What was the turning point that convinced you?
Was it getting to work with Ben [Stiller] again?
Was that only part of it?
Image by Jefferson Chacon
JESSICA LEE GAGNE: It was a very, very clear moment.
For me, the reason I was…
I was really thinking from a cinematographer mindset.
Image via Apple TV+
That’s my story in general, with me andSeverance.
But the moment when I got excited about doingSeveranceis when I found this book calledOfficeby Lars Tunbjork.
The office aesthetic, in the past…
I don’t think I had ever really liked what anyone had ever done.
And so, this was like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Four people sitting at some desks with some white hallways?
Image via Apple TV+
I don’t know.”
I feel like that’s every cinematographer’s nightmare.
And then that book opened up my mind to the beauty of the office and what it could be.
For me, that was the spark, that specific moment.
I’m a psycho when it comes to locations.
We can shoot here if you want, but it’s not this one.
There’s better."
It’s like a thing inside of me.
And Bell Labs… before Jeremy was hired, we were looking for preliminary locations.
This place is crazy."
And it was an ex-pharmaceutical tech kind of company.
I was like, “What the hell?
We have to at least go.”
How early did the conversation start about you directing an episode ofSeverance?
You’ve been with the show from the beginning, but was that something that was being tossed around?
Did you volunteer yourself?
GAGNE: No, I didn’t.
SoI was afraid of directing.
It wasn’t obvious.
I started getting work when I was in school as a cinematographer and on small things.
I actually love making visuals."
So I went into that tunnel vision, but I forgot about what I really wanted.
I did the whole first season."
I know the cast, the writers, Ben."
I love the medium and I think it’s a privilege to work with it.
There is no better medium than that.
So it was an obvious choice, but it’s not a simple thing to deal with.
But I think it’s what made it easy to shoot memories without having to slap on an aesthetic.
GAGNE: It’s funny.
The bill was huge.
It’s how the episode’s constructed.
It’s an exploration of what time is as well.
Sothe gaffer lent me his Bolex and I shot time-lapses in the house.
We’d be shootingSeverance, and in the morning, I’d be popping off frames for my time-lapse.
It became a big, big side project collage thing that I knew was going to become handy.
I didn’t know how, at the point and at the time.
That all came from her style of photography.
This will look good on Lumon’s balance sheet.
Was that a challenge that you were excited about, getting to play both of those roles?
GAGNE:There was another DP helping me with the film unit.
There’s a lot of respect, I think, for the visuals of this show from cinematographers.
I would have to switch in gears when it was prep.
“Okay, this is DP hat, this is a director hat.”
There was no one validating my choices.
Are you trying to do this or not?"
GAGNE: I mean, it’s the whole episode.
And I kept that and held onto it.
That’s what allowed me to get there with him, but a lot of the stuff we shot…
When you get to the edit, sometimes the pacing wants something different.
I wanted people to feel things in this episode, and the craziest, most complicated art…
I really had Ben’s support in doing this.
There are stitches, but still.
I had no other…
It was [either] that, or cut it.
There is a lot, narratively, going on in this episode.
GAGNE: For sure.
I think there is a way of coming outside of time.
What’s interesting about the episode is thatI was able to connect certain memories and emotions.
But yeah, that opened the door.
New episodes ofSeveranceSeason 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.
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