Premium Members Emre Tufekci Posted December 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 About 6 months ago in my office through the word of mouth, we found the series Key and Peele. While we were quickly impressed by writing and acting, the cinematography really became the talk of the office. It was the first time we were seeing extremely stylistic approach to sketch comedy and we were blown away with the quality of the work. We quickly started breaking down each scene of how it was shot, what was utilized, what the lighting set up is. Fast forward to last week when we got curious to see who the DP was it led back to here; our own Charles Papert. So a big shout out to Charles; we love the show, we love the look, absolutely enjoy the attention to detail on every set up. If ever possible we would love to do a Q/A on your work, it is very inspiring. We will probably try to reach out to you on another forum for the cinematography. Keep up the fantastic work!!! Emre Tufekcioglu Reel:http://vimeo.com/11788109 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted December 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 Emre, thank you so much for the nice post. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the show. Over this break I've been plotting a blog that breaks down select sketches, just have to figure out which platform to use (custom/Tumblr etc). These days it seems like if it isn't blogged, it doesn't count--haha, yikes. Until then, if you do post about it elsewhere, let me know. This seems like an appropriate time and place to give to props to Nick Franco about his work on the show. We don't do a ton of Steadicam but when we do, I know I can count on him to bring it every time. This sketch from season 1 https://vimeo.com/channels/keypeele/39112696 was a showcase one'r for all of us, a lot going on a minute and forty seconds, especially on a schedule that has us shooting 2-3 sketches per day on location. Some pretty ferocious backpedaling up a ramp and around corners. Also want to shout out Denis Moran who is an old friend to the Steadi world, who is my A operator on the show and does a great job as well. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Twojay Dhillon Posted December 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 Nice work, Nick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Marc Abernathy Posted December 27, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Chas is usually pretty good at what he does. great post and congrats Chas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Emre Tufekci Posted December 27, 2012 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 We would love to hear more about the show and behind the scenes. We have every tool available to us in the office (Ultra 2, Alexa, dollies..... you name it) but often struggle with manpower/time. It would be great to see how you design and pull of such tight schedules. I will definitely reach out out to pick your brain. Keep shooting, we will keep watching. Emre Tufekcioglu Reel:http://vimeo.com/11788109 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted December 28, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Struggle with manpower/time...yeah, I might have a little experience with that! This year I've done a series of projects that have redefined for me what is physically possible in a given period of time and/or with a given set of resources. 105 pages in 8 days on one webseries...on a pilot, 38 pages in 48 hours (four mandated 12 hour days), including four musical numbers...most recently, another webseries presented 165 pages in 13 days. That last one proved to be, as suspected, impossible to achieve. We simply could not make our days. Key & Peele is actually almost reasonable in comparison! My departments are reasonably sized, although still missing a few key souls (one 2nd AC for two cameras and no utility, for instance). It's become second nature for me to tailor the lighting setups around what is possible without killing the crew, which means giving up on some nuances. We have no standing sets and are generally on location, so it's a fresh build every day, and usually several completely different looks. There's certainly none of the typical episodic repetition, so it keeps things from getting stale. It's a fun gig. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alfeo Dixon SOC Posted December 29, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Hey Charles, whats the word on Free Style Love Supreme? That 38x12x4x4... crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted December 29, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Sadly Alfeo, that pilot didn't get picked up by the network. It's now being shopped elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alfeo Dixon SOC Posted December 29, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Angus Campbell Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 I love Key and Peele, and I definitely appreciate the cinematography as well! Great job. As a steadicam newbie this is the kind of work I aspire to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted September 25, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 25, 2013 Hey gang: Season 3 of Key & Peele is underway! Tune in Wednesdays at 10:30/9:30c... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Sanjay Sami Posted September 25, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 25, 2013 How do you watch it ? Is it available online ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted September 25, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 25, 2013 Ummm--iTunes, and older ones on Hulu. And a few clips each show on Youtube. Last week's episode netted one of my faves, this parody of "Les Miserables", featuring the fine Steadicam stylings of Nick Franco... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Dave Chameides Posted September 25, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 25, 2013 Charles and I go way back and I can honestly say he's being overly kind in his description of the work he does. I speak to him every once in a while, invariably just before or just after one of these epic jobs and it's hard to even comprehend the number of setups he talks about executing in what amounts to the time a TV director would take to realize he's blocked the scene incorrectly from the get go. And not only is it volume, but as has been so aptly pointed out, it's quality work. He was a great steadicam op and I'm proud to say an even greater DP who seems to continuously bat it out of the park time and again. Couldn't be prouder to see one of our own and a good friend do so well. Mazel Tov from the whole mishpacha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Rob Vuona SOC Posted September 26, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 26, 2013 By The way, Charles, Congrats on the Emmy Nomination for Key & Peele, Your stuff looks awesome and as I have told you before and Dave commented on Nick Franco pulls off some incredible stuff that you torture him through =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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