Just wrapping its freshman season, HBO's Barry is a dark comedy about a Midwestern hitman (played by Bill Hader), who travels to Los Angeles to kill someone. He stumbles into a community acting class, led by the quirky Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). What made 'Barry' interesting to me was the combination of dark humor, his tragic innocence and how hard all the characters were trying to excel in their lives, not always with much success, says Barry cinematographer Paula Huidobro. I love that Barry lived a double life, and how sometimes the behavior of the criminals mirrors that of his classmates in the acting school. Sometimes the acting students would seem more ruthless than the criminals. The characters are all very well developed and they grow on you, the more you learn about them. They all seem to be on a mission and it's incredibly funny to see them fail but keep on trying.
Producer Aida Rogers brought Huidobro on the project after looking at her reel and recommending her to Barry co-creators Hader and Alec Berg. I interviewed and immediately connected with both of them, talking about the material and their vision for the style of the project, says Huidobro who previously shot a string of independent features and TV projects. Bill wanted the camera to be composed and disciplined. He wanted to preserve the studio mode in which the pilot had been shot, and spend the time blocking it and rehearsing for full takes where the actors and the camera would dance together. She added that the creators didn't want to glorify violence, which is why she didn't over-cover those sequences or stylize them with multiple angles and shots that would remove the audience from the violence. With regard to references, Hader is a big fan of Billy Wilder, particularly The Apartment, and the Coen brothers' movies, especially Burg After Reading, were also a great source of inspiration for the show's visual style.
Huidobro and her team used three ARRI ALEXAs, one ALEXA Mini, and Optimo Zooms from rental house Otto Nemenz. During pre-production, they blocked scenes and created shot lists. Once the actors were on set, we would adjust their marks or I would suggest some changes so we could carry the shot for a longer period of time, she says. We also tried to find comedy in the frames.
Bill Hader, Sarah Goldberg; Photo: Jordin Althaus, courtesy of HBO
In one of Huidobro's favorite scenes in Episode 7, a small airplane carrying a gang leader lands, just as Barry and his crew drive up - and chaotic violence ensues. It's a scene that would typically be told with frenetic camerawork and lots of cuts, to enhance the violence. Instead, the shot starts on the plane in the sky, following it gently and peacefully as it lands. Then you see a small car approaching from a distance, says Huidobro. When the gangsters, who are waiting for their boss to arrive, see Barry's SUV appearing on the horizon, they decide there is no choice but to shoot at it, making it turn over and explode. Instead of feeling dangerous, the camera work was very composed, careful, almost traditional, she says. The juxtaposition of the slow pace and how composed the characters are and how formal the frames are, is completely opposite to what one would expect in this heightened, dangerous situation. That's what makes it, for me, even more funny, and what seems to be the style of 'Barry' as a whole.
In Episode 8 she worked closely with Berg, who directed the episode. In this episode, she noted, Barry punches his one-time ally Fuches in the face, spurring Fuches to flip and offer information about him to their mutual enemy Goran. All the characters are unraveling and allegiances shift, she says. I thought the lighting, framing, blocking and camera movements were all completely in synch. We shot-listed our sequences and we enjoyed capturing the dark humor of the situation in the way we framed the characters, and the group shots that really show the power dynamics. Her efforts on the episode garnered Huidobro an Emmy nomination for best cinematography.
Director Alec Berg with DP Paula Huidobro. Photo: John P. Johnson, courtesy of HBO
Lighting also played an important role in conveying the visual look the creative team was after. I wanted the light to be as soft as possible, which allowed us to work relatively quickly and consistently, she says. My gaffer Paul McIlvine and I decided to go with a more old school approach, using Fresnels, booklights and Chinese lanterns instead of LED technology, which has become the norm. For day exteriors, they used the ARRI M18, ARRIMAXes and SkyPanels. I like the versatility of the SkyPanels and I like the color of the ARRI HMIs and how consistent they are, she says. These were great tools to have.
We wanted the lighting to be real, she continues. I was obsessed with not having shadows that would take you away from the faces or the comedy, but still have some contrast. We wanted to keep the light shaped in an interesting way. I didn't ever want to drift into flat comedic lighting, but I also avoided hard lighting for the most part. They also used a lot of practicals, both on location and fixtures built into the sets. I always diffused and controlled them when they were off camera, she says. A key to success in making our days was that we were able to build in a lot of lighting solutions into our sets.
Anthony Carrigan, Glenn Fleshler. Photo: Jordin Althaus, courtesy of HBO
That included rigging a beautiful soft box into one of the main shooting sets, the actor's theater, which Huidobro says was invaluable. Her key grip Paul Perkins was, totally prepared to cut and diffuse everything on location. I'm sure I drove him crazy with all the requests, but he really had my back and we overcame a lot of tricky si
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
29/09/2026
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...
29/09/2026
Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...
29/09/2026
We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...
29/09/2026
Today, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Apple relea...
29/09/2026
Final Cut Camera, the professional filming app for iPhone, receives a major upda...
29/09/2026
RT lyric fm is proud to announce the annual Choirs for Christmas competition callout. Warm up those vocal chords and join us on RT lyric fm for a celebration ...
28/09/2026
The NHL has announced Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner beginning with the 2026-27 season. The partnership will provide the league and its...
28/09/2026
MultiDyne will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (October 5-7, Dubai Exhibition Centre), showcasing an expanded technology portfolio following its June 2026 acquisition of...
28/09/2026
ARRI and HONOR have announced the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max, a flagship smartphone carrying ARRI branding on the device and packaging as the first product-level expr...
28/09/2026
Net Insight has added the Nimbra 1020G to its pan-Asian live media trial network, giving customers and partners in the region a way to evaluate ST 2110 and JPEG...
28/09/2026
Vindral has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of We...
28/09/2026
Interra Systems will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (Stand B2-37, Dubai Exhibition Centre, October 5-7), demonstrating its BATON QC platform, ORION monitoring solutions...
28/09/2026
Two years into its new production facility, the TOUR is expanding centralized wo...
Just wrapping its freshman season, HBO's Barry is a dark comedy about a Midwestern hitman (played by Bill Hader), who travels to Los Angeles to kill someone. He stumbles into a community acting class, led by the quirky Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). What made 'Barry' interesting to me was the combination of dark humor, his tragic innocence and how hard all the characters were trying to excel in their lives, not always with much success, says Barry cinematographer Paula Huidobro. I love that Barry lived a double life, and how sometimes the behavior of the criminals mirrors that of his classmates in the acting school. Sometimes the acting students would seem more ruthless than the criminals. The characters are all very well developed and they grow on you, the more you learn about them. They all seem to be on a mission and it's incredibly funny to see them fail but keep on trying. 
