VAN NUYS, CA — When cinematographer Todd A. Dos Reis took over the USA Network series Necessary Roughness, more than the storyline changed. He also made radical changes in the show’s lighting looks with Litepanels LED lighting. “What I like about Litepanels is that I can think about them at the last minute and throw them in anywhere,” he says.
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“The original storyline for the series was about a therapist who worked for a professional football team,” he explains. “But, now, she works for one of the biggest talent agencies in the world. The V3 agency represents athletes, actors, models, writers and celebrities of all kinds. When we started filming in April of this year, I changed the look of the show to reflect all the beautiful people that would be walking the halls of the new super agency.”
To make sure the beautiful people look beautiful, Dos Reis uses two 1×1 Litepanels and two MiniPlus units, which he calls “bricks,” with their own onboard battery. “Litepanels allows me to put lights in places that are too small for conventional lighting instruments,” he explains. “I can use them as key lights, fill, backlights and edge lights. One of my favorite things to do is put a square snoot on a 1×1 flat panel to make it more directional.
Recently, Dos Reis shot a sequence where the lead actress, Callie Thorne, goes to a reclusive writer’s house. “She can’t get him to come out of the house,” he explains. “She had to have an entire conversation with a closed door and window. I put two 1×1 Litepanels up against the door and house. And she looked beautiful.”
Dos Reis recently shot an intense conversation in a car where the camera move was a 360 around it. “The only place I could hide a light was in the dashboard. This time I used a MiniPlus.”
The first episode of the newly redesigned series Necessary Roughness aired June 12. Before taking over the USA series ‘Necessary Roughness,’ cinematographer Todd A. Dos Reis shot the series ‘Suburgatory’ as well as episodes for ‘Longmire’ and ‘Entourage.’
