The Day Of The Jackal is more of a hybrid mentality, where we’re voyeuristic when we need to feel paranoid. Regardless of the motive behind the assassination, the audience has to side with the Jackal. So, the audience must pull the trigger alongside the Jackal to be motivated to watch episodes two and three.
I am proud that we updated a classic story without feeling like a rehash. It felt like we were in a time in the world ripe for retelling this story. There’s been a collapse of trust in the idea of truth, and Ronan’s script felt like a post-truth thriller. We wanted to retell the story in a way that felt appropriate and illuminating for our time. The way audiences have responded to it at multiple levels indicates that we’ve achieved what we wanted.
We leaned into making a set look like Deborah Vance. When you watch Letterman, Leno, or Carson, you are watching a reflection of them. We wanted that for her. We used a really specific color palette behind her, like icy blues, and a soft smoky pink of the curtain opening. We played around with a lot of those colors… I wanted an entire wall so that you get all of her glitz and glamour as soon as she walks out. You’re coming from her world, and that’s bringing you into that space.
It was Paul Hunter’s existence, and there was an elevated element of surrealism to everything. It’s a quirky family, but it’s all based on Paul’s upbringing as a young guy. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the sixties and seventies, every time we had a scene that I just thought was a little bit outlandish, Paul would have some anecdote that rooted it in the truth of what happened with him, which is how I approached playing a version of his dad.
There’s this cave set on the stage, and it’s quite intricate. It’s cut with foam and then painted. The art department and their creative work is so impressive when you go into the cave you feel claustrophobic… It’s dark and scary. I shot some tests with my iPhone the week before with different colors and lighting effects, just so we could get an approximation of the look. I ran it by the team, and we were all on board. When I saw it all put together, I was impressed. The use of music in this series is incredible.
I tell people all the time, don’t be fooled by his kind eyes or his baby face, the man is a killer. He’s an assassin, he’s a monster, he’s not playing games. It was one of the reasons I initially didn’t want to do the gig on short notice. His attention to detail is almost telepathic. He’s thought of everything. That’s what it took me a second to figure out. I was like, this guy’s mapped out the entire thing. He’s also so relaxed about it.
I love everything about the show. The boys are incredible, and Lucky is incredible. But there are some moments, like in episode 3, the confrontation between the Indian family and the Pakistani family, that was amazing. Many shows can’t do that or are bold enough to do those things that not many people will understand, but it’s really satisfying to see onscreen.
The size and scope of the action set pieces have really increased this season; there’s one in particular that’s pretty massive. There was a conversation about how we can make it feel like we are off to the races, and the temperature’s increasing the whole time. I think the other aspect is making sure that the sonic characteristics of my world and Gustavo’s world feel like they work together.
In my career, I have found that a lot of times, when I’m trying to express myself creatively, I have to justify it to someone who perhaps doesn’t understand my perspective at all. That’s a sort of the painful part of being a creative. When we started working with Onyx Collective, it wasn’t just that they were people of color primarily and understood what we were going for, but also that they had a very specific vision of what they wanted to see on TV.
This season has more stunts, but it is still a very character-based show. This is extremely special for me because what I appreciate most as a cinematographer is creating a connection to the characters that viewers can understand. So they can live together with the characters and the journey they’re going through.
