By Randi Altman

The reboot of Quantum Leap was renewed for a second season and has started airing on NBC. This iteration of the show also follows a charming time traveler/scientist, Dr.  Ben Song, who lands in different times and situations in order to right a wrong.

The first and second seasons were shot by Colombian-born DP Ana M. Amortegui. Amortegui received a degree in electrical engineering before getting behind the camera, so the intersection of technology and creativity are not lost on her.

Ana M. Amortegui

Amortegui’s work spans narrative, music videos and documentaries and includes Resident Alien, Twenties, The Realm: Awakening, Suicide Machine and more. We reached out to her to talk about her work on Quantum Leap.

You worked on Season 1 of Quantum Leap and helped establish the look of the show? Please talk about that process.
We wanted to honor the original series and its essence while giving it a stylized look… a more modern take on the show. This is the continuation of project Quantum Leap, not a remake, so it needed to have its own visual style.

Our show takes place in the past and present, but we also have gone to the future, which gives us the opportunity to be very creative with every episode; we can take risks and be bold and change things up each time. Everything is permitted in order to support the story, though there are always some visual elements that tie the story together no matter which time period we are in — the present group, Magic, Jenn, Ian, Addison or in the leap with Ben. The show is very emotional, so we use a lot of extreme close-ups. We want to give the audience intimacy with our characters, connect them with the story.

We only have one standing set: the headquarters. It is the only set we share from one episode to another, so the look of it and the camera work needs to be very special and unique so it feels like the same show in every episode. The studio and showrunners wanted to step away from the classic cyan look in sci-fi and have a warm look, so that’s what we did. In terms of lighting, it has very rich amber tones, but because there are so many screens in the design from our production designer, the room has hints of cyan as well. It’s a nice mixture.

I think the headquarters look has evolved so much through these two seasons, but it is a versatile set that can be shot in many ways. Being dynamic with the camera movement is very important, as we convey a lot of information and key elements that way. We need to keep the audience engaged, and the camera moves most of the time in that space.

What about for the time travel?
For the leaps, we want to make sure viewers know where Ben is in terms of the world he is in. Because of this we use extreme wides, mostly with movement, so the audience can get a sense of the place and time period where the leap is taking place. Each leap is different in the level of emotion, drama and task, so the visuals change every time to serve the story. We often find ourselves changing lenses or using different pieces of equipment, depending on the leap. It can be different every time because a lot goes on in every leap, but what makes it clearly the same show from episode to episode is the tone, the mood, the same extreme close-ups. We also use POVs a lot because we want the audience to feel like they are going through what Ben is going through, what it’s like to be in his shoes.

There is a look that we try to follow, but nothing is set. We always try to support the world, the stories and our characters with our lighting and camera.

Did the look change/evolve in Season 2?
The only real change visually has been the headquarters, and it’s not completely different. It didn’t really need to change, but it has evolved as time passed. We are constantly on that set, so we need to be innovative and creative because we want to show the space in a different way each time. We are lucky the art department did a beautiful job designing it; the set is big and very versatile, and we have tons of screens and LED lighting that helps us change the colors depending on the scene. So it is never the same, but it always has the stamp of the QL headquarters… it has the tone and mood that is our show.

Are you creating different looks each time Ben jumps to a different time period?
In a way, yes. The most important thing is to support the story. With all the different periods, all the sets and locations that change from leap to leap, the stories, the actors… a lot is different, so our visual approach has to change as well.

In my case, when I get the script and find out the time period he will be leaping into, I think of a color that takes me to that time period and that place. From there I start researching the place, what kind of important events have happened there. I research artwork, music, photography. I look for textures and colors that are unique to the time and place, and from there I create, I get inspired, and I make the visual part of the leap my own.

It is good to be period-appropriate, but a lot of times (with everybody’s agreement) I will take some liberties to make the show unique cinematography-wise. For example, in Episode 3 of Season 1, Ben leaps into a boxer in the ‘70s. In that time period, the boxing rings and the lights around them were tungsten color, white light. But I wanted to do something different, insert some color, so I used fixtures that were time-appropriate but put color on them by using red, yellow and blue gels. Again, that wasn’t the case in the ‘70s, but I thought it made such an important moment in the story more special. The beauty of this show is that we can be very creative, take risks and be bold in our cinematography choices.

How did you and the showrunners pay homage to the original series?
The essence of the show is the same as the original. This is a show about doing right where once it went wrong, about the meaning of home, where and what home is to you. It is a show about love and humanity. Visually, this version is very different; it has its own look, but I think once you are on the leaps, the two shows can feel very much the same.

How early did you get involved on Season 2?
We didn’t have a break between the two seasons. I finished shooting the Season 1 finale, and I was prepping the next episode for Season 2 immediately. We did it that way because we knew the strike was coming, so we worked around the clock to be able to shoot as much as we could. It was an easy transition and has felt more like a very long Season 1. The story is taking some big turns and gets more complex as Season 2 keeps going, but cinematography-wise, we kept things the same.

What about the color and working with the colorist? What are some notes that you exchanged?
I love doing the color in the episodes. We are so lucky to have had two amazing [Picture Shop] colorists, Paul Allia, who worked on part of Season 1, and Chris Boyer, who took over and finished Season 1 and is doing Season 2. They elevate the work we do on-set. A colorist makes sure that the color scheme we’re going for translates into every shot. In my case, I think they both learned my sensibility, what I like, the way I use colors, and they enhance that. They make everything better.

Chris gets still frames of the work we do on-set as a reference. I work with a DIT, who sits with me in a tent and helps with technical things, such as having the right exposure and settings on the camera. He also helps me with the color on-set. It is a much simpler color process. There are limits to what we can do on-set, but with that, Chris has a reference of what I want to accomplish and starts color grading and color correcting frame by frame for the episodes.

Each time, I think of a color for every episode and base my look on it. I go into production knowing I want an episode to have a warmer feel, or cool or a certain hue. For example, in that boxing episode I mentioned earlier, it was yellow to me, so with my DIT on-set, we would add yellow to the shadows or the highlights and find a color that I loved. We gave it a yellowish feel because, to me, that’s what Vegas feels like. As I mentioned earlier, only the headquarters maintains the same look. Sometimes it is more amber than cyan and sometimes it is more cyan than amber. But in a way, it always looks consistent.

You shot on Sony Venice. Why was that the right camera for the job?
I have been shooting with the Sony Venice for my past three episodic shows. I love how the Venice has a wide color range and captures a very realistic, true image, with natural skin tones and vivid colors. I love that it has a dual ISO. We have to move so fast and the higher ISO really comes in handy. The three shows I have shot with the Venice have all been very different, so the lens choice has been different as well. But because of the camera’s sensor, I can choose almost any lens, which is amazing. I don’t have to sacrifice my creativity or my vision.

Ana M. Amortegui

What about lighting?
We use a lot of LED fixtures, and it is great. I don’t think what we do with lighting on the show could have been done 30 years ago in the original show. It would have taken too much time and cost a lot of money. The technology has changed so much. It has made it better for us in the sense that you can really go for it. I can have any color I want in a matter of seconds.

In the headquarters, most of our practical lights are LED, and that’s what allows us at time to make the set more amber and other times more cyan. I just change the lights to create a different feel. I use a mix of the normal tungsten units and HMI, but we do a lot with the LED. A lot of these LED units are wireless, are lighter than our traditional lights and can fit in tight spaces. They are a real advantage.

Any happy accidents happen on-set?
More than happy accidents. I don’t recall one right now, but if people only knew how sometimes we end up shooting something on a one- or two-wall set, or the number of times we cheat the same location for something else. It is truly movie magic, the make-believe aspect of it. You have to make it work — the way you shoot it, the way you light it, the way they design or dress a set is what makes it all possible. This industry is beautiful in that sense.

Are there some scenes that stick out as challenging?
I think the biggest challenge we have is the time. We have to do a feature film in eight days, and these are complex stories we tell, with lots of action and drama. So in a way, we’re always challenged to do our best work against the clock. For example, last season in Episode 14, we were shooting at the battleship USS Iowa at Long Beach. Ben leapt into a naval commander. The ship is supposed to be in the middle of a mission at sea, but we couldn’t sail the battleship because it is docked. It is actually a museum, and everything around it is buildings, the port and container docks.

We needed to figure out how to shoot it without seeing all that. We could do some VFX, but not for every shot, so we had to do most of our shots at low angles to avoid the backgrounds. It was very challenging. For the exterior shots, we couldn’t always work with the sun. We couldn’t move the ship, so it became a challenge. We scheduled the scenes as best we could, but we always had to sacrifice something. Another big challenge on that episode was that the inside of the ship has very tight and narrow spaces. We had to bring every piece of equipment by hand. We shot at the bottom of the ship at the bridge, so every single crew member had to bring something four floors down. It was a thing, but at the end of the day, we always work it out, and some of these challenges make it better.

We shot in Egypt in Season 2. It was amazing but still a bit challenging because we worked with an all-local crew. They work very differently — the culture is different; the language and communication are different. We had to shoot so much in few days, so it was a bit crazy, but I think if it hadn’t been that way, it wouldn’t have been so special. I loved my experience in Egypt and its people. I love the Egyptian crew.

Looking back, would you have done anything different?
There is always room for improvement, for doing things better. I have given my heart to the show, I have been there from day one and I have done everything I can to make this show unique. A lot of things go wrong or change or don’t come out always the way you envision, but the most important thing is to be flexible, to adapt and to keep going and keep learning from the experiences that come along.

If I could have done something different, I would have wanted more time at the beginning to do more camera and lighting tests. I would have liked more prep time before shooting the pilot to really dial things it, but we just didn’t have it. We had to go. But the beauty is that we did it, and we keep going, trying new things, evolving, taking risks, sometimes failing and a lot of times succeeding.

Finally, any tips for young cinematographers?
I would say that you always have to keep going. When you are passionate about what you do, when you do something in the name of love, it will always work out. You don’t have to know how, you just have to show up and put in the work and take it day by day, step by step. We often think that if we don’t get this show or that project, then all is lost. There is a lot of rejection, but at some point, life comes along and shows you that there are way more things possible than you could ever imagine, so always keep going.

Look up the people you admire, learn from them, see what they do or have done to get them to where they are. Their way could possibly be your way. Mostly because if they can do it, you can too.

I always say, “Shoot it like it is your last one” because no shot, no scene, no lighting setup would ever be the same. You have only one chance to give it your all. Every time you step foot on a set, think about the amazing opportunity that you have to do what you love. Take it because after that, it won’t come back. The next setup will be completely different, the next day will be another one. My advice is to leave the set knowing that you did your best. And don’t take things for granted; you are so blessed to be living your passion, so focus your attention on that, and live it fully.

Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 20 years.