28 Mini‑Movies — And One Camera That Could Handle Them All
The highly anticipated new sketch comedy show from Larry David is a whistle stop review of 250 years of United States’ history. Twenty eight iconic and historic moments from the Boston Tea Party to the Second World War via the Wright Brothers first flight are recreated over seven episodes in HBO series Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, effectively presenting cinematographer Patrick Alexander Stewart with 28 mini-period movies to shoot inside a fast‑turnaround sitcom schedule.
“It’s different period stories, from the 1700s to the 2000s, and as with Curb (Your Enthusiasm) this is structured improvision,” explains Stewart. “We know the destination but the actors decide how to get there. We shoot a take, then Larry, Jeff and co-producer, writers Rory Albanese and Tom Gammil huddle, adjust lines or beats, and we shoot again.”
Stewart is vastly experienced at shooting comedy and comic drama. He has photographed two seasons of Flight of the Conchords, seven seasons of The League, the last season of Arrested Development and the last four seasons of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. He also enjoys a long term relationship with writer, producer and director Jeff Schaffer on more than 150 episodes (The League and Curb) and now on Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness where Schaffer serves as director and showrunner.
“This series demanded something Curb never could which is scale, multiple locations, period detail and expressive lighting,” Stewart says. “Unhappiness is full of light and shadow. I could be more dramatic with color and contrast, even use lantern light. It opened the toolbox.”
In addition to David, the series features guest stars including Bill Hader and Kathryn Hahn (as Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln); Jon Hamm and Sean Hayes (as the Wright Bros’) Jerry Seinfeld as explorer William Clark and even Barack Obama, whose production company Higher Ground is a producer of the show.
Stewart and Schaffer began by mapping out every story in advance. “This didn’t just mean color palettes,” he says. “We made initial decisions for each segment such as whether to go high contrast or muted and low‑angle, and with what camera movement. Whatever suited the period.”
He tested ARRI Alexa, Sony Venice, and the RED V‑RAPTOR XL [X] side by side. The decision came down to extended highlight latitude.
“I knew I wanted a different camera [from Curb]. I felt that the Alexa hasn’t changed much in recent years. The Venice was good but the Raptor XL [X]’s extended highlights sold me.
He explains, “I knew I’d be shooting big bright windows — like the Declaration of Independence scene (a studio set for the Independence Hall, Philadelphia) — and I wanted to hold detail in the highlights, not blow them. I didn’t want nuclear white. The RED gave me the range I needed. We shot with and without extended highlights depending on the scene.”
Reliability mattered too. With David in every scene and already having been two hours in makeup before the day’s shoot began, scenes needed to be shot with efficiency. “This is the kind of show where I can’t have cameras down. The RED never failed. Not once. And we covered each scene multi-cam with three V‑RAPTOR XL [X].”
Stewart shot 5.7K RAW (6K/S35), with and without extended highlights depending on the scene. He avoided LUTs entirely, preferring a clean negative and shaping the look later with colorist Gareth Cook at The Foundation in Burbank.
“I don’t always like working with LUTs. In this case, I’d already tested the camera and knew how far we could push the image. For black‑and‑white sequences, such as the segment set during the McCarthy communist ‘witch hunt’ we’d turn off color on the monitors, but otherwise we shot clean and built the look in post.”
Most of the look ultimately comes from color correction. “Gareth is fantastic. He’ll try different approaches before we commit, so we don’t waste time going down the wrong path.”
From the OK Corral to Deep Throat
Some sequences demanded faithful homage. For the Watergate episode, where David plays Deep Throat in a parking garage, Stewart and his team studied the iconic scene from All the President’s Men (1976).
“We wanted to get as close as possible to the darkness tinged with blue light, the cigarette smoke,” he says.
For the OK Corral, they revisited classic westerns like Gun Fight at the OK Corral (1957), analysing everything from low‑angle framing to costume tones.
“Sometimes we copied closely, other times we just borrowed ideas, like pushing yellows and greens or pulling reds to create subtle imbalances. Sometimes grain worked beautifully. Other times it took you out of the story so we used it selectively.”
Despite the show’s ambition, Stewart stresses it wasn’t a high‑budget production. Wardrobe and extras consumed much of the spend, so he had to choose his “toys” carefully.
Movement came from a mix of Technocranes (20‑, 30‑ and 50‑foot), a small electric vehicle with a mounted arm, and frequent use of sliders for subtle, elegant motion. Handheld was rare, reserved for iconic moments like the V-J Day kiss in Times Square.
Lens-wise, Stewart relied primarily on Fujinon Cabrios — the 14-35, 19-90 and 85-300 — supplemented by cine primes and specialty lenses for sequences like the stark monochrome chosen to depict the McCarthy trials.
“The Cabrios are so functional. Operators can follow action, zoom, adjust quickly. If I wanted really shallow depth of field, we’d switch to primes, but most of the time we were on the 19–90s.”
A daily creative challenge
Every day brought a new era, new costumes, new makeup, new lighting challenges, and new visual rules.
“I was wonderfully challenged day after day. Every day was a different story, a different time period, a different everything.”
Stewart credits his longtime collaborators including gaffer Carlos M. Torres, A Cam Patrik Thelander, B Cam Miguel Medina and key grip Ron Tondreau with helping him execute the show’s visual language.
“I can’t wait for people to see this,” he says. “It’s unusual, smart, and really timely. Some lines land like harpoons because of what’s happening in DC. I’m just so proud of it.”
Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness is available now on HBO Max.