Director of Photography Paul Daley On How ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Pulled Off That Locusts Scene

Awards Daily talks to Paul Daley, director of photography on The Righteous Gemstones, about all the bonkers scenes from the third season of the HBO dramedy.

Locusts. Musical numbers. Nude fight scenes. Season 3 of The Righteous Gemstones is filled with memorable moments, and in an e-chat, I asked director of photography Paul Daley about a few of everyone’s favorites.

Awards Daily: What was it like shooting that epic fight scene between Stephen and BJ? 
Paul Daley: The episode that had the fight scene between Steven and BJ was directed by Jonathan Watson. In my opinion, the episode brought a great deal of tension to the season. It mixed the comedy and the drama to great effect. Myself, Jonathan, and Steve Thompson, the gaffer, went to the location on four separate occasions to completely nail down the camera, stunt, and lighting positions and to work out how to photograph the overtly sexual and nude situation comedically and not pornographically. The ultimate goal was to see BJ finally stop being the heel, and for the first time successfully assert himself. That scene was actually shot 2nd unit.

AD: Uncle Baby Billy’s big “Payday” song feels like an Esther Williams movie. Was that kind of your inspiration?
PD: Ah, yes, the “Payday” song. Every season of Gemstones has one blockbuster musical scene, and this was it for Season 3. As with all of our locations, we scouted extensively and frequently as this location had some unique challenges. The episode was directed by Danny McBride, and he had solid ideas and plans for the sequence. The production design was absolutely first-rate, showcasing the Zions Landing opulence, and we had all the tools necessary to achieve Danny’s vision. We incorporated a crane, dollies, steadicam, and underwater cameras a little hand-held in there as well. Obviously all the gear and prep gets you only so far; it takes a Walton Goggins as Baby Billy to produce yet another sublime performance. He got all of the background players excited and fired up, and the entire set was having a great time. It was the old Baby Billy magic that brought this scene to life. I think you’re right. It really does play like an Esther Williams movie. I take that as high praise.

AD: The locust scene on the Bible Bonkers set is so surprising and comes out of nowhere! Was that fun to anticipate that surprise?
PD: The locust scene is one of the more complicated endeavors undertaken on Gemstones. The entire game show set was built in a warehouse from scratch. I believe we had something in the range of 200 moving fixtures along with static units in the grid. There were a number of elements to achieve the effect of swarming insects. We had Ritter fans blowing packing peanuts across the stage during crowd scenes. We used actual locusts stuck to our actors for close-ups, and of course, we had CG locusts to round it all out. We used a great deal of interactive lighting to achieve the effect of insects flying across a stage through gameshow-type lights and used several settings on our board for the various degrees of mayhem. Gaffer Steve Thompson and programmer Matt Clark were instrumental in the process. I will say Levi falling off the balcony in a frantic panic has to be one of my favorite moments of the show.

AD: The Righteous Gemstones fluctuates between comedy and drama a lot in its tone. How do you capture that in its look?
I agree with you this season really straddles the line between comedy and drama. I spoke with Jody Hill, who directed most of the episodes, about shifting the look a little more toward the dramatic. I am greatly inspired by 1970s-era British and American films, and I specifically referenced a movie called The Ipcress File. I asked the camera operators to watch that movie, and we incorporated a number of the shots and angles that played throughout that picture in this season of Gemstones. I think Jody quite reasonably had some reservations at the beginning, but to his credit, let us get on with it, and I believe it ultimately worked quite successfully.