The Cinematography Podcast Episode 311: Jacques Jouffret, ASC
Netflix’s American Primeval plunges viewers into the harsh realities of a gritty, naturalistic Western winter. Cinematographer Jacques Jouffret, ASC, who shot all six episodes, collaborated closely with director Peter Berg to immerse the audience in the era’s unforgiving environment. “That was really a lot of hard work. Pete wanted the audience to feel the difficulty of living in that period,” says Jacques. “He wanted to feel the dirt, dust, grime and the ugliness of it and the violence of it. And I tried to get into that spirit. My job was to really make the audience feel that coldness, the chill that you are open to the elements.”
Jacques wanted the audience to feel the cold of American Primeval’s harsh winter setting, even as the production continued into summer. One of the most significant challenges was maintaining a consistently overcast sky, and there were few interior locations. During the wintertime, it was easy to shoot wider to get the overcast sky, but the weather was constantly changing. Dutch angles worked not only as a stylistic choice, but also to help hide the sky when it wasn’t overcast enough. The crew would strategically shoot close, shoot in the shade, or block the sky with silks.
Portraying visceral realism is an important element of Jacques and Berg’s collaborations. They have worked together before on films such as Novocaine and Mile 22. “That’s one thing that I love working with Pete,” he shares. “You’re making the audience feel that this is real, you are watching something that is right there and I’m able to suspend that disbelief. And so that’s really always the approach, to make it as real as we can. And yet I’m giving it some style to present more of the emotion, more of the mood, the atmosphere, and where I want the audience to be.”
To achieve a blend of raw reality and stylistic emotional depth on American Primeval, Jacques adopted a focused visual strategy, inspired by the legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick would choose just four or five strong visual ideas, and then repeat them over and over for visual impact. For the series, Jacques established his own core visual tenets:
- Expansive vistas: Super wide shots to take in the vastness of the Western scenery
- Dynamic dutch angles: Wide and close dutch camera angles to increase the feeling of discomfort and danger, while still including visuals critical to the story
- Intimate compression: Lenses with long focal lengths that compress the image, allowing the audience to be with the character in the moment
- Juxtaposition of extremes: A deliberate contrast between wide, long shots with everything in focus, contrasted with close-ups on the actors with a wide angle lens. This created a visual language emphasizing the harsh environment, and Jacques avoided medium shots.
Find Jacques Jouffret
CAMERAS: Sony VENICE 2, RED Digital V-RAPTOR
LENSES: Angenieux Optimo Ultra 12:1, Panavision Sphero 65, VistaVision
Close focus: The Nicholl Fellowship, a highly respected screenwriting fellowship offered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has changed its rules. Instead of accepting open submissions directly on its website, they will now only take submissions from select universities, screenwriting labs, and filmmaker programs worldwide, for a total of only 50 screenplays.
Kays’ short end: The Salton Sea starring Val Kilmer.
Ben’s short end: Ben learned more about Chumbawamba, the Irish band from the 90’s. The podcast “Surprisingly Awesome” has an episode that goes in depth on the band.
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Podcast Credits:
Producer: Alana Kode
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Host: Ben Rock
Blue Sky: @benrock.com
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Host and Composer: Kays Al-Atrakchi
Check out Kays’ new YouTube Channel, Kays Labs, where he repairs old synthesizers.
Editor: Charlie Nix
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