How I Met Your Mother was doused with 4 Emmy nominations this year. One included the work of cinematographer Chris La Fountaine. Between remodeling his house and starting up the show’s 8th season, Chris pulled up a chair with S&P to talk family, night vision and favorite directors.
S&P: Over the last ten years, you’ve quietly become one of TV’s best multi-camera DPs. How much influence did your father, George, have while you developed your own set of skills?
La Fountaine: Thanks for the kind words. My dad has had such a tremendous influence over my work. I grew up wanting to be a cinematographer like him, even before I understood what it was that he actually did. When I was 5 years old, in the mid 1960’s, I was given the opportunity to meet Batman (Adam West) at my dad’s work and that about did it for me. I realized that I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps. The golden nuggets he has shared with me, all the questions he has asked me to make me look at things from a different perspective, and the encouragement he has given me to think independently, has had such an impact on every aspect of my career. When I moved up to DP and I knew I had this guy named George La Fountaine in my back pocket as a mentor, I felt pretty darn lucky! Oh, and don’t think he wasn’t on speed dial.
S&P: To quote George, his philosophy was that “It’s not brain surgery and we’re not curing cancer, we’re just filling time between commercials.” How seriously do you take your work on set?
La Fountaine: He did say that, but I think it was his way of being humble. He was very serious about giving the director and the producers his absolute best, while at the same time keeping it light on the set to diffuse any tension. I have several of his crew still with me and they would run through walls for my dad, because of the respect they had for him and the way he worked.
That’s what you want. I take what I do very seriously as did my dad. You just can’t be too serious all the time. We spend so much time on the set, way more than we do with our families, that the humor keeps you going. As I have gotten more confident in my abilities, or less insecure, I have worked very hard to keep the atmosphere positive so that everyone is encouraged to do great work.
S&P: How I Met Your Mother is entering its 8th season. Are you still continuing to use Sony F23’s with Panavision Primo Lenses?
La Fountaine: Yes, we are. The Sony F23’s have been great for us.
S&P: Since HIMYM doesn’t shoot in front of a live audience, is your approach different than one of your other shows like Two Broke Girls which does?
La Fountaine: Definitely. With a live audience it needs to be rehearsed like a stage play and everything needs to be set to go by show time. On HIMYM, we only have 1 day of rehearsals and they are very rough, so we do get to tweak our sets much more like single camera. Often times we won’t get any rehearsal till we are ready to shoot, so I rely on conversations with our unbelievably skilled director Pam Fryman.
S&P: After shooting 160+ episodes of this Emmy award winning show, what keeps you going back?
La Fountaine: We have such great people on this show and believe it or not, it’s a guaranteed challenge every week.
S&P: 46 Minutes was the episode you submitted for this year’s Emmys. There was a lot of storytelling through lighting: Night vision, pitch blacks, strip clubs, poker rooms… Was this one of the reasons why you chose this episode over all the others in season 7?
La Fountaine: Exactly the reason. I chose this episode because I knew it was going to be challenging going into it and it showcased a variety of looks that enhanced the storytelling process.
S&P: How many days are you guys given to shoot an episode?
La Fountaine: On HIMYM, we have a production meeting on Monday. Rehearsal and network run thru on Tuesday. Then we are shooting Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.
S&P: HIMYM shoots with four cameras — how often does that fourth camera come into play? What are some of the things the director and you are trying to accomplish with it?
La Fountaine: We shoot 95% of the time with four cameras. It allows us to get more complete coverage of each scene within a take. It also allows the actors to ad-lib on set as they don’t have to worry about the takes not matching.
S&P: Jason Segal’s character wore a body camera rig during the “night vision” scenes. Technically speaking, how did you accomplish this look?
La Fountaine: Since the final product was going to be a monochrome green tinted picture (night vision), we used an inexpensive lipstick camera and turned up the gain for noise. We sent the HDSDI video down a coax to an SR deck that we normally use for one of the f23’s and recorded the feed on that.
S&P: How has technology in camera and lighting influenced the way you may do things?
La Fountaine: There are a couple of areas that quickly come to mind. The newer cameras can shoot at such low light levels with greater latitude compared to in the past. It gives us much more freedom to shoot at different light levels. Also, we shoot a lot of blue and green screen. It is much easier to key with the newer technology. I grew up seeing my dad balance chroma key and how the exposure had to be. We aren’t required to have it as even as in the past which allows us to move a lot faster. When we are shooting four cameras in a car with five people, it’s nice to not have to worry about that so much.
S&P: Do you tend to tweak the existing set’s look from season to season or is that something you keep consistent?
La Fountaine: Our writers come up with so many flashbacks, dream sequences, drug induced hallucinations, nightmares, fantasies and other storytelling devices, we typically don’t wait between seasons to tweak the lighting in our existing sets. The lighting is always tweaked, as needed, throughout the season.
S&P: How is it working with Carter Bays and Craig Thomas? Do they allow you and your crew to do what you do best or are they part of the process for new swing sets?
La Fountaine: Carter, Craig and Pam have all been so supportive of our work. However, they are all incredibly creative and all are extremely visual. So they will definitely give input on what they want to see on occasion. It’s one of the wonderful aspects of working together for so long. (laughing) They complete me.
S&P: Speaking of crew — among those who work closely with you, who would you thank for the show’s success?
La Fountaine: My Gaffer Steve Blaich and my Key Grip Rob Lestak are wonderfully talented and great guys to have on the set. Their crews are excellent and meet the challenges of a show that averages probably 7 or 8 swing sets a week. Often up to 11. Our camera crew is also a stellar group. I count on them for so much and they keep finding a way to get it done.
S&P: You came up in the industry as a camera operator, do you ever miss it?
La Fountaine: No, not really. I started as a second assistant on Newhart, Hill Street Blues, and St. Elsewhere. Then I moved to first assistant for about nine years. I operated for another ten and now I have been a cinematographer for nine years. I have really enjoyed all of it, but I love what I am doing now and I’m too busy to miss it.
S&P: I understand there are many, but if you were to choose, alive or not, which directors in film/tv would you really like to work with. A top 5ish?
La Fountaine: It’s too tough to pick 5, but Pam Fryman is definitely my number one. There’s no one as talented and gracious as her.
S&P: If you were not working in the industry as a DP, what would you see yourself doing?
La Fountaine: Ok. You got me. I’d be a camera operator.
S&P would like to thank Chris for sharing with us some of the stage work on How I Met Your Mother. You can catch the all new season starting September 24th on CBS. The Creative Arts Emmys will be held September 15th, 2012 at the Nokia Theatre LA LIVE in Los Angeles.
Photos: Monty Brinton/CBS & Chris La Fountaine