By Randi Altman

A new Peacock Original, Rutherford Falls is a 30-minute comedy that centers on the relationship of lifelong friends in a small Northeastern town. Ed Helms is Nathan Rutherford, a descendant of the town’s original founders, and his friend Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding) is a Native American who runs the cultural center at the local casino.

“They are both incredibly proud of their heritage,” explains the show’s cinematographer, Ross Riege. “The town proposes to remove the statue of its founder, which is where the conflict begins. While the show is a comedy, the undercurrent is very topical, and I think this makes the show much more important.”

Because the show isn’t your typical comedy, Riege had some nontraditional suggestions for the showrunners regarding the look, including shooting large format. Let’s find out more about this, his process and shooting during COVID.

How early did you get involved in planning for the show’s first season?
When I first met on the project, I pitched treating the show in a less traditional comedy style. We talked a lot about color palettes, but I also felt it would step things up to shoot large format, and the producers were enthusiastic and very supportive in helping me get to that look.

Larry Sher, ASC, (cinematographer on Joker and Godzilla: King of the Monsters) was directing the first block of three episodes, so I worked very closely with him to develop a visual language that not only felt elevated but was something we could execute with the challenges of COVID and less time on set. With him directing, I was very excited to take the reins as cinematographer while he focused on directing. He was such a great collaborator, and it was nice to have the opportunity to support his vision as a director.

How would you describe the look of Rutherford Falls?
I don’t think I can describe it in a word. I am currently shooting an anamorphic show — Season 2 of The Walking Dead: World Beyond.  We shot both Season 1 and Season 2 in anamorphic, center-framed for 1.78:1. That is quite desaturated in comparison, so when I look over color passes to give notes on Rutherford Falls at night, it was quite an adjustment for my eyes. I wanted the show to feel colorful but not high-key and oversaturated. My hope would be if someone saw a still frame of the show, they wouldn’t know if it was from a comedy or a drama.

How did you work with director Larry Sher and colorist Scott Gregory to achieve the intended look?
Larry has built an amazing website called ShotDeck, which is filled with film imagery that is easily searchable and referenced, so he had an initial deck built that was our starting point for everything.

In episodic work, it can be quite challenging to see the color all the way through to the end, so having detailed notes and references is that much more important. We were able to have a DIT, Randall Kaplan, on for the first block, which helped us explore some looks and find a rhythm with our color palette.

I had a long conversation with our colorist, Scott Gregory — who works out of Studio Post at NBCUniversal on a Blackmagic Resolve — during the first week of production and again as he started going through material later in the season. Larry and I were able to sit in with him in a remote session for a few hours on some material from the first block, but the rest of the color conversation has been entirely remote, which obviously involves a lot of theoretical notes since we’re never on calibrated monitors. Again, that’s why references and getting on the same wavelength is so crucial.

Where was it shot, and how long was the shoot?
We were based out of Paramount studios in LA. We shot for roughly 13 weeks from the beginning of September into mid-December.

Was it mostly on location or a soundstage?
I’d estimate 60% on stage, 10% backlot and the rest on location. When we originally started prep in early 2020, I would’ve guessed we would have been more 50/50, but after restarting during the pandemic, a lot more work was moved to stage, especially in the first block as we got going.

How did you go about choosing the right camera and lenses for this project?
I pitched Alexa Mini LF right off the bat, and we never looked back. Larry is also a big Alexa fan (he shot Joker on Alexa 65). We wanted to play with a lot of color contrast and avoid skin tones becoming too affected or saturated, and we both felt the color science was just the right fit for our vision.

The lenses were a little more of a conversation because, of course, with the larger sensor, that narrows the field a little. We looked at some of the Leica glass that Larry used on Joker, but my decision for the main set of glass became easy when I tested it.

Fortunately, there are new sets coming out constantly, so there were a lot of things to look at — and when I looked at the MasterBuilt Primes, I was very impressed. Many of the newer optics feel too clean, crisp and sterile for my taste, but the MasterBuilts have nice fall-off and natural reactivity to light, as well as great performance and consistency all the way through, including wide open. These lenses are relatively new to the game, and availability is limited because of demand. But fortunately, we were able to secure two sets of the MasterBuilt Classics for the show, and I loved working with them.

Why did you decide to shoot large format for this show?
I wanted to be able to get the camera closer to our characters without having to go to lenses that would bend and distort their faces. I also wanted the ability to feel the environments spread out behind our characters in closer frames instead of compressing in the way they do when close-ups are shot longer. I love the depth separation I still get on wider focal lengths in large format, which was fun to play with on the show as well. I’ve been shooting medium format in my personal still photography for 20 years and was excited to work with format on a show that gives me that type of depth.

Can you describe the lighting?
Everything was naturally motivated — lighting through windows and from practical sources. I’ve always approached lighting this way, and I tried to lean into this as much as possible, especially when we turned to a larger amount of stage work.

As convenient as shooting on stage can be, I like to approach it as if we’re on location when it comes to light. We used hard ceilings in most of our sets and lit from the outside. I worked closely with our production designer and art director to incorporate practical lighting that was both functional and would help give us color separation. We overbulbed and dimmed down practicals, and we used Astera NYX bulbs and tubes that gave us a lot more control over color.

Any challenging scenes that stick out?
Probably the first scene we shot of the season. There were so many conversations about how we’d work on set with so many new protocols, and keeping the necessary pace to make our days felt very daunting.

Fortunately, we were able to do a “day zero,” which was kept light for that purpose. We shot a scene in Nathan’s workshop between him and Reagan. It did take longer than it would have prior to COVID, but it went as smoothly as we could have hoped. And we learned a lot that helped us adjust to meet typical timings for scenes as we went into the regular schedule. I’m proud that we were able to get through the season efficiently and safely.

Now more general questions… What inspires you artistically?
Seeing the work of my colleagues. I am inspired by imagery on so many levels. Of course, there is a lot of still photography that I have always admired, but I am continuously blown away by the level of work that is being made every day. I am proud of the work I do, but being surrounded by inspiring images makes me find ways to constantly challenge myself to become better.

How do you keep up with new technology?
Technology is another constant chase, and I lean on my crew for a lot of this, as I’m rarely the most up-to-date and informed one in the room. I love trying new things, and I stay open-minded to hear from those around me — whether it’s the specs on a new camera or trying new diffusion materials or lighting rigs.

What technology has changed the way you work? 
Besides large format, I’d say QTake — both are things I used on Rutherford Falls. I’m not sure if QTake was in our plans before COVID hit, but having remote monitoring made things so much better on set across the board.

Enabling ADs and the art department crew to walk around the frame with their own feeds to adjust set dec and background artists to frames made things better and more efficient. VFX supervisors can log in remotely if something comes up and they aren’t on set. I’m easily able to pull stills as we shoot for reference and notes … the list goes on.

What are some of your best practices or rules you try to follow on each job?
Listen. Stay open-minded with my keys, and always learn and try new things so I can continue to grow. Prep is where 80% of the work happens — and when things on set ultimately change, I can rely on that prep and instincts to respond.

Ross Riege

Explain your ideal collaboration with a director or showrunner when starting a new project.
I like working with people who have a clear vision of what they want and an open mind in terms of how to get there. I think enthusiasm and candor lead the way, followed closely by having an open mind as we bounce ideas and references. If I’m working with someone new, my primary goal is to mesh brains with them so I can support their vision with a common eye.

What’s your go-to gear? Things you can’t live without?
So many things are relative to the project, but a few things I always have with me: viewfinder, laser pointer and light meter … and usually a hat.

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