ANGELA LEWIS: The look of "Snowfall"
really is Los Angeles.
MARCUS HENDERSON: Los Angeles just has a buzz about it, man.
And, like, everyone wants to know what it's like.
If you've never been here before,
there's always going to be a mysticism about it
and I think the cinematography captured that perfectly.
CARTER HUDSON: I think that it starts with the mandate
from John Singleton that they put out
an hour-long movie every week.
So I think that there is this goal
to turn out the most cinematic looking pictures possible.
DAVE ANDRON: I've been so happy with the look of it.
And so bringing in two new DPs-- the edict was really
not to reinvent the wheel here, it was really just to,
kind of, stay with what was working.
LEONARD CHANG: Tommy Maddox--
he actually innovated certain kinds of lens flares
that he helped create with the lens manufacturer.
TOMMY MADDOX: We augmented some lenses that I really
love to use-- these super speeds that I
had manipulated over Keslow.
And I use it with the Venice as a little bit
of form of creative expression in the show.
I know it's a different camera and lenses than what they used
the first two seasons but I also think the story's
evolved to something else.
So I thought it was appropriate to, kind of, switch it up.
ELIOT ROCKETT: Since we had decided to change camera
systems, going from the Panasonic to the Sony Venice
this year, we remade lots to emulate the looks that was
happening in previous seasons.
John Lindley and Jeff Greeley did
a really good job of setting up the look and the tone of the--
the show.
Tried to transition it a little bit
into where the story's going.
Season three we have a bunch of crossovers,
so I'm trying to incorporate this crossover
in the visual tonality and color palette-- and I'm desaturated,
or if I added a bit more white, or something like that.
I'm always intrigued by the way
that our cinematographers find their way into scenes
and tell a--
a bigger story.
CARTER HUDSON: Between South Central's CIA and East LA,
that's-- the series has evolved.
The barriers between those have broken down
and now they're all entwined and they start to melt together.
ELIOT ROCKETT: When it's a Franklin storyline
and there's certain things going on,
it feels sort of like it should have certain kinds of shots.
And then when it's Teddy and Julia and that sort of thing,
it sort of feels like it should have these other shots.
Really, in the end, for me, it's a lot about that.
It's just, like, how should this feel?
CARTER HUDSON: Eliot said, yeah, you know,
we have certain instruments that we use for the CIA
scenes and they're mostly, like, grays, and-- and blues, and--
and a cooler tone.
And then the-- the way that we shoot in South Central is--
is very different.
It's a lot more yellow, and amber, and orange,
and those kinds of things.
And so in that day, we were shooting
a scene with me and Franklin.
I was, like, so well, then how are
you going to shoot this scene?
And he's, like, well, whichever character
has gone to the other characters' world,
we live in that quality.
So he was shooting Franklin with the CIA lights and lenses.
ELIOT ROCKETT: Shooting narrative drama-- it is all
about, like, does the picture emulate what sort of subtext
is going on in that moment?
And does the-- the photograph that you're creating have
the right sort of emotional quality
to lead the-- the viewer down the right path,
in terms of where they should be in the narrative,
and stuff like that.
MAN: The new writers that we bring in, you know,
have their own perspective and their own ideas
about what happened in-- in any form
with-- with the crack epidemic.
And it just makes these stories and the characters
richer and more resonant.
DAMSON IDRIS: I'd say the biggest thing that we
definitely almost stick to these days,
particularly in season three, are
these beautiful, long sequences, where it's one take, one shot,
a one up, as they call it.
And as an actor, it's great because the tension
stays there--
the stakes are there.
And you really do stay in the scene and stay focused.
And I think as an audience that's fantastic to watch.
KEVIN CARROLL: I think about a show
like this is that it not only gives the actor rich material
to play but you also give a director room to be
creative in what they're doing, and you merged
with the emotional side, and I think it gives
the-- the show its own look.
AMIN JOSEPH: I think that's part of the challenge
with television is that there's so much television,
and how do you make it unique?
How do you make something-- a moment feel really authentic?
I think those guys do a great magic trick every week.