SERIES / CANAL BRASIL

HIT PARADE

By Wilssa Esser

“Hit Parade” tells the story of Simão, an idealistic singer who, after being tricked by producer Missiê Jack, opens a record label to compete with his rival. In a short time, a war between them dominates the pop music industry in the 80s. The series presents a universe that appeals to the exaggeration of the typical aesthetic elements of the time, with an excess in colors and glow that makes it look current, pop, where the cinematography choices speak directly with the comedic and dramatic tone of the episodes.

Color and texture are the determining elements of the Hit Parade’s look . We opted for a saturated color quality, mainly in primary colors, which refers to that decade’s video aesthetic. In the series, we see a TV show featuring the most successful artists and we are always in between the backstage and the main stage.

With the help of filters, we were able to bring out the highlights and, at the same time, deconstruct the demand for incredible resolution that images currently have. We used some color tones that make reference to that time period, but nowadays are not considered “good taste”, as if they had already been discarded in the production of contemporary images.

I already knew Marcelo Caetano informally because we go to similar cinema circuits. He got to know my work with the film “Temporada”, by André Novais, which was my first experience as a director of photography in a fiction feature film. Our first job together was a documentary filmed in a public school for the project “Brito sem Homofobia”, which is an annual LGBTQIAP+ event that would be censored by current government policies in Brazil. It was four nights with great dynamic. Then André Barcisnki, creator and screenwriter of “Hit Parade”, invited him to direct the series and I was asked to shoot it.

When it comes to the 1980s, the most common path is to reproduce an American imagery, but the aesthetics of TV and cinema in Brazil in that decade are quite different from what we see in these more obvious representations. Our research for images was extensive, we started to see family photos, TV shows from that time, marginal cinema and pornochanchada. We talked a lot about already existing images that Marcelo brought, from there we extracted several symbolic elements that would become the visual identity of a pop Brazil of the 80s.

We had a lot of freedom in our choices. We also revisited foreign films. The film “Querelle”, by Fassbinder, was an important reference for the use of colors and the glow in the highlights. The lights, the composition and the set of the auditorium were very inspired by the Indian musical Disco Dancer (1982), by Babbar Subhash.

We combined all this with a cinematographic construction that was sophisticated and, at the same time, escaped from a clean representation of the time. We allowed ourselves to work with “error”, simulating the little latitude in the dynamic range, which is a characteristic of video cameras at the time. We work with blown out highlights, grainy images, chroma key with clear clipping, blunt zoom movements. We use, for example, a green gel that today, in a traditional production, would never be used. It was something that could be considered bad taste, but it suited our purpose, a kind of aesthetic parody.

The breakdown took place during the shoot, giving the actors freedom to create as they would experi-ence this first reaction to the set. We always try to think of scenes escaping from the classic shot/ re-verse shot.

The most planed and choreographed scenes were the sequences with Steadicam, operated by Thiago Giovani. The opening shot, for example, is important because of the introduction of the backstage. The series offers an insight into the music industry, with some main characters who are producers and work in recording studios. This initial shot summarizes everything, as it starts in the dressing rooms and enters the TV show’s scenario, in the auditorium (the space with the greatest aesthetic explosion in terms of colors, lights and brightness), and we progressively guide the viewer in a long shot through that universe.

Marcelo Caetano was hesitant to work with a shallow depth of field. The whole series was shot at f/4 and f/5.6 because he wanted more depth. The mise-en-scène contributed a lot to this, with its different dramatic shots. The depth of field would cover the foreground and some of the set in the back. It’s something that works when you can build everything from the actors’ performance. This was important to avoid the overused blur. Nowadays, there is a kind of fetish or a false notion that shallow depth of field or blur makes an image more “cinematic”.

In regards to framing, we always took into account that we were framing for a TV screen, but with the awareness that the series could also be watched on a cell phone display. In this sense, it was different from what we would do in cinema, without super wide frames, for example.

Some scenes didn’t have a lot of movement from the actors, but we managed to create a certain fluidity with the use of dolly tracks. Therefore it didn’t look too static and the audience doesn’t lose the rhythm of the moment.

CAMERA, LENSES AND LOTS OF FILTERS

We chose the Sony FS7 camera, for production and design reasons. It is economical and at the same time has a body ergonomics that allows, for example, to operate the camera on the shoulder without rigs or accessories. I went with the ZEISS T1.3 Super Speed kit which I like a lot, as we were looking for an image that was not too sharp. They have a vintage texture and an interesting bokeh. Even then, it still wasn’t enough. Due to the camera’s look we still had a predominant contemporary texture, so we moved on to the testing process.

I always work a lot with filters and I try to think of photography based on the texture that the story calls for. Before thinking about the lighting and composition, the first thing I think about is the texture that the script provokes in me. In the case of “Hit Parade”, the characters move through many night environments, it was a time when smoking was allowed everywhere, so the smoke and the highlight in excesses had to be printed in the image.

I researched a lot of filters. Generally, we do a research in an attempt to beautify. In this case, it was the other way around. We needed to cause certain “damage” to the image, bring some dirt, both in light and in the texture of the glass itself. I did some filter tests that I analyzed together with Marcelo in order to understand the ideal density balance, being aware that the idea was to exaggerate.

Throughout the series, we used the Smoque 1 filter. It’s an atmosphere filter, it makes the highlights glow and smoothes the transition from shadows to midtones. It has a washed look that we find very interesting. In addition to Smoque 1, we add 1/4 of Pro Mist to it for even more glow on highlights. We always used a heard back light on the characters, which is a characteristic of the cinematography of that time.

For some sets, like the auditorium, the nightclub and the bars, we wanted to bring more sparkle, so we added the Star filter that creates multiple rays from a single light source. In these scenes, we had to remove the Pro Mist, because mixing the 3 filters would create problems with refractions and doubling the outlines in the highlights.

All these flare effects of the lamps in the sets, which form stars and geometric figures, were done on set and not simulated in post. I’m quite a purist about it. I prefer to handcraft it in front of the camera.

There was also a lot of conversation with the art director, Maíra Mesquita, a partner with whom I worked a lot since the tests in pre-production. She sent us a variety of fabrics to see how they would look on camera in different lighting situations. From there, we defined some backgrounds that would react better with light, reflecting more glare, even in underexposure situations. This understanding of the texture of the filters between both departments was very important for the art department, the choice of costumes and the elements that enhanced the sets.

LIGHTS

The series was a big challenge for the team. For grip and electric, I had only three people in total. It was quite complicated because the scenes had 360 degrees of possibilities. Marcelo likes to breakdown as we are shooting, according to the movement of the actors through the spaces. I had to build a 360 structure that was aerial to allow the cast to move freely. On camera crew, there were also three people, two assistants and a logger.

I worked a lot with light control board, similar to the theater ones. Lighting equipment was very basic because of the production design. It was basically ARRI Fresnels, KinoFlo and HMIs. We didn’t have the possibility to use the current LED structures that are lighter and controlled by iPad. At the same time, this didn’t go against the aesthetic goal we had. We set up an aerial structure with wall spreaders and adjusted the intensity on the dimmable light control board.

Many of the spaces were workplaces and offices, but we worked a lot on the brightness throughout the series, bringing out some contrast between them and the venues for the artists’ performance, which were usually nightclubs and cabarets with unique lights and particular visual identities.

Recording studios are totally enclosed, timeless spaces. The characters come in and spend so much time inside that we don’t even know what time it is. They spend the whole day drinking, doing coke and creating. They forget whether it’s day or night. We work with more direct lights and denser atmospheres, especially inside the cabin. The film “Nashville” (1975), by Robert Altman, was a reference for the lighting design and a way to study reflections with the aquarium glass.

We created differences between artists’ looks. Some had a more defined aesthetic. Others arrived for the first time to be tested, then the lighting in the studio would change to a flatter, more intense light because that was a kind of an audition.

In the case of the auditorium where Lobinho’s TV show takes place, we took extra lights and used old reflectors from the studio where we filmed, in Belo Horizonte. Therefore, we ended up working with some lights from that time period. It was the only space where we did pre-light, with an additional electrical team, as it was our biggest set.

The spaces were generally transformed with the characters, as well as Sensacional Discos itself. At the beginning of the series, the headquarters of the label is the home of Silvana, who is an alcoholic woman who lives with the curtains closed, a person who is bothered by sunlight. So, even in daylight, her house is lit by lamps. When they decide to open the record label, the space becomes the office and sunlight invades. At Sensacional’s office I worked a lot with a harsh light, which reminds me of the 80s, marking the window shutters on the walls.

Messiê Jack owns a music label and later becomes artistic director of Rede Platina. His first office had a dirtier light, with fluorescent bulbs emulated with Kino Flo, more like what an institutional office would be. When he rises to the position and becomes artistic director of the Platinum TV station, he starts to work in an environment with translucent glass panels, which we use as the main light source, and a fill with a bounced 1.2KW HMI that produced a softer, more sober and colder light.

Lobinho’s mansion is a rich person’s house, a place of little contrast, where daylight is present in the spaces due to the large panoramic windows. We worked with a bounced 1.2KW HMI to compensate for the internal/external ratio, and a 4K, rented for these dates, which would make the backlight always present in the series, both day and night.

With Bill, who is a punk artist, the reference was 80s Germany and Fassbinder movies. The character lives with his family in an old, gothic house, with moldy textures, so the light is more greenish. His room is different, all with closed windows, even during the day, with more contrast and density, which reflects the depression atmosphere experienced by the character.

COLORS

We decided on the colors for the lights in each set according to the environment. At the Gonçalo nightclub, where Simão sings, a kind of underground cave, we worked on a cabaret atmosphere, with predominantly red lights. We also took advantage of the location mirrors to create a game of depth in the scene.

The TV show is the most pop environment, where we allow ourselves to explore everything. It’s a primary color space, which is a television thing. Thus, we emphasize the shades of blues, reds and yellows in color correction. The lights came from the structure of the set itself. The art team placed a panel of small lamps and small mirrors hanging by nylon thread that were lit by us and, when rotated, brought a of movement effect that was even more evident with the Star filter.

There are colored spots only on some specific characters. For the Indigo scenes, for example, we brought blue because of his name. We also changed the color combinations in the auditorium depending on the personality of the performing artist. We brought some of their identities by using colors in the lights. We worked with red for Frank Fabiano, as he is a romantic singer. The key of light varied according to the type of music, whether it was romantic, rock, pop or indie.

An important collaborator was Alexandre Cristófaro, a partner colorist with whom I have worked for several years. He followed the process since our tests in pre-production. We created a monitor LUT for set to see the look closest to what our final image would be, with the colors more saturated and the skins a yellowish hue. After filming, in color correction, we took a different path, based on photographs taken with a Kodak Ektachrome negative, which Marcelo had taken during the filming. This negative featured an addition of magenta on the skins, which we incorporated during coloring, creating a separation between the characters and the colors of the sets.

CUTOUTS, EFFECTS AND
DIGITAL COMPOSITIONS

Everything was filmed with the same camera, including video clips and images from TV shows. We even discussed using another camera for these bits, but we thought it’s better to keep a unity and explore other visual elements to differentiate.

For the chroma key, we purposely made a rough masking, looking for something similar to the features of how it was done at the time. The more visible cutout, the better, contrary to what is the goal today. The colors came from the sets created for these backgrounds. The chroma key studio wasn’t big. We filmed the actors in normal proportion and, in some images, their size was changed in the post, like when a galaxy appears in the background of a children’s music video.

Marcelo Caetano really wanted the series to have a scene with a bubble machine. It’s an effect that re-flects lights through the air, with a movement you can’t control. This contributed to the character played by Nash Laila, who becomes a child singer during her pregnancy. In the scene when the studio is set on fire by Bill burns the guitar in the on-air TV show, that is fake, purposefully quite fake, done in 3D. We just simulated the light from the flames on the characters.

AN ARCHITECTURAL
BELO HORIZONTE

It was very important to film in Belo Horizonte. It was a bonus for the series. There is a sense of architec-tural and cultural preservation there that other cities do not have. In cities like São Paulo, for example, there are few places that are the same as they were in the 1980s. If they exist, the surroundings are al-ready very contemporary, with gray concrete. In Belo Horizonte, there really is this preservation and conservation of old buildings. City sets were what we needed.

It was a pleasure to be able to film again in Belo Horizonte. The series has an exceptional cast, mostly from Minas. Returning to BH allowed me to work again with the camera team for the film “Temporada” and it is thanks to these people that it was possible to arrive at the results we had.

Lighting Equipment List:

(1x) 575W HMI
(1x) 200W HMI
(1x) ARRI SkyPanel S30
(2x) LEDMais Flo 120
(4x) LEDMais Flo 60
(4x) ARRI Fresnel 300W
(4x) ARRI Fresnel 150W
(4x) ARRI Fresnel 650W
(2x) ARRI Fresnel 1KW
(1x) LEDMais Painel 30×30
(1x) Fresnel 2KW

LEE Filters Gels:

058 – Lavander
115 – Peacock Blue
138 – Medium Blue
102 – Light Amber
124 – Dark Green
354 – Special Steel Blue
182 – Light Red
142 – Pale Violet

Making Of

MINI BIO

https://www.wilssaesser.com/

Graduated from the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión (in Cuba), Wilssa Esser is a member and co-founder of the Brazilian Collective of Female and Transgender Cinematographers (DAFB). Born in Venezuela, she has lived in Brazil since 2014. She received the Candango Award for Best Feature Film Cinematography at the Brasilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema for “Temporada” (2018), directed by André Novais, also winner of the Best Film at Mostra Competitiva. Among his last works in cinematography are the shorts “República” (2020), “Menarca” (2020), “Quebramar” (2019), “Cachorro” (2017), “Filme-Catástrofe” (2017) and the feature film “Mascarados” (2020).

SERIES / CANAL BRASIL

HIT PARADE

By Wilssa Esser

CAMERA, LENSES AND LOTS OF FILTERS

LIGHTS

COLORS

CUTOUTS, EFFECTS AND
DIGITAL COMPOSITIONS

AN ARCHITECTURAL
BELO HORIZONTE

Lighting Equipment List:

LEE Filters Gels:

Making Of

MINI BIO

Assine nossa Newsletter

Inscrição realizada com sucesso!

SERIES / CANAL BRASIL

HIT PARADE

By Wilssa Esser

CAMERA, LENSES AND LOTS OF FILTERS

LIGHTS

COLORS

CUTOUTS, EFFECTS AND DIGITAL COMPOSITIONS

AN ARCHITECTURAL BELO HORIZONTE

Lighting Equipment List:

LEE Filters Gels:

Making Of

MINI BIO

Assine nossa Newsletter

Inscrição realizada com sucesso!

CUTOUTS, EFFECTS AND
DIGITAL COMPOSITIONS

AN ARCHITECTURAL
BELO HORIZONTE