By Randi Altman
Netflix’s comedy Grace and Frankie is coming to an end with its seventh and final season. Initially focused on how two women deal with their longtime husbands leaving them for each other, the series has evolved to be so much more. The audience gets a deep dive on how this modern-day Odd Couple deals with friendship between women, finding love in your 70s and how wacky adventures can make you feel younger. It stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston.
Gale Tattersall
Set in San Diego, the series’ look was originally set in Season 1 by DP Gale Tattersall, a veteran cinematographer who has worked on all seven seasons. We reached out to Tattersall and fellow DP Luke Miller, who started as a gaffer on Episode 1 and graduated to co-DP in 2019. Tattersall describes the show’s initial look as “cinematic, lyrical, believable, evocative and emotional.”
Let’s find out more…
Gale, how did you get involved in the show?
Gale Tattersall: I was chosen to DP the show because of previous work, including House and my feature credits, such as Virtuosity and Tank Girl. I had also worked with Marta Kauffman, our main showrunner on a project called Call Me Crazy, and we clicked immediately.
Luke Miller
How has that look evolved over the seven seasons?
Tattersall: The greatest change of all was for Season 3, when we were able to switch to the Canon C300 MKII.
I also think the show became slicker over the seasons. Our complex lighting techniques became more efficiently employed, allowing us to move faster and thus give the director/editor more coverage, which in a comedy is so important for getting the best out of the script and pacing.
Considering it’s such a long-running show, how do you work with the showrunners/directors to get and keep the right look?
Tattersall: At the start, we had countless meetings for all the shows to discuss the look, so it would be extremely rare for something to happen by accident. Also, after a certain number of episodes, you have created a reference library, so there would sometimes be a reference to something that worked well in a previous episode that could be expanded upon. DPs have to be strong and opinionated on TV shows.
Very often you work with really great and well-seasoned directors, and we have been lucky enough on Grace and Frankie to have had many, but once in a while you get a newbie who wants to make an impression, and that is when, occasionally, you have to become a policeman of sorts and protect the integrity of the show by nicely suggesting shots that are more in keeping with the style of the show.
Luke Miller: One aspect of shooting a long-running series is trying to keep the look and feel somewhat consistent over many years and many directors. I like to sit in with our directors in their prep meetings to help develop their ideas in ways that are consistent with the look of the show.
If a director had an idea for a specific shot during prep, I could make sure we had the right tools or plan to accomplish it in the established language of the show. Often directors would come in and reference a scene from a movie that had a feeling or a look they wanted to integrate into their episode. We would take that influence, put it through a sort of Grace and Frankie filter and translate it into our show.
Other times, directors would point to previous episodes of Grace and Frankie for inspiration. While prepping Episode 715, “The Fake Funeral,” director Alex Hardcastle referenced a shot from one of the episodes he directed in Season 4 called “The Expiration Date.” We were talking about how to approach the final scene, and he told me he wanted to match the somber feeling of a specific shot of Frankie sitting in front of a painting at night. That gave us a great starting point, even though this was a day scene and needed to look different. We developed the lighting and lens choices with the mood of that shot in mind. It’s a short scene, but it caps the episode so beautifully and is one of my favorites in the series.
Were you using LUTs on-set? DITs?
Tattersall: We didn’t really use LUTs other than a generic Rec. 709. We didn’t use a DIT on-set either. I hate it when there is a desire to try to create the final image on-set. Personally, I love the progression. I’m a traditionalist. I started as a DP when nobody actually knew what I was doing until the next day or evening when rushes were available. I don’t need to display what the final image is going to be until it is created in final color with the colorist based on what I had in mind. I personally feel that video village and video assist should be used purely to judge framing, focus, performance and nothing more. That is why you should trust your DP, who needs to be on the same page as the director and showrunners.
Miller: We had auditioned some specific LUTs that we had our colorist create for basic day/night interior/exterior circumstances during Season 3, but we ultimately just used the standard Rec. 709 LUT built into the camera for on-set work. We found this was a very safe LUT that kept us in a controlled range on-set and allowed for a lot of room to play in final color. Alongside that LUT we had a high-end Canon reference display on-set that gave us a consistent picture to work from.
Speaking of the colorist, can you describe that relationship?
Tattersall: It is a gift having a great colorist such as Roy Vasich from Picture Shop Post. Even on a show as expensive as Grace and Frankie, everything is budget-driven. Time in the color suite is costly, so it’s important that Roy nails his first pass so we don’t have many corrections to make when we come in for final color.
It pleases me enormously when our showrunners and producers come by for their session and don’t change a thing! I’m also in touch with our dailies colorist, John Allen, every day I am shooting, giving him a heads up as to how the day went and what problems concerned me. So he is the first to get his hands on the first interpretation of our raw material.
Miller: Colorist Roy Vasich has been with the show since Season 2, so he is very familiar with the look and feel of the show. When an episode is completed, Roy takes a pass at it on his own and gets everything very close to the final look. Then I spend some time in the color suite with him and go through it shot by shot and make final adjustments.
When setting up a shot on-set, we spend our time making sure the lighting on the actors’ faces is perfect, but often we need to just rough in something in the background or the back of a shoulder in the foreground. Then when we get into the color suite with Roy, we can easily address those things with a Power Window or a gradient. Our show was an early adopter of finishing in Dolby Vision HDR, and Roy was instrumental in helping make that a smooth transition.
How much greenscreen is used on-set? How does that affect your workflow, lighting, etc.?
Miller: The entire beach backdrop outside the beach house was bluescreen, as was everything outside of Nick’s penthouse and the outside of Brianna and Barry’s house. All the interior car work was shot on greenscreen.
The nice thing about all the greenscreen is that it’s fast and flexible. We can decide on a scene-by-scene basis what the weather on the beach might be. The disadvantage is that it’s not much to look at for the actors on set, and you have to create all the lighting effects from your imagination.
On one occasion we were shooting a romantic night scene on the beach patio, and the giant bluescreen just didn’t have the magic of the night sky, so I projected an image of a full moon on the bluescreen to give a little mood to the stage. It brought out lots of smiles, grateful comments and, hopefully, it helped the actors get lost in the scene just a little bit more.
Tattersall: Bluescreen and greenscreen are a necessary evil, and we used our fair share. I am hoping these new multi-panel real-image displays will become more available and more affordable, as they are not only much better at creating a feeling of “being there” but can double as amazing, infinitely variable and interactive light sources. I admit that, like many productions, when doing “poor man’s” car work, for example, blue/greenscreen tends to lend to some bland or generic lighting because you have no idea what background plate will eventually replace the screen, making it impossible to light in sympathy with the chosen background plate.
You mentioned the Canon camera earlier? How do you pick what to shoot on? Did Netflix’s requirements play a big role in that choice? What about the lenses?
Tattersall: There are so many factors that go into making a show and choosing equipment. In some ways, the more successful you are as a show, and the more seasons you do, the more you paint yourself into a corner. Your unit production manager never stops to whittle down the budget in every single area.
Initially, when we were looked after by the wonderful guys at Keslow Camera, the only way they could make the show work financially from season to season was to hope that we would run with the same equipment we had used in previous seasons. But after all this time, we began to feel the Cooke primes and the workhorse Angenieux zooms were feeling tired and wanting, and they are just so enormous.
We ended up having to do our final 12 episodes post-pandemic with Alternative Rentals, who were wonderful. They could make these changes work for the budget that was unmovable, as they owned a lot of Canon camera gear already. I also believe in the harmony of a system working together. Canon makes their own cameras, electronics, sensors and lenses, and I believe there are times when the “purity” of one system working in harmony shines through.
Luke Miller on-set
Miller: We started out on the Red Dragon with Angenieux Optimo zooms and Cooke S4/I primes for the first two seasons, with the zooms on the cameras most of the time. Then we switched to Canon cameras in the third season. As new cameras were released, we changed between models in the Canon line as the seasons went by. The C300 MKII for Seasons 3-5, the C700 FF for Season 6 and some of Season 7, and the C500 MKII for the final 12 episodes of Season7.
In Season 7, we changed our lenses to Canon zooms (17-120 and 25-250) and Canon Sumire primes. I primarily used the Sumires with the camera in Full Frame mode for my episodes, while Gale relied mostly on the zooms in S35 crop mode. Netflix’s requirements were a big factor in our initial camera choices.
Back in 2014, when we were first getting started, the requirement of a 4K camera had us choosing from a shortlist of allowed cameras. Red Dragon, Sony F55 and a Canon C300 with an external recorder were tested. We liked the look of the C300, but the external recorder that was needed to record 4K at the time was too much hassle to deal with. When the C300 MKII was released and allowed for internal 4K recording, we made the switch. We were drawn to the sensor inside the Canon cameras. They produce great skin tones, have excellent latitude and create a soft, photographic feeling, even though they were recording 4K — or in the case of the C500 MKII, 5.9K.
The Angenieux zooms were basically an industry standard for television when we started in 2014, and many shows still make great use of them. And as Gale mentioned earlier, we found we were fighting against their sheer size, especially the 24-290, which was always on our B camera. For Season 7, we tried the compact versions of the Optimo zooms for the first four episodes, but while we were shut down for COVID, Gale tested the Canon zooms that we switched to. We found them to be much smaller than the big Optima zooms we had been using, and optically they offered improvements in some of the areas that the Optimo struggled in.
The 24-250 also offered a very interesting built-in 1.4x extender, which not only gave a much longer lens at the flip of a switch but also allowed it to cover full fame along its entire range. In Season 7, with the Canon Sumire primes, we generally lit to about a T4, where these lenses would give a neutral look that didn’t call attention to the lens. But for some scenes, we would shoot wide open, which is where the Sumires totally change into a soft image full of character, with a gentle roll-off to a bokeh with really interesting shapes. I used this look in a scene at the end of Episode 715 with Frankie in her studio and in 712 for a scene with Bud in his office at night.
What about the lighting?
Miller: The lighting on Grace and Frankie was really quite unique. To start with, the level of light we used is really high. We rated our cameras at 400 ISO and generally lit to a T4. A typical show today might have a camera rated at 800-1600 ISO and light to a T2 or wider. On average, that means we are using eight to 16 times brighter light as a starting point for a scene. Our primary objective was to light the cast as beautifully as we could while maintaining some shape and keeping the backgrounds interesting and natural feeling.
We covered every bit of the set that wasn’t in frame in white muslin and bounced light off it. We tried to have the actors’ light coming from every direction. Then we would balance the levels of the different areas of muslin in the same way you would balance a traditional key and fill to give the light some sense of directionality, even though it was coming from everywhere. In a way, the result was as if the actors were sitting for a portrait in each shot.
Tattersall: We had senior actors with pages of dialogue to get through. It was important to have a deep stop so that we had less chance of having to go again for focus issues. Also it was really nice not having to do mini focus pulls back and forth with the dialogue to achieve the two magic shots — action and reaction. Sometimes we even racked up an 11 stop just so that we could, for example, hold Jane and Lily both in focus even though they were at significantly different distances.
There is a bonus in shooting with bright light — the iris in the actor’s eyes shuts down to compensate, which means you get more color in the actor’s eyes rather than dark pupils. Subtle but true! We did wrap right up to the edges of the shot with white muslin, which sometimes we lit and sometimes we just used in the ambient light.
I love to use Leko lights (what I call Source Fours), as it’s the quickest way possible to throw up a piece of card that needs minimum rigging to create a very fast hairlight/backlight, for example. Our foregrounds tended to be flatly lit to be as cosmetic as possible for Jane and Lily, so we very often created harder shape and contrast in the background to create a balance and depth.
Any happy accidents this latest season that you can talk about?
Miller: In a way, COVID resulted in a happy accident. As a result of being shut down for a year and a half, we had to relocate the sets from Paramount to Sunset Gower Studios. Because they all had to be rebuilt, we were able to make several strategic changes to save time and give us more options for camera placement. Another challenge due to COVID: We were in the middle of shooting Episode 705 when we shut down. So half of the episode was shot before and the other half after. It’s probably a record for the longest shooting schedule for an episode of television.
Tattersall: I felt so many things were happy accidents. Getting Luke accepted into our Local 600 union so that he could become my co-DP was a major one. Being lucky enough to pay homage to Stanley Kubrick and DP Geoffrey Unsworth, BSC, by “borrowing” the White Room from 2001: A Space Odyssey as inspiration for our heaven scenes in Episode 716.
Now for some more generic questions… How did you become interested in cinematography?
Tattersall: I started with a love of photography from an early stage and was lucky enough have access to a great darkroom, where I developed and printed for hours on end. I learned about composition and shape and contrast — something I think is a shame for new aspiring DPs never to have experienced, given the instant gratification of digital media.
I made a simple documentary about Buckminster Fuller when I was 17. It was my first foray into cinematography, which inspired me to go to the London Film School, which is where it began in earnest.
Miller: I attribute the beginning of my love of filmmaking to a show I watched on the Discovery channel growing up called Movie Magic. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the show was basically a promotional tool disguised as a behind-the-scenes peek at how effects and stunts were done. I loved seeing the equipment and tools used to make movies, even though I had no idea what a cinematographer was.
After a year of being uninspired by studying computer science, I transferred to Columbia College Chicago and fell in love with their fantastic cinematography department. I knew then that cinematography was the area of filmmaking for me. I enjoyed using light and lenses to create the imagery, but what surprised me was how much of cinematography was about solving new problems in different ways. That sort of unique problem-solving while storytelling is thrilling for me.
What inspires you artistically?
Tattersall: I was lucky enough to have come up through the business in London when Tony and Ridley Scott, Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne were all directing commercials for television. As a young camera operator, I got to work with so many great DPs…David Watkin, Michael Seresin, Alex Thompson, Nick Roeg and many others who were all a great inspiration. Later on, working with excellent directors was such a blessing.
The crew
Miller: I’m inspired by movies that stand the test of time. There is something magical about a film that was made 20, 40 or 80 years ago that can still move an audience. In short, I’m inspired by films that are timeless. I strive to keep longevity in mind when I’m creating — to shoot in a way that allows a project to be enjoyed today or 50 years from now.
I’m also inspired on a daily basis by the directors I’ve had the pleasure of working with. I see my job as one that is less about coming up with my own ideas and more about listening to the director’s ideas, then developing, supporting and finding the right way to execute the director’s vision.
What new technology has changed the way you work (looking back over the past few years)?
Tattersall: I think the speed and advent of LED lighting has been phenomenal. The flexibility to change color in so many LED fixtures is just amazing, plus the huge drop in power consumption and heat while still maintaining the same light levels.
Initially, I felt that the move from celluloid to digital was premature and represented a huge quality drop. Now, however, I feel the playing field is more even, and you certainly have to take your hat off to the flexibility of variable ISO settings and false color, which I love in terms of putting my exposure to catch the absolute maximum amount of image information.
Miller: I agree. LED lights are probably the most noticeable change in the last few years, especially ones that can be powered with batteries. On Grace and Frankie, we primarily used traditional incandescent lights for lighting the actors and sets, but we did incorporate some newer lights.
We were one of the first shows to incorporate Mole-Richardson’s Vari-Space LED space lights back when they first came out of the prototype phase. Those lights allowed us to change the color temperature of the sky in a second, which previously would have taken hours to gel all the traditional space lights. That ease of use and flexibility is now offered in almost every type of light, which gives more room for creativity without added expense and time.
What are some of your best practices or rules you try to follow on each job?
Tattersall: When you are on a show, you spend more time with your crew than you do with your family at home, so you better be sure it’s a pleasant environment. I believe in kindness on-set; I get excited to see people grow into their shoes and develop their talents, but if I had to choose one thing, I would say kindness.
Miller: Yes, I agree. I aim to treat everyone with respect. I don’t believe in yelling at anyone on-set.
Explain your ideal collaboration with the director or showrunner when starting a new project.
Tattersall: I love the collaborative relationship with a director. I always, without a pause, keep my eyes open for special shots that a director might not notice, even if he or she has thoroughly done the homework. If I can pull a shot out of nowhere that is fun and will help the edit, it makes me very pleased.
And I never get offended if a director decides not to entertain an idea of mine. It’s a delicate balance running an idea up to the showrunners without running it by the director first because they could feel that their DP is being too pushy. Sometimes ideas can be run up the flagpole during a production meeting rather than in the heat of battle, when you are shooting and time is very precious.
Miller: An ideal collaborative relationship for me would be to work with a director or a showrunner who has an idea for a new project that exists in a whole new world. The director would have a strong grasp on this world but would still have some details that need to be discovered. I think the discovery process is a fun thing to go through together with a director and can inform so much about how a project should look.
What’s your go-to gear (camera, lens, mount/accessories) – things you can’t live without?
Tattersall: Just one thing: a great sensor that allows me to feel that I am not losing something by not shooting film.
Miller: I’m a huge fan of using an optical director’s finder. I still use a viewfinder app when necessary, but looking with your eye through the actual lens is an important part of the ritual for me. I also think it helps connect the director to the shot early in the process.
Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for 25 years.
