The Cinematography Podcast Episode 369: Michael Bauman, ASC
Fresh off of shooting One Battle After Another, cinematographer Michael Bauman, ASC began work on Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story. He and director Max Winkler built a show that had to convincingly move between the 1940s, Hitchcock-era Hollywood, 1970s grindhouse horror, and the 1980s true-crime cases Ed Gein’s story went on to influence. “One of the things that we talked about was the differences in light from Ed Gein’s world into the Hitchcock world, and the use of sun and hard light versus soft light. And so it was just trying to find these ways to differentiate these different periods,” Bauman says. “A lot of times you’re cutting between, we’re here, now we’re in the 40s. And you’ve got to really try to develop what that language is so it’s just not one big visual mush.”
The series required Bauman to essentially build four or five distinct cinematic languages inside one show. He shot on an Alexa 35 camera, then worked with the colorist to layer in grain, halation, and barrel distortion. Bauman deliberately rolled off the highlights to soften the digital camera’s characteristic peakiness. “Our primary lens package was just Kawa lenses because Max really responded to how they flared and the softness of them,” says Bauman. For the Ted Bundy sequences, the team used Petzval lenses specifically for its swirly bokeh to isolate the sky.
Bauman earned an Emmy nomination for episode 6, “Buxom Bird,” which features a complex sequence where, as he puts it, “the bill comes due.” The police finally enter Ed Gein’s house, revealing the horrors within. Rather than building a conventional lighting setup for the space, Bauman leaned almost entirely on bounced, reflected light. The actors choreographed shining flashlights into the dark corners, keeping the tension as the audience struggles to see clearly. “We just hid reflectors everywhere,” he says, “and as they were walking through, it’d be like, hey, just make sure when you pan your light around, hit that for a beat.”
Often, Bauman found that necessity and scheduling challenges produced the strongest choices. He chose to make episode 4’s hardware store murder reveal scene a single unbroken shot, largely because of a punishing winter shooting schedule with limited daylight. “We only had a little bit of time to shoot the sequence,” Bauman explains. “And we had originally talked about coverage here, but we weren’t going to have that luxury. So it was, let’s talk about how we can block this and turn it into a oner, but still reveal the fact that we have to show the cash register is gone, we have to show blood on the wall. Here’s a challenge of how are we going to get this and still have the emotional impact it needs to have and do it as one fluid shot. And it ended up working out really well.”
Find Michael Bauman: Instagram @baumanlights
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is currently streaming on Netflix.
Hear our previous interview with Michael Bauman on One Battle After Another.
CAMERAS: Alexa 35
LENSES: Panavision custom Kawas, PVintage portrait lens, 58mm Petzval
Close Focus: Paramount CEO David Ellison threatened to leave California if the state’s attorney general doesn’t let the Warner Bros. merger go through.
Ben’s short end: The overlooked horror movie Cold Storage.
Illya’s short end: ARRI recently partnered with the Chinese cell phone company HONOR and they have just launched their “robot phone.” It combines a gimbal camera with a phone, and is not yet available in the United States.
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Sponsored by Greentree Creative: If you enjoy The Cinematography Podcast and you’re interested in growing or starting your own podcast, contact Alana Kode at Greentree Creative. Greentree Creative can help you with all of your digital marketing needs including podcast launch and creation, advertising, social media management and content creation.
SHOW RUNDOWN:
02:14 Close Focus
11:37-53:40 Michael Bauman Interview
53:57 Short Ends
01:03:50 Credits
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Podcast Credits:
Producer: Alana Kode
All web and social media content written by Alana Kode
Host and editor in Chief: Illya Friedman
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Host: Ben Rock
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Composer: Kays Al-Atrakchi
Check out Kays’ new YouTube Channel, Kays Labs, where he repairs old synthesizers.
Editor: Alana Kode
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