'Lessons in Chemistry' Cinematographers Jason Oldak & Zachary Galler | Production Value - video Dailymotion

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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.

'Lessons in Chemistry' Cinematographers Jason Oldak & Zachary Galler | Production Value

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