It’s been a gratifying awards season for cinematographer Michael Bauman. In early January he garnered his first two ASC Award nominations–one for the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner One Battle After Another, and the other for the “Buxom Bird” episode of Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix), the third season of the Monster anthology series from Ryan Murphy.
Bauman wound up winning the ASC Award in the marquee feature film category for director Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.
Additionally, on the strength of One Battle After Another, Bauman earned his first career best cinematography Oscar nomination.
And just some three weeks ago, Bauman received his first ever Emmy nomination on the strength of “Buxom Bird.”
There’s a parallel of sorts between One Battle After Another and Monster: The Ed Gein Story from Bauman’s perspective in that both entailed already well-established creative bonds with prime collaborators. In the case of One Battle After Another, Bauman had a track record with Anderson that included serving as chief lighting technician on The Master. Then came another chief lighting technician gig on Anderson’s Inherent Vice, followed by being camera operator/lighting cameraman on a pair of Anderson-helmed music videos for Radiohead. By the time he went on to become full-fledged DP on Anderson’s Licorice Pizza and then One Battle After Another, Bauman was well versed in and had embraced the auteur’s process, built on a foundation of creative kinship.
Similarly Bauman is firmly a part of the Ryan Murphy universe, having fashioned a strong creative rapport with him and others such as director/executive producer Max Winkler. In fact, Bauman shot Winkler-directed episodes of Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs The Swans as well as American Horror Stories in recent years.
Initially, Winkler was the one who had a creative bond with Murphy already in place. But over a relatively short span, Bauman–while teaming with Winkler–became connected directly to Murphy as well. The cinematographer noted that Murphy has been “incredibly supportive” right out of the gate with both him and Winkler in terms of directions they wanted to take visually on every story they’ve tackled. The three shared an open, creatively ambitious dialogue which extended naturally to Monster: The Ed Gein Story. After delving into Jeffrey Dahmer and then Lyle and Erik Menendez, Monster zeroed in on Gein for season three. Charlie Hunnam portrayed Gein, the 1950s Wisconsin serial killer and grave robber. Hunnam–whose tour de force performance has him Emmy-nominated for outstanding lead actor in an anthology series–delved deeply into Gein’s inner psyche. Gein’s twisted relationship with his mother went on to spawn Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic Psycho. Gein’s life also inspired Tobe Hooper’s cult classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Bauman grew up in Wisconsin and knew not only about Gein but what the small town Wisconsin aesthetic needed to be for the series. Bauman recalled Winkler creating a deck of images that leaned into the Bennett Miller film Capote, as well as the movie In Cold Blood, even touching upon the aesthetic of Fargo. Visually Winkler and Bauman used openness, capturing a feel of loneliness, isolation and empty space to reflect Gein’s inner world of schizophrenia. “I grew up in a small town of 800 people,” recalled Bauman, meaning he was no stranger to “the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin” where there wasn’t a lot to do, necessitating an “interesting connection to nature and a sense of space” which were honed in part by Bauman’s experience biking all over the area in his youth. For Monster, Bauman pulled up images that resonated with him and his experience, lending a heartfelt dimension to the narrative.
The cinematographer affirmed that in terms of crafting a human narrative, the beauty of working with Murphy comes in many forms, including the series creator’s talent for casting wonderful actors spanning established names on one end, as well as other “discoveries” who get the chance to step into high-platform roles for the first time, proving to be up to the task. Among the many stellar performances cited by Bauman were, in addition to Hunnam, supporting actress Emmy nominee Laurie Metcalf as Ed Gein’s controlling mother Augusta; Leslie Manville as Plainfield hardware store owner Bernice Worden, Gein’s final victim; Suzanna Son who played Gein’s love interest, Adeline Watkins; Tyler Jacob Moore as Sheriff Art Schley; and Charlie Hall as Deputy Frank Worden.
Moore and Hall investigate and discover along with us the horrors committed by Gein in the “Buxom Bird” episode. Characters Schley (Moore) and Worden (Hall) enter Gein’s house which is filled with trash, swarming flies, bloody intestines, fingernails, and a human heart simmering in a pot on the stove. The gruesome discoveries are revealed by illumination from the investigators’ flashlights. Gein’s house is shrouded in darkness but at the same time we can clearly see the body parts and artifacts that Gein has saved from his crimes. And the reveals extend to both ends of the flashlight as we see the officers react to and reflect on what they are witnessing. The orientation of the officers is also in play as Sheriff Schley is a seasoned veteran who immediately grasps the situation and realizes what he’s seeing–horrifying as it all is. By contrast, Deputy Worden doesn’t quite know what’s going on, struggling to put everything into context. The cinematography sheds light on them as well as the horrific trail of evidence.
Bauman deployed the ARRI Alexa 35 with a mix of Kowa and vintage lenses–as well as some special custom lenses fashioned by Panavision guru Dan Sasaki. The varied, versatile lens options complemented, said Bauman, the dynamic range of the Alexa 35 sensor.
Bauman credited, among others, Steadicam operator P. Scott Sakamoto and production designer Matthew Flood Ferguson for their contributions to “Buxom Bird.” Bauman said that he and Winkler were “blessed” by Sakamoto’s planning and artistry to get the most out of the sequence in Gein’s house–getting closer to the officers as they get closer to their jarring discoveries.
And Ferguson’s work–featured in Phase 1 of SHOOT’s The Road To Emmy coverage–entailed exhaustive research of varied environs including Gein’s dilapidated house which was the subject of a pictorial in Life Magazine just days after his arrest for heinous crimes there. Ferguson sat down with his sr. set designer Kristen Davis to develop a floor plan accurate to what Gein’s house was like. Still, there was room for creative latitude. For instance, there was no photo of a staircase. Ferguson knew he would have to somehow “echo” the design and harrowing feel of such a staircase in Gein’s house. And Gein had the influence of famed horror movie sets like the Psycho house. A staircase was built that went straight up with a wrap-around landing above–akin to Norman Bates’ house in Psycho.
Bauman described Ferguson as “a great collaborative partner,” noting they had extensive conversations about the house, staying true to well-documented archival information while taking advantage of areas where there was room to create, crafting an environment conducive to discoveries by the officers and the audience, and knowing where to block or obscure in a good way in order to advance the story and heighten its impact.
Also standing out for Bauman was Ferguson’s painstaking work on other episodes, including his adept creation of a graveyard on stage in Los Angeles, which then had to mesh with location shooting in Illinois. The studio set was crafted to dovetail with location lensing in the Midwest, with Bauman noting that ongoing texting and dialogue with Ferguson, showcasing his attention to detail, proved invaluable.
The collaborative relationship among Murphy, Winkler, Bauman and Ferguson, by the way, has continued beyond The Ed Gein Story. They all recently worked on the much anticipated fourth season of Monster, the focus being on Lizzie Borden (portrayed by Ella Beatty) who was put on trial for the ax murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story scored a total of seven Emmy nominations. In addition to being recognized in the cinematography, lead actor and supporting actress categories, The Ed Gein Story earned nods for period costumes, period or fantasy/sci-fi makeup (non prosthetic), outstanding prosthetic makeup, and sound mixing for a limited or anthology series or movie.
This is the 11th installment of SHOOT’s weekly 15-part The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories, connecting with directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, VFX talent and assorted other artisans to gain insights into their work and their collaborators. Coverage of the Creative Arts Emmy winners will appear on September 5 and 6, and we will report on winners at the primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on September 14.
