--
From Rawson Marshall Thurber, the writer/director of Central Intelligence and We're the Millers, comes the YouTube Red comedy series, Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television*. In the genre-bending show, the LAPD creates a task force that partners actors with detectives. The series stars Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars, Party Down) and Samira Wiley (The Handmaid's Tale, Orange Is the New Black), who plays Hansen's partner Detective Jessica Mathers. Poking fun at Hollywood, as well as action movies, sitcoms, and crime procedural shows, the half hour streaming series features an all-star cast playing odd charicatures of themselves, including Joel McHale, Donald Faison, Eric Christian Olsen, Jon Cryer, and Kristen Bell. The series was shot by cinematographer Charles Papert (Mary + Jane, Key and Peele) with VariCam LT cinema cameras.
Yes, that's the actual title, says Papert, when asked about the asterisk in the show's official title. They always have something funny at the bottom of your computer, or your phone. It really sums up the show. It's a comedy that's very self-aware - essentially a show within a show.
One of the unique aspects of the show is that Hansen will often break the fourth wall and suddenly speak with the show's writers, or to prompt something in the edit. Whatever the style of the moment is what we go with visually, explains Papert. For example, there's a clip of Ryan that's an audition tape and it's supposed to be the camcorder that films his auditions. Those scenes were shot on the RED production camera in the pilot, but I felt it would be more effective if we used an older small format camcorder. We used a 10-year-old HDV camcorder for those shots.
Also, when they're solving the crime, continues Papert, the style changes to a procedural crime drama. When they're doing chase scenes, it will go into the 2:39:1 aspect ratio to look like an action movie. There are also elements that are shot on iPhones framed in a vertical pillar box. When Ryan goes home to his family at night, it becomes a three-camera sitcom shot in 4:3 mode. It has a lot of fun with conventions in the daily life of a TV show.
With the pilot already shot on RED cameras and a visual style established by DP Jordan Valenti, Papert came in and expanded the number of cameras to create different and unique looks. According to the DP, 80 to 90 percent of the show was shot with VariCam LTs. He recorded 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC Intra files in UHD with two LTs that were rolling for the majority of scenes. Shooting in V-LOG, Papert and his DIT, Freddy Fernandez, created a set of viewing LUTs that looked a little cooler and desaturated.
The VariCam LT builds - rented out of The Camera Division - were essentially long and low to keep the cameras balanced for handheld shooting. Papert's primary lens was a Fujinon 19-90mm Cabrio zoom, as well as ARRI Alura Lightweight zooms. In an ultra-fast paced TV schedule, I find it very difficult not to have the flexibility of zooms, explains Papert. We would sometimes zoom within a shot, as well as reframe a shot for the director at given moments to get a tighter piece of coverage for certain lines.
Although he doesn't normally shoot wide open, Papert reveals that he usually shot at T2.9 and a third. The funny thing is in recent years, you typically wanted to stay away from the ends of the lens to get maximum clarity, he reveals. But with modern lenses so sharp, I think it's actually a benefit to get them perform a little worse to match what many others are doing with vintage lenses. With the LT, or any of the VariCam's, if I need an extra stop, I can always tune that in with the ISOs.
For exteriors and well-lit interiors, Papert shot at native 800 ISO. Since the show didn't have a lot of night exteriors, Papert only went with high ISOs a few times during the run of the series. There was a night interior that looked out a window at the city streets so I took it to 3200 - 4000 (dialed down from 5,000) to get the downtown streets to pop, says Papert. Then we knocked down all of the levels in the interior to accommodate that.
Papert mainly used high ISOs to capture 45-degree shutter angles for sequences that needed an action-style look. That effect comes with a two-stop cost, explains Papert. For interiors, that was very helpful because I could shoot the meat of the work with the set lit based on 800 ISO and when I needed to switch to the 45-degree angle, all I had to do was go to the 5,000 mode, dial down to 3200, and we were right there.
For lighting, Papert had his usual package that mainly consist of smaller LED panels and LiteGear LiteMats for close-ups and interior work. He also made good use of traditional lighting sources such as HMIs, an ARRI SkyPanel, Kino Flo Celebs, Source Fours, and Lekos. There was a wide variety of looks we went with, which was part of the fun, he explains. When it went into the chase scenes, or some of the environments that were intended to be heightened, we got to play around with the visuals. The rest of it was fairly natural, inspired by procedural style lighting.
Perhaps the most challenging scene was an ambitious Steadicam sequence that was shot at LA's Canter's Deli, which was an homage to Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (shot by Michael Ballhaus). It starts in the front section by the bakery counter, which is by the window with full daylight filling in, explains Papert. As we walk through the space, the exposure and color temperature levels changes completely and we had to light their paths from the takeout section through two dining rooms, the Kibitz room, which is a lounge area, through a corridor, and then back into the kitchen. I only had a couple of hours to pre-rig, which was a big challenge to soften the transitions from th
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
-- 
