Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
28 DGA QUARTERLY We tilt down to Walt's hands as he pulls out this lottery ticket containing the GPS coordinates of Hank's final resting place. On the day, I intended to get some fancy specialty shot of Walt's hands. We were running for our lives as usual and our camera operator, Andy Voegeli, said, "Why not just tilt down here?" He showed me and I thought, "Well, hell, this is as simple as it gets, but it works." I include it here because once you get off Bryan's face and onto his hands, I find that his hands are every bit as expressive as his face is. There's something I just love about the way he spreads his fingers when he slides the lottery ticket forward. We have the best propmaster in the business, Mark Hansen. He had about a hundred of these tickets prepped in all possible variations of wrinkled and dirty, all of them dusted with the proper Albuquerque red iron oxide clay. There are two wonderful but opposing expressions: "God is in the details," and "The devil is in the details." The fact that both sayings exist is telling, because it shows you can either find greatness in the details or disaster in not paying enough attention to them. Anything you're going to focus your camera on—here it's two fingers on a lottery ticket—is the most important thing in the world at that moment. Always sweat the small stuff! I get obsessive about matching head sizes in coverage. But here, it felt fitting that Skyler's shot was a bit wider than Walt's. Sometimes you simply go with your gut. I never want a flat, boring wall behind someone's head. I'll move heaven and earth to ensure there's as much depth as possible in every background. Here in this moment, I guess I didn't worry about it—because we're looking at Anna Gunn, whose face is the million-dollar subject of this shot, and her acting is heartbreaking. This is one of those shots you secretly want people talking about in film school. But really, it's knucklehead pop psychology: These two characters are divided emotionally, so let me put a pillar between them! That said, I am fond of this shot although its symbolism is overt. On a TV schedule, there isn't a whole lot of room for on-set discoveries. If you're smart, you'll have done your homework; I do believe that the director's most important job is during pre-production, not production. There's no less magic happening then. Just because there aren't 150 people standing around staring at you while you wing it doesn't mean you're not fulfilling your job as an artist. Have a plan that you busted your butt to come up with… and then depart from it. Maybe. 7 8 9 10 7 8 9 10