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A Conversation with Chris Tammaro
(Camera Operator)
Q: I understand you've been with WITCHBLADE since the pilot?
A: I was lucky enough to get on the pilot, which was two years ago, working with Ralph. And when the first season came around they contacted me and asked me if I'd be interested in coming back, and as it turned out, the show was quite successful. . . .And again they've asked me to come back and give them my input, and so it's been a very exciting second season so far.
Q: Is there anything that you're doing visually now that may not have been the way things were done when this production started?
A: When we did the pilot, we worked in film and in the first season we decided to go into HDTV, which is a kind of videotape that is designed to look a lot like film. Of course the film look is desirable, but we found that the HD has given us a lot of flexibility to shoot many more angles and much more footage than we probably would have been able to do with film, just because of the cost aspect.
Q: How common is that now for television productions, especially series, to use that format?
A: Well, I think the HD format is quite attractive to producers from a cost standpoint. The challenge has always been to make it look as much like film as possible, because the object is the most pleasing visual look. And even though the audience might not know the difference between film and videotape, they certainly can sense a show where the lighting and the palette of colors used is rendered into a lesser extent and lesser effectiveness in videotape than it is in film. With the 24-frame, the 24P HD format, some of the technology has improved and obviously the desire is to make it look as much like film as possible. Plus, our director of photography(David Moxness) also takes a lot of time on a shot by shot basis, with the color correction facility right at hand, to make it look as desirable as we can.
Q: Are there certain things that you're asked to do with the camera that have created a kind of WITCHBLADE motif?
A: Well, since the beginning, we've always tried to establish a certain look. And with Ralph's input, we've developed the look and finessed it. And it's almost an ongoing thing. It has a life of its own in a way, where we started out with very basic but sophisticated ideas, and since then, have massaged them and developed them to try and establish something that's unique.
Q: Would you say there is a noticeable visual difference between Seasons 1 and 2, or is the goal to make them look as cohesive as possible in the way they fit?
A: I think the goal is to make WITCHBLADE look as much like a feature as we can, given the time and resources of the television show. The difference in look between Season 1 and Season 2 I don't think is that different. We are trying to push the envelope a little more in terms of, I'd say, contrast and light, color. But the mood is ongoing and I think we're just striving to make the best possible pictures we can.
Q: Is there anything that you think WITCHBLADE fans would be interested to know about the way that you do your job on this series as opposed to some other program?
A: Well, again, I think our executive producer, Ralph, has given us the license to push the envelope as far as we can. It's always a matter of time and resource. But I think that we have made a statement with the photography and with the action and with the moving camera, that we'd like to think is unique. And since making this statement, of course, we're always trying to expand on it. So it's just a matter of trying to do the best that you can in the time that you have allotted.
Q: Never easy, huh? (LAUGHS).
A: No it's never easy, but it's always a challenge and it's always exciting. And that's what makes this television show different than a lot of other ones that I've worked on. We do have the leeway. We do have a creative input that's quite high caliber, from the top down. And everybody on the show is enthusiastic. And everyone in the camera department is topnotch and very professional. So it makes for a smooth running set, and if the personalities are cohesive and the mood is one of always expanding the horizon and always trying to push the envelope, it makes for a very exciting day. And oftentimes you wonder where the hours went, even after working twelve or thirteen hours a day. You wonder, it just goes so fast. It's incredible.
Q: That's a wonderful thing to be able to say about a job isn't it?
A: It is.
Q: Thank you so much.
A: Thank you.
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