“Wu-Tang: An American Saga” cinematographer Gavin Kelly on the 'murky, color-bleeding shadows of the streets' and how he used lighting to give a 'larger-than-life presence' to the show's heroes
, assembled amid the early 1990s crack-cocaine epidemic in New York’s Staten Island to form one of the most important groups in hip-hop history.
“The look of the show for me was about the edges of light and shadow, where our characters’ conflicts, [losses] and victories take place in a high-stakes world,” says Kelly, who comes to the biopic from three seasons of FX’s “American Horror Story.” “Lighting-wise, rich contrast and layered color textures were central to the look and tone.
“I aimed for the dense, murky, color-bleeding shadows of the streets — where often violence, hardship and conflict lived — to bright, washy light that often flares over them when music, inspiration, family, connection and hope propel them forward,” Kelly says. “The look lives in this world of extremes and the complexities of navigating everything in between.”
Kelly shot on the Panavision Millennium DXL2, a larger-format camera, so that even medium shots and close-ups would have a richer feel along with a shallow depth of field.
Complementing the larger-format camera was Kelly’s choice of lenses that delivered on dramatic and dreamy visuals. “I mixed Panavision Primo 70s and the Artistes, which are more expressive in how they catch light and flare,” says Kelly. “We also employed the H-series that are even softer with more wild flares, which we use for the flashbacks — that creamier feel we wanted for the past.
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