Spotlight Interview: Grace and Frankie Cinematographer Luke Miller

Spotlight is ComingSoon’s interview series with below-the-line and/or up-and-coming talent in the world of television and film. Our aim is to shine a spotlight on the varied positions that make the entertainment you love possible rather than focusing purely on actors and directors.

ComingSoon’s Jeff Ames had the opportunity to speak with cinematographer Luke Miller about his work on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.

Jeff Ames: What led you to become a cinematographer?

Luke Miller: I was interested in filmmaking as a whole before I landed on cinematography. It was really the ability of a movie to create an entire world that exists within the frame with its own rules and physics and laws that was just magical to me. I wanted to be a part of creating those worlds, and learn how to harness the magic that has the power to entertain, excite, move, or cause deep introspection in an audience. I started film school at Columbia College Chicago thinking I would study directing, but as I learned more about how films were made, and learned about the incredible amount of collaboration required to make a movie, I kept finding myself gravitating toward the cameras. While studying there, the language of lighting and lenses really came naturally to me, whereas I could stare at a blank piece of paper for hours before writing “Fade in…”. It was while studying there that I discovered I was much more interested in helping directors tell their stories visually, than telling my own.

What was it about Grace and Frankie that made you want to work on it?

As soon as I heard the elevator pitch, I was very interested. The idea that Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen, and Sam Waterston would all be in the same show was immediately intriguing. My first thought was, “Any one of these four incredible actors could have their own show, it’s going to be incredible to get them all together”. The cast alone made it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with so many legendary actors. On top of that, Marta Kauffman and Howard Morris’s incredible writing talents made it a no-brainer. I didn’t have a second of hesitation.

What was the most challenging aspect of Grace and Frankie and how did you overcome that?

Finding a way to accomplish the cinematic look of the show on a television schedule. From the start, the goal for the look of the show was to be cinematic and natural, and to light our iconic cast beautifully. Lighting a set on a stage to look natural and realistic is time-consuming, and lighting Jane and Lily with the care one would use for lighting a portrait added another level of complexity. As a streaming show, a finished episode averaged a bit over 30 minutes, which is about 8 more minutes than a traditional half-hour show with commercials. We had to develop a way to achieve the high-quality look that was desired while still keeping up with our tight schedule. Our lighting technique involved covering every part of the set that wasn’t shot in bleached muslin cloth and bouncing lights off of it. This technique had a very unique effect of focusing soft light onto the actors, but it was a lot of work for each setup, so we had to find shortcuts to speed up the process. We clipped the muslin to the tops of all of the set walls so it could be dropped in and out very quickly, and made custom diffusion frames that could be fit into the windows by one person in seconds. Even though the lighting was complex, we kept the tools very simple. We used a high quantity of only a few different types of lights, mostly traditional tungsten units, and then used multiples to get the right brightness levels. We also started the show with rather large cameras and massive lenses, which oftentimes would prevent a second camera from getting in the right place to get a shot. Over the seasons, we changed to smaller cameras and lenses, and on the final episodes of Season 7, I used a very compact camera with prime lenses, which helped get that second camera in almost every setup. We just kept refining, and looking for ways to improve the system. The crew, many of whom returned year after year, became a very well-oiled machine that was able to accomplish an impressive amount of work in the limited time available.

Do you have any fun, behind-the-scenes stories about the making of Grace and Frankie?

The whole show was fun, each day brought laughs and smiles. Its difficult to choose, really, because it was almost eight years of good times. We had a shot this season where we saw Jane Fonda through a crystal ball. I was a bit concerned going into the setup because the director Molly McGlynn and I had tested the shot in advance, and I knew it looked cool, but the crystal ball would severely distort Jane’s face. Of course, it turned out there was nothing to worry about. We were working to get Jane in just the right spot to be in the shot, and she asked to see the monitor while moving around. Instead of being worried about looking distorted, she totally embraced it, got a kick out of it, and had the whole crew laughing as she was using the crystal ball like a funhouse mirror, cracking jokes, and making all sorts of funny faces. Lily was sitting next to her and joined in on the laughs.

Another time, I was prepping an episode that Marta Kauffman was directing, and one scene in the episode called for Principal Dan (played by Josh Cooke) to punch a short rib. So, naturally, we had to test that. We had a meeting with the prop master Emily Ferry, strictly for punching short ribs. I can’t remember what else we did that day, but I’ll never forget watching Marta’s smile “testing” short ribs with her punches. You never knew where the joy was going to come from on set, but it came out every single day in one way or another.

What were some of the things you learned from Grace and Frankie that you’re excited to apply to future endeavors?

Great cinematography comes from great writing. It all starts on the page; a cool shot is meaningless if it doesn’t come from and support the growth and development of the characters in the world of the script. This is a universal concept, but it was really cemented for me working with such wonderful writing on Grace and Frankie.

I learned that “old” is very much a state of mind, and it has very little to do with a person’s age. Our cast was in their 70s and 80s (depending on which season you’re talking about) and many of the crew were well beyond the traditional age of retirement, but I wouldn’t say anyone on the show was “old”. Working with so many people who not only had decades of experience, but also still wanted to be doing it, was an education in how to love what you do and enjoy every day of it.

I also learned the incredible joy you can get from a family atmosphere at work. I don’t have any actual family in the business, but the people I worked with on Grace and Frankie became my extended family. There was an atmosphere of friendliness and caring that started at the top with the creators and showrunners Marta Kauffman and Howard Morris as well every single member of the cast. Each year there would be a “Grace and Frankie family tree” on the wall of the main stage, with a picture of everyone that worked on the show with their name and hometown. It was just a little thing, but it was one of many little things that gave everyone a sense of inclusion. There was also a lot of promotion from within, I’m a great example of that, getting to move from Gaffer to Director of Photography is a rather uncommon opportunity that I will forever be grateful for. I’ll absolutely make an effort to recreate that environment on my next project.

Do you have any other projects coming up that you can share with us?

Currently, I’m prepping a short film called Introducing Billy Bradley with Michael Charles Roman who played Adam on Grace and Frankie. It’s a personal story of his, and he’s writing, directing, and starring in it. This is his first time in the director’s chair which is a kind of collaboration I really enjoy. I love to guide new directors through the process of discovering how to put their vision on screen. After that I’m a bit of a free agent, I’m excited to find something new. I’m open to any type of project, and really impressed with mini-series lately, so I’d love to shoot one of those.