American Cinematographer - November 2001 - 127

ABC's NYPD Series The Job Hits Comedic Beat
by Eric Rudolph

In a hardscrabble, industrial no man's
land

Long Island City, Queens, a
experiment in filmed television
production is taking place. The main
police-station set for the ABC series The
near

bold

Job is housed in

an

old warehouse that

sits

partially astride one of New York
City's fetid, vestigial canals, and it is
there that cinematographer John
Thomas and two operators take the
small-gauge, cinema verite approach of
another police show, Homicide: Life on
the Street

(see AC Oct. '95), several

steps further.
The Job is

half-hour sitcom

a

about the New York Police

Department
that stars Denis Leary. Thomas and
operators Peter Reniers (A camera) and
Jim Denny (B camera) use Aaton XTRprod
Super 16 cameras fitted with 800'
magazines to shoot the show. The actors
have

no

often

cover

marks, and the two

cameras

several hundred

the hard-walled set in

degrees of
single shots. Little

illumination is used other than available

light and practicals, and the operatorcontrolled manual
ever so

combat

zooms

slightly, as if controlled by jittery
photographers.

"We're after

ASDreBaKocmWnCuGordfkt.sesy
Liebowtz,

byEPhrotics

the

slide in and out

a sense

of realism,

feeling that we're finding these
as they're happening," says

scenes

production needs "to stay out of set-like
situations. We want to let the

room

dictate how

have

removed

were

the action

as

to

accommodate

and

be

he says.
The show's exteriors

shot with little

are

often

artificial

lighting.
move," Gates states.
"We don't want to stop traffic or
clog the streets with an armada of
trucks." Thomas concurs, noting that for
"We

light and

or no

we

recent scene shot in Central

Park, the

lighting equipment consisted of just

a

Director Tucker Gates

explains
approach is to "shoot in a
way that keeps the room alive." When it
that the crew's

room

is

present," he adds with some pride.
Thomas says that to realistically
portray the feel of New York, the

Top (from left): B-camera first assistant Brian Wengrofksy,
B-camera operator Jim Denny, A-camera first assistant Phil
Cohen and A-camera operator Peter Reniers shoot a New
York street scene featuring actors Bill Nunn and Denis
Leary for the series The Job. Bottom: Director Tucker Gates
(center) goes over an upcoming shot with
cinematographer John Thomas (right) and Leary, who is
also an executive producer of the show.

operators get in the groove and see their

opportunities."
Thomas sits

"We're not

it unfolds."

works, "it feels like the whole

we

lighting, that feeling could
destroyed. "I don't want to see cops
walking down a wide, well-lit hallway,"
cameras

bounce card.

up to

that

claustrophobic, New York feel. We
having to shoot around obstacles
and catch up with the actors." The
cinematographer feels that if walls

"We want it to look

catching

so

like

a

if we're

shoot

that

Thomas, whose credits include another
New York-based show, Sex and the City.
as

we

by the two monitors
Denny shoot;
the operators often have to maneuver
out of each other's way. "B has to yield to

taking the traditional
approach to covering scenes," Thomas
explains. "We're discovering the scenes

with Gates

with the

A," Thomas notes. "Jim will shoot the

cameras.

We'll talk and have

a

rehearsal, and sometimes we'll just start
shooting the rehearsal. We usually start
to click on Take 3; the photography kind
of evolves, the actors are going, and the

as

Reniers and

floor while Peter's

crossing. Jim knows

where to sit down

on a

box and find

another character to cover."
The freedom

granted by the
American

Cinematographer 123
American Cinematographer - November 2001

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