American Primeval is the latest project by Peter Berg, director of Lone Survivor, Patriots Day, and Deepwater Horizon, to name a few. He is known for crafting well-worn survival films; his current project is no exception. It is an American Western television miniseries created and written by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) and stars Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin. Set in 1857, the series documents the violent clash between different cultures in Utah centered on the events surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
A well-received, critically acclaimed series with big streaming numbers for Netflix, which debuted the series this January. Joining Berg for the ride is DP Jacques Jouffret, who has worked with him on and off for the past two decades and knows his unique shooting style that mimics the visceral material depicted. Jouffret recently spoke to Immersive via Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.]
How did you first get involved with this project?
I’ve done many projects with Peter Berg before. I believe American Primeval was my fifth project with him. I came back to Los Angeles after working in Europe and was at the store picking up milk when I got a call from Peter Berg. He said, “Can you be here at 5 tomorrow? ” And that’s how it started.
Can you remember your first experience with Peter Berg? What was your first project with him, and what was your impression of him?
My first project with him was a commercial I did as a camera operator. A year later, I got a call from my agent about a camera operator job on Battleship. He was having a hard time finding someone who worked. We ended up doing Lone Survivor together. I was someone who could handle him.
His movies and television shows are not static… These are very active pieces of entertainment. Talk a little bit about adapting to that style of shooting.
The camera always moves in a Peter Berg film to catch the performance. Pete was an actor before, so you have to remember that the performance is everything for him. Therefore, all the machinery that makes a movie should not interfere with that. Everything should be at the service of the actors. That’s the beauty of working with speed because you see how it works with the actors and their movements. If the scene evolves in that direction, I cannot say stop. It’s all about capturing the performance.
Make it enticing. Because it is a visual medium, you get all the dialogue and the performance in there, and it’s moving.
The key is that if something absolutely amazing is taking place between two actors and you have your camera static, that’s not going to help you in any way. If the scene takes place in a small apartment, I’m probably going to light the staircase going to their apartment because I’m pretty sure there is a chance we may go there and start the scene there.
Some exciting stuff can happen in enclosed places, depending on the actor’s energy…
In Deepwater Horizon, a scene occurs in the cabin between John Malkovich and Mark Wahlberg. They were rehearsing, and we started shooting, and Pete said let’s go outside. We took all the equipment and set it up in the parking lot to see how they would react, and then we went back and shot it in the original space. Then, there was a great interaction between the characters, and that’s the beauty of working with Pete. Anything can happen, and you will get some magical stuff. The type of filmmaking I like to do.
Excellent. How much of a focal point was the 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson?
That’s the first movie Pete talked to me about while making this. I think the ‘fish out of water’ element of Jeremiah Johnson going into the wilderness and trying to survive was integral. The one thing about American Primeval that is interesting is that it’s the same story, but from a female point of view. I mentioned McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and that’s what I saw for the darkness, the dirt, the blood, the coldness.
Vilmos Szigmond, it’s one of the most beautiful movies ever shot.
In terms of feeling the cold, the grind, all the dirt and dust, we had a historian with us who knew the period very well. Every time we would shoot a violent scene, we were always concerned: Are we doing too much? She would always say, “You’re not even close.”
The violence in this is visceral. Talk about capturing that level of brutality.
The elements were brutal enough, but then you add the scalping, which informed the journey of the main character and was almost psychedelic. I want the cinematography to give you the sense of the surreal reality of that environment. I think Pete told me, “Never lose the environment.” So, from a DP standpoint, always connect the actors to what they are experiencing, the cast, and the character to where they are at the moment.
The sun is very harsh, and you start hallucinating a little bit. That explained a lot of the Dutch angles—you are on the ground with no sky that you can sense. A civilization is being created here, and it’s very fragile. It can fall apart at any moment. There is no solid foundation to it. That’s what I try to do with the cinematography.
This was primarily an outdoor shoot. Talk about working on a project that is mostly outdoors in a harsh environment.
We started at a high altitude in the winter, all outdoors. It was brutal. It was a brutal show, but it’s a pleasure as much as you are in pain. When we were shooting it, I imagined the audience looking at it from the comfort of their homes. That’s the beauty of filmmaking. You can give them that experience.
What were some unique challenges in making this beyond what we spoke about already…
From a logistic standpoint, it was just getting the location. The second one was being consistent lighting-wise. Shooting exteriors is very difficult. I would shoot a night movie any day of the week as opposed to a day movie. You are always at the mercy of the weather changing at that elevation. I think that’s the biggest challenge.
Excellent. What are your favorite moments?
There is a scene—there are too many—but the one that was emotionally surprising to me was the final farewell scene. There is a long shot of her looking back every time at him leaving. Every time I see that shot, I think to myself, this is very powerful. Betty Gilpin is an amazing actress.
American Primeval season one is streaming on Netflix.
