Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546033
Camera, Lighting and Post Clayton: Blake McClure came aboard after construction had started. How did that affect the process? Cabot: He joined during prep and immediately became essential. The camera and Art Departments came together quickly, fine- tuning window placements, ceiling fixtures, practicals, backings and greens. Blake used a new Blackmagic camera and software package that gave the show a beautiful depth of field and rich contrast, crushing the blacks in a way that gave the image weight—which mattered, because we wanted Rooster cinematic without losing the agility comedy needs. Raf: The Unreal studies gave everyone something to react to, and let us make changes before they became expensive ones. Clayton: One of the biggest illusions was turning California green into New England fall. Cabot: Southern California doesn't naturally give you that seasonal transition, so we knew it would be one of the hardest parts of the illusion. Our pipeline funneled assets to post- production producer Kip Kroeger and his VFX team as episodes were filmed. Kip and I go back to the early Scrubs days, so there was a lot of trust; together, we developed a previs workflow for converting green foliage captured in-camera into a fall look. It wasn't just a VFX problem—it touched Art Department, locations, camera and post all at once. Raf: It affected location choices too. If a location gave us the right architecture but the wrong trees or light, we had to decide whether to solve it in camera, in dressing or in post. Other Illusions: Fire and the Rooster Heist Clayton: What about the other big illusions— Katie burning down Archie's faculty housing, or Greg climbing a four-story building to steal the rooster weathervane? Cabot: Great examples of Production Design connecting practical set pieces, locations, D. AUTUMN BACKING OUTSIDE STODDARD CENTER. SET PHOTO. E. STODDARD CENTER. PRODUCTION STILL. F. LUDLOW HALLWAYS. PRODUCTION STILL. G. LUDLOW HALLWAYS. SET PHOTO. H. LUDLOW HALLWAY. PRODUCTION STILL. D G E F G H