Netflix’s Keep Breathing is a character drama that deals with emotional struggle as well as mental health issues all wrapped in a survival series. It’s about a strong female lawyer, Liv, lost in the woods after her small plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness.

It was shot on a Sony Venice with Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance lenses by DP Alicia Robbins, who captured both the beauty and dangers of the Canadian wilderness. It was shot all around Vancouver, including at Vancouver Film Studios and several practical locations in the city. The wilderness scenes were captured in forests from Squamish to Whistler.

Alicia Robbins

Known for her work on series Grey’s Anatomy and Soci Circle as well as feature films such as Babysplitters, Forever Not Maybe and The Wedding Invitation, Robbins took the time to talk to us about her work on this Netflix limited series.

Tell us about Keep Breathing? How early did you get involved in planning? What direction did you get about the look they wanted?
I was hired for Keep Breathing well before Block 1 even started. I knew I wouldn’t be coming in until Block 2 to shoot Episodes 4, 5 and 6, but I was already getting to have creative discussions with the producers about the direction I would take for the second block well in advance of my start date.

For my block of episodes, the storyline takes a dramatic shift as our character decides to brave the wilderness and begin a journey to find an escape. Therefore, the show creators and I wanted there to be a change in the style of cinematography. When Liv was on the move, the camera was on the move. We accomplished this with the use of many tools, such as Steadicam, Taurus-based telescoping cranes and wire cam in the forest.

For Episode 5, this is where the visuals take an even larger turn. Liv has fallen into a cave and hit her head badly, resulting in lucid dreaming. Her dreams begin to blend with the present and past. The forest starts to infiltrate her dreams, and her past shows up in unexpected places. For this episode, I was told by our producers to “go wild” with the visual design, so I did.

This episode is a visual whirlwind of flickering lights, camera transitions from her past to present, saturated colors and surreal lighting. Lighting cues were often used throughout the episode for light fluctuation, and lighting would come from areas that you wouldn’t expect and in colors that wouldn’t be natural to the environment. We had to be very planned out in how our scenes blended together. Many times you would see young Liv exit a scene, and then it would be adult Liv turning the corner of a hallway. Keeping these transitions fluid required detailed planning and shot-listing between me and the director, Rebecca Rodriguez.

How would you describe the look?
The intended look for Keep Breathing was very dramatic. We wanted to capture the haunting beauty of the Canadian wilderness. As scary as it would be to be lost in it, you can’t deny the beauty that surrounds Liv. We wanted to show that off — how there could be beauty in this solitude, and how this solitude forces Liv to address her past. We wanted to maintain a level of rich contrast throughout, playing with a lot of negative fill.

We also made sure that certain color palettes only became visible when we were addressing certain aspects of Liv’s life. For instance, the color red was representative of her mother, so red plays a role in several pieces of art direction that throws her back into remembering her mother as a child. Red becomes a stronger color in our palette as she begins to hallucinate, and she is forced to face her childhood trauma of her mother leaving her. By the time we get to the last episode, the color red is no longer prominent since she has let go of her mother as a painful memory.

How did you work with the colorist to achieve the intended look? Did you use on-set LUTs?
We worked with Jill Bogdanowicz at Company 3 for our final color. She is an extraordinary artist. One of the ways Jill works is that she sees the color and contrast that the DP is practically using on-set and enhances it, pushing the intentions of the DP’s visuals a bit further.

The episode we really had fun with was Episode 5. When I was shooting Episode 5, I could only take the surrealism to a certain level practically, but we knew we wanted to push the look in post once Jill had her hands on it. I had told her that I loved her work on Joker and John Wick and not to be shy about handling some of our colors in that way for Episode 5. What she came up with was a look reminiscent of cross-processed film. I loved it, so that was the direction we headed with that particular episode.

It was exciting to see my work taken to a whole other level that I couldn’t achieve practically. On-set we worked with a very simple show LUT that got us in the ballpark of the contrast we were hoping for. But we really didn’t do much live grading. We knew we would have ample color time with Jill in post, so we reserved most of the color for those sessions.

Why was the Sony Venice the right camera for this project?
We chose the Sony Venice for its exceptional dynamic range, and the dual ISO made it essential to the night work we would do in the forest. We chose Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance lenses as the workhorse lenses along with an 11:1 Angenieux Zoom. The Zeiss Radiance lenses have a very clean look with beautiful contrast. The flare of the Radiance is on the bluer side, which is very different than a lot of flares. They also have a beautiful 18mm lens that looked gorgeous on the full-frame sensor.

In the forest, having a wide lens like that — with undistorted edges — was key for showing off the space. (Now Zeiss has a 15mm Radiance, which I wish I had had when I was shooting this show.) Canon K35 lenses were also chosen for some flashback scenes, which were softer and had a warmer flare, giving it contrast to the forest, where we used the Zeiss Radiance primes. We also played with Lensbaby lenses for specific shots that needed a surrealistic look.

Can you describe the lighting?
I love using a large variety of lighting tools. You name it, we probably used it. For the daytime work, balloons were often used for negative fill, bounce or overhead silks if there was enough room. I loved using 10K Molebeams for beautiful, warm sunlight that would streak across the forest environment. Astera tubes were also very useful for eye lights and for creating the Northern Lights in the middle of the forest, which was a whole other challenge in itself.

Our workhorses were often ARRI S60s and S30s and sometimes an S360. We ran all of our LED units and tungsten units through a central DMX board that my gaffer could control right by my monitors. This was very helpful in Episode 5, when we had many lighting cues.

Were there any “happy accidents” captured?
I definitely had a happy accident in Episode 4, when I strategically placed Liv in an area of the forest where I knew the God rays would reveal themselves once we pumped in a little bit of atmosphere (provided there was no cloud cover). Sure enough, at the right time of day, the sun barely pushed through the trees, and a hit of atmosphere created one of the most iconic frames of the series.

Shooting on that terrain must have been challenging. Can you talk about that?
One of the main things that drew me to this project was the fact that it would be shot mostly in the Canadian wilderness. I love to camp, and I consider the forest one of my happy places. So I was incredibly excited to film in that location.

There were definitely challenges in the physicality of the space. Simply moving around with equipment and lighting was really tough, so everything had to be thought out precisely to know exactly what we should have where. Some of the locations were in areas that had never really been filmed before, so the only way to get to them was with off-road vehicles. But filming in these untouched areas truly gave the show a new look that hasn’t been seen before. Planning was key for filming in the forest locations.

One of the biggest challenges was how to accomplish the ending river sequence. We wanted to be in the water as our stunt actress braved the whitewater rapids of the river. This is where the Sony Venice was truly an amazing tool. We were able to go in Rialto mode, with the front end in a splash bag and the back end bagged on a whitewater raft. We hired an incredibly skilled whitewater camera team to follow our stunt actress down the river with the Sony Venice. This — in combination with strategically placed cameras on the riverbank, drone work and our main actress being filmed in a bluescreen water tank that had simulated rapid flow for her close-ups — created the show’s incredibly exciting ending sequence.

Any scenes that you are particularly proud of or found most challenging?
There was a sequence in Episode 6 where Liv sees the Aurora Borealis, and it is so bright that it lights up the forest around her. For this, I had ARRI S60s below in the ravine lighting the fronts of the trees, while behind Liv, I had 100 Astera tubes on the backs of the trees lighting up the rest of the forest. Then we had all of the lights in sync with each other, creating a wave of blues, greens and magenta to feel as if the Northern Lights were lighting up the forest. In combination with the VFX Aurora Borealis that they put in the sky, it was a very powerful visual since it’s really when Liv begins to accept the beauty of the forest around her. It was intended to have a magical quality to it, and I feel we pulled that off.

How did this shoot differ from others you’ve been on recently?
I was coming off Grey’s Anatomy, which as you know is a hospital drama. Shooting in the Canadian wilderness couldn’t be farther from this. I was up for several projects at the time I was interviewing for Keep Breathing, but in my heart, I knew this was the project for me. I knew it would be very challenging, but I was looking for something truly artistic to sink my teeth into.

How did you become interested in cinematography?
I first became interested in cinematography when I was a PA on a small movie that came through my hometown in Alabama. I was already interested in filmmaking but wasn’t completely sure what aspect I wanted to pursue. On that film, titled Rustin, the DP was Wally Pfister (ASC). This was before he really became a famous DP. I observed him and was so impressed by the way he commanded the set, and I was truly intrigued by the technical knowledge he had for the camera and lighting. I thought, “That looks like a really cool job.” He’s the one that guided me toward applying to AFI. The rest is history.

Are you always on the lookout for new technology to use in your craft?
I am fascinated by technology that will help advance a story. I am always striving to learn new techniques, new equipment, new ways of lighting and moving the camera. However, I don’t use gimmicks simply for the sake of using them. The technology has to serve the story and the character’s journey. I get really excited when I’ve found a new way to achieve a look and it captures the essence of the story.

What new technology has changed the way you work (looking back over the past few years)?
LED lighting and dual ISO! Wow, this has changed my life. I’ve always been a fan of LED lighting since some of the first units came out. But now the advancement of LED lighting is so good with the brightness and color rendition.

Alicia Robbins on-set (far right)

Also, the use of dual-ISO cameras such as the Sony Venice. I love being able to get a clean image at 2500 ISO and run my LED units in ranges from 1% to 10% intensity. As a result, you can keep the lighting levels so low that you don’t have light bouncing all around a space, so you don’t have to use excessive flags to keep the spill down. I can achieve a high-contrast look without too much grip gear simply by keeping the light levels very low. This is a technique that I’m using more and more, sometimes even for day interior work.

What are some best practices or rules you try to follow on each job?
I try to be as prepared as possible. Sometimes this is very difficult if scripts are coming in at the last minute, but having a solid plan going into a project before your first shoot day is key.

Explain your ideal collaboration with the director or showrunner when starting a new project.
It is always a pleasure when your director or showrunner is on the same page with you visually. I enjoy working with someone who is open to my ideas of how to tell the story visually. I know I have a solid understanding of what makes a story work through camera and lighting, and when I have collaborators that are open to my ideas, it works really well.

I’m not a DP that likes to be simply dictated to: “Camera goes here, moves this way, this lens, etc.” I don’t think any DP likes to work that way. I’m always looking for a collaboration on the visual design. However, I’ve also been in situations where I’m doing almost all the visual design on my own. This isn’t ideal either. It’s sometimes hard to find that collaboration with a director where you help each other out and it’s a fluid discussion of ideas.

You have to have a lot of meetings with your director beforehand to get a sense of what they like and what they respond to. Sometimes it isn’t talking about visuals at all, but just going for a hike or having lunch to get a sense of their personality. I like to get to know my directors as people. It helps me gauge how I need to handle my team and myself on-set once we’re in the thick of it.

What’s your go-to gear (camera, lens, mount/accessories) – things you can’t live without?
For shooting, it’s a camera that has dual ISO. I  always want the option to run a higher ISO and still have a clean image. For my personal gear, I carry around an Insta360 camera. This captures 360 video or stills in a high resolution. I use this tool for location scouting or to capture lighting setups that I’ve done. This little camera always lives in my backpack.

What about some tips for other females looking to get into cinematography?
It’s important to shoot your own content. You never know what project might get you your “break.” Even after years of pursuing your craft, you also have to be willing to do free passion projects if the story is something you’re drawn to or the collaboration could lead to other work.

My break came after 15 years of pursuing cinematography. I shot a free short for a friend I really wanted to collaborate with, and that short earned me an Emerging Cinematographer Award through the Local 600. Doors opened up after that.

Also, maintain connections with people you think will help you out down the line. It’s key to stay in touch with potential mentors. You have to remember that working DPs get very busy, so don’t be discouraged if someone you have reached out to doesn’t get back to you right away. Try again a few weeks later. If they are open to helping you out, they won’t see your persistence as a bother; they will see it as dedication.