Behind the Scenes on Sons of Anarchy

The highest rating series in cable channel FX s history, crime drama Sons of Anarchy explores the lives of members of an outlaw motorcycle club in California's Central Valley. Recently reaching the end of its run with a highly acclaimed seventh season, we spoke to Director of Photography Paul Maibaum about shooting on stage and location in Southern California.

So Paul, how would you explain the look and feel of Sons of Anarchy?

Sons of Anarchy is like a modern-day Western with vistas and composition driving a look that harkens back to the movies of John Ford and Spaghetti Westerns. Only on this show the horses are motorcycles, and the code of the west is the code of the club.

You shot around 60% of the show handheld, why was that?

The challenge of developing the look for the show was to make it natural not too slick. Handheld gives the narrative a feeling of immediacy that's organic to the story. There are many non-verbal, dramatic elements that are signature shots of the show; it's not rushed, in the sense that we like to get the reactions of the characters.

You used OConnor fluid heads and Litepanels LED lighting fixtures during filming. Have you been using them for a while?

I can t remember a project I ve worked on where there weren't at least two OConnor heads, going back to the days of the OConnor 100. And I have used Litepanels' Ringlite Minis, MiniPlus and 1 1 LED panels almost since they first came on the market.

Why did you go for the OConnor 2575 fluid heads in particular?

It is the fluid head of choice for every operator who s been on the show. The OConnor head is easy to use, and resetting the sinusoidal counterbalance is a simple step. It's easy to add more or less drag and tension so the operator can easily adjust to his or her needs.

The show's signature shots include large masters, high angles and close ups. OConnor makes this possible.

The challenge of developing the look for the show was to make it natural, not too slick

You also used Litepanels fixtures including Ringlite Minis and the MiniPlus popularly called bricks . How did you find them?

They're invaluable. They work alongside all of our other lighting instruments, whether tungsten or HMI, on stage and on location. They're lightweight, and the ability to run on battery power, along with their dimming capabilities, make them essential tools in our lighting package.

In scenes where lighting is sketchy, I'll tell the team to add a ping' or place a brick' to brighten the eyes.

What about the new Litepanels ASTRA 1 1 Bi-Color panel?

This light is a marked improvement over the current 1x1s, and that's saying a lot because they are one of my favourite lighting fixtures. The output of the ASTRA is surprising.

Recently, I was able to use it as a fill light during some insert car work, filling the actors' faces in broad daylight with the fixture projecting from roughly eight feet from the subject's faces. It was much brighter than the original light we planned to use.

We also use Anton/Bauer batteries as they charge quickly, don't lose their charge, and the digital readout tells me how much power is left all the time.

I don't believe we would be able to complete our day's work within the time allotted if we didn t have the complement of Vitec equipment we employed on virtually every set up on an average shooting day on Sons of Anarchy.

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