
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 ...
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...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
From host-broadcaster and rightsholder support in June and July to MLS, NWSL, US...
20/08/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
20/08/2026
At IBC this year, Veritone (14.A56) is bringing two connected themes to the booth: architectural independence in enterprise AI, and the automation of the media ...
20/08/2026
Telestream and ScorePlay have announced a partnership combining Telestream's...
20/08/2026
The Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League have announced a three-year agreement with ESPN, bringing more than 300 hours of live curling coverage to U.S. audienc...
20/08/2026
Nielsen has announced a series of enhancements to its Big Data + Panel currency measurement methodology, taking effect August 31. The updates were developed in ...
20/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected by service provider Big Blue Marble (formerly ORS Group) to provide its Nimbra platform as the core media transport solution for a...
20/08/2026
The 2026 US Open will bring a series of free fan activations across New York City ahead of and during the tournament, which runs August 23-September 13.
We...
20/08/2026
Bridge Technologies will announce a transport stream (TS) playout feature for its VB330 and VB220 compressed monitoring probes at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71).
The fe...
20/08/2026
ENCO will demonstrate solutions across captioning, translation, AI production tools, automation, and virtual production at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A34, Amsterdam RAI, ...
20/08/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will demonstrate camera robotics and mot...
20/08/2026
Chyron will demonstrate news workflow solutions at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A23), marking the company's 60th anniversary. Highlights include updates to PRIME HTML, ...
20/08/2026
Spectrum SportsNet LA, the exclusive television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now available to Spectrum customers in former Cox markets following the clos...
20/08/2026
swXtch.io will unveil expanded Global SRT Distribution and native multicast tran...
20/08/2026
Riedel Communications has announced that Transformation Church in the United States has deployed a communications system built around the Artist intercom ecosys...
20/08/2026
The bestselling author and longtime Apple observer explores how product launches...
20/08/2026
The Orlando Magic entered last season with a dramatically upgraded in-venue prod...
20/08/2026
Pacers Sports and Entertainment has announced a partnership with DAZN, making it the exclusive streaming home of Indiana Pacers basketball. A team-branded strea...
20/08/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
20/08/2026
The NHL has announced two major developments tied to its Germany growth strategy...
20/08/2026
Set up your own private remote collaboration infrastructure
SoundBridge have recently put together a tutorial video that provides users with a step-by-step ...
20/08/2026
New V-Control Pro features restore basic functionality
Neyrinck's V-Control software has long been keeping older Avid control surfaces compatible with n...
20/08/2026
TV, BritBox and Mammoth Screen have announced that filming is now underway on th...
20/08/2026
New York August 19, 2026 Nielsen today shared a number of key enhancements t...
20/08/2026
New Gracenote Data Hub analysis finds sports program titles up 31.2% and individ...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
At IBC, Profuz Digital will showcase at stand 8.A88 the SubtitleNEXT platform delivering innovative AI transcription integrations and stunning new features boos...
20/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Transformation Church, one of the fastest-growing and most influential digital ministries in the United States, has d...
20/08/2026
QuickLink Showcases New 4K Capabilities Across StudioEdge and StudioCall at IBC ...
20/08/2026
The Boys Season Five Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton August 20, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist Siggy Ferstl uses Depth Map to bring a three ...
20/08/2026
Adobe Firefly expands its creative AI studio: generate music, speech, and sound ...
20/08/2026
Multiview available via SaaS for streaming platforms and operators through broadpeak.io, with live demonstrations at IBC2026
Broadpeak , a leader in streaming ...
20/08/2026
Techex, a leading provider of live broadcast infrastructure solutions, has appointed Stuart Almond as Chief Revenue Officer, further strengthening its executive...
20/08/2026
Avid today announced that MediaCity Studios has upgraded its production infrastructure with an enhanced end-to-end Avid production ecosystem, including the dep...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
20/08/2026
Thursday 20 August 2026
Nina Sosanya, Rizzle Kicks, Roman Kemp and Paul Whiteho...
20/08/2026
Wuppertal August 20, 2026
Transformation Church Elevates Production Communicat...
20/08/2026
The music between the notes Coming together In the middle of 2026, as conversations around artificial intelligence continue to raise questions about how musi...