Cinematographer Dan Stoloff on shooting The Boys on Amazon Prime, The Americans and Suits

Over his long career, cinematographer Dan Stoloff feels he's always
learning as a DP. Every job, even if it seems small, is an
opportunity to meet people and build relationships. Dan's latest
project, The Boys season two on Amazon Prime, plays with the idea
that superheroes in that world are actually just corrupt and
possibly psychotic people with special powers, who behave in ways
that are anything but super. They have celebrity, play politics,
and use publicists and the media to manipulate their image. A small
group of people- “The Boys” in the show's title- band together to
expose the superheroes and the corporation they work for. Dan likes
that the show stays relatable and not to fantastical. When he came
on board for the second season of The Boys, Dan knew he wanted to
change the look as the story moves forward. The first season
presented a slick, neatly packaged corporate world for the
superheroes which was shot with a Steadicam, while the grittier
world of the regular guys who are trying to expose and take down
the supers was done handheld. For the second season, the two worlds
have started to clash and unravel, so Dan gave everything a more
ragged look. He decided to adhere more closely to the graphic novel
of The Boys, sometimes using black silhouettes and contrasts such
as subtractive lighting, positioning the actors against a dark
background. Dan also enjoyed that season two presented a variety of
scenes to shoot with different cameras, equipment, lighting
scenarios and lenses, such as a big-budget hero movie, newscasts,
an awards show, a country farmhouse and a gritty basement. In Dan's
early career, he moved from Boston to New York, after having shot
several claymation films. He began shooting comedy projects for
Broadway Video, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michael's
production company, and got a call to shoot The State, a 1990's MTV
sketch comedy show shot on 16mm. But Dan hadn't considered
television as a serious place for artistic expression until The
Sopranos opened his eyes to the possibilities of a quality series.
By then, the mid-budget independent features that Dan had worked on
started to dry up, and he began seeking out jobs on television
series. After landing his first television series, Memphis Beat,
Dan found he likes the precision, continuity, and security of TV.
He went on to DP the show Fairly Legal and then worked for nearly
five seasons as the cinematographer of the USA show Suits. On
Suits, Dan learned a lot about shooting through multiple levels of
glass, playing with reflections and bouncing outdoor light to make
it look more natural even within an office building or conference
room. Prior to The Boys, Dan shot season six of The Americans on
FX. In season six, more of The Americans takes place in Russia, and
some of the street scenes and exteriors were actually shot there,
though most of the interiors were shot on a soundstage. Dan wanted
to differentiate between the two countries, keeping the colors to a
green and cyan palette for Russia so that it felt cold, while in
contrast the American scenes were shot in full, rich color. You can
find Dan Stoloff: http://danstoloff.com/ You can watch Season Two
of The Boys streaming on Amazon Prime. Find out even more about
this episode, with extensive show notes and links:
http://camnoir.com/ep129/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras:
www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNQIhe3yjQJG72EjZJBRI1w Facebook:
@cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz