Master Prime. \u201cThe view was wide enough and had incredible close focus,\u201d he reports, \u201cbut did not create a ton of distortion because it wasn\u2019t so wide as to come off too bendy. We shot on the ALEXA 35, which I\u2019ve used frequently for the last couple of years and love. It took me a while to come around to it because I’ve enjoyed their LF cameras. But the increased latitude and texture [of the ALEXA 35], as well as how it rendered skin tones, made it a perfect fit for this show. Plus, it was small enough to build into many different rigs, which was important given all the places we\u2019d be following the actors \u2013 not just as they walked around but also from varying altitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prep was done at Panavision Woodland Hills. First AC Lucas Deans says there were a few exceptions to the single-lens rule. \u201cWhenever we see the characters watching movies, those films-within-scenes were shot using anamorphic glass,\u201d he states. \u201cWhen those scenes came up on the schedule, we\u2019d just take whatever Panavision had available.\u201d<\/p>\n

A-Camera Operator Mark Goellnicht, SOC, says there was considerable discussion over the specifics of shooting the series. \u201cThe camera could have been observational, a fly-on-the-wall. But then they thought that approach, with dolly-like Steadicam moves, might be too smooth and traditionally cinematic, and elected to go for a greater sense of immediacy \u2013 like the camera was always racing to keep up with the characters,\u201d he shares. \u201cAdam loved the wobble and natural look of straight handheld \u2013 though he was often reminding me to be conscious of my breath control during these long takes. So, staying handheld throughout reflected the feeling they wanted, though there was a lot of care required for our movement because we didn\u2019t want the camera to distract the audience from the story or to look like a war film.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Newport-Berra tested a range of glass before settling on the 21-mm Master Prime. \u201cThe view was wide enough and had incredible close focus,” he shares. “But [the lens] did not create a ton of distortion because it wasn\u2019t so wide as to come off too bendy.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A huge two-story environment was built to represent the interior of<\/strong> Remick\u2019s Continental Studios base. \u201cJulie Berghoff, who we\u2019ve worked with a few times in the past, was the perfect person for production design,\u201d Rogen shares. \u201cShe was not only unbowed by our idea to have our main offices on the show be a \u2018Frank Lloyd Wright\u2019 building, she dove headfirst into the process of creating an entire fake 100-year history for the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea that Continental was founded and built back in the 1920s dovetailed with the legendary architect\u2019s Mayan Revival period; this, combined with appropriate lighting, created a rich and distinctive look for the many scenes playing out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAesthetically, Seth wanted the show to have a visual through-line that maintained a sense of the beauty of Hollywood as well as a sense of its history,\u201d Newport-Berra explains. \u201cThe show is, in part, a lament about what might become a dying art form, given what movies have meant and how that might go away if we aren\u2019t careful about preserving what makes the art form so amazing. When I first saw the design for the studio interior, I worried that it was so beautiful, with such ornate detail, that it might create a discontinuity with the rest of the practical locations. That thought pushed Julie and me to find locations that lived up to the same sense of spectacle she had created with her stage build.\u201d<\/p>\n

An elaborate establishing shot of the studio interior incorporated various tools and techniques. \u201cTo show off all the old Hollywood splendor of its design, we come in from the outside and then go upstairs,\u201d Goellnicht recounts. \u201cTo negotiate these steps, while also keeping up with the speed of these characters rushing around in their usual panic, we used a Ronin R2 gimbal rig that could attach to a crane via a magnetic lock system. I operated it independently while it went upstairs, holding the control on my shoulder [in Mimic mode] just like I would the camera \u2013 being careful to maintain the established handheld look \u2013 and then Jesse Cain would unhook the Ronin from the crane and carry the shot forward. There are safety mechanisms that have to get unhitched from the crane, so that made for a ton of work that went into all this beyond what is visible on camera. As many as ten people were involved just to get this shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rogen says “Julie Berghoff was the perfect person for production design. She was not only unbowed by our idea to have our main offices on the show be a Frank Lloyd Wright building, but she also dove headfirst into the process of creating an entire fake 100-year history for the studio.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Goellnicht says the team had gone deep during preproduction,<\/strong> figuring out which devices and rigs they should \u2013 or could \u2013 employ to augment the handheld look, including EasyRigs and slingshots. \u201cIn certain situations, when we were moving very fast, we\u2019d have a rickshaw dolly platform that I could be on when following an actor running down a corridor, then step off of to continue on foot with him into an office,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe also kept in mind the need to modulate our field of view. There were times when we rushed from a wide shot into a tight close-up; but then, as the scene moved on to other issues, we\u2019d ease our way back to a less restrictive view, which let us read the body language of the various actors. This was especially important with Kathryn Hahn\u2019s character, whose performance was pitched at an interesting level; we tended to stay looser when we were on her to catch all the nuances and quirks she brought to each scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ambitious nature of the shoot weighed heavily, especially on Goellnicht. As Deans shares, \u201cMark is a big, strong man, but these shots took a physical toll. His work remained consistently amazing, especially when responding to adjustments during a take \u2013 Adam speaking on the comms about when and where to move. They often changed the staging \u2013 not just the order of how actors entered, but how they moved within a room. Once we all found the rhythm, it worked like clockwork, with Mark\u2019s consistency showing take after take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goellnicht says the most challenging aspect \u201cwas needing to learn everybody\u2019s lines, which brought me back to early in my career when I was trying to become an actor. I needed to know the specific beats when the camera had to pan over to capture a specific reaction. If this connection between the visual and the material wasn\u2019t on, then the comedy wouldn\u2019t work. In a sense, it was like trying to get all the visual rhythms that you would otherwise be working out in editorial in the moment \u2013 and keep getting it right throughout these long takes. I also found that making choices by gut, if you will, worked a lot better than overintellectualizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAdam loved the wobble and natural look of straight handheld,” describes A-Camera Operator Mark Goellnicht, SOC (right), “though he was often reminding me to be conscious of my breath control during these long takes…there was a lot of care required because we didn\u2019t want the camera to distract the audience from the story or to look like a war film.\u201d \/ Photo by Jessica Brooks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Newport-Berra shot with the lens wide open,<\/strong> always a challenge for focus pulling. \u201cYou\u2019d go from some super-in-your-face close view to a whip focus out to eighteen feet,\u201d Deans remembers. \u201cFor my part, Light Ranger was critical, because as you do the scenes, it lets you see the different depth distances on various people as you do the racking. I don\u2019t know how I could have done the job without it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Key Grip Adam Kolegas adds, \u201cAdam always tried to light for 360 in broad strokes and then worked with gripping within the shot. I\u2019d trail camera and have grips hiding with four-by-eight quarter silent grid diffusion, treating it like an Opal, so at certain times when the camera came around, we\u2019d float diffusion up behind the camera to hide its shadow. Trying to make sure we didn\u2019t get in our own way was the biggest challenge.\u201d (A variable ND filter, operated via R\/C, helped maintain balanced exposure during transitions from one lighting extreme to another.)<\/p>\n

Preplanning how each oner would stitch together was a group effort. \u201cFor our editor, we went with Eric Kissack, whom we\u2019ve known for years and worked with a few times in the past,\u201d describes Rogen. \u201cWe needed someone with an impeccable sense for comedic timing as well as someone happy to physically be on set all day every day, because, due to the style of the show, we essentially needed to edit \u2018live\u2019 as we were shooting the actual scenes.\u201d Newport-Berra\u2019s crew were always on the lookout to find places to build the stitches \u2013 through pans or wipes \u2013 which gave Editorial the option to combine performances from separate takes.<\/p>\n

Flexibility was the order of the day \u2013 every day. As Kolegas notes, \u201cWe\u2019d often intend to carry things only so far, but then on the day have to find a way to carry the move so it ran that much longer and covered more territory. Implementing these changes into the choreography of the shot might mean bringing in steps for Mark or pulling a window or ramp. Once, we had all eight studio grips helping the shot; with the best boy also holding flags from the truck; I\u2019d cue them the way a gaffer cues lighting changes, off the monitor. Dolly Grip Chris Thrasher was like a ballerina when it came to navigating for Mark as he walked backward. Chris would abandon his dolly and spot Mark, while another grip came in and grabbed the dolly and pulled it back into a hiding spot. At one point, when Matt chases the big boss around the scenics room, Chris had Mark step onto a platform so he could lift him up onto a dolly that booms him up onto a parallel.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Goellnicht (left) says the most challenging aspect of operating on The Studio \u201cwas needing to learn everybody\u2019s lines, which brought me back to early in my career when I was trying to become an actor. I needed to know the specific beats when the camera had to pan over to capture a specific reaction. If this connection between the visual and the material wasn\u2019t on, then the comedy wouldn\u2019t work.” Photo by Jessica Brooks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In episode two, \u201cThe Oner,\u201d Matt invades the last day of shooting on<\/strong> a Sarah Polley-directed film and manages to repeatedly spoil her attempts to complete a massive oner. The hilltop location was found atop Silver Lake and proved taxing in many ways. \u201cA lot of our trucks were gone,\u201d Kolegas remembers, \u201cand not having trucks on-site is always scary for a grip team. So we had to drop-load the necessary equipment up there. We were shooting late afternoon into sunset over a couple of days, so getting everything to match while moving in and through this huge house was tough. Fortunately, Adam is an amazing cinematographer who is very conscious of the time of day and was precise as well as clever in how we set up to do things. He chose the areas in which we shot based on the light direction as well as the story points. So, we\u2019d know, based on geography, that we\u2019d be able to light parts of the interior ourselves, while other times we\u2019d need the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newport-Berra describes the house as an architectural masterpiece plopped on the top of a hill, adding that \u201cthere was no flat ground. So, there was no place for the crew, which meant hiding people around every corner of the frame. This made things even more challenging, but it felt right in a way; we needed to push ourselves the way the fictional crew characters were being shown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grids with dimmable set lights were mounted overhead, but to further shape the image, negative fill was employed manually. \u201cI\u2019d have someone walk in with a floppy,\u201d shares Kolegas, \u201cthen, as we moved into a closeup, we\u2019d deploy more of these to give some shape to the image.\u00a0 I used a lot of Velcro frames, four-by-eights, and eight-by-twelves, to take reflections down. There was this dancing with framesets to diffuse the light for camera shadow, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the Goldberg\/Rogen imperative on the series was to have everything moving at considerable speed, evident when Matt roars up to the shooting location. \u201cWhenever we walk, we walk fast, and whenever we drive, we drive fast,\u201d Rogen laughs. \u201cThe powers that be generally don\u2019t like actors driving, especially with cameras mounted on the hood of the car. But I always loved the look of it. I\u2019m a very good driver; my father was a driving instructor for a few years, and I\u2019ve done stunt driving training in the past, so I was comfortable. It also saved crucial time in resets because swapping out of drivers can become time-consuming.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Key Grip Adam Kolegas says Newport-Berra “always tried to light for 360 [degrees] in broad strokes, and then worked with gripping within the shot. I\u2019d trail camera and have grips hiding with four-by-eight quarter silent grid diffusion, treating it like an Opal \u2013 so at certain times when the camera came around, we\u2019d float diffusion up behind the camera to hide its shadow.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In terms of lighting units, Newport-Berra says he likes a blend.<\/strong> \u201cI love LED lights, but the quality of tungsten lights is wonderful, plus the sheer power of HMI units can\u2019t be beat,\u201d he describes. \u201cWe even had older Molebeam tungsten units for creating strong shafts of light within the studio on the stage shoot. That particular older-school light creates an intensity with its beam that is impossible to replicate \u2013 so hard shafts through windows and backlighting somebody on stage deliver in a specific way. That was a big advantage of shooting in L.A. Those kinds of units are not common anymore, so being close to the vendors helped. This was my second consecutive project here in L.A., which is rare these days and \u00a0that much more special. It\u2019s kind of magical because you have access to the best crew people in the world, with everything else you might need or want, gear-wise, at your fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proximity to supplies and suppliers benefitted the grip team as well. \u201cIt\u2019s very unusual as a key grip to get to use every vendor in town,\u201d reports Kolegas. \u201cBut since we might have at most 45 minutes to an hour to figure things out, we needed all the tools that L.A. offers. One day we had Chapman, Elite, ProCam, Cinemoves, and TCC out, each with a different tool that we needed. And each of these companies provided amazing technicians to facilitate the process. A typical day might be going from a 75-foot Techno in the morning to a walk-off on Chapman\u2019s Titan Nova. Then we\u2019d move to a shoot atop a parking garage, requiring an EXO car and a 17-foot Technocrane. That was the workflow for the show, with us doing three or four of these shots every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other episodes take place at the Golden Globe Awards and in Las Vegas, each of which offers unique challenges. \u201cMost of what we used at the Globes was what they already had in place there,\u201d Newport-Berra says. \u201cWe did put a lot of lights on the tables and bring in some architectural lighting to augment. I used a lot of crane work to move quickly to Matt and others at a table or back to the celebrities on the dais. In Vegas, we had to use a lot of available light for two reasons: one is that we didn\u2019t have a lot of time beforehand, and two, because many of those locations didn\u2019t permit us to bring lights inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Working with colorist Damien Vandercruyssen, Newport-Berra built a “somewhat forgiving LUT based on references I had developed with Seth and Evan that DIT Adrian Jebef kept an eye on throughout the shoot. I think the final product was the closest I\u2019ve ever had to what we got on set.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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While visual effects played a part in papering over the<\/strong> occasional undesirable element, they also featured in showier moments. As Newport-Berra adds, \u201cWe start on a Porsche at one side of the studio, then boom way up, drift over the stages, then come down to follow another character at the other side. That was a long discussion with VFX Supervisor Sandro Blattner, and ended up being three or four stitched shots, going from Technocrane to drone and then Techno again. It was a lot of work on Sandro\u2019s end, because the shadows didn\u2019t line up on the drone shot the way they did on the Techno sections. We reimagined the Warner lot to a certain degree to Continentalize it, and ended up shooting at strange times of day to make the shadows appear to line up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newport-Berra collaborated with Harbor Picture Company senior colorist Damien Vandercruyssen on the digital intermediate. \u201cWe had built a somewhat forgiving LUT based on references I had developed with Seth and Evan,\u201d describes Newport-Berra, \u201cwhich DIT Adrian Jebef kept an eye on throughout the shoot. We remained pretty true to what was shot, though Damien certainly enhanced the contrast and brought out a lot of detail. I think the final product was the closest I\u2019ve ever had to what we got on set. That\u2019s because we had a lot of very smart oversight from Seth and Evan. They wanted all the departments to lean into color coordination to help keep the look cohesive. There was also a special feel on the shoot that came through \u2013 it could only be pulled off if we were all fully present and engaged. It was a case where, if we didn\u2019t get the shot, we didn\u2019t have a show. I think that feeling fueled the effort and made people feel glad to be there and be a part of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeth and Evan have been in the business a long time,” he continues, “and have worked with some of the best filmmakers in the world; they understand the many complex processes employed by the various crafts. For example, if we were in a situation where I couldn\u2019t figure out how to light things the way I felt they needed to be lit \u2013 it might just keep looking flat, or at the very least undynamic \u2013 I\u2019d tell them, and they were always receptive to change. That could mean giving me additional time on the lighting or even re-blocking the scene. I appreciated that because they never treated it like they were pandering to accommodate some petty problem or inability on my part; they understood the why of the thing. The actors picked up on this aspect too, once they saw how Seth and Evan were choosing to move the camera and having us carefully light the sets. The humor of the show relies heavily on the camerawork and the timing of the dance between performer and lens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogen admits that the challenge he offered Newport-Berra was a double-edged sword. \u201cWe wanted naturalism in the visuals, but we also wanted to show the pressure of living up to the promise of the magic of Hollywood. Being in beautiful buildings, while having incredibly petty and ultimately silly arguments \u2013 with the highest of stakes ascribed to them \u2013 couldn\u2019t be more representative of our experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“Seth and Evan have been in the business a long time and have worked with some of the best filmmakers in the world; they understand the many complex processes employed by the various crafts,” Newport-Berra concludes. “And the actors picked up on this \u2013 they saw how Seth and Evan were choosing to move the camera and having us carefully light the sets. The humor of the show relies heavily on the camerawork and the timing of the dance between performer and lens.\u201d \/ Photos by Erin Simkin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Local 600 Crew: The Studio<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Director of Photography: Adam Newport-Berra<\/p>\n

A-Camera Operator: Mark Goellnicht, SOC<\/p>\n

A-Camera 1st AC: Lucas Deans<\/p>\n

A -Camera 2nd AC: Robbie Julian<\/p>\n

Ronin Operator\/Additional Operator: Jesse Caine<\/p>\n

Digital Imaging Technician: Adrian Jebef<\/p>\n

Loader: Christoper Brooks<\/p>\n

Utility: Justine Quinones<\/p>\n

Unit Publicist: Charlie Pinto<\/p>\n

Unit Stills Photographer: Erin Simkin<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Director of Photography Adam Newport-Berra and his L.A.-based camera team help fast-track Apple TV+’s hit comedy The Studio through filmland\u2019s treacherous (and hilarious) executive suites. by Kevin Martin \/ BTS Photos by Erin Simkin and Jessica Brooks \/ Framegrabs courtesy of Apple TV+   \u201cThe Peter Principle\u201d is a management concept credited to the late educator Laurence J. Peter. His key takeaway is that \u201cin a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.\u201d Given some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-web-exclusive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHollywood Babble-On - ICG Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.icgmagazine.com\/web\/hollywood-babble-on\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hollywood Babble-On - ICG Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Director of Photography Adam Newport-Berra and his L.A.-based camera team help fast-track Apple TV+’s hit comedy The Studio through filmland\u2019s treacherous (and hilarious) executive suites. by Kevin Martin \/ BTS Photos by Erin Simkin and Jessica Brooks \/ Framegrabs courtesy of Apple TV+   \u201cThe Peter Principle\u201d is a management concept credited to the late educator Laurence J. 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