FX Brings the War Home with Over There

With the debut of Over There, the new military drama from executive producer Stephen Bochco, Hollywood-based war scenes will co-exist for the first time with the images shot by embedded photojournalists. To satisfy Bochco’s demands for a level of realism in both images and audio, key creatives on the series are meeting the challenge of using craft, technology and not a little artistry to create a stylized documentary look that gives the viewer the experience of being there.

Rick Bota, one of the show’s two DP s, says the look was established in the pilot, directed by Chris Gerolmo and shot by Kramer Morgenthau. Working with Gerolmo, Bota and co-DP Bill Roe rely on the two-DP process: one shoots an episode while the other is busy prepping. "You can sit in on storyboard meetings, have input on colors, how sets are built – you can try to have your opinion heard, although not always executed," says Bota. "I feel so much more prepared, and it saves on production overtime. The expense of keeping two cinematographers on payroll is offset by the efficiencies."

The production uses three 16mm Arriflex SR cameras, shooting on Kodak Vision 2 stocks. FotoKem colorist Joe Rocke scans dailies at 2K, allowing the show to take advantage of a data-based post process. Since more color correction happens in the dailies process, Rocke notes, the time needed for final correction is halved, which gives the time-strapped show an important leg up.

Key to the show’s unique look is a 16mm hand-cranked camera, designed by Roe and based on the Arri S camera body. Using Kodak 7286 reversal stock, the DPs under- or over-crank the camera or sometimes reverse it for double exposure, usually for battle sequences. "I find the imagery very jarring and very emotional," says Bota. "It’s an unusual POV- the opposite of the documentary feeling. We use it to get inside our heroes’ heads."

Cameras are almost always handheld. When the camera is dollied, the operator puts the camera on top of an actual softball, which is placed in the turret to accept the head. "It’s a modified handheld," says Bota. "You have some support for the camera, but the camera is never quite stationery." Bota also reports that, inspired by Saving Private Ryan, the production relies on different shutter angles for "a choppy motion look." When the production heads out to Lancaster, CA, Bota takes advantage of Mojave Desert vistas to compose wide shots, the only real establishing shots in the series.

The pace is fierce – every episode has at least one big battle sequence, and the show is constantly on the move between sets in Chatsworth and locations in Lancaster and Palmdale. At the high end, says Bota, the crew has pushed through nearly 70 set-ups in a single day.

Struggling with the weather conditions brings the crew- and cast, suited up in full combat gear – closest to the environment endured by U.S. troops in Iraq. Summer temperatures have topped 110 degrees Farenheit and the combination of desert locales and wind machines makes for a constant struggle against sand scratches on the celluloid.

The locations have, however, helped Roe and Bota devise a look for the lighting. "This is one show where we wanted to embrace the hot, high summer sun," says Bota, who reports that War: USA, Afghanistan, Iraq, a collection of leading photojournalists’ work published by de.MO, has been an inspiration. "Normally, you might start bringing out the silks when the sun is overhead, but it works for the look of the show and the look of Iraq not to have shade out there." The solution is a small lighting kit that also helps speed through the daily number of set-ups. Bota reports that he pushes night exterior shots until the "very last bit of light in the sky," is gone. To speed up night lighting, he and Roe use a 12×12-foot silk box stretched over two 1200-watt PARS and one 2500-watt PAR hanging off the bottom of an 80-foot Condor. "It’s an uncorrected HMI blue, and to that we add green to get a less‘pretty’ quality," says Bota.

Supporting the harsh reality of the images is a soundscape composed of lots of Foley, authentic walla and a judicious use of original music by Ed Rogers (the show’s opening song is composed by writer/director Gerolmo, whose band performs it). Todd AO supervising sound editor George Haddad notes that the emphasis on gritty realism begins on the set, where production sound mixer Jim Stubie mics the actors with boom and strategically placed radio mics. Once in house, at Stage One at Todd AO Burbank, Haddad says they don’t clean up the sound as they normally would with NoNoise. "You can hear the gear the soldiers are wearing when they’re running," he says. "It’s that real."

An episode of PBS’s Frontline gave Haddad, sound effects editors David Barbee and Bradley Kontona, and dialogue editor Ed Lachmann a good starting point for what it would take to create an ambience of radio chatter, Humvees and local noises. Foley walkers wear Army outfits complete with gun holsters and water packs, and another Foley artist does all the gun movements and whizzing bullets. The loop group features a native Iraqi and native Jordanian for additional authenticity, as well as the sounds of the rickety diesel-fueled cars in villages.

Battle scenes are a special challenge. They have to be intense, but not unrealistically so. "We like to not be loud constantly but have peaks and valleys," notes re-recording mixer Joe Barnett. Barnett and fellow re-recording mixer Matt Waters have one day to mix, with a second day devoted to playback and fixes designated by Bochco and Gerolmo. "The biggest battle we have is time," admits Waters. "We keep our head up, looking at what’s going on." The team gets to stretch its sound design wings in the hand-cranked scenes. "It gives it an acid-trip look, so we’ll do things like treat the voices with pitch-shifting and crazy delay," says Barnett. "We’ll go wild with it- maybe even go a little too far. It’s easier to pull us back than create more."

Selling the illusion of reality via audio makes for some unusual television. "Sometimes what the characters are saying isn’t as important as the battle blazing around them," notes Barnett. "It’s more emotional for viewers to be on the edge of their seats when all hell is breaking loose. It’s more important to not hear what the characters are saying." To that end, another atypical feature of Over There is its lack of wall-to-wall music. "It’s nice to be on a show where there’s no music for 20 minutes," says Waters. "We are able to do subtle things because of that more limited use of music. When it does come in, it’s so much more powerful."