HBO’s ‘DTF St. Louis’: How Cinematographer James Whitaker Created The Visual Style

Jason Bateman and David Harbour successful HBO's 'DTF St. Louis.'

Photo Courtesy of HBO

HBO’s DTF St. Louis is threaded with themes of middle-aged malaise, the nuances of antheral friendship, and the elusive situation of uncovering and nurturing a existent connection. But beneath those ideas is different defining element: the series’ unique ocular language, created by Emmy-nominated cinematographer James Whitaker.

Steven Conrad created the acheronian comedy, which was primitively inspired by the New Yorker article, “My Dentist’s Murder Trail.” The real-life true-crime communicative became the jumping-off constituent for Conrad’s analyzable mystery, starring Jason Bateman arsenic weatherman Clark Forrest, David Harbour arsenic motion connection expert Floyd Smernitch, and an A-list formed including Linda Cardellini, Richard Jenkins, Joy Sunday, Peter Sarsgaard, and Wynn Everett.

The constricted bid received 13 nominations astatine the upcoming 78th Primetime Emmy Awards crossed six categories, including Outstanding Limited aliases Anthology Series; acting nods for Bateman, Harbour, Cardellini, Jenkins, and Sunday; and nominations for Conrad for penning and directing.

On the accumulation and method sides, the show was recognized for editing, sound mixing, casting, costumes, and Whitaker’s cinematography.

This is Whitaker’s 2nd Emmy nomination; his first came successful 2015 for the HBO documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck. He had besides collaborated pinch Conrad earlier connected Patriot, an Amazon Prime spy-thriller/black drama bid that ran from 2015 to 2018, and the 2019 neo-noir play bid Perpetual Grace, LTD, for which he changeable the first 2 episodes.

This time, however, Whitaker faced an wholly different challenge.

“This was specified a gift. Steve’s penning is magic,” said Whitaker, who besides acknowledged the challenge. “This 1 was terrifying for me.”

Their erstwhile projects had taken them to visually rich | locations for illustration Prague, Paris, and Santa Fe, wherever beautiful architecture and sweeping landscapes provided a earthy cinematic foundation. DTF St. Louis, by contrast, was intentionally group against a acold much mean backdrop.

Whitaker said the nondescript scenery initially made him nervous, but he welcomed the situation of uncovering a ocular attack that worked pinch the story’s emotions.

That situation became cardinal to Whitaker’s ocular approach. The bid is built astir a deceptively elemental theme: “No 1 is normal. It conscionable looks that measurement from crossed the street.”

Per Whitaker, that ocular thought is encompassed successful the first shot.

Whitaker explains that the bid originates crossed the thoroughfare from Clark’s location arsenic his woman and daughters time off for schoolhouse and Clark rides his recumbent bicycle retired of the garage. The segment looks ordinary; an mundane family connected a weekday morning. But Clark’s life is thing but normal and is astir to go overmuch stranger.

A longtime instrumentality of thoroughfare photography, Whitaker wanted to observe the family from a respectful distance, allowing the creation to uncover thing the group wrong the framework whitethorn not admit themselves.

He said the trees successful Clark’s beforehand gait disagreement the creation for illustration jailhouse bars, making Clark look trapped wrong the mean life he created. His recumbent bicycle offers “a mini escape,” albeit a ridiculous one, that anticipates the much disruptive ways he will yet effort to escape. “Maybe that is middle-age malaise successful a nutshell.”

The ocular palette reinforces that idea.

Whitaker described the look arsenic a somewhat muted scope of colour pinch heavy achromatic shadows, not bleak aliases colorless, but restrained, serious, suburban, and ordinary. The restrained palette establishes a baseline, allowing warmth, fantasy, color, and heightened emotion to guidelines retired erstwhile they appear.

“It tin beryllium emotion trapped successful a comfortable, recognizable life you whitethorn person worked very difficult to create. The situation is made retired of the things you erstwhile wanted,” he added. “Clark is trying to flight from a life that looks beautiful bully from crossed the street.”

Visualizing Middle-Age Malaise

Whitaker’s attack to mediate property appears passim the series.

One illustration is erstwhile Clark and Floyd beryllium together connected swings, looking for illustration 2 small boys.

Whitaker explained that Floyd tells Clark that Carol has started making money connected weekends by umpiring, which he finds inexplicably unattractive. He past admits he is judge location is thing he does that turns Carol off, too.

The segment is followed by Carol and Floyd successful their kitchen. Floyd walks successful shirtless, his belly exposed, absorbed successful a Batman comic. He abruptly becomes emotional. Carol asks what is wrong. “Batman lived.” Then he puts his bare tummy against the celery.

Whitaker called the segment a precise penetration into a agelong marriage. “These are 2 group who were erstwhile profoundly attracted to each different who person gradually go almost perfectly designed to move each different off, yet they still emotion 1 another.”

He noted that though their intimacy remains, it’s go little romantic, little flattering, and much truthful.

A fewer subtle shafts of ray done the room model springiness the absurd relationship a telling quality. “Batman, celery, and Floyd’s bare tummy someway incorporate an full marriage."

Another illustration is Clark braiding some of his daughters’ hair.

Whitaker said the camera is placed successful the hallway, looking done 1 doorway arsenic Clark braids 1 daughter’s hair, past dollies correct to uncover him braiding the different daughter’s hairsbreadth done the adjacent doorway, each successful 1 shot. The repetition feels loving and storybook-like while besides capturing the loop of family life: “One room becomes the next. One braid becomes the next.”

The ocular connection past changes arsenic the camera cuts progressively tighter connected Bateman to an almost uncomfortably adjacent angle. At the aforesaid time, Clark’s voice-over reveals really acold his mind has wandered from the tenderness of those moments.

Whitaker said the hallway changeable presents Clark arsenic a loving begetter moving done the life he has built, while the close-ups uncover the man trapped wrong that role. “Even while loving his family, Clark wants to flight his life. Both things tin beryllium existent astatine once.”

Male Friendship and Human Connection

The show’s exploration into antheral relationship struck Whitaker arsenic 1 of his favourite parts of the story.

Whitaker said Clark and Floyd seldom explicate what they mean to each other. Their emotion is expressed done proximity, embarrassment, loyalty, silence, and simply remaining present. Floyd’s communicative astir Modern Love could person go a joke astir activity aliases masculinity, but alternatively reveals his reluctance to humiliate different person.

“Floyd’s expertise to show Clark astir it says thing astir their friendship,” Whitaker reflected.

Visually, Whitaker said he ne'er wanted the camera to wink astatine the audience. “Don’t photograph the joke. Photograph the truth underneath the joke.”

The building “Are you down?” becomes shorthand for their relationship: Are you coming pinch me? Are you still here? Will you enactment beside maine erstwhile this gets strange?

That relationship becomes beingness and playful arsenic the 2 middle-aged men thrust recumbent bicycles and invent a ridiculous shared identity.

Whitaker said moving done the scenery together allowed the cinematography to seizure their relationship without forcing intimacy. Like galore men, they are amended astatine doing thing together than naming what they feel. He utilized shared frames to observe who moves toward whom and erstwhile they create distance, often holding the changeable alternatively than over-covering the moments.

“With Jason and David, sometimes the champion prime was simply to clasp the framework and let the pauses to exist,” he added.

The excavation location segment takes that vulnerability moreover further.

In the excavation house, Clark and Floyd are successful their underwear, discussing their insecurities, trying to make each different consciousness attractive, and yet dancing. When Clark admits he’s lonely and needs connection, the cinematography exposes alternatively than hides their vulnerability.

“Two middle-aged men dancing successful their underwear could easy go a sketch. But the camera could not guidelines extracurricular the room and laughter astatine them. The wider shots show the unusual beauty of them together. The person shots uncover the loneliness underneath the dance. They are conscionable 2 men trying to make 1 different consciousness safe. Their behaviour is sometimes absurd. Their request for each different ne'er is,” noted Whitaker.

Another standout segment features Floyd, who looks for illustration a soft, somewhat ungainly middle-aged man, abruptly getting connected a pommel equine and doing thing extraordinary.

Per Whitaker, the wide changeable was important because there’s obscurity for Floyd’s expertise to hide. The spectator sees his assemblage and what it tin do successful the aforesaid frame. “You had nary thought this was wrong him.”

For Whitaker, cinematography is yet astir looking intimately astatine group without judging them.

“The camera tin expose a person, but it tin besides protect them,” he said. “It tin move personification into a joke, aliases enactment agelong capable for the joke to go symptom and, eventually, love.”

For DTF St. Louis, he wanted the lighting to consciousness mostly diegetic, to beryllium people to the windows, lamps, streets, kitchens, and environments the characters inhabit, alternatively than dictate really the assemblage should feel.

His job, he added, was to create the conditions successful which the actors could astonishment 1 another, and the assemblage could observe the characters for themselves.

That takes patience, Whitaker said, overmuch for illustration thoroughfare photography. “You wait. You watch. You enactment unfastened to the anticipation that the astir revealing point successful the framework whitethorn not beryllium the point you primitively came location to photograph.”

Bateman said to the basal domiciled Whitaker played successful bringing Conrad’s imagination to the screen, praising him arsenic Conrad’s adjacent successful productivity and precision. “Jimi has perfectly matched Steve's unsocial penning pinch a ocular world that allows the assemblage to unrecorded and acquisition each you dream for erstwhile you measurement into the places and tones Steve creates. This was a dream task to beryllium a portion of.”

Of Whitaker, Conrad says his activity is invaluable because it makes it clear to audiences that movie is art, allowing it to defy the laws of reality and logic. “You person a abstraction that is unbounded. He’s brought that power, successful my estimation, to the activity we’ve done together.”

Ultimately, Whitaker’s creator attack does much than springiness DTF St. Louis its unique look. His cinematography invites the spectator to look much intimately astatine the group down the mean lives we deliberation we understand. In a bid that perfectly captures the loneliness epidemic, the request for connection, and the very quality desire for escape, it whitethorn beryllium the astir revealing position of all.