Seven seasons over eight years. That’s been the run for Grace and Frankie (Netflix)–and cinematographers Gale Tattersall and Luke Miller have been there for the duration. The final batch of episodes debuts today (4/29).
When he took on the show, Tattersall was already established as a stalwart DP whose credits spanned features (director Alan Parker’s The Commitments, Michael Seresen’s Homeboy), television (including two ASC Award nominations for episodes of House, and an Emmy nod for From The Earth To The Moon with Tom Hanks and Ron Howard for HBO), and numerous high-profile commercials as a cinematographer and director. (He directed spots via the venerable production company BFCS.)
Miller meanwhile was Tattersall’s trusted gaffer on Grace and Frankie beginning with season one. They worked closely on varied fronts, including developing the lighting philosophy for the series. In-between the fourth and fifth seasons, it became clear that Tattersall’s schedule needed to open up so he could location scout and do more prep work in concert with the directors about to take on upcoming episodes. Another DP was needed. Tattersall endorsed Miller as the artist to step up in that role. Miller began lensing select episodic work for Grace and Frankie at the outset of season five, and by the sixth season the two were alternating from one episode to the next (sandwiched between the year’s first and last installments which were typically shot by Tattersall).
With Netflix’s 4K mandate in force at the outset of Grace and Frankie, Tattersall initially went with the RED digital camera. If not for the 4K requirement, Tattersall shared that he likely would have gone the route of the ARRI Alexa which was emerging at that time as the digital camera of choice for filmmakers. Still, RED proved to be up to the task for the first two seasons of Grace and Frankie. But for a scene in the season two finale, Tattersall and Miller decided to give the Canon C300 Mark II a proof-of-concept run. They were drawn to its look, the quality of skin tones and the colors it delivered. The Canon model became the go-to camera from seasons 3 through 5 before the series moved on to the C700 FF for season 6 and the first part of season 7. Then for part two of the show’s seventh and final season, Tattersall and Miller gravitated to the Canon C500 Mark II, with the C70 deployed for additional photography. Also contributing to the look of the show were Canon lenses (CINE-SERVO 25-250mm, CINE-SERVO 17-120mm, and Sumire Primes).
Tattersall noted that his intent from day one on Grace and Frankie was to take a feature film approach to do full justice to the high caliber scripts. Tattersall noted that the term “sitcom” always made him feel “ill” as he associated it with work that looked far from realistic, going hand in hand with canned laughter. The DP reasoned that with a cast including top-drawer theatrical motion picture actors such as Fonda and Tomlin, it seemed natural for the series to embrace more of a cinematic feel akin to that found in a comedy feature.
As for the alluded to lighting philosophy, Tattersall and Miller wanted to be as visually flattering as possible to chronologically mature star performers including Fonda, Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston. Tattersall and Miller tried to create shadowless light, which lends itself to an almost still portrait look in the middle of the set for each shot. The DPs prescribed a white muslin wrapping on surfaces to help get rid of unwanted facial shadows. This contributed to a soft light feel. When an actor is situated in the middle of all this, he or she almost in an abstract way becomes the filament in the light, observed Tattersall.
At the same time, added Miller, the contrast was increased in the background so as to balance the softness of the foreground image, avoiding a flatly lit one dimensional look. Thus the overall image, explained Miller, had depth and shape. “Even though we were dealing with this sort of portrait lighting for each setup, we kept a very natural feeling to the show,” related Miller.
Aspiring to that natural feel, Miller was particularly gratified to hear people are surprised when they are told that the beach house where the Grace and Frankie characters reside had been built on a soundstage. Many typically assume that the house was shot on location.
As for his biggest takeaway from the Grace and Frankie experience, Tattersall shared, “To work with actors of this caliber over multiple seasons is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity–seeing what they bring to their roles, the time and professionalism put in.” He noted that Fonda and Tomlin could typically be in at 4:30 in the morning for makeup while they delve further into and get their heads around the script, then dovetail into rehearsing scenes while sets are being lit. Then comes a 10-hour shoot day. And even when back at home, they are absorbing pages of dialogue for the next day. “How the hell do you do that in your 70s or 80s?” said Tattersall who described watching Fonda, Tomlin, Sheen and Waterston work as being “an incredible revelation in terms of how disciplined and professional the best actors can be.”
Miller too said that what resonated most for him on Grace and Frankie was the chance to get to know the cast. “Jane, Lily, Martin and Sam have been performing really well for so long. To see the four of them come together and watch them work day in and out is a joy…to see their kindness and graciousness to the people around them. There must be something about being that kind and wonderful to those around you that contributes to the longevity these actors have enjoyed in the business. And at the same time they’re doing so much work with maybe six or seven pages of comedy day in and day out.”
Grace and Frankie was also personally fulfilling for Miller relative to his own progression. “This show is a once-in-a-career experience. Not only has it been an enjoyable experience but it’s also been life changing for me, moving from gaffing to DP.”
