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BITS & PIECES BITS & PIECES SHOOTING PEACOCK'S THE IRRATIONAL LOS ANGELES — Vincent De Paula, CSC, came on-board to shoot Peacock's The Irrational late in the first season. The series stars Jesse L. Martin as behav- ioral-science professor Alec Mercer, who uses a unique and unexpected ap- proach to understand human behavior when tackling a wide range of crimes. The Irrational is captured using Sony Venice 2 cameras and Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance lenses, supplied by Keslow Vancouver. "The choice of camera and lenses had already been made since the pilot was shot by Todd Dos Reis, ASC, who was also the cinematographer alternating with me on the series," De Paula explains. To enhance the show's dramatic look, De Paula relies on both color contrast and composition. "Most of our characters are African-American, and I have always loved using a slightly warmer color palette in darker skin tones," notes the cinematogra- pher. "Most of the time I am adding warmth to my lights coming through the windows, which are normally 20Ks or T12s while on-stage and HMIs or tung- sten units on-location. They will very often have 1/4 or 1/2 CTS gel on them." The Irrational is shot in Vancouver, which often experiences rain and short daylight hours in the fall and winter. "That is very, very challenging for us," he notes. "When we go outside on-location, if filming at that time of the year, I have to match my lighting to that very often cloudy and rainy weather, so my interiors may end up having a much softer and colder feeling." At press time, production was halfway through Season 2, and Vancouver was experiencing a sunny summer. "The complete opposite, and we also have very long days with extensive daylight available to us, so I am able to play with a harder and warmer light in my interiors when appropriate," he notes. Since much of the show centers around Mercer's observations and him try- ing to find the irrational side of things, De Paula says it's important to have the professor's point of view present in all scenes. "(Director) Ernest Dickeon and I had experimented in the Season 1 finale with some very powerful close ups for Alec, where the camera is higher and closer, with a wider lens for very specific moments in Alec's coverage," he recalls. "We were mainly referencing Hitchcock as our main source of inspiration: Notorious (shot by Ted Tetslaff, ASC) and Vertigo (shot by Robert Burks, ASC) were in our daily conversations, as well as the camera work and blocking of another masterpiece, Sweet Smell of Success, shot by the great James Wong Howe, ASC. We also pay homage to a scene from All the President's Men, shot by the great Gordon Willis, ASC, at a car parkade location." www.postmagazine.com 6 POST JULY/AUG 2024 SHAPE+LIGHT REBRANDS AS SHEPHERD, EXPANDS LOS ANGELES — Boutique visual effects and design studio Shape+Light has rebranded as Shepherd (https://shepherdvfx.com) while also expanding to the East Coast with a new outpost in New York City. In addition, the studio recently welcomed new leadership in both its New York and Santa Monica offices. Shepherd offers a range of services that include VFX, design and finishing, all in a boutique setting. The studio's clients include Nike, Apple, Gatorade, Lexus and Proctor & Gamble. The company's new SoHo office in New York City is co-located with sister brand Cabin Editing Company. Shepherd's New York team will be led by executive producer Julia Paskert and creative director Andrew Granelli, with support from senior Flame artist Yoshiko Hirata. Paskert joined Shepherd earlier this year as executive producer and has helped to spearhead the company's New York outpost. She brings 12 years of experience in the VFX and finishing world, having most recently served as EP at Method Studios, with previous gigs at Company 3, The Mill, and Digital Domain. Granelli has worn multiple hats as a creative director, on-set VFX supervisor and Flame artist. Prior to joining Shepherd, he spent eight years at Harbor Picture Company, with previous experience at Click 3x, Tanq and Nice Shoes. Originally from Japan, Hirata built her career across film, television and com- mercials since moving to the US in 2001. She has worked in TV on Smallville, on the films Charlie Wilson's War and The Goldfinch, and with numerous brand clients, including Pamper's, Swiffer, Wal-Mart, CVS, Tide, Citibank and Revlon. She joined Shepherd in early 2024 after most recently working at Harbor Picture Company as a senior Flame artist. In addition, she is a member of the Visual Effects Society. In related news, Shepherd's Santa Monica office has also grown with the ad- dition of Crystal Rossmann as executive producer and the promotion of Emily Irvine to creative director. Julia Paskert, Andrew Granelli and Yoshiko Hirata